Wenatchee Alloys, Inc.

I In the Matter Of WENATCHEE ALLOYS, INC., and SMELTER WORKERS' UNION No. 23368, AFL In the Matter Of WENATCHEE ALLOYS, INC., and UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA, AFFILIATED WITH THE C. I. O. Cases Nos. R-554.9 to R-5552 inclusive and R-5553 respectively.- Decided July 10, 1943 Mr. R. Harold Elston, of Tacoma, Wash., for the Company. Mr. Leo F. Flynn, of Seattle, Wash., and Mr. E. J. Brown, of Wenatchee, Wash., for the A. F. of L. Messrs. Ernest Pederson and C. F. Hudson, of Seattle, Wash., for the C. 1. 0. Miss Melvern R.'Krelow, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petitions duly filed by Smelter Workers' Union No. 23368, AFL, herein called the A. F. of L., and United Steelworkers of America, affiliated with the C. I. 0., herein called the C.I. 0., alleging that questions affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Wenatchee Alloys, Inc., Wenatchee, Wash- ington, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board consolidated the cases and provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before William A. Babcock, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Wenatchee, Washington, on June 18, 1943. The Company, the A. F. of L., and the C. I. O. appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross- examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board. 51 N. L. R. B., No, 52. 229 230 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Wenatchee Alloys, Inc., an Ohio corporation, having its principal office at Canton, Ohio, is engaged in the production of ferro-silicon. We are here primarily concerned with the Rock Island, Washington, plant, which is operated by the Company under a lease arrangement in the ordinary form with the Defense Plant Corporation. The Com- pany secures a substantial quantity of raw materials from points out- side the State of Washington, 'and all the finished products manu- factured by the Company are shipped to points outside the State of Washington, II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Smelter Workers' Union No. 23368, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. United Steelworkers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to mem- bership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The A. F. of L . and the C. I. O. requested the Company to recog- nize them as the exclusive bargaining representatives of employees of the Company each claims to represent . The Company refused the requests unless and until they are certified by the Board. A statement of a Field Examiner , introduced in evidence, at the hearing, indicates that the A. F. of L . and the C. I. O. represent a substantial number of employees in the units each claims to be appro- priate 1 The Field Examiner reported that the A F of L submitted 147 designation cards in the production and maintenance unit , all bearing apparently genuine signatures , and dated be- tween January 5 and April 17, 1943 Of the 147 cards presented , 69 bear the names of persons whose names appear on the pay-roll list submitted by the Company dated April 30, 1943 . The pay-roll list contains the names of 114 employees in the unit The C I 0 pre- sented 44 cards in the same unit, all hearings apparently genuine signatures and dated be- tween May 7 and May 18, 1943 Of the 44 cards submitted, 28 bear the names of persons whose names appear on the said pay-roll list submitted by the Company , dated April 30, 1943 At the hearing the Trial Examiner reported that the A F of L submitted cards for the office employees ' unit, the guard unit, and the laboratory employees' units There are three employees in the office, the names of all appearing on cards submitted by the A F. of L. The cards are dated March 25, 1943 , and bear apparently genuine signatures .' There are seven guards, including the chief guard, for whom the A. F of L . submitted 5 cards , dated in February , March , and April , and all bearing apparently genuine signatures In addition the A . F of L. submitted a ledger of dues payments on which appears the names of an additional guard who is a member of good standing as of March 1943 There are three WENATCHEE ALLOYS, INC. 231 We find that questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS The A. F. of L. contends the following constitute separate appro- priate units : (1) All production and maintenance employees of the Company at its Rock Island plant, including storeroom clerks, but excluding office, clerical, and supervisory employees with the authority to hire and dis- charge, laboratory and research employees, and guards. (2) All armed and unarmed guards of the Company at its Rock Island plant, excluding supervisory employees with the authority to hire and discharge. (3) All office and clerical employees of the Company at its Rock Island plant, excluding supervisory employees with the authority to hire and discharge. (4) All laboratory and research employees of the Company at its Rock Island plant, excluding supervisory employees with the au- thority to hire and discharge. The Company and the C. I. 0. agree that the appropriate unit should comprise all production and maintenance employees of the Company at its Rock Island plant, excluding storeroom clerks, office, clerical, and supervisory employees with authority to hire and dis- charge, laboratory and research employees, and guards. The Company maintains that storeroom clerks should be excluded because of the confidential character of their work; with respect to the three other units sought to be established by the A. F. of L., it argues that because of the confidential duties of those employees they are more appropriately akin to management and therefore should not be permitted to constitute units for the purposes of collective bar- gaining. It further asserts, with respect to the guards, that collective bargaining is inconsistent with their status as civilian auxiliaries of the military police. Storeroom clerks: The Company employs two storeroom clerks and a weigh master in its storeroom or warehouse, in which are stored ma- terials and supplies used by the Company in its operation at its Rock Island plant. The clerks receive, check and record deliveries of ma- terials and handle all but heavy machinery and materials within the , employees in the laboratory , including the chemist, for whom the A F. Of L. has submitted cards, dated in March and April 1943 , and bearing apparently genuine signatures The C. I 0 presented no evidence of membership in these units , stating at the hearing that it did not represent any of those employees 232 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD storeroom. The weigh master weighs all incoming and outgoing cars containing silica rock and ferro-silicon, and prepares reports and bills of lading. For about an hour a day, the weigh master stores stock. All these employees work under the supervision of the store- keeper, and are paid on an hourly basis the same as the production employees in the plant. We can find no substantial difference between the work of these employees and that of other production and mainte- nance employees in the plant. They bear no such confidential rela- tionship to the Company as would require their exclusion from the unit. We conclude therefore that the storeroom clerks and the weigh master are,employees properly included Within the unit of production and maintenance employees. With respect to the storekeeper, who is responsible for the work done in the storeroom, and who supervises the work of the above employees and has the authority to hire and discharge, we are of the opinion that he is a supervisory employee and we shall exclude him from the unit. Guards: The Company's plant-protection force consists of seven guards, including the chief guard, all of whom have recently been made civilian auxiliaries of the military police. The Army 'has formulated certain employment standards applicable to these guards. Nevertheless, these employees are hired and paid by the Company and in all essential respects the customary employer-employee relation-I ship is preserved. In view of these facts, and for reasons we have stated in similar cases, we find no merit in the Company's contentions,a and find that the guards are employees within the meaning of the Act and may designate a representative for purposes of collective bargain= ing. The record discloses that the chief guard has the authority to hire and is responsible for the work of the guards. We conclude that the chief guard is a supervisory employee, and we shall exclude him from the unit. Office and clerical employees: The record indicates that the Com- pany employs three persons in the classification of office and clerical employees.s Their duties consist of. general office work including fil- ing, typing and stenographic work, preparing pay-'roll records, pro- duction records, and checks for freight. The possession of important information is of itself insufficient to justify exclusion from the right to collective bargaining. We find the Company's contention that the duties of these employees should preclude them from constituting an appropriate unit to be without merit. Laboratory and research employees: There are three employees in the laboratory, the chemist, assistant chemist, and sample man. The 2 See Matter of, Curttss-Wright Corp., 45 N. L R B 1268 , and cases cited therein. 3 The pay-roll list submitted by the Company indicated that there were two office em- ployees ; however, the record indicates that M A McCallum , who was employed in the plant as a batcher, has recently been transferred to the office. WENATCHEE ALLOYS, INC. 233 work of the assistant chemist consists of routine analysis of incoming material and all metal shipped from the plant. The sample man's duties are to obtain samples and prepare them for analysis. We have frequently found that laboratory employees constitute appropriate bargaining units, and we conclude , therefore, that the Company's contention with respect to these employees , as heretofore stated, is without merit.' The chemist has supervision over the laboratory, and the authority to hire and discharge . We are of the opinion that the chemist is a supervisory employee and we shall exclude him from the unit. The parties are in agreement that the superintendent and assistant superintendent should be excluded from the unit . They are, how- ever, in disagreement with respect to the turn foremen , the mainte- nance foreman, the labor foreman, and the assistant labor foreman. The A. F. of L. contends that these employees do not have the au- thority to hire or discharge, and should therefore be included in the unit. However, the record clearly indicates that the turn foremen, the maintenance foreman, and the labor foreman have supervision over the employees in their respective departments ,'and have the authority to hire and discharge . The assistant labor foreman engages in pro- duction work and acts as substitute labor foreman for 1 day during each week. We conclude that the above-named employees are super- visory employees and we shall exclude them from the unit. We find that the following groups of the Company's employees in the Rock Island plant constitute units appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining , within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act : (1) All production and maintenance employees , including the storeroom clerks, but excluding the storekeeper , the superintendent, the assistant superintendent, turn foremen, the maintenance foreman, the labor foreman, the assistant labor foreman, or any other super- visory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge , discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees , or effectively recommend such action ; all guards including the chief guard ; all office and clerical employees ; and all laboratory and research em- ployees, including the chemist ; (2) All guards, excluding the chief guard; (3) All office and clerical employees; (4) All laboratory and research employees , excluding the chemist. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We shall direct that the questions concerning representation which have arisen be resolved by elections by secret ballot among the em- 4 See Matter of Ford Motor Company, 50 N. L. R. B 30; and Matter of Bendix Products Division of Bendim Aviation, Corp , 43 N. L. R. B. 912. 234 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ployees in the appropriate units who were employed during the pay- roll-period immediately preceding the date of our Direction of Elec- tions, subject to the limitations and additions set forth therein. Since the C. I. O. has stated that it does not represent any of the employees other than the production and maintenance employees, we shall not accord it a place on the ballot with re:-pect to units (2), (3), and (4). DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS . By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela- tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby - DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Wenatchee Alloys, Inc., Wenatchee, Washington, elections by secret ballot shall be con- ducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the'Nineteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 10, of said Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the units found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were em- ployed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or, on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the" polls, but excluding any who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine (1) whether the employees in the production and maintenance unit de- sire to be represented by Smelter Workers' Union No. 23368, AFL, or by United Steelworkers of America, affiliated with the C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither; and (2) whether or not the employees in the guard unit, the office and clerical unit, and the laboaratory unit, respectively, desire to be represented by Smelter Workers' Union No. 29368, AFL, for the purposes of collective bar- gaining.