Kelsey Hayes Wheel Co.

In the Matter of KELSEY HAYES WHEEL COMPANY, A CORPORATION and LOCAL 174, INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE WORKERS OF AMERICA, AFFILIATED WITH THE C. I. O. Case No. R-1543.-Decided October 27, 19.39 Automotive Parts Manufacturing Industry-Investigation of Representatives: question concerning representation of employees ; two competing unions claim to represent a majority of the employees in the appropriate unit ; employer recognized both unions for their members only-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining: all production and maintenance employees of the Company at its Detroit plants, including factory clerks , watchmen, tool and die makers, tool- room employees, powerhouse employees, and timekeepers, excluding foremen, supervisory employees, and office clerical help ; no controversy as to-Election Ordered .Mr. William R. Consedine, for the Board. Mr. Maurice Sugar, and Mr. Jack N. Tucker, by Mr. Jack N. Tucker, of Detroit, Mich., for the C. I. O. Mr. Rockwell T. Gust, of Detroit, Mich., for the respondent. Mr. Ray Johnson, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On March 16, 1939, Local 174, International Union, United Auto- mobile Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, herein called the C. I. 0., filed with the Regional Director for the Seventh Region (Detroit, Michigan) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation, of employees of Kelsey Hayes Wheel Company, a corporation, Detroit, Michigan, herein called the Company, and re- questing an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On March 27, 1939, the National Labor Rela- tions Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, ordered an in- 16 N. L. R. B., No. 61. 580 KELSEY HAYES WHEEL COMPANY 581 vestigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. , On April 6, 1939, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, upon the C. I. 0., and upon International Union, United Automobile Workers of America, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, and Local 612 thereof, herein collectively called the A. F. of L. On September 14, 1939, the A. F. of L. notified the Regional Director that it would not participate in the proceeding.' Pursuant to the notice of hearing and notices of postponement, a hearing was held on September 15, 1939, before Gustaf B. Erickson, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board, the Company, and the C. I. O. were represented by counsel and participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. During the course of the hearing, the Trial Examiner made several rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evi- dence. The Board has reviewed the 'rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY, Kelsey Hayes Wheel Company, a Delaware corporation, has its principal offices and plants at Detroit, Michigan. The Company also owns all the voting stock of the Kelsey Hayes Wheel Company, Ltd., of Dagenham Dock, Essex, England, and 80 per cent of the stock of Kelsey Wheel Company, Ltd., of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The Company at its Detroit plants, the only plants involved in this proceeding, manufactures wheels, rims, brake drums, hubs, hub and drum assemblies, brake parts, and miscellaneous stampings. During the year 1938 it purchased raw materials consisting principally of steel, castings, forgings, paint, chemicals, bolts, nuts, hardware, small stampings, and machine products and amounting to approximately $7,500,000 in value and 100,000 tons in bulk. Approximately 32 per cent of these raw materials were shipped to the Detroit plants from points outside the State of Michigan. During the same period, the Company sold products amounting to approximately $12,750,000 in value and 100,000 tons in bulk. Ap- 1 Neither International Union , United Automobile Workers of America, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor , nor Local 612 thereof, appeared at the hearing although the notification referred to above was signed only by Local 612. 582 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD proximately 67 per cent of the finished products were shipped to points outside the State of Michigan. The Company admits that it is engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of the Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Local 174, International Union, United Automobile Workers of America, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Indus- trial Organizations. It admits to its membership all production and maintenance employees of the Company, including factory clerks, watchmen, tool and die makers, toolroom employees, powerhouse em- ployees, and timekeepers, but excluding foremen, supervisory employees, and office clerical help. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION From March 1937 to March 1939 the Company recognized the C. I. O. as the exclusive representative of the employees at its two Detroit plants. In January 1939 a number of the employees joined the A. F. of L. and in March 1939 this labor organization notified the Company that it represented a majority of the employees and re- quested recognition as their collective bargaining representative. The C. I. O. proposed a consent election to determine the collective bar- gaining representative. The A. F. of L., however, rejected this pro- posal. On March 13, 1939, the Company notified the C. I. O. and the A. F. of L. that it would recognize both organizations for their mem- bers only, pending a legal determination of the exclusive bargaining representative for all the employees. We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company. IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON COMMERCE We find that the. question concerning representation which has arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT At the hearing the C. I. O. alleged that the appropriate unit consists of all production and maintenance employees at both Detroit plants, including factory clerks, watchmen, tool and die makers, toolroom employees, powerhouse employees, and timekeepers, but excluding KELSEY HAYES WHEEL COMPANY 583 foremen, supervisory employees, and office clerical help. The Com- pany does not object to this unit, the propriety of which has been recognized by the Company and the C. I. 0. since March 1937. We find that all the production and maintenance employees of the Company at its Detroit plants, including factory clerks, watchmen, tool and die niakers, toolroom employees, powerhouse employees, and timekeepers, but excluding foremen, supervisory employees, and office clerical help, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collec- tive bargaining and that said unit will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act. VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES The C. I. 0. introduced evidence that it represented a substantial number of the Company's employees but conceded that an election is necessary to settle the question concerning representation. We shall therefore order an election. The Company and the C. I. 0. agreed that all employees in the appropriate unit who are on the pay roll next preceding the date of election should be eligible to participate in any election which the Board might order. We shall follow the agreement of the parties and direct that all employees within the appropriate unit who are employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the election, including employees who do not work during such pay-roll period because they may be ill, on vacation, or temporarily laid off, but excluding employees who will have since quit or been discharged for cause, shall be eligible to vote. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of the Company, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National, Labor Relations Act. 2. All production and maintenance employees of the Company at its Detroit plants, including factory clerks,- watchmen, tool and die makers, toolroom employees, powerhouse employees, and timekeepers, but excluding foremen, supervisory employees, and office clerical help, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. 247383-40-vol. 16-38 584 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 Rela- tions Act, 49 Stat. 449,, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, it is hereby DnIECmD that, as part of the investigation ordered by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Kelsey Hayes Wheel Company, 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 of Election, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Seventh Region acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all production and maintenance employees of the Company at its De- troit plants, including factory clerks, watchmen, tool and die makers, toolroom employees; powerhouse employees, and timekeepers who are employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the election, including employees who do not work during such pay- roll period because they may be ill, on vacation, or temporarily laid off, but excluding foremen, supervisory employees, office clerical help, and employees who will have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Local 174, International Union, United Automobile Workers of America, affili- ated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of collective bargaining.