Remington Rand, Inc.

In the Matter of REMINGTON RAND, INC. and UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO & MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL, 308 Cast No. R--36'7.Decided April 30, 1941 Jurisdiction : office equipment manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: con- flicting claims of rival representatives; dispute as to appropriate unit; organizations not shown to represent any employees within the unit not accorded place on ballot; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em- ployees at two plants of the Company, including production and time clerks, but- excluding foremen, supervisory employees, office employees, clerical employees, file or record clerks and general clerks attached to general fore- men ; printing employees excluded over the objection of one of the unions since they are highly skilled, having a different scale of wages and different working conditions from those of the other employees and were not included in prior- agreements involving employees in the unit; minor supervisory employees included since the'greater portion of their work is the same as employees'under their supervision. Definitions : an independent organization formed for the purposes of collective bargaining held a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2 (5) of the Act. Sullivan c0 Cromwell, by Mr. David H. Peck, of New York City, and Mr. John A. H. Simison, of Buffalo, N. Y., for the Company. Mr. Daniel B. Shortal, of Buffalo, N. Y., and Mr., Willard Bliss, of Erie, Pa., for Local No. 308.. Mr. Norbert Berger, of Buffalo, N. Y., for the Printing Trade and the Printing Pressmen. Mr. W. K. Kester, of Niagara Falls, N. Y., for the Typographical Union. Mr. Neil Cunningham, of Buffalo, N. Y., for the A. F. of L. Mr. Harold J. Tillow, of Buffalo, N. Y., for the Independent. Mr. Daniel J. Harrington, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On September 28, 1940, United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local 308, herein called Local No. 308, filed 31 N. L. R. B, No. 77. 490 REMINGTON RAND, INC. 491 with the Regional Director for the Third Region (Buffalo, New 'York) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had ,arisen concerning the representation of employees of Remington Rand; Inc., Tonawanda, New York and North Tonawanda, New York, herein called the Company, and requesting 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 February 20, 1941, 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 au- thorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On February 21, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company; upon Local No. 308; and upon the American Federation of Labor, herein called the A. F. of -L., and International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America, herein called the Printing Pressmen; both labor organizations claiming to represent employees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on March 3 and 4, 1941, at Buffalo, New York, before.Edward D. Flaherty, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. At the hearing Allied Printing Trades Council of Buffalo, herein called the Printing Trades, and International Typographical Union,,No. 233, herein called the Typo- graphical Union, labor organizations claiming to represent employees directly affected by the investigation, were granted permission to intervene by the Trial Examiner and Independent Union of the Tonawandas, herein called the Independent, filed a petition for leave to intervene. Local No. 308 objected to the intervention of the Independent on the ground that the Independent was not a labor organization within the meaning of the Act. The Trial Ex- aminer granted the petition to intervene, which ruling is hereby affirmed, reserving ruling for the Board on the question as to whether or not the Independent was a labor organization within the mean- ing of the Act. We find in Section II, infra, the Independent is a labor organization within the meaning of the Act. The Company, Local No. 308, the A. F. of L., the Printing.Pressmen, the Printing Trades, the Typographical Union, and the Independent were rep- resented at and participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be -heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing upon 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 492 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 Remington Rand, Inc., a Delaware corporation licensed to do busi- ness in New York, Ohio, - and Connecticut and having its principal executive offices at Buffalo and New York, New York, is engaged in the manufacture, purchase, sale, and distribution of typewriters, add- ing and computing machines, record and filing equipment, business and office equipment, and related products. The present proceedings involve two plants of the Company, located in Tonawanda and North Tonawanda, New York, respectively. During 1940 the Company pur- chased approximately $10,000,000 worth of raw materials, consisting of steel wire, castings, lacquer, chemicals, cans, varnish, glue, and other materials. About $3,300,000 worth of such raw materials were shipped to plants of the Company in the State of New York, including the plants at Tonawanda and North Tonawanda, from points outside the State. During the same year, products of the Company amounting to approximately $18,400,000 in value were manufactured in the New York plants of the Company. including the plants at Tonawanda and North Tonawanda, and shipped to points outside the State. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local 308, is a labor organization, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to membership production and maintenance employees at the Company's Tonawanda and North Tonawanda plants, excluding printers. American Federation of Labor is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. Allied Printing Trades Council of Buffalo is a labor organization composed of local unions affiliated with the International Allied Print- ing Trades Association 1 which admit to membership employees of the Company engaged in work connected with printing. , International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federa- 1 The International Allied Printing Trades Association is composed of the International Printing Pressmen and Assistants ' Union of. North ' America, the International Typo- graphical Union, the International Photo Engravers Union, the International Stereotypers and Electrotypers Union, and the International Brotherhood of Bookbinders. REMINGTON RAND, INC. 493 tion of Labor and the International Allied Printing Trades Associa- tion. It admits to membership pressroom employees of the Company. International Typographical Union, No. 233, is a labor organiza- tion, affiliated with the Allied Printing Trades Council of Buffalo, admitting to membership composing room employees at the North Tonawanda plant of the Company. Independent Union of the Tonawandas admits to its membership production and maintenance employees, including printers, at the Tonawanda and North Tonawanda plants of the Company. At the hearing, Local No. 308 claimed that the Independent was not a labor organization. The Independent was, however, formed for the pur- pose of collective bargaining. We find that it is a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2 (5) of the Act. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On March 13, 1937, the Board, inMatter of Remington Rand, Inc. and Remington Rand Joint Protective Board of the District Council 0 fficet Equipment Workers,2 herein called Case No. C-145, found, inter alit, that the Company's production and maintenance employees at eight of its plants, including those at Tonawanda and North Tonawanda, constituted an appropriate unit for purposes of collective bargaining. The Board further found that the Remington Rand Joint Protective Board of the District Council Office Equipment Workers, herein called the Joint Board, was the exclusive collective bargaining representative of the employees in such unit and ordered the Company ' to bargain collectively with the Joint Board as such representative. On March 10, 1938, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit enforced the Board's order in this respect, but with a proviso enabling the Company to question in good faith the continuance of the Joint Board's authority to act as bargaining representative of the employees in the appropriate unit.' On May 4, 1940, the Inde- pendent requested recognition from the Company as bargaining agent for its employee's in the Tonawanda and North Tonawanda plants. The Company replied that it had_ filed with the Board a petition for investigation and certification of representatives and could not treat with any bargaining agent until the Board had acted on the petition .4 On September 10, 1940, Local No. 308 requested a, conference with the Company for the purpose of negotiating a contract covering produc- tion and maintenance employees at the Tonawanda and North Tona- wanda plants, and on September 24, 1940, claimed to represent these 2 2 N L. R. B C26. ' 94 F (2d) 862. On August 7, 1940, the Board issued an order permitting withdrawal of this petition. 494 , DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD employees and requested a conference with the Company to discuss an agreement. 'The Company replied that the Board's Order in Case No. C-145, "as modified by the . . . Court, ... particularly . . . that portion thereof covering the approved bargaining unit . . . fully covers our position in-the matter." A statement of the Regional Director introduced in evidence at the hearing and a statement of the Trial Examiner made the hearing show that Local No. 308 and the Independent each represents a substantial number, of employees in the unit alleged by it to be- appropriate.5 _ 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 f 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 Local No. 308 contends that the production and maintenance em- ployees at the Tonawanda and North Tonawanda plants of the Com- pany, including production and time clerks, but excluding foremen, printers, office workers, clerical workers, and supervisory employees, constitute a unit appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining. The Independent is in agreement with Local No. 308 as to the appro- priateness of such a unit, except with respect to printers, whom the Independent contends should be included within the unit. The A. F. of L., the Printing Pressmen, the Printing Trades, and the Typographical Union make no claim with respect to the Tona- wanda plant, but contend that the production and maintenance em- s The Regional Director's statement shows that Local No. 308 submitted 393_ cards to him authorizing the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, the Interna- tional Union with which Local No. 308 is affiliated , to represent the signers thereof as collective bargaining representative , that the signatures on 390 of the cards appeared genuine, and that the cards were dated as follows: 291 in May 1940, 50 in June 1940, 2 In July 1940, 1 in August 1940, 2 in September 1940, and 47 undated The Trial Examiner stated that the Independent submitted to him 150 membership application cards, most of which were dated in April , May, and June 1940. None of the cards submitted by either organization was checked against pay rolls of the plants submitted in evidence, which disclosed 341 hourly paid employees in the Tonawanda plant and 325 such employees in the North Tonawanda plant. o REMINGTON RAND, INC. 495 ployees in the North Tonawanda plant, excluding foremen who are not craftmen, constitute an appropriate bargaining unit. The Company takes no position with respect to the appropriate bargaining unit. In 1933, unions affiliated with the A. F. of L. were formed in some of the Company's plants. On June 18, 1934, District Council Office Equipment Workers, with which unions in four of the Company's plants were affiliated, entered into a contract with the Company on behalf of the employees in those plants. In September 1934, Federal Labor Union, No. 19401, which represented employees in the Tonawanda and 'North Tonawanda plants, became affiliated with the District Council and the contract of June 18, 1934, was extended to those two plants, thereby superseding an arrange- ment or agreement previously made between the Company and Federal Labor Union, No. 19401. However,, printers, who had not been covered by the previous arrangement between the Company and Federal Labor Union, No. 19401, were not included under this extension of the District Council contract. In February 1936, the unions in the District Council representing the Company's employees, including Federal Labor Union, No. 19401, formed the Joint Board. The record indicates that since the Circuit-Court proceedings, referred to above, the Company met once or twice with the Joint Board, but that these meetings were inconclusive and that the Company is 'no longer bargaining with the Joint Board; that the Joint Board had' unsuccessfully, attempted to secure another agreement with the Com- pany ; that the 1934 contract is still in existence, but has not been enforced; and that the Company has closed three of its plants. In 1939 the Joint Board granted permission to an A. F. of L. union at the Tonawanda and North Tonawanda plants 6 to bargain collectively with the Company for the employees in those two plants. Thereafter the Company met with representatives of that union and the Printing Trades on behalf of those employees, but refused to bargain collectively with Them on the ground that to do so would be contemptuous of the Circuit Court decree. In June 1940 employees in the two plants changed their affiliation from the A. F. of L. Union to Local No. 308. As stated above, Local No. 308 and the Independent each appears to represent a substantial number of employees in the unit claimed by it to be appropriate. On the other hand, the A. F. of L., the Printing Pressmen, the Printing Trades, and the Typographical Union, which seek a unit composed of employees of the North Tona- wanda plant only, have made no showing of any substantial repre- sentation in that plant. Under the circumstances we find that This organization was not identified by name at the hearing 496 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD employees in the Tonawanda and North Tonawanda plants constitute a single unit appropriate for the purposes of collective, bargaining. As stated above, Local No. 308 desires the exclusion of printers from the appropriate unit while the Independent wishes them included within the unit. The employees in dispute are all employed in the North Tonawanda plant and comprise 86 rulers, compositors, paper cutters, wash up men (who wash printing presses), advertising folder machine operators, and '12 employees who work in connection- with them.; These employees are highly skilled, have a different scale of wages and different working conditions from those of other employees, and were not included-in the 1934 agreements mentioned above. In 1934 the Printing Pressmen negotiated wage increases with the Com- pany for the pressmen, which were applied to all printing employees in the plant and in 1939 the Printing Pressmen also negotiated with the Company on behalf of the pressmen. We shall exclude the printing employees from the'unit. There are in the plants file or record clerks and general clerks. They work under the supervision of general foremen, filing commun- ications regarding orders and other material, checking records for the foremen, laying out requisitions for future work, and releasing orders. Local No. 308 desires these clerks to be excluded from the unit be- cause of their close connection: with the management. The Inde- pendent and the Company took no definitive position with respect to them. We shall exclude these clerks from the unit. While the parties agree that supervisory employees are to be ex- cluded from the unit, at the hearing the question was raised as to whether Joseph Masters, Frank Falk, Dominic Grimaldi, David Heppner, and Henry Dryer, employees at the Tonawanda plant, were such supervisors as to be excluded. Masters is a supervisor of a parts stockroom. He gives orders and assigns work to about 15 employees. Although he does not have power to hire or discharge, he apparently can recommend hiring and discharging. Falk `is a storage supervisor, and has about 10 employees under his supervision. His duties are similar to those of Masters. We shall exclude both Masters and Falk from the unit because of their supervisory duties. Grimaldi is'in charge of the raw steel stockroom. He has few supervisory duties, at times having one and at times two employees under his supervision. About 80 per cent of his work is the same as that of the employees under his supervision. Heppner and Dryer are group leaders in the maintenance department, Heppner supervis- ing millwrights and electricians and Dryer supervising carpenters and laborers. They are responsible'for the execution of orders given them by the master mechanic and apparently do not have power to 7 These 98 employees ,' identified at the hearing by name, are listed in Appendix A. REMINGTON RAND, INC. 497 recommend the hiring or discharging of employees. Each does a considerable amount of actual work himself. We shall include Grimaldi, Heppner, and Dryer within the appropriate unit. We find that the production and maintenance employees at the Tonawanda and North Tonawanda plants of the Company, includ- ing production and time clerks , Grimaldi , Heppner, and Dryer, but excluding foremen, supervisory employees , office employees, clerical employees, file or record clerks and general clerks attached to general foremen, printing employees , Masters, and Falk, 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 We find that the question which has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of the Company can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. Inasmuch as the A. F. of L., the Printing Pressmen, the Printing Trades, and the Typographical Union have not shown that they represent any employees in the unit which we have found to be appropriate, we shall make no provision for the designation of those organizations .on the ballot. We shall direct that those eligible to vote in the election shall be the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed by the Company during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein, subject to such limitations and additions as are set forth in the Direction. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: CONCLUSIONS OF LA* 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Remington Rand, Inc., Tonawanda, New York, and North Tonawanda, New York, 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 at its Tonawanda and North Tonawanda plants, including production and time clerks , Dominic Grimaldi , David Heppner, and Henry Dryer, but excluding foremen, supervisory employees, office employ- ees, clerical employees, file or record clerks and general clerks attached to general foremen, printing employees , Joseph Masters, and Frank Falk, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 498 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 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 authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Remington Rand, Inc., Tonawanda, New York, and North Tona- wanda, 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, 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 all production and maintenance employees at the Tonawanda and North Tonawanda, New York, plants of Remington Rand, Inc., who were employed by the Company during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including production and time clerks, Dominic Grimaldi, David Heppner, Henry Dryer, and employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or in the active military service or training of the United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding foremen, supervisory employees, office employees, clerical employees, file or record clerks and general clerks attached to general foremen, printing employees, Joseph Masters, Frank Falk, and those who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be repre- sented by United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local 308, or by Independent Union of the Tonawandas, for the pur. poses of collective bargaining, or by neither. APPENDIX A Name : Title William Pfeiffer----------------------- Cylinder Press Printer. John Klosterman---------------------- Do. Arthur Lavey------------------------ Do. Elmer Johnson--------- --------------. Do. Charles Voss-------------------------- Do. Harold Graesser---------------------- Ruler. Frank Savitz-------------------------- Do. Floyd Kneeland----------------------- Do. Arthur Graesser---------------------- Do. Neil O'Donnell------------------------ Line Up & Lock Up Man i Emil • Matzner-- ----------------------- Platen Press Printer. Joseph Brenner----------------------- Do. Fred Hellriegel ----------------------- Do. Jacob Sieffert------------------------- Do. REMINGTON RAND,-INC. 499 Name: Title Martin Wagner----------------------- Proofreader. John Hager, Jr---------------------_. Platen Press Printer. Peter Zicky--------------------------- Apprentice Printer. Charles Phillips----------------------- Cylinder Press Printer. Lorenz Bettinger---------------------- Apprentice Printer. Edward Lang ------------------------- Platen Press Printer. Elmer Holrod-------------------------- Multilith Press Operator. Al Fronczak-------------------------- Group Leader. Robert Schmitt----------------------- Multilith Copy Layout. Joseph Farrell------------------------ Multilith Press Operator. Martin Dehm------------------------- Hand Compositor. George Bicherl------------------------ Line Up & Lock Up Man. Walter Clemen------------------------ Hand Compositor.. James Gray-------------------------- Do. Thomas Kitson-----------------------" Proofreader. Conrad Metzger-------------" ----------------------- Hand Compositor. Adolph Lipira------------------------- Line Up & Lock Up Man. Ernest Raymond ---------------------- Hand Compositor. Jacob Leiser-------------------------- Do. George Niedermayer------------------" Do. ° Otto Bostrom------------------------- Do. Edward Burgess ----------------- -_-_- Do. Andrew Kilger----------------------- - Apprentice Compositor. Frank Higgins------------------------ Group Reader. Stuart Van Voorhees------------------ Mach. Compositor. Lewis Baum-------------------------- Do. Samuel Scott------------------------- Harris Press Printer. William Stevenson-------------------- Do. Ruth Misner-------------------------- Mach. Operator Female Number Printing Gerald Bannochie--------------------- Folder Mach Operator-Male. John Harp---------------------------. Printer Mach. Operator-Male. Louis Kish--------------------------- I. V. I. Printing Mach. Setter. Joseph Trost --------------------------- Guillotine Cutter. Vincent Gawel------------------------ Do. Adam Miller, Jr----------------------- Do. Leo Raymond------------------------- Do. William MacLaren-------------------- Tabulating Printing Machine Setter. Axel Larson-------------------------- Tabulating Machinist. Richard Burd------------------------- Tabulating Card Press Operator. Clinton Maerten---------------------- Do. Norman Lemke-----------------------. Do. William Pagels, Jr-------------------- Do. Harry Seifreit------------------------ Tabulating Paper Slitter. Joseph Swisher----------------------- Tabulating Packer. Robert Lambert ----------------------- Tabulating Card Press Operator. Ralph Hoyer-------------------------- Do Salvatore Cerra----------------------- Tabulating Paper Slitter. Andrew Till-------------------------- Tabulating Packer DeWitt Scott------------------------- Tabulating Card Press Operator. James Allan-------------------------- Tabulating Group Leader. Andrew-Gabor, Jr --------------- Tabulating Card Press Operator. Maurice Rudin------------------------- Do. 441843-42-vol 31-33, 500 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Name : Title Michael Higgins---------------------- Press Wash Up Man-Janitor. Olof Ohrstrom------------------------ Oil Pressman Kelley-Supervisor Alice Mae Boyle ----------------------- Bench Worker. Blanch Smith------------------------. Machine Operator. Dorene Sitter------------------------- Do. Jeanne Nailie------------------------- Bench Worker. Charles Cockingham------------------- Bookbinder. Gladys Egri-------------------------- Bench Worker. Lillian Holka------------------------- Do. Rose Adle----------------------------. Print Shop Inspector. George Hopkins ----------------------- Do. George Heiser------------------------. Guillotine Cutter. Henry Luke-------------------------- Do Henry Ellman------------------------ Platen Press Printer Supervisor. Lilie Belling-------------------------- Multigraph Printer Machine Op- erator. Howard Gath------------------------- Multigraph Apprentice Printer. Walter Peters------------------------ Multigraph Platen Press Printer. Joseph Massucco---------------------- Do. Robert Russell------------------------ Multigraph Apprentice Compositor. Edward Martin----------------------- Multigraph Apprentice Printer Charles Roct------------------------- Do. James Sarsfield----------------------- Multigraph Platen Press Printer. LeRoy Townsend---------------------- Multigraph Apprentice-Printer. Lawrence Croff----------------------- Do. Ray Werth--------------------------- Apprentice Printer. William Kinder----------------------- Do. Thomas Shuffle----------------------- Folder Mach. Operator. Raymond Mallet---------------------- Do. Frank Chequer------------------------ Do. John Taper--------------------------- Do. Arthur Graf-------------------------- Guillotine & Rotary for Print Shop Knife Grinder.- Michael Catania---------------------- (Upkeep Print Shop Equip.) Ma- chinist.