Monticello Manufacturing Corp.

In the Matter Of MONTICELLO MANUFACTURING CORPORATION and FEDERAL LABOR UNION No. 21578, AFFILIATED WITH THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR -Case No. R-2162.-Decided December 12, 1940 Jurisdiction : fixture and display, equipment manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : refusal to accord recognition to union and request that certification be obtained ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em- ployees excluding supervisory and clerical employees. Mr. Joseph L. Clyde, of Elwood, Ind., for the Company. Mr. Hugh L. Gormley, of Indianapolis, Ind., for the Federal. Mr. Grover Ross, of Elwood, Ind., for the S. W. O. C. Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND ,DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On August 26 and September 11 and 26, 1940, respectively, Fed- eralLabor Union No. 21578, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein called the Federal, filed with the Regional Director for the Eleventh Region (Indianapolis, Indiana) a petition and amended petitions alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Monticello Manufacturing Corporation, Elwood, Indiana, herein called the Com- pany, and requesting an investigation and certification of representa- tives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On November 4, 1940, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pur- suant 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 November 18, 1940, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the 28 N. L. It. B. No 76. 503 504 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Federal, and Steel Workers Organizing Committee, Local No. 2085, herein called the S. W. O. C., a labor organization claiming to repre- sent employees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on November 25, 1940, at Elwood, Indiana, before Arthur R. Donovan, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Company, the Federal, and the S. W. O. C. were represented and participated in the hearing. At the commencement of the hearing the . Trial Examiner granted a motion by the S. W. O._ C. to intervene. 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 other motions and on objections tb the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed all 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 Monticello Manufacturing Corporation is an Indiana corporation with its principal place of business in Elwood, Indiana, where it is engaged in the manufacture and sale of iron and sheet-metal display fixtures and equipment. The Company purchases annually raw materi- als valued at about $126,000, approximately 35 per cent of which are shipped to it from points outside the State of Indiana. It sells annu- ally finished products valued at about $200,000, approximately 86 per cent of which are shipped by it to points outside the State of Indiana. The Company admits that it is engaged in interstate commerce. IT. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Federal Labor Union No. 21578 is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It admits to membership all pro- duction and maintenance employees of the Company, excluding super- visory and clerical employees. Steel Workers Organizing Committee, Local No. 2085, -is a labor organization of lis,ted with the Congress of Industrial Organizations. It admits to membership the same classes of employees of the Com- pany as the Federal. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has notified the Federal that it will not recognize any labor organization until it is certified by the Board: A statement MONTICELLO MANUFACTURING CORPORATION 505 of the Trial Examiner during the hearing shows that the Federal and the S. W. 0. C. each represents a substantial number of the employees in the unit which they allege is appropriate.' We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company. IV. THE EFFECT OF TILE 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 The Company, the Federal, and the S. W. 0. C. agreed by stipula-. tion that the appropriate unit should consist of all production and maintenance employees of the Company, excluding supervisory and clerical employees. We see no reason for departing from-such unit. We, find that all production and maintenance employees of the Company, excluding supervisory and clerical employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective 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 Federal seeks to be certified on the basis of the record. In support of its claim of majority representation the Federal pro- duced its dues records and its membership roster, signed by 60 of the 74 employees in the appropriate unit. The S. W. 0. C. objected to the certification of the Federal without an election. Under these circumstances, we believe that the question concerning representa- tion can best be resolved by means of an election by secret ballot.2 3 The Trial Examiner's statement shows that 60 employees whose names appear on the Company's pay roll of November 22, 1940, or on a supplementary list of the Company containing names of employees to be rehired, appeared on the membership roster and the dues records of the Federal , and that 20 employees whose names appeared on said pay roll and supplementary list have signed applications in the S. W. O. C. There are 74 employees on the pay roll of November 22, 1940, and the supplementary list. See Matter of Armour & Company and United Packinghouse Workers, Local Industrial Upson No. 13 of Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee, affiliated with CIO, 13 N. L. R. B. 567. 506 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The parties agreed at the hearing that, in the event the Board directed an election, eligibility of employees to vote should be de- termined by the Company's pay roll' of November 22, 1940, plus a supplementary list of the Company containing the names of em- ployees temporarily laid off and subject to recall. We find that those employees of the Company within the appropriate unit whose names appear on the Company's pay roll of November 22, 1940, plus those whose names appear on a supplementary list of the Company which contains the names of employees temporarily laid off and subject to recall, shall be eligible 'to vote, excluding those who have since quit or been discharged for cause.' 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 Monticello Manufacturing Corporation, Elwood, Indiana, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 2. All production and maintenance employees of the Company, excluding supervisory and clerical employees, constitute a unit ap- propriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the mean- ing 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 Rela- tions 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 authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Monticello Manufacturing Corporation, Elwood, Indiana, 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 Eleventh 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 em- ployees of the Company whose names appear on the Company's pay roll of November 22,'1940, and on a supplementary list of the Com- pany containing the names of employees temporarily laid off and MONTICELLO MANUFACTURING CORPORATION 507 subject to recall, excluding supervisory and clerical employees and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to de- termine whether they desire to be represented by Federal Labor Union No. 21578,, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, by Steel Workers Organizing Committee, Local No. 2085, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. CHAIRMAN HARRY A. Mmms took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election.