National Vulcanized Fibre Co.

In the Matter of NATIONAL VULCANIZED FIBRE Co., NEWARK FIBRE DIVISION and LOCAL 138, UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO & MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO Case No. B-29.07.-Decided October 2. ,191,1 Jurisdiction : vulcanized fibre manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : refusal to accord union recognition ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em- ployees at -Company's paper and fibre mills including the engine and boiler room employes and the employees in the outside or bull gang, and excluding executives, office employees, watchmen , such foremen as are in an executive capacity, truck drivers , and chemists. Mr. Arthur G. Logan, for Logan c Duffy, of Wilmington, Del., for the Company. Mr. Carl Bersing, of Philadelphia, Pa., Mr. Jack Myers, of Wil- mington, Del., Mr. Gerald Walker and Mr. Woodrow Ross, of Newark,. Del., for the Union. Miss Edna Loeb, of counsel to'the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On July 1, 1941, Local 138, United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, CIO, herein called the Union, filed a petition with the Regional Director for the Fourth Region (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of National Vulcanized Fibre Company, Wilmington, Delaware, herein called the Company, at its Newark, Delaware, Fibre Division, and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On August 1, 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 authorized -the 36 N. L. R. B., No. 5. 46 NATIONAL VULCANIZED FIBRE CO. 47 Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon -due notice. On August 6, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear- ing, copies. of which were duly served upon the Company and the Union. Pursuant to notice, a .hearing was held on, August 20, 1941, at Wilmington, Delaware; before Jack Davis, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company was represented by counsel, the Union by representatives,, and all par- ticipated 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. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner on motions and objections to the admission of evidence and finds that no prejudicial errors were com- mitted. The rulings are hereby affirmed. For the reasons noted below, a motion to dismiss the petition, made by the Company, is hereby denied. On September 4, 1941, the Company filed a brief which the Board has duly considered. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY National Vulcanized Fibre Company is a Delaware corporation engaged in the manufacture and sale of vulcanized fibre and lami- nated bakelite products for electrical and mechanical purposes. Its principal- place of business is in Wilmington, Delaware, and it oper- ates, directly and indirectly, plants in the States of Pennsylvania and Delaware, including the plant which it operates in Newark, Delaware, known as the Newark Fibre Division, with which this proceeding is concerned. The raw materials used by the Company in its manufacturing operations are rags, canvas, and chemicals, over 95 per cent of which are secured from points outside Delaware. Over 95 per cent of the finished products of the Company are shipped to points outside Delaware, and its annual business aggregates ap- proximately $5,000,000. The Company admits that it is engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of the Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Local 138, United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of Amer- ica, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations. It, admits to its membership employees of the Company. 48 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Union seeks, and the Company in substance denies its au- thority, to bargain collectively as exclusive representative of the Company's employees in an appropriate unit. The Union has substantial representation among the employees in the 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 rela- tion 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 The Union requests a unit composed of all production and main- tenance employees in the fibre mill of the Company's Newark plant, exclusive of executives, office employees, watchmen, such foremen as are in an executive capacity, and truck drivers, and excluding all em- ployees in the paper mill of the plant. Except as noted below, the Company agrees that the requested unit is appropriate. . The Company contends that the appropriate collective bargaining unit should include both paper mill and fibre mill employees. The Company's Newark plant is comprised of two main divisions, the paper mill where approximately 31 workers are employed, and the fibre mill, where more than 200 workers are employed. The two mills are located in adjoining buildings connected by a covered gangway. In the course of the Company's manufacturing operations raw ma- terials are brought into the paper mill and are there manufactured into a special type of processed paper; this paper is then sent through the gangway into the fibre mill, where it is stored and used in the manufacture of vulcanized fibre and products fabricated from such fibre. The manufacturing process appears to be a continuous one from the entrance of the raw materials into the paper mill until the fibre and fibre products are ready for shipment from the plant, and 1 I The parties stipulated that the Union has signed application cards from approximately 129 employees on the Company's pay roll of June 22 to July 5, 1941 . Approximately 290 employees on this pay roll are in the appropriate unit. NATIONAL VULCANIZED FIBRE CO. 49 the paper and fibre divisions of the plant appear to be interdependent, the work of each depending upon the continued operation of the other. The record indicates that the Company has found it unsatisfactory to secure from outside sources the special type of paper which is necessary for the operations of the fibre mill, and, on the other hand, that there is little or no market for the paper itself outside the Company's organization. Although the cost of operating the paper and fibre mills is separately allocated for bookkeeping purposes, the Company operates the two mills as a single unit and considers them a. single enterprise. The work of the paper and fibre mills is similar, and it is the Company's policy to transfer employees from one section to the other during slack periods. The Company has a uniform labor policy in regard to the employees of both mills and gives all of them substantially the same wages, hours, vacations, and other employment benefits. Both mills are under the general supervision of a single, general superin- tendent, who has final authority over the hiring, discharge, and discipline of all employees of the plant and who maintains all pay-roll, receiving and shipping, and other records for both mills. The paper and fibre mills are serviced by common maintenance and outside laboring crews, and they also share numerous other joint facilities, among others, water filtration and distribution system, engine and boiler rooms, fire prevention system, first aid room, janitor service, trucking service, parking facilities, telephone service, and chemical laboratory. The record shows no history of collective bargaining between the Company and any labor organization seeking to represent employees of the Newark plant prior to June 1941, when the Union first requested a collective bargaining conference. The Company contends that in view of the joint management and functional coherence of the two sections of its plant, there is complete unity of interest between the paper and fibre workers for purposes of collective bargaining, and the Union does not seriously dispute that contention .2 The principal reason offered by the Union in support of its request for a separate unit of fibre employees is that some attempt has been made to form an unaffiliated labor organization among the paper mill employees, that those employees are reluctant to join the Union for fear of becoming involved in an inter-union dispute, and that the Union does not desire any conflict of jurisdiction with such an unaffil- 2 The Union stated at the hearing that paper and fibre mill employees, do not intermingle during working hours and are not well acquainted with the work outside their respec- tive mills. The record indicates, however, that there is very little intermingling among any employees during working hours, even among those in the same mill, and.that the -work of both is similar. 433118-42-vol. 36-5 50 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD iated organizations The record indicates that paper mill employees are eligible to the Union's membership, that the Union intends to include them in its organization in the future, that it has already made some attempts to organize them, and that 8 or 10 of the approx- imately 31 paper workers have signed union application cards 4 At one point in his testimony at the hearing, the Union's business repre- sentative admitted having stated in the presence of Board and com- pany representatives that he requested the exclusion of the paper mill employees from the unit because he had been unable to organize many of them and did not think that the Union could get a majority in a unit which included both paper and fibre mill employees.5 Upon all the evidence, including the functional coherence, inter- dependence, and integrated character of the operations of the paper and fibre mills, the similarity of the work and working conditions of the two mills, their joint supervision and joint plant facilities, the Company's uniform labor policy and interchange of paper and fibre employees, and the Union's attempts to organize the employees of both the paper and the fibre mills, we find that the paper mill belongs. with the fibre mill in an appropriate unit. The Union seeks to exclude the 10 employees of the engine and boiler rooms on the ground that they are a part of the paper mill. The Company desires their inclusion. Since we are including the,; paper mill, we shall also include the engine and boiler room en! ployees in the appropriate unit. The Union would exclude, and the Company include, the six em- ployees in the outside or "bull" gang. These employees load and unload materials in connection with the operations of both the fibre and paper mills. So far as the record discloses these employees are eligible for membership in the Union. Upon the entire record, we find that they belong within the appropriate unit. The Union also contends that the two chemists who work in the laboratory, testing materials and products and engaging in part in research work, should be excluded from the unit. The Company urges that we include them. Since they appear to be engaged in professional or technical work, we shall exclude them from the unit, We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Com- pany's paper and fibre mills at its Newark Fibre Division, including the engine and boiler room employees and the employees in the out- 3 The record does not show whether an unaffiliated organization has actually been formed, and no such organization appeared at the hearing herein. 4 The Union's business representative testified that the unnamed person sponsoring the formation of an unaffiliated organization in the paper mill told him that its adherents. would join the Union in a body if the Union won an election in the fibre mill. 'The Union, in substance, claims , however, that it does represent a majority in the unit hereinbelow found to be appropriate, and seeks an election therein. -1 NATIONAL VULCANIZED FIBRE CO. 51 side or bull gang, and excluding executives, office employees, watch- men, such foremen as are in an executive capacity, truck drivers, and chemists, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that such unit will insure to employees.. of the Com- pany 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 concerning representation which has arisen can best be resolved by the holding of an election by secret ballot. We shall direct that all employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein, subject to such limita- tions and additions as are set forth in the Direction, shall be eligible to vote. 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 National Vulcanized Fibre Company at its Newark Fibre Division, 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's paper and fibre mills at its Newark Fibre Division, including the engine and boiler room employees and the employees in the outside or bull gang, and excluding executives, office employees, watchmen, such foremen as are in an executive capacity, truck drivers, and chem- ists, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar- gaining, 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 National Vulcanized Fibre Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 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, tinder a 52 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 0 the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Fourth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Rela- tions Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all production and maintenance employees of the' Company's paper and fibre mills at its Newark Fibre Division, including the engine and boiler room employees and the employees in the outside or bull gang, who were employed 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 executives, office employees, watchmen, such foremen as are in an executive ca- pacity, truck drivers, chemists, and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Local 138, United Electrical Radio & Machine Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Or- ganizations, for the purposes of collective bargaining. MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election.