Missouri Rolling Mill Corp.

In the Matter of MISSOURI ROLLING MILL CORPORATION and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR AND ITS AFFILIATED INTERNATIONAL UNIONS Case No. B-2480.-, Decided May 3, '19.47 Jurisdiction : steel products manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of,question: refusal to accord union recognition ; contract with rival union for members only, of indefinite duration, terminable upon notice by either party, and which has been in effect for more than 3 years, no bar to ; election unnecessary : parties entered into a "stipulation for certification" which recited, in sub- stance, that the union represented a majority and that the Board might certify the union. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em- ployees excluding supervisory and clerical employees and watchmen and salesmen ; agreement as to. Mr. E. P. Theiss, of St. Louis, Mo., for the A. F. of L. Mr. Charles H. Spoehrer and Mr. William R. Gilbert, of St. Louis, Mo., for the Company. Mr. William H. Bartley, of counsel td the Board. DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES STATEMENT OF THE CASE On March 7, 1941,, the American Federation of Labor and its affiliated International Unions, herein called the A. F. of L., filed with the Regional Director of the Fourteenth Region (St. Louis, Missouri) a *petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Missouri Rolling Mill . Corporation, , St. Louis, Missouri, herein called the Company, and requesting 'an investigation and certification of representatives pur- suant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On'April 3, 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 Re- lations 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. 31 N. L. R. B., No. 96. 583 584 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD On April 3, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear- ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the A. F. of L. Pursuant,to notice, a hearing was held on April 7 and 8, '1941, at St. Louis, Missouri, before Wallace Cooper, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Com- pany and the A. F. of L. were represented by counsel; both partici- pated in the hearing. During the hearing the A. F. of L. moved to amend its petition to exclude watchmen and salesmen from the appropriate unit requested therein. The motion was granted. On April 8 the hearing was adjourned to enable the parties to confer regarding the possibility of entering into a consent election agree- ment. On April 14, 1941, the Company, the-A. F. of L., the Trial Examiner, and an attorney for the Board entered into a Stipulation for Certification in lieu of the consent election agreement. The Stipulation-was made part of the,record by filing-it with the Chief Trial Examiner. The hearing was then closed. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine 'and cross-examine witnesses, and to-introduce evidence bearing oil 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. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Missouri Rolling Mill Corporation is a Missouri corporation with its office, in St. Louis, Missouri, where it main'tains' a -plant -for the manufacture of steel products, which are principally reinforcing rods, manufacturer's angles, and fence posts. During 1940, the aggregate value of the finished products manufactured by the Company was .in excess of $1,000,000. Approximately '63 per, cent of these products were sold and shipped by it to purchasers in States other than the' State of Missouri. -The raw materials used by the Company are principally rerolling steel rails and axles. - The aggregate value • of all raw materials used by the Company during 1940 was in excess of $500,000, and approximately 79 per cent of these materials was ,shipped from points outside the State of Missouri. The Company's business from January 1, 1941, to date has continued in substantially the same manner as during 1940. The Company admits that it ; is engaged in, interstate commerce within the meaning of the Act. - -, MISSOURI ROLLING MILL CORPORATION 585' 11. THE 'ORGANIZATION INVOLVED American Federation of Labor and its affiliated International Unions are labor organizations within the meaning of the Act admitting to membership employees of the company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION In its petition the A. F. of L. alleged, and during the hearii, the Company did not deny, that on February 25, 1941, it requested the Company to bargain with it as the exclusive representative of' all employees of the Company and that the Company refused to bargain with the A. F. of L. on the ground that it already had a contract with the Steel Workers Organizing Committee of the C. I. O. covering working conditions, rates of pay, hours of employ- ment, and settlement of disputes. The contract was for the benefit of members of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee of the C. 1. 0. only and was entered into on July 1, 1937. It was to be in force until February 28, 1938, and to remain in force from year to year unless either party gave notice of desire to change the terms of the agreement.' During the-course of the hearing a letter dated March 20, 1941, from the district director of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee of the C. I. O. in reply to a letter from the Field Examiner for the Board, was introduced in evidence. The district director's letter stated that the C: I. O. would not intervene in the proposed hearing in' this case and would not claim a place on the ballot. A statement of the Regional Director introduced at the hearing shows that the A. F. of L. represents a substantial number of em-_ ployees in the unit alleged by it to be appropriate.' 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 1 As far as the record discloses no such notice was given However, the contract is no bar to the present investigation of representatives . See Matter of Hahn ct Feldm'an, Inc., and United Textile Workers of America, A F. of L, 30 N. L. R. B . 294, and cases cited therein 2 The -Regional Director's statement shows that of the 316 authorization cards furnished him by the A. F. of L. 226 were dated between September 3, 1940, and March 14, 1941, and i9 *ere undated. Of these cards 235 bore genuine signatures of employees on the pay roll of March 22, 1941 . There are approximately- 429 employees - in the alleged appropriate unit. ti 586 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD relationship to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing com- merce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Company and the A. F. of L. agreed at the hearing, and we find, that all production and maintenance employees of the Company at its St. Louis plant, exclusive of supervisory and clerical employees and watchmen; and salesmen, constitute a unit appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining. We further find 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- Stipulation for Certification recited, in substance, that the A. F. of L., at all times material to the case herein considered, has represented a majority of the employees of the Company within the unit alleged by the parties to be appropriate and -that the Board might certify the A. F. of L. as the representative of those employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining. We find that the A. F. of L. has been designated and selected by a majority of the employees in the appropriate unit as their representative for the purposes,of collective bargaining. 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 Missouri Rolling Mill Corporation, St. Louis, Missouri, 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 its St. Louis plant, excluding supervisory and clerical employees and watchmen and salesmen, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. 3: The American Federation of Labor 'and its affiliated Inter- national Unions are the exclusive representatives of all the employees designated in paragraph-2 above,' for the purposes of collective bar- gaining, within the' meaning of Section 9 (a) of the National Labor, Relations Act. MISSOURI ROLLING MILL CORPORATION 587 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, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Sections 8' and 9, of National -Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations- Series 2, as amended, IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that the American Federation of Labor and its affiliated International Unions have been designated and selected by a majority of all production and maintenance employees of the Company at its St. Louis plant, excluding supervisory and clerical employees and watchmen and salesmen, as their representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that, pursuant to the pro- visions of Section 9 (a) 'of the Act, American Federation of Labor and. its affiliated International Unions are the exclusive representa- tives of all such employees for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect, to rates of 'pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment.- ,