Fisher Body

In the Matter of FISHER BODY, KANSAS CITY DIVISION, GEN- ERAL MOTORS CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL UNION, TJNITED AUTOMOBILE WORKERS OF AMERICA, AFFILIATED WITH THE CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS Case No. R-2799.-Decided August 29, 1941 Jurisdiction : automobile body assembling industry. Practice and Procedure: petition dismissed where no question concerning repre- sentation had arisen in view of subsisting exclusive recognition contract be- tween Company and rival union. Mr. Henry M. Hogan, Mr. A. F. Power, Mr. Denton Jolly, and Mr. R. 'C. Carson, of Detroit, Mich., for the Company. Mr. Henry C. Clark, Mr. Robert R. Seek, Mr. Willard R. McDon- ald and Mr. James Jackson, of Kansas City, Mo., for the C. I. O. Mr. Herbert S. Thatcher and Mr. Joseph A. Padway, of Washing- ton, D. C., and Mr. Emil Talley .and Mr. Homer Camp, of Kansas City, Mo., for the A. F. of L. Mr. William T. Little, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND ORDER STATEMENT OF THE CASE On June 21, 1941, International Union, United Automobile Work- ers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organiza- tions,' herein called the C. I. 0., filed with the Regional Director for the Seventeenth Region (Kansas City, Missouri) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Fisher Body, Kansas City Division, General Motors Corporation, Kansas City, Missouri, herein called the Kansas City Division, and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Re- lations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On July 18, 1941, 1 The petition was originally filed in the name of Local # 93, United Automobile Workers of America , affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations . At the hearing the petition was amended to designate the union as it appears above. 35 N. L. R. B., No. 14. 80 FISHER BODY, KANSAS CITY DIVISION 81 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 Di- rector to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On July 21 , 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon General Motors Corporation, herein called the Company, the Kansas City Division, the C..I. 0., and upon International Union, United Automobile Workers of Amer- ica, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, and Local #93, thereof, labor organizations claiming to represent employees directly affected by the investigation and herein jointly referred to as the A. F. of L. Pursuant to notice , a hearing was held on July 28, 1941, before Joseph A. Hoskins, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Acting Chief Trial Examiner . The A. F. of L. appeared at the hearing and intervened. All parties were represented by counsel or official representatives and participated in the hearing. Full oppor- tunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. During the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on mo- tions and on objections to the admission of evidence . The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no preju- dicial errors were committed . The rulings are hereby affirmed. On August 12, 1941, the A. F. of L. submitted a brief which has been considered by the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY General Motors Corporation is a Delaware corporation having its principal office in the City of New York. For business reasons it functions through several unincorporated divisions , one of which is the Fisher Body, Kansas City Division . The Kansas City Division maintains a plant at Kansas City, Missouri , where it assembles auto- mobile bodies and parts thereof. Over 75 per cent in value of pro- duction materials used in the manufacturing operations of the Kan- sas City Division are obtained from sources outside the State of Missouri and considerably in excess of 80 per cent of the products of the Kansas City Division are shipped to points outside the State of Missouri. 82 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED International Union, United Automobile Workers of America, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organ- izations, admitting to membership employees of the Kansas City Division. Local #93, International Union, United Automobile Workers of America, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federa- tion of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On May 29, 1940, the Board certified the A. F. of L. as the exclusive representative of the employees of the Kansas City Division.2 On July 15, 1940, the Company and the A. F. of L. entered into an exclusive bargaining contract, terminable upon 60 days' notice, which covered, among others, the employees of the Kansas City Division. On May 20, 1941, the C. I. O. notified the Company that it repre- sented a majority of the employees at the Kansas City Division and requested recognition as the exclusive representative of such em- ployees. On May 28, 1941, the Company and the A. F. of L. entered into a new exclusive-recognition contract terminable on or after May 28, 1942, upon 60 days' notice by either party. On June 4, 1941, the Company notified the C. I. O. that the A. F. of L. had been certified by the Board and that until such certification changed the Company would not recognize the C. I. O. The C. I. O. submitted evidence to show that it represented approx- imately 600 of the 950 employees in the alleged appropriate bar- gaining unit. This evidence consisted of 551 application-for-mem- bership or authorization cards, and a membership roster listing 87 employees of the Company.3 The membership roster and 11 of the signed cards are undated. Of the remaining cards, 7 were signed in May 1941, and 533 were signed in June and July 1941, after the C. I. O.'s bargaining request and the execution of the contract between the Company and the A. F. of L. At the hearing the A. F. of L.'s financial secretary testified that on May 28, 1941, the date of the contract, the A. F. of L. had 859 dues-paying members. The records and files of the A. F. of L. were available for inspection by all parties but the testimony of its financial secretary was not questioned. The A. F. of L. asserts that the contract entered into on May 28, 1941, constitutes a bar to the present proceeding. The C. I. O. 2 Matter of General Motors Corporation and International Union, U. A. W . A. affiliated with the A. F. of L., et al., 24 N. L. It. B. 159. 3 Two names appearing on the membership roster were not on the current pay roll of the Kansas City Division and 26 of the cards duplicated other evidence submitted by the C. I. O. FISHER BODY, KANSIAS CITY DIVISrON 83 insists that, inasmuch as the contract was entered into with notice of the C. I. 0. Is claim, it does not constitute a bar to an election. The evidence submitted by the C. I. O. clearly discloses that a, majority of the employees in the unit signed cards for the C. I. O. after the contract was signed, and consequently establishes that the C. I. O. did not have a majority at the time the contract between the A. F. of L. and the Company was executed. Only 7 of the cards submitted by the C. I. O. were dated before the C. I. O. served notice of its claim of majority on the Company and the contract of May 28 was executed. If it were assumed, without evidence, that the undated cards and membership roster represent members who joined the C. I. O. before May 28, 1941, the C. I. O. would still have represented no more than 105 of the 950 employees in the appropriate unit at the time the contract was signed. There was no closed-shop provision in the contract to prevent it from securing authorizations prior to May 28, 1941. Under these circumstances we are of the opinion that no election should be ordered at this time.4 Since the present contract between the Company and the A. F. of L. requires 60 days' notice to terminate it on May 28, 1942, we will dismiss the petition of the C. I. O. without prejudice to its right to renew the petition at a reasonable time before March 28, 1942. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact, and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : CONCLUSION OF LAW No question concerning the representation of employees in the Fisher Body, Kansas City Division, General Motors Corporation, Kansas City, Missouri, exists within the meaning of Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act. ORDER 4 Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and conclusion cof law, the National Labor Relations Board hereby dismisses the petition for investigation and certification of representatives filed by .international Union, United Automobile Workers of America, affili- ated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, without prejudice to its right to renew "the petition at a reasonable time before March 28, 1942. ' See Matter of Het trick Manufacturing Company and Textile Workers Union of America, 25 N.'L. R. B. 722. 451270-42-vol. 35-7