International Minerals & Chemical Corp.

In the Matter of INTERNATIONAL MINERALS & CHEMICAL CORPORATION and UNITED GAS, COKE AND CHEMICAL WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. O. Case No. 15-R-1456.-Decided January 30, 1946 Messrs. J. W. McElbeney and C. H. Elrod, of Montgomery, Ala., for the Company. Messrs. Howard King and K. G. Ingle, of Montgomery, Ala., 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 United Gas, Coke and Chemical Work- ers of America, C. I. 0., herein called the Union, alleging that a ques- tion affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of International Minerals & Chemical Corporation, Mont- gomery, Alabama, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before George S. Slyer, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Montgomery, Alabama, on October 10, 1945. The Company and the Union appeared and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issuesq 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. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY International Minerals & Chemical Corporation, a New York cor- poration, is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of com- mercial fertilizers. It opeartes 24 punts in 12 States, 2 of which are 65 N. L. R. B., No. 108. 628 INTERNATIONAL MINERALS & CHEMICAL CORPORATION 629 located in the State of Alabama. We are concerned herein solely with the Company's plant located in Montgomery, Alabama. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1945, the Company received at its Mont- gomery plant 37,600 tons of raw materials, 42 percent of which was received from States other than Alabama. During the same period the Company shipped a total of 32,200 tons of its product to points within the State of Alabama and 5,300 tons on order of the Agricul- tural Adjustment Agency and on Government bills of lading to points outside the State of Alabama. The Company's product is marketed through more than 100 dealers and distributors within the State of Alabama. We find, contrary to the contention of the Company, that it is en- gaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Re- lations Act. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION United Gas,, Coke and Chemical Workers of America, is a labor organization, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the exclusive bargaining representative of certain of the Company's em- -ployees until the Union has been certified by the Board in an appro- priate unit. A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear- ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of em- ployees 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 We find substantially in accordance with the stipulation of the parties that all production and maintenance employees of the Com- pany at its Montgomery, Alabama, plant, excluding clerical employ- ees, watchmen, master mechanic, general foremen, foremen, and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, dis- charge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em- ployees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appro- priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 1 The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 32 application cards which bore names appearing on the Company's pay-roll records for the period ending August 9, 1945. There are approximately 36 employees in the appropriate unit. 630 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 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 International Min- erals R Chemical Corporation, Montgomery, Alabama, 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 Fifteenth 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 Regu- lations, among employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately pre- ceding 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 United Gas, Coke and Chemical Workers of America, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining.