Endicott Forging & Manufacturing Co.

In the Matter of ENDICOTT FORGING & MANUFACTURING Co., and NATIONAL DIE SINKERS CONFERENCE Case No. R-19/5.-Decided January 05, 1941 Jurisdiction : drop forgings manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re- fusal to accord recognition to union ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees engaged in work on dies or parts of dies used to complete forgings, including apprentices and excluding laborers and maintenance employees. Mr. Frank J. Mangan, of Binghamton, N. Y., for the Company. Mr. J. G. Heiner, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the International Asso- ciation of Machinists on behalf of the Union. Mr. Lester M. Shearer, of Canton, Ohio, for the Union. Mr. John Bebel, of Endicott, N.'Y., for the Committee. Mrs. Mary Metlay Kaufman, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On April 29, 1940, National Die Sinkers Conference, herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the Third Region (Buffalo, New York) a petition alleging that a question affecting com- merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Endi- cott Forging & Manufacturing Co., Endicott, New York, herein called, the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of rep- resentatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On May 8, 1940 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, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the,Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On May 16, 1940, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the Union, and the Shop Committee of the Endicott Forging & Manufacturing 29 N. L R., B., No. 39. 218 ENDICOTT FORGING & MANUFACTURING CO. 219 Company, herein called the Committee,' a labor organization claim- ing to represent employees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to the notice and order extending the date of hearing, a hearing was held on July 15, 1940, at Binghamton, New York, before Peter Crotty, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The .Company and the International Association of Machinists ap- pearing on behalf of the Union were represented by counsel, the Union by its business agent, and the Committee by its chairman; all participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to ex- amine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bear- ing 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 evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial' Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. On July 27, 1940, the Company filed a brief which the Board has considered. On December 5, 1940, the Union filed a motion, praying, in sub- stance, that the Board substitute the name "Endicott Die Sinkers Local No. 190, of the International Die Sinkers Conference" for the name of the union wherever it may appear in these proceedings. On December 21, 1940, the Board issued and duly served upon the parties a notice that on December 27, 1940, unless sufficient cause to the contrary should appear, it would make such substitution. No cause to the contrary having been shown, on January 17, 1941, the Board issued and duly served upon the parties an order granting the motion. .Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Endicott Forging & Manufacturing Co., of Endicott, New York, a New York corporation, is engaged in the manufacture of drop forgings. The principal raw material used by the Company in'its operations' is bar steel. From May 1, 1939, to April 3, 1940, the Company expended $630,000 for the purchase of such material, ap- proximately 75 per cent of which was secured from points outside the State of New York. During that period the Company manu- factured drop forgings valued at $1,300,000. More than 75 per cent of the drop forgings manufactured by the Company were shipped 1 The Committee is referred to as the Grievance Committee in its proposed rules and bylaws and as the Shop Committee by its chairman and in the 'contracts entered into be- tween the Company and the employees . It Is clear that the Shop Committee and the Grievance Committe'a are identical 220 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS - BOARD to points outside the State of New York. The Company employs about 161 production and maintenance employees, about 25 of whom are employed in its die room. It concedes that its business is con- ducted in interstate commerce. II. THE ORGANIZATION$ INVOLVED Endicott Die Sinkers Local No. 190, of the International. Die Sinkers Conference is a labor organization admitting to membership all employees of the Company working on dies or parts of dies. The Shop Committee of the Company is an unaffiliated labor or- ganization functioning as an employee representation plan in which all the employees participate by virtue of their employment by the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION Since 1936 the Committee has had collective bargaining contracts with the Company covering all production and maintenance em- ployees. The last contract, which was executed in November 1939, was to expire on November 30, 1940. Early in April 1940, the Union began to organize the Company's employees in the die room. On April 22, 1940, and again on April 26, 1940, the Union, claiming to represent a majority of the employ- ees in the die room, requested the Company to recognize it as the exclusive bargaining representative of its employees engaged in work on dies and parts of dies. The Company refused this request stating that the Committee represented all its production and main- tenance employees and that it' had entered into a collective bargain- ing contract with the Committee which was then in effect. The Union submitted to the Regional Director evidence indicat- ing that it represented a substantial number of the Company's em- ployees in the unit claimed by it to be appropriate.2' We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Union contends that all employees of the Company perform- ing work on dies or parts of dies used to complete forgings, includ- ing apprentices and excluding laborers and maintenance employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective, bargain- ing. The employees so engaged include die sinkers and apprentices, 2 The Regional Director reported that the Union submitted 17 authorization cards dated between April 1, 1940, and May 1 , 1940, bearing signatures which appeared to be genuine and original. ENDICOTT FORGING & MANUFACTURING CO. 221 milling machine operators, boring mill operators working on, dies only, lathe operators and apprentices working on dies more than 50 per cent of their time, grinders, plane operators, die repair op- erators, and, trimmer apprentices. The Company 'contends that all production and, maintenance employees constitute an appropriate unit. The Committee 'makes no contention concerning the appro- priate unit. The Committee was formed in 1935. It consists of eight employ- ees representing the various departments of the Company elected annually by the employees in each department. Since 1935 it has been the bargaining representative of all the Company's production and maintenance employees and has annually, since 1936, entered into collective bargaining contracts with the Company. The em- ployees in the die room have been represented on the Committee by two employees elected annually. The Committee is not a membership organization 'and employees are automatically entitled to participate in the departmental elec- tions, of representatives by, virtue of their employee status. The last agreement negotiated by the Committee is entitled "Agreement be- tween Workers and Company" and although subscribed, by the Com- mittee, recites that it is an agreement "between the employees and the Endicott Forging & Manufacturing Company." Thus the Com- mittee is not- specifically accorded recognition by the Company as the representative of its employees. Under these circumstances,' we are of the opinion that neither the continued existence of the Com- mittee during the past 5 years nor the history of bargaining with the Company establishes sufficiently a pattern of collective bargain- ing upon an industrial basis that would render inappropriate the bargaining unit herein sought by the Union. Indeed, the die sinkers, as well as other groups of employees, have been accorded separate representation on the Committee in conformance with the practice of choosing representatives by departments. It should be noted, moreover, that the Committee does not challenge the appropriateness of a unit consisting of the die sinkers. The die sinkers are highly skilled craftsmen who serve a 9-year apprenticeship before they become journeymen die sinkers. The Company conducts its dies operations in a separate building. We are of the opinion and we find that the employees of the Company en- gaged in work on dies and parts of dies constitute a well-defined group entitled to be regarded, under the circumstances presented, as a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. E The departments consist of the forge shop, die room, press room, shipping room and steel yard, and millwrights. 222 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Although the Company contends that all the production and main- tenance employees constitute an appropriate unit, in respect to the unit sought by the Union the Company argues that the apprentices should be excluded. Because of the scarcity of die sinkers the Com- pany employs apprentices under individual contracts fora period of 4 years during which time they are trained to become die sinkers. They are engaged in specialized work on parts of dies. Apprentices are eligible to membership in the Union. , In view of these facts we find that there is an identity of interest between the apprentices ,and the employees engaged in work on dies and parts of dies, and we shall therefore include them in the appropriate unit .4 We find that all employees of the Company engaged in work on dies or_parts of dies used to complete forgings, including apprentices and excluding laborers and maintenance 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. TIM DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen can best be resolved by the conduct of an election. The Union desires that only employees in the appropriate unit who were employed by the Company during the pay-roll period of April' 22, 1940, the date when the Union first sought recognition, be eligible to participate in the election. We shall, however, follow our usual practice and .direct that the employees of the Company eligible to vote in the election shall be those in the appropriate unit employed during the pay-roll period next preceding the date of this Direction, subject to such limitations and additions as are set forth in the Direction. In view of our finding as to-the appropriate unit and since the Committee presented no claim during the hearing' with respect to it, we shall omit the Committee . from the ballot. The Committee is hereby given leave, however; to have its name placed on the ballot by filing a written application to that effect with the Regional Di- rector within 5 days after the date of this Decision and Direction of Election. 4 See Matter of, Standard Hat Company and United Hatters, Cap & Millinery Workers International Union, 17 N. L. R B 883; Matter of Floyd A. Fridell, individually and trad.ng as Carolina Marble d Granite Workers and G4ranite Cutters' International Asso- biation of America, Charlotte , Branch, 11 N L. R B. 249 ; Matter. of Century Mills, Inc. and South Jersey Joint Board of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (Learners ), 5 N. L. R . B. 807. t ENDICOTT FORGING & MANUFACTURING CO. 223 On 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 of Endicott Forging & Manufacturing Co., Endicott, New York, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) ' and Sec- tion 2 ( 6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All employees of the Company engaged in work on dies or parts of dies used to complete forgings, including apprentices and ex- cluding laborers and maintenance 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 Re- lations 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 Endicott Forging & Manufacturing Co., Endicott, New York, 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 Third 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 the employees of the Company engaged in working on dies or parts of dies used to com- plete forgings, including apprentices and excluding laborers and maintenance employees, who were employed during the pay-roll period next preceding the date of this Direction of Election , includ- ing those who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation and employees who were then or have since been temporarily laid off, but excluding those who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to- be represented by Endicott Die Workers Local No. 190, of the International Die Sinkers Conference.