Illinois Tool Works

In the Matter of ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS and METAL TRADES DEPART- MENT OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR, ELGIN, ILLINOIS Case No. R-1737.-Decided March 14, 1940 Tool and Screw Manufacturing Industry-Investigation of Representatives: contioversy concerning representation of employees: refusal of company to recognize union until certified by Board-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production , maintenance, shipping, and receiving-room employees at Elgin plant included , and office , full-time clerical , and supervisory employees excluded, pursuant to stipulation ; controversy as to three employees classified by Company as janitors, watchmen, and boilermen : included upon request of Union and over objection of Company-Election Ordered: requested by both parties. Mr. Charles F. McErlean, for the Board. Gardner, Carton and Douglas, by Mr. Erwin W. Roemer, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company. Mr. J. W. Ramsey, of Rockford, Ill., for the Metal Trades Depart- ment, for the Machinists, and for the Blacksmiths.: Mr. William Kaufman, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Mr. Charles White, of Chicago, Ill., for the Metal Polishers. Mr. H. A. Plank, of Chicago, Ill., for the 'Firemen' and Oilers. Hr. David Findling, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On December 28, 1939, Metal Trades Department of the American Federation of Labor, herein called the Metal Trades Department, filed with the Regional Director for the Thirteenth Region (Chicago, Illinois) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees at the Elgin, Illinois, plant of Illinois Tool Works, Elgin, Illinois, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Re- lations Act, 49 'Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On February 5, 1940, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, 'while the appearances as noted on the official transcript of the proceedings indicate that J W Ramsey appeared only for the Machinists, he apparently participated in the hearing as the representative of the Metal Trades Department and the Blacksmiths as well. 21 N. L R. B, No. 63. 660 ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS 661 acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On February 9, 1940, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear- ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the Metal Trades Department, and the International Association of Machinists, herein called the Machinists.- Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on February 19, 1940, at Elgin, Illinois, before John T. Lind- say, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board; the Company ; the Metal Trades Department ; the Machinists ; In- ternational Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers and Helpers, herein'called the Blacksmiths; Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers and Helpers International Union, herein called the Metal Polishers; and International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers, herein called the Firemen and Oilers; 3 were represented at, and participated in, the hearing.` Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-exam- ine 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 a ruling on an objec- tion to the admission of evidence. 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 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Illinois Tool Works, an Illinois corporation having its principal office and place of business in Chicago, Illinois, is engaged in the design, manufacture, sale, and distribution of cutting tools and screws. This case is concerned only with its plant in Elgin, Illinois, where it is engaged in the manufacture of screws, and where it em- ployed at the time of the hearing 248 persons. The principal raw material used in the operations of the Company at the Elgin plant during the year 1939 was steel wire. During that 2 The Machinists aie one of several craft unions which constitute the Metal Trades De- partment of the American Federation of Labor See Section II, infra. 8 The Blacksmiths , the Metal Polishers , and the Firemen and Oilers are also among the craft unions which constitute the Metal Trades Department of the American Federation of Labor See Section II, infra 4 The Board and the Company were represented by counsel ; and the Metal Trades De- partment, the Machinists , the Blacksmiths , and the Firemen and Oilers, apparently by their authorized representatives . See footnote 1, supra. It is not clear whether the Metal Polishers was represented by counsel or by a representative. 283032-41-vol. 21-43 662 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD year the cost of this raw material, of which approximately 10 per cent was shipped to Elgin from States other than the State of Illinois, was in excess of $36,000. During the same period,the total sale price of the screws manufactured at the Elgin plant, of which approxi- mately 80 per cent were shipped to points outside the State of Illinois, was in excess of $50,000.5 II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The Metal Trades Department of the American Federation of Labor is a labor organization composed of certain craft unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, and is authorized to act on behalf of these craft unions for collective bargaining pur- poses, "when one or more of these organizations have or claim to represent people in a particular plant." Among the craft unions constituting the Metal Trades Department, the following admit to membership, and claim to represent, employees of the Company at its Elgin plant : International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers and Helpers; International Association of Machinists; Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers and Helpers International Union ; and Firemen and Oilers International Union. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On December 21, 1939, the Metal Trades Department, claiming to represent a majority of the Company's employees in the Elgin plant in a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, requested the Company to recognize it as the exclusive representative of such employees for such purposes." The Company refused to do so until such time as the Metal Trades Department is certified as sole collective bargaining agent by the Board. We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company at its Elgin plant. 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 5 The record does not disclose whether these percentages refer to the value or to the mass of the raw materials or finished products The Company manufactures tools at its Chicago plant, which, together with the Elgin plant, was involved in Matter of ,'Illinois Tool Works, a Corporation and International Association of Machinists, affiliated with the A. F of L, 17 N. L R B 1016 In that case we found that the Company and its operations were subject to the jurisdiction of the Board a It appears from the record that "the unions here involved" made the demand It is clear, however, that reference thus made is to the Metal Trades Department - See h1.0 Section VI, infra. ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS 663 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 Company and the Metal Trades Department agreed, and we find, that all production and maintenance employees of the Company at its Elgin plant, including shipping and receiving- room employees, and excluding office employees, full-time clerical employees, and supervisory employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.' The Metal Trades Department further requests the inclusion, and the Company the exclusion, of Louis Choitz, Fred Kurtz, and Harl Cover, who are classified on the records of the Company as janitors, watchmen, and boilermen. Approximately 25 per cent of the time of these employees is spent in patrolling the plant, and the balance of their time in sweeping and cleaiiing, making boxes, and firing the boilers used in heating the plant. The interests and problems of these employees appear to be no different from those of other maintenance employees of the Company, who, the parties have agreed, are to be included in the bargaining unit.8 Moreover, there is no evidence that their duties as watchmen place these three employees in a confidential and fiduciary relationship to the management of the Company, or that their inclusion would cause them to relax the discharge of such duties. Under the circumstances, we are of the opinion that the janitors, watchmen, and boilermen should be included in the unit, particularly' where, as here, the only labor organization involved desires their inclusion.9 We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Company at its Elgin plant, including shipping and receiving-room employees, and janitors, watchmen, and boilermen, and excluding office employees, full-time clerical employees, and supervisory 7 The parties have agreed that the following employees are office employees • Powers, Cappers , Collingbourne , Wiechmann, Frances Johnson, Chandler , Holle, Fred Kappen, Cas- tenson, Funk , Korbacher , Ettner and O'Leary; the following are full -time clerical em- ployees : Feth, Lowell , Glomp, and Ralph Anderson ; and the following axe supervisory employees : Berthelsen , Wicks, Aldrich Dahlgien , Robert Warner , Kehl, Berg, Neil Robison, William Linder , Richard Warner, Renwick , Krabbe , Washam, Bechtold, Sjoreen, Collier, Russell , Baldwin , Fiddler, Phillips, Harper, Havhl , Skibbe, Sass, and William Voss. 8 Choitz , Kurtz , and Cover are Listed ' in an exhibit prepared by the Company, together with six other employees , as constituting the "Maintenance Department " 9 See Matter of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company and Industrial Union of Marine cG Shipbuilding Workers, of America , Local No 16, 19 N. L R B 313, Matter of Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company and Textile T17orkers Organizing Committee, Local No. 74 of the Committee for Industrial Organization, 13 N L R B. 513, and cases cited in foot- note 3 therein. 664 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD employees,10 constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col- lective 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 At the hearing the Metal Trades Department introduced evidence that a majority of the employees in the unit which we have found to be appropriate are members of the Machinists, the Blacksmiths, the Metal Polishers, and the Firemen and Oilers, and thus have designated the Metal Trades Department as their representative for the purposes of collective bargaining. However, it did not re- quest certification on the record as made, but joined with the Com- pany in requesting an election. We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen can best be resolved by holding an election by secret ballot. At the hearing the parties also agreed that, in the event that the Board ordered an election herein, all employees in the appropriate unit who were employed by the Company during the pay-roll period next preceding the date of the Direction of Election should be eligible to vote. We construe this agreement to include as eligible to vote those employees in the unit who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation, or who were then or have since been temporarily laid off, and to exclude those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause. As thus construed, we see no reason to depart from the wishes of the parties in this regard, and we shall direct accordingly. 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 rep- resentation of employees at the Elgin, Illinois, plant of Illinois Tool Works, 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 the Elgin plant, including shipping and receiving-room employees, and janitors, watchmen, and boilermen, and excluding office em- ployees, full-time clerical employees, and supervisory employees,10 constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain- 10 See footnote 7, supra ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS 665 ing within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. 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 8, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation ordered by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Illinois Tool Works, Elgin, Illinois, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible but not later than 30 days from the date of this Direction of Election, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Thirteenth 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 Elgin plant, including shipping and receiving-room employees, and janitors, watchmen, and boilermen, who were employed by the Company during the pay-roll period next preceding the date of this Direction of Election, or who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, but excluding office employees, full- time clerical employees, and supervisory employees," and also exclud- ing employees who, between such pay-roll date and the date of the election, have quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they wish to be represented for the purposes of collective bar- gaining, by Metal Trades Department of the American Federation of Labor. I" See footnote 7, supra.