Consolidated Steel Corp.

In the Matter of CONSOLIDATED STEEL CORPORATION and Los ANGELES METAL TRADES COUNCIL Case No. 2-1-R-.3023.-Decided January 2,1946 Messrs. Alfred Wright and Harold F. Collins, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Company. Mr. David Sokol, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Union. Mr. Charles B. Slaughter, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by Los Angeles Metal Trades Council, herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Consolidated Steel Corporation,' Shipbuilding Division, Wilmington, California, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before George H. O'Brien, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Los Angeles, California, on the 25th day of October 1945. The Company and the Union appeared and participated. Both parties 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 an opportunity to file briefs with the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Consolidated Steel Corporation is a California corporation engaged in the production and repair of seagoing vessels at its Wilmington, ' The petition was amended at the hearing to show the correct name of the Company as stated above. 65 N. L. R. B., No. 94. 563 564 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD California, shipyard. During the year ending December 31, 1944, the Company purchased steel, pipes, fittings, cable, and other mate- rials amounting in value to more than $15,000,000. Practically all of these purchases were made outside the State of California. Dur- ing the dame period it delivered to various agencies of the United States Government ships amounting in value to more than $109,- 000,000. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Los Angeles Metal Trades Council, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to membership employbas of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the exclusive bargaining representative of inspectors at the Company's Wilmington, California, yard, until the Union has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit 2 A statement of a Board agent, received in evidence at the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.' 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. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Union contends that "all production inspectors except for the chief inspector and assistant chief inspectors at the Company's ship- building division" constitute a unit appropriate for collective bar- gaining .4 The Company took no position as to the appropriate unit. The Company presently employs about, 126 production inspectors who are directly responsible to one Chief Inspector and three Assistant Chief Inspectors. Their duties are to inspect all materials, fabri- cated parts, sections, and completed work on ships under construction or being repaired. They must see that the material received by the yard is in proper condition, that it meets specifications, and that it is the part or piece ordered. With regard to work performed in the 2 The production and maintenance employees at the Wilmington , California, yard are represented by Petitioner and have a contract with the Company. s A Field Examiner for the Board reported that the Union submitted 59 authorization for representation cards ; that all the names appearing on the cards were listed on the Company's pay roll of August 24, 1945, which contained the names of 126 employees in the appropriate unit, and that the cards bore dates in June, July and August of 1945. 4 The petition was amended at the hearing to define the proposed unit as above stated. CONSOLIDATED STEEL CORPORATION 565 yard they must see that it meets the specifications of the American Bureau of Shipping, the United States Maritime Commission, and any other inspection agency that is charged with seeing that the work is properly done. In the main, inspectors are recruited from the trades or crafts whose work they inspect. They are stationed in every department of the yard and work very closely with the production superintendents and foremen. Their principal duty is immediately to report to the su- perintendent or foreman in charge of production any defective work- manship or material. They have no authority to stop any work and no authority over any workman. They also make daily written reports to the Chief Inspector. We find, therefore, that all production inspectors at the Wilmington, California, shipyard of Consolidated Steel Corporation, excluding the Chief Inspector, the Assistant Chief Inspectors, and all other su- pervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, disci- pline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effec- tively recommend such action, and all other employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em- ployees 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 Relations 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 Consolidated Steel Corporation, Shipbuilding Division, Washington, California, ship- yard, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted 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 Twenty-first 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- 566 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 those employees who have since quit or been discharged 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 Los Angeles Metal Trades Council, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining.