Grant Storage Batteries Co.

In the Matter of GRANT STORAGE BATTERIES COMPANY and UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO & MACHINE WORKERS or AMERICA, LOCAL 1140 Case No. R-2819.-Decided September 17, 1941 Jurisdiction : storage batteries manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : Com- pany refused to accord recognition to either of rival organizations until certified by the Board ; election necessary. ' Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all production employees exclusive of those employed in a supervisory capacity, those who have the right to hire and discharge, office employees, salesmen, outside truck drivers, and chemists ; agreement as to. Mr. ,Thomas Venvnwii?, and Mr. Lloyd M. Mac -4 loon, of Minneapolis, Minn., for the Company. Mr. Leonard Lagman, and Helstein & Hall, by Mr. Ralph L. Helstein, of Minneapolis, Minn., for the C. I. O. Mr. H. E. Leonard and Goldie and Sigal, by Mr. John A. Goldie and Mr. Samuel I. Sigal, of Minneapolis, Minn., for the I. B. E. W. Mr. Eugene Purver, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On June 19, 1941, United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local 1140, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organ- izations, herein called the C. I. 0., filed with the Regional Director for the Eighteenth Region (Minneapolis, Minnesota) a petition alleg- ing that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Grant Storage Batteries Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Sec- tion 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On July 15, 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 35 N. L. R. B., No. 101. 453 454 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On July 16, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing; copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the C. I. 0., and upon International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union No. B-1034, herein called the I. B. E. W.,' a labor organization claim ing to represent employees directly affected by the investigation. Pur- suant to notice a hearing was held on July 25 and 30, 1941, at Minneapolis, Minnesota, before Guy Farmer, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company, the C. I. O., and the I. B. E. W. were represented and 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 hearing the Trial Examiner made various 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. The I. B. E. W. on August 15, 1941 and the C. I. O. on August 18, 1941, respectively, filed briefs which the Board has considered. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Grant Storage Batteries Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Is a Delaware corporation, licensed to do business in Minnesota, and has its office and principal place of business in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where it is engaged in the processing and construction of storage batteries and light cells. During 1940, the Company purchased and used raw materials valued at $384,395.31, approximately 85 per cent of which were acquired by the Company from points outside the State of Minnesota. During the same period'the Company produced 148,994 batteries and 9,200 farm light cells valued at approximately $685,000. Of these products approximately 60 per cent were sold and distributed to persons in points outside the State of Minnesota. II. THE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local 1140, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is i At the hearing Local B-160 , International Brotherhood of Electiical Workers, Battery Branch , a labor organization which had amalgamated with Local B-1034, made a motion to amend the designation of the mtervenoi to read Local B -160, International Brotherhood of Electrical workers, A. F. of L, -Battery Branch The Trial Examiner granted this motion GRANT STORAGE BATTERIES COMPANY 455 .a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. Local B-160, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Battery Branch, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has had contracts with the I. B. E. W. since 1936. The last such contract, which recognized the I. B. E. W. as "sole and exclusive collective bargaining agent," was entered into on September 26, 1940, and provides that it is to be in force until July 15, 1941, "and thereafter unless written notice is given by either party hereto to the, other within 30 days prior to the expiration date hereof, requesting that the agreement be amended or cancelled. If amendment is desired the nature of same shall be contained in such notice." On June 13, 1941, the C. I. O. notified the Company that it represented a majority .of the employees and requested a bargaining conference. On June 14, 1941, the I. B. E. W. notified the Company that it wished to amend its -contract in respect to "Union Shop, higher wages, more vacations, better working conditions, and others." Thereafter the Company's labor relations counsel informed both the C. I. O. and the I. B. E. W. that the Company would not negotiate with either "until there was a determination of employee representation" inasmuch as both labor organizations were claiming to represent the same employees. The I. B. E. W. claims that, in spite of the foregoing notice of desire to amend, the contract is still in force and that the parties are operating pursuant to its provisions pending the signing of a new contract. It contends, therefore, that the contract thus allegedly extended is a bar to the present proceeding and that no question concerning representa- tion has arisen. , On the other hand the C. I. O. argues that the con- tract relied upon by the I. B. E. W. is no bar to a determination of .representatives, because, by its terms, it was terminated when the I. B. E. W. notified the Company of its desire to amend. The Com- pany took no position with respect to the alleged extension of the contract. It is unnecessary to pass on the validity of the contention' since the extension, if made, occurred after notice of the C. I. O.'s claim of majority representation.2 We find that the contract is no bar to a determination of representatives. A report prepared by the 'Regional Director and introduced into evidence at the hearing shows that the C. I. O. represents a substantial number of employees within the unit found herein to be appropriate.' 2 See Matter of Phelps Dodge Copper Products Corporation , Habirshaw Cable and Wire Divisson and United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, 0 I. 0 , 27 N. L R. B. 729. 3 The report of the Regional Director shows that the C. I 0. submitted 32 application- for-membership authorization cards, all bearing apparently genuine signatures and all 456 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 requestion 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. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT At the hearing the parties agreed and we find that all production employees exclusive of those employed in a supervisory capacity, those who have the right to hire and discharge, office employees, salesmen, outside truck drivers, and chemists, employed by the Company in its plant at 2600 North Second Street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, consti- tute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.4 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 We find that the question which has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of the employees of the Company can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. At the hearing the parties agreed that "all persons on the pay roll of the Company who have obtained seniority by reason of 66 days of work as of the pay roll immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election and who fall within the appro- priate bargaining unit, . . . shall be eligible to vote." We perceive no reason for departing from the agreement of the parties; accord- ingly, we shall direct that the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of-Election herein, and who have obtained senior- ity by reason of 66 days of work as of the said pay-roll period, subject to such limitations and additions as are hereinafter set forth in the Direction, shall be eligible to vote. dated between June 9 and June 12, 1941 . Thirty of the signatures aie of persons whose names appear on the Company 's pay roll of June 26 , 1941. The I . B ,E. W. did not submit any evidence of membership in support of its claim to represent a majority of the employees within the unit but submitted a collective bargaining agreement between it and the Com- pany and rdlies upon such agreement as proof of its interest in this proceeding. There are approximately 62 employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate. 4 The parties further agreed that working foremen "shall not be considered as supervisory employees." Working foremen shall, therefore , be deemed included in the unit. GRANT STORAGE BATTERIES COMPANY 457 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 Grant Storage Batteries Company, Minne- apolis, Minnesota, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All production employees exclusive of those employed in a super- visory capacity, those who have the right to hire and discharge, office employees, salesmen, outside truck drivers, and chemists, employed by the Company in its plant at 2600 North Second Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes 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 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 Grant Storage Batteries Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 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 of Elec- tion, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Eighteenth 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 employees employed by the Company in,its plant at 2600 North Second Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota, during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election and who have obtained seniority by reason of 66 days of work as of the said pay-roll period, including employees who did not work during said 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 those employed in a supervisory capacity, those who have the right to hire and discharge, office employees, salesmen, outside truck drivers, and chemists, and those who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented for the purposes of collective bargaining by United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local 1140, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, or by Local B-160, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Battery Branch, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, or by neither.