The French Oil Mill Machinery Co.

In the Matter of THE FRENCH OIL MILL MACHINERY COMPANY and' INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUToi1IOBILE, AIRCRAFT & AGRICUL- TURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO I Case No. 8-R-1929.-Decided January 4, 1946 Messrs. C. B. Upton and D. D. Miller, of Piqua, Ohio, for the. Company. Mr. Carl W. Schick, of Toledo, Ohio, and Mr. Howard Seren, of Lima, Ohio, for the CIO. Mr. M. D. McCune, of Lima, Ohio, for the AFL. Mr. Bernard Goldberg, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION 'STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by International Union, United Auto- mobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America,. CIO, herein called the CIO, alleging that a question affecting com- merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of The- French Oil Mill Machinery Company, Piqua, Ohio, herein called the- Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an ap- propriate hearing upon due notice before John W. Irving, Trial Ex- aminer. The hearing was held at Piqua, Ohio, on August 23, 1945.. The Company, the CIO, and International Molders & Foundry Work- ers Union of North America, Local 94, AFL,1 herein called the AFL,. appeared and participated. All parties were afforded full oppor- tunity 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 an opportunity to file briefs. with the Board. Upon the entire record of the case, the Board makes the following :. i The AFL intervened only to protect its interests as collective bargaining representative of the employees in the foundry department . After the foundry department employees. were excluded by mutual agreement, the AFL disclaimed any further interest in the unit Accordingly , its name will not be placed on the ballot. 65 N. L. R. B., No. 31. 164 THE FRENCH OIL MILL MACHINERY COMPANY FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY 165 The French Oil Mill Machinery Company is an Ohio corporation engaged in the manufacture of oil mill machinery at its plant in Piqua, Ohio. During the 6 months preceding the hearing, the Com- pany purchased raw materials, principally iron and steel, valued in excess of $100,000, of which approximately 50 percent represented shipments from sources outside the State of Ohio. During the same period, the Company produced finished products valued at more than $200,000, of which in excess of 50 percent represented shipments to customers located outside the State. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of In- dustrial Organizations, and International Molders & Foundry Work- ers Union of North America, Local 94, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, are labor organizations admitting to member- ship employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to recognize the CIO as the collective bargaining representative of any of its employees unless and until the CIO is certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear- ing, indicates that the CIO represents a substantial number of em- ployees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2 We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 2 The Field Examiner reported that the CIO submitted 89 authorization cards ; and that the names on 76 of these cards also appeared on the Company' s pay roll of August 6, 1945, which contained the names of 173 employees in the appropriate unit. We find no merit in the Company' s objection to the introduction in evidence of the Field Examiner's statement of representation on the ground that it had been denied the oppor- tunity of cross-examining CIO witnesses as to the authenticity of the signatures on the authorization cards. The Trial Examiner properly refused to permit such cross-examina- tion. The purpose of the preliminary showing of cards and the Field Examiner 's report has been frequently set forth in our decisions and we have pointed out that any questioning of such evidential showing by any opposing party is not permitted Matter of Lalance & Gros.ean Manufacturing Co., 63 N L. R. B. 130; Matter of Sunset Motor Lines, 59, N L. R. B 1434; Matter of The Regina Corporat ion, 57 N. L. R. B. 4. 166 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The CIO seeks a unit of all productive, non-productive and main- tenance employees, including powerhouse employees and watchmen, but excluding foundry department employees, professional employees, draftsmen, mechanical engineers, executives, clerical3 and adminis- trative employees, foremen and assistant foremen. The Company concedes that the aforesaid unit is generally appropriate; it would, however, also exclude the powerhouse employees and the watchmen from the unit. There are 2 stationary engineers and 2 helpers employed in the powerhouse which supplies heat and power to the plant. The Com- pany asserts that the powerhouse must function at all times for the proper protection of the plant and its equipment. It argues that if the powerhouse employees are included in the same unit with pro- duction and maintenance employees a strike by the latter would inevi- tably include the former, leaving the plant and equipment unpro- tected. A similar argument for excluding powerhouse employees from a production and maintenance unit was advanced in the Pullman- iStandard Car case' and rejected by the Board. We shall include powerhouse employees in the unit.' The Company employs four watchmen to patrol and guard the premises at night. They are neither deputized nor militarized. The Company desires to exclude these employees for the same security reasons which it urged as justification for the exclusion of the power- house employees. As in the case of the powerhouse employees, we do not consider these reasons sufficient to warrant excluding the watchmen from the unit; we shall include them.e We find that all productive, non-productive and maintenance em- ployees of the Company, including watchmen and powerhouse em- ployees, but excluding foundry department employees, professional employees, draftsmen, mechanical engineers, executives, clerical and administrative employees, foremen, assistant foremen and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 313y agreement of the parties this term includes factory clerks and timekeepers. 4Matter of The Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company, 63 N L R. B 1451. 5 Matter of The Puaman -Standard Car Manufacturing Company, supra ; Matter of Pacific pills, 60 N L R B 467. °Matter of E I du Pont de Nemours & Company, Inc, 62 N L . R. B. 146; Matter of Ideal Roller & Manufacturing Company . 60 N L R B. 1105. THE FRENCH OIL MILL MACHINERY COMPANY V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES 167 We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. DIRECTION OF ELECTION By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with The French Oil- Mill Machinery Company, Piqua, Ohio, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than sixty (60) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super- vision of the Regional Director for the Eighth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work during the said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca- tion 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 those employees who have since quit or been dis- charged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of-America, CIO, for the purposes of collective bargaining.