General Motors Corp.

In the Matter off. FISHER BODY DIVISION, GENERAL MOTORS CORP. and UNITED AUTOMOBILE WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. O. Case No. R-2680.-Decided July- 17, 1941 Jurisdiction : automobile manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re- fusal to accord union recognition until certified by Boafd ; contract not asserted as a bar; election necessary Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em- ployees and mechanical employees in engineering department shops at Norwood Fisher Body Division of Company with specified inclusions and exclusions ; agreement as to. Mr. Robert Carson, of Detroit, Mich., for the Company. Mr. Paul E. Miley, of Cleveland, Ohio, and Mr. William Kasee, of Norwood, Ohio, for the U. A. W.-C. I. O. Mr. Peter C. Noll and Mr. Irving L. As/teraft, of Norwood, Ohio, for the U. A. W.-A. F. L. Mr. Marvin C. TTTah,l, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On May 20, 1941, United Automobile Workers of America, C. I. O., herein called the U. A. W.-C. I. 0., filed with the Regional Director for the Ninth Region (Cincinnati, Ohio) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Fisher Body Division, General Motors Corporation, Norwood, Ohio, herein called the Company, and requesting an investi- gation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On June 19, 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. 33 N. L. R. B., No. 07. 499 450122-42-vol 33-33 500 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD On June 20, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the U. A. W.- C. I. 0., and United Automobile Workers of America, A. F. L., herein called the U. A. W.-A. F. L., a labor organization claiming to represent employees affected by the investigation. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on June 26, 1941, at Cincin- nati, Ohio, before Karl W. Filter, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company was represented by coun- sel, the U. A. W.-C. I. O. and U. A. W.-A. F. L. by their representa- tives; all participated in the hearing. 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 hear- ing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on motions and on ob- jections 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 2, 1941, U. A. W.-A. F. L. moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that it is fraudulent in that no former demands to bargain had been made prior to the filing of the petition. On the basis of the facts set forth in Section III below, the motion is hereby denied. At the same time the U. A. W.-A. F. L. requested oral argument before the Board on all the issues in the case. The request is hereby denied. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY General Motors Corporation is a Delaware corporation with its principal offices located at New York City. At the Norwood, Ohio, plant of the Fisher Body Division, the Company manufactures auto- mobile parts and automobile body parts. More than 53 per cent in value of production materials used at the Norwood plant, including raw and fabricated or partially fabricated articles, is obtained from sources outside the State of Ohio. The entire production of com- pleted materials is shipped to the Chevrolet Motor Division of the Company, located at Norwood, Ohio, which in turn ships more than 68 per cent of its products to points outside of the State. H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED United Automobile Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization which admits to membership employees of the Company. United Automobile Workers of America, affiliated with the Ameri- can Federation of Labor, is a labor organization which admits to membership employees of the Company. FISHER BODY DIVISION III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION 501 It is the policy of the Company, as expressed in contracts with representatives of its employees, not to bargain with any union until it is certified by the Board. The record indicates that certain con- tracts are in existence between the U. A. W.-A. F. L. and the Com- pany.' A statement by an agent of the Regional Director introduced in evidence shows that the U. A. W.-C. I. 0. represents a substantial number of employees in the alleged appropriate unit.' 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 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. TIIE APPROPRIATE UNIT The parties agree, and we find, that all production and maintenance employees and mechanical employees in the engineering-department shops at the Norwood plant of the Fisher Body Division of the Com- pany, except employees of sales, accounting, personnel, and indus- trial-relations departments, superintendents and assistant superin- tendents, general foremen, foremen and assistant foremen, and -all other persons working in a supervisory capacity, including those who have the right to hire or discharge, and those whose duties include recommendation as to hiring or discharge (but not leaders), and those employees whose work is of a confidential nature; time-study men; plant-protection employees (but not to include maintenance patrol- men or-fire patrolmen) ; all clerical employees; chief engineers and shift operating engineers in the power plants; designing (drawing board), production, estimating, and planning engineers; draftsmen and detailers; physicists; chemists; metallurgists; artists, designer- i The contracts were not offered in evidence . Neither the Company nor the U. A. W - A F. L contends that they are a bar to a present determination of representatives 2 This statement shows that the U. A. W.-C. I 0 submitted 690 membership application cards, 659 of which were dated between April 1940 and June 1941 Six hundred and eighty-one bore apparently genuine, original signatures , and 668 named employees on the Company 's June 14, 1941, pay roll. This pay roll includes 833 employees in the unit which U. A. W.-C. I. 0. claims to be appropriate . U. A. W -A. F. L. offered no proof as to its membership. 502 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD artists, and clay-plaster modelers; timekeepers; technical school stu- dents; indentured apprentices; technical or professional employees who are receiving training; and kitchen and cafeteria help, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. We find further 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. It appears that the Company's plant is shut down from the last week in July until the last week in August ,for the purpose of retooling and inventory. During this time 90 per cent of the men are laid off. U. A. W.-C. I. O. requests that an election be held prior to the time of the lay-off and U. A. W.-A. F. L. requests that an election be held at some time when all the employees within the appropriate unit will have an opportunity to be present to vote. The Company takes no position as to when the election should be held, but requests a current or June pay roll. U. A. W.- C. I. O. contends that any pay roll up to the time of the lay-off will be proper. Under the circumstances we shall direct that an election be held as soon as possible and that employees eligible to vote in the election shall be those in the appropriate unit who are employed by the Company during the pay-roll period immediately preceding, the date of the Direction, of Election herein, subject to such limitations and conditions 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 LAW 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Fisher Body Division, General Motors Cor- poration, Norwood, Ohio, 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 and mechanical em- ployees in the engineering-department shops at the Norwood plant of Fisher Body Division of the Company, except employees of sales, accounting, personnel, and industrial-relations departments, superin- tendents and assistant superintendents, general foremen, foremen and assistant foremen, and all other persons working in a. supervisory capacity, including those who have the right to hire or discharge, and those whose duties include recommendation as to hiring or discharge FISHER BODY DIVISION 503 (but not leaders), and those employees whose work is of a confidential nature; time-study men; plant-protection employees (but not to in- clude maintenance patrolmen or fire patrolmen) ; all clerical em- ployees; chief engineers and shift operating engineers in the power plants; designing (drawing board), production, estimating, and planning engineers; draftsmen and detailers; physicists; chemists; metallurgists; artists, designer-artists, and clay-plaster modelers; timekeepers; technical school students; indentured apprentices; tech- nical or professional employees who are receiving training; and kitchen and cafeteria help, 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 Relations Act and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DzuECrED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with the Fisher Body Division, General Motors Corporation, Norwood, Ohio, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as pos- sible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direc- tion of Election, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Ninth 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 mainte- nance employees and mechanical employees in the engineering-depart- ment,shops of Fisher Body Division, General Motors Corporation, Norwood, Ohio, who were employed by the Company during the pay- roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including 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 employees of sales,, accounting, personnel, and industrial-relations departments, superintendents and assistant superintendents, general foremen, fore- men and assistant foremen, and all other persons working in a super- visory capacity, including those who have the right to hire or dis- charge, and those whose duties include recommendation as to hiring or discharge (but not leaders), and those employees whose work is of a confidential nature; time-study men; plant-production employees (but not to include maintenance patrolmen or fire patrolmen) ; all clerical employees; chief engineers and shift operating engineers in the power plants; designing (drawing board), production, estimat- '504 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ing, 'and planning engineers; draftsmen and detailers; physicists; chemists; metallurgists; artists, designer-artists, and clay-plaster modelers; timekeepers; technical school students; indentured appren- tices; technical or professional employees who are receiving training; and kitchen and cafeteria help, and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by United Automobile Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, or United Automobile Workers of America, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. [SAME TITLE AMENDMENT TO DIRECTION OF ELECTION July 22, 1941 On July 17, 1941, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, issued a Decision and Direction of Election, in the above-entitled proceeding. The Direction of Electiton directed that an election by secret ballot be conducted not later than thirty (30) days from the date of the Direction among certain employees of Fisher Body Division, General Motors Corporation, to determine whether they desire to be represented by United Automobile Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, or United Automobile Workers of America, affiliated with the Amer- ican Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. The Board, having been advised that United Automobile Workers of America, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, does not desire its name to appear upon the ballot, hereby amends the Direction of Election by striking therefrom the words "to determine whether they desire to be represented by United Automobile Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, or United Automobile Workers of America, affiliated with the Amer- ican Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither," and substituting therefor the words "to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by United Automobile Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of collective bargaining." 33 N. L. R. B., No. 97a.