Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co.

In the Matter Of WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC' & MFG. Co. and L. A. Dis- TRICT ASSOCIATION OF WESTINGHOUSE SALARIED EMPLOYEES, IND. Case No. R-2610.Decided July 7, 1941 Jurisdiction : electrical appliance manufacturing. industry. Investigation and Certification of: Representatives : existence. of question : re-,. fusal to accord union recognition until certified by, Board ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : salaried employees in the Los' Angeles District; including clerical employees and employees iii sales, engineer- ing, accounting, treasury,, merchandising, • warehouse, building-maintenance, - lamp, and service departments, and X-ray division, excluding supervisory, employees and executives. . Mr. Herbert F. Sturdy and Mr. A. J. Bronold, of Los Angeles,,Calif., for the Company. Mr. H. B. Summers, of South Pasadena, Calif., and Mr. H. S. War- ren, of Glendale, Calif., for the Association.. Mr. Marvin C. Wahl, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION ' .. STATEMENT.OF_THE CASE On March 8, 1941, L. A: District Association of Westinghouse Salaried Employees, Ind.,-herein called 'the Association,' filed with, the. Regional Director for the Twenty-first Region (Los' Angeles, Cali- fornia) a -petition' alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co., Los Angeles,'Califorfiia, herein called the Com- pany, and requested 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 May 23, 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 ' On May 1, 1941, the Association filed. an amended petition in which it added .the' X-ray. department of the Company to the unit which it claimed to be appropriate. 33 N. L. R. B., No. 35. 149 150 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On May 26, 1941, the Regional. Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the Associa- tion. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on June 3, 1941, at Los Angeles, California, before James A. Cobey, the Trial Exam- iner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company was represented .by counsel, the Association by its representatives; both parties participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evi- dence bearing on the issues was a-fforded. all parties. During the course of the hearing, the Trial Examiner made various rulings on motions and on objections to 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 Westinghouse- Electric & Mfg. Co. is a. Pennsylvania--corporation, maintaining offices at Los Angeles, California. It is engaged in the manufacture and sale of numerous forms of electrical apparatus for land, sea, and air operation. The Company uses many forms of basic raw materials and supplies including oil, steel, copper, textiles, chemi- cals, and insulation materials which are acquired from different States throughout the country. During 1940, the total volume of sales of the. Company amounted to over $239,000,000.00, representing shipments to practically every State of the United States and a number of foreign countries. The booked sales of the Los Angeles District of the Company for 1940 were approximately $8600,000.00. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED L. A. District Association of Westinghouse. Salaried- Employees, Ind., is an independent labor organization admitting to,-membership salaried employees of the Company. III. rtHE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On February 25, 1941, the Association wrote to the Company de- manding recognition as the sole bargaining agent for the employees in the claimed appropriate unit, and on February 26, 1941, the Com- pany responded requesting that the Association prove that it represents a majority of the employees. The Company thereafter advised the Association that it would not recognize it as the exclusive WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MFG. CO. 151 `bargaining representative until it. was certified. by the Board. 'A statement of the Regional Director introduced into evidence shows that the Association represents a substantial number of employees. in the unit found below to be appropriate.2 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, occuring in connection with the operations of the Company, described in Section I, above, has a close, intimate, and substantial relation to trade,,traflic, 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 Association contends that all salaried ,employees in the Los Angeles District, including clerical employees, and employees in the sales, engineering, accounting, treasury, merchandizing, warehouse, building-maintenance, lamp, and service departments, and the X-ray division, excluding supervisory employees and executives, consti- tute a unit appropriate for-the purposes of collective bargaining. The Company does not dispute the appropriateness of such a unit.3 We find that all salaried employees in the Los Angeles District,' including clerical employees and employees in the sales, engineering, accounting, treasury, merchandizing, warehouse, building-mainte- nance, lamp, and service departments and the X-ray division, exclud- ing supervisory employees and executives, constitute a unit appro- priate 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. 'The Regional Director 's statement shows that the Association submitted to him 49 membership-application cards of employees in the alleged appropriate unit. Forty-five of these cards were dated between December 1940 and February 1941; 4 were undated. All the signatures appeared to be genuine original signatures . Forty of these signatures were those of persons whose names appeared on the Company 's March 7, 1941, pay roll. At the hearing the Trial Examiner was handed 12 membership -application cards which were dated between December 1940 and May 1941. The Examiner stated that all said cards appeared to bear genuine signatures. and that all the.names were on the Company's April 25, 1941, pay roll. These 12 cards were in addition to the 49 examined by the Regional Director. At the time of. the hearing there were 100 persons employed by the Company in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate. 8 The manager of the Los Angeles District of the Company testified that production em- ployees (all of whom are paid on an hourly basis ) were represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. He further testified that the Company had never recognized a bargaining representative for salaried employees. 152 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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. The Company and the Association agree that if an election is held, eligibility to vote should be determined' by the pay roll for the period ending June 3, 1941, the date of the hearing. We shall give effect to the desires of -the parties and direct that those employees of the. Company within the appropriate unit whose names appear on the Company's pay roll for the period ending June 3, 1941, shall be eligible to vote, subject to such limitations and additions as are set' forth in the Direction hereinafter. 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 Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co., Los .Angeles, California, within the meaning of Section, 9 (c) and Section 2 (6)- and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2.=. All' salaried employees in. the Los. Angeles District, including .clerical employees and employees in the sales, engineering, accounting, ,treasury, merchandising, warehouse, building-maintenance, lamp, and service. departments, and the X-ray division, excluding supervisory employees and executives, constitute a unit appropriate for the pur- poses of collective bargaining 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 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 Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co.; Los Angeles, California, 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 Twenty-first Region, acting in this matter as agent of the National Labor Relations Board and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said .Rules and Regulations, among all. salaried employees in the Los WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MFG. CO. 153 Angeles District who were employed by the Company during the pay- roll period ending June 3' 1941, including clerical employees and em- ployees in the sales, engineering, accounting, treasury, merchandizing, warehouse, building-maintenance, lamp, and service departments, and the X-ray division, 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 supervisory employees and executives, and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by L. A. District Association of Westinghouse Salaried Employees, Ind., an independent organization, for the purposes of collective bargaining.