Berkeley Granite Corp.

In the Matter of BERKELEY GRANITE CORPORATION AND/OR COGGINS GRANITE AND MARBLE INDUSTRIES , INCORPORATED, and ATLANTA BRANCH, GRANITE CUTTERS INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Case No. P-1374.-Decided December 7, 1939 Granite Industry-Investigation of Representatives : controversy concerning representation of employees : refusal of employer to recognize union as exclusive representative-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all granite cutters, surface machine men, polishers and helpers , tool sharpeners, lay-out men , rubber cutters, rubbing bed men, sand blasters and shapers employed in the Berkeley plant, excluding foremen and supervisors , and office and clerical help-Certifi- cation of Representatives : upon stipulation entered into after the hearing by all parties. Mr. Reeves R. Hilton and Mr. Clarence D. Musser, for the Board. Mr. Morris Brandon, Jr., of Atlanta, Ga., for the Company. Mr. Irving S. Nathan and Mr. Dick Hudson, of Atlanta, Ga., for the Union. Mr. Edwin L. Swope, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES STATEMENT OF THE CASE On October 24, 1938, and on April 29, 1939, a petition and an amended petition, respectively, were filed in behalf of Atlanta Branch, Granite Cutters International Association of America, herein called the Union, with the Regional Director for the Tenth Region (Atlanta, Georgia), alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Berkeley Granite Corporation and/or Coggins Granite and Marble Industries, Incor- porated, Atlanta, Georgia, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Sec- tion 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On January 4, 1939, the National Labor Relations 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 2, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. 18 N. L. R. B., No. 24. 153 154 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD On May 1, 1939, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the Union. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on May 11 and 12, 1939, at Atlanta, Georgia, before Henry J. Kent, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board, the Company, and the Union 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. At the commencement of the hearing the Union's attorney stated that sometime after the petition was filed the Union merged with Granite Cutters International Association of America, Elberton Branch, and therefore moved that, if the Board certified the Union as representing a majority of the Company's employees, it do so under the Union's new name. The Trial Examiner reserved ruling on this motion. The motion is hereby granted. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudical errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. On June 24, 1939, the Board, having interpreted a communication from a local official of the Union as a request for permission to with- draw the petition, issued and duly served upon the Company and the Union a notice advising them that unless sufficient cause to the con- trary appeared on June 30, 1939, or as soon thereafter as might be convenient, the Board would permit the withdrawal of the petition and close the case. On July 5, 1939, no sufficient cause to the con- trary having been shown, the Board issued and duly served upon the parties an order closing the case. On July 10, 1939, the Board re- ceived a copy of a letter addressed to the Regional Director on June 29, 1939, and also a letter addressed to the Board by the Union's attorney, advising the Board that the Union desired the proceeding reopened and decided on its merits and that the action of the Union's local official had not been authorized by the petitioner. Thereafter, on October 30, 1939, the following stipulation was entered into by the Company, the Union, and a representative of the Board : There having heretofore been filed with the National Labor Relations Board, Tenth Region, a petition and an amended peti- tion by the Atlanta Branch, Granite Cutters International As- sociation of America, alleging that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of the granite cutters, surface machine men, polishers and helpers, tool sharpeners, layout men, rubber cutters, rubbing bed men, sand blasters and shapers, exclusive of foremen and supervisors, office and clerical help, employed in the plant of the Berkeley Granite Corporation BERKELEY GRANITE CORPORATION 155 in Atlanta, Georgia, and requesting that, pursuant to authority granted in Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, the National Labor Relations Board investigate such controversy and certify the name or names of the representatives that have been designated or selected by said employees, and the Board having directed an investigation and hearing on said petition, and, pursuant to said order, an investigation having been held at Atlanta, Georgia, on May 11, 1939. IT IS HEREBY stipulated by and between Berkeley Granite Corporation and/or Coggins Granite and Marble Industries, Inc., hereinafter referred to as the respondent; Atlanta Branch, Gran- ite Cutters International Association of America, hereinafter re- ferred to as the union; and Alexander E. Wilson, Jr., Attorney for the National Labor Relations Board, that : 1. On or about May 24, 1939, respondent and the union entered into a contract whereby respondent agreed to recognize the union as the exclusive bargaining agency for all granite cutters, sur- face machine men, polishers and helpers, tool sharpeners, layout men, rubber cutters, rubbing bed men, sand blasters and shapers, exclusive of foremen and supervisors, office and clerical help. A copy of said contract is attached hereto and made a part of the record herein.' 2. It is further stipulated and agreed by and between the parties that on the basis of this stipulation, the pleadings, and the record herein, and pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Re- lations Act, the Board shall certify the Granite Cutters Inter- national Association as the exclusive bargaining agency for all the employees within the above described unit. The stipulation is hereby made a part of the record. On November 21, 1939, the Board issued an order reopening the case and revoking its previous order permitting withdrawal of the petition and closing the case. Upon the basis of the record and the stipulation in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Coggins Granite and Marble Industries, Incorporated, a Georgia corporation, operates several granite quarries and plants in the State ' The contract is not set forth herein. 156, DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD of Georgia, but the only plant involved in the present case is the Berkeley plant, located in Atlanta, Georgia, which it operates under the name of Berkeley Granite Company.2 Granite is cut and polished in the form of finished monuments at the Berkeley plant. The Com- pany obtains all of the raw materials used at said plant within the State of Georgia, but ships about 90 per cent of the finished monuments from the Berkeley plant to points in States other than Georgia. Dur- ing 1937, shipments from the Berkeley plant amounted to $348,588.85, and during 1938, they amounted to $292,914.50. During the period from January 1, 1939, to March 1, 1939, the Berkeley plant finished in excess of 12,000 cubic feet of unfinished granite worth about $75,000. The Company admits that its operations affect interstate commerce within the meaning of the Act. IT. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Granite Cutters International Association of America, Elberton Branch, is a labor organization, affiliated with the American Federa- tion of Labor, admitting to membership all granite cutters, surface machine men, polishers and helpers, tool sharpeners, lay-out men, rubber cutters, rubbing bed men, sand blasters, and shapers employed at the Berkeley plant, but excluding foremen and supervisors, and office and clerical employees. IH. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On October 26, 1937, the Company and the Union entered into an exclusive bargaining contract which expired on September 1, 1938. Thereafter, the Company questioned the Union's claim that it rep- resented a majority of the employees and the Union filed the petition in this proceeding. 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 re- lation 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. 2 The Company Is Incorrectly referred to in the pleadings as Berkeley Granite Corpora- tion and/or Coggins Granite and Marble Industries , Incorporated. BERKELEY G'RAN'ITE CORPORATION V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT 157 The Union claims that all granite cutters, surface machine men, polishers and helpers, tool sharpeners, lay-out men, rubber cutters, rubbing bed men, sand blasters and shapers in its Berkeley plant, excluding foremen and supervisors, and office and clerical employees, constitute an appropriate unit. As hereinabove set forth, the Com- pany and the Union stipulated that the Board certify the Union as the exclusive bargaining agency for all the employees within the above-described unit. We find that all granite cutters, surface machine operators, pol- ishers and helpers, tool sharpeners, lay-out men, rubber cutters, rub- bing bed men, sand blasters, and shapers employed in the Berkeley plant, excluding foremen and supervisors, and office and clerical em- ployees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that said unit will insure to such 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 On October 30,1939, the parties stipulated, as hereinabove set forth, that the Board should certify the Union as the exclusive representa- tive of the employees in a unit which we have found to be appropriate. No other labor organization is claiming to represent these employees. We are satisfied and find that the Union represents a majority of the employees in the unit found to be appropriate for the purposes of col- lective bargaining. The Union is, therefore, the exclusive representa- tive of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining, and we will so certify.3 Upon the basis of the foregoing 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 Coggins Granite & Marble Industries, Inc., operating as Berkeley Granite Company, Atlanta, Georgia, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All granite cutters, surface machine men, polishers and helpers, tool sharpeners, lay-out men, rubber cutters, rubbing bed men, sand blasters, and shapers employed at the Berkeley plant, excluding fore- men and supervisors, and office and clerical employees, constitute a I See Matter of Vanadium Corporation of America and Local # 953, United Vanadium Workers (Affiliated with the C. I. 0.), 13 N. L. R. B. 836. 158 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act. 3. Granite Cutters International Association of America, Elberton Branch, is the exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Sec- tion 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act. CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Re- lations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Granite Cutters International Associa- tion of America, Elberton Branch, has been designated and selected by a majority of the granite cutters, surface machine men, polishers and helpers, tool sharpeners, lay-out men, rubber cutters, rubbing bed men, sand blasters, and shapers, employed by Coggins Granite and Marble Industries, Incorporated, operating as Berkeley Granite Com- pany, Atlanta, Georgia, excluding foremen and supervisors, and office and clerical employees, as their representative for the purposes of collective bargaining and that, pursuant to the provision of Section 9 (a) of the Act, Granite Cutters International Association of Amer- ica, Elberton Branch, is the exclusive representative of such employees for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment. MR. WILLIAM M. LEISERSON took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Certification of Representatives.