Chrysler Corp.

In the Matter of CHRYSLER CORPORATION (MARYSVILLE PLANT) and IN- TERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE WORKERS OF AMERICA, AFFILIATED WITH CIO Case No. R-2961.-Decided October 16, 1941 Jurisdiction : automobile manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : Com- pany refused to accord union recognition contending that the union could not properly represent the office employees because of an existing contract covering a factory-wide unit which excluded office employees ; Company's contentions concerning above-mentioned contract held without merit when contract con- tains no provision which precludes union from representing employees ex- cluded by previous contract, and when a substantial number of such employees have designated union ; election necessary. Clerical employees carried on factory pay roll but temporarily assigned to the office -and who, are represented by,the union as part of the factory unit are ineligible to vote in an election directed among office employees unless they have between the date of the hearing and the date of the Direc- tion of Election been permanently transferred from the factory pay roll to the office pay roll. , Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all salaried and hourly rated office workers, including timekeepers, telephone and teletype operators, and mail clerks, but excluding supervisory employees, engineers, all employees in the labor relations department and the employment department, all employees in the time-study, methods, and budget department (except secretarial employees), credit men, professional employees, draftsmen, package engineers, and the confidential secretaries to executives, heads of departments and foremen ; tele- type operators are included in the unit since it does not appear that in the normal course of their duties they have obtained information of a sufficiently confidential character relating to labor policy to warrant their exclusion. Larkin, Rath,bone c( Perry, by Mr. T. R. Iserman and Mr. J. D. Leary, of New York City, for the Company. Maurice Sugar and Jack N. Tucker, by Mr. Jack N. Tucker, of Detroit, Mich., for the Union. Mr. Dan M. Byrd, Jr., of counsel to the Board. 36 N. L. R. B., No. 27. 157 158 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF TIRE CASE On May 13, 1941 , International Union, United Automobile Workers of America, affiliated with CIO, herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the Seventh Region (Detroit, Michigan) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen con- cerning the representation of employees of Chrysler Corporation, Marysville, Michigan, herein called the Company, 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 7, 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 Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On August 18, 1941 , the Regional Director issued a notice of hear- ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the Uiiion, and Association of Office Workers, herein called the Association. On September 3, 1941, pursuant to notice, a hearing was held at Marys- ville, Michigan, before Woodrow J. Sandler, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company and the Union were represented 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. At the close of the Union's case, the Company moved to dismiss the peti- tion. The Trial Examiner reserved ruling on the motion for the Board. For reasons set forth hereinafter ,,the motion is denied. Dur- ing the course of the hearing, the Trial Examiner made various rulings on other 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. On September 17, 1941, the Company filed a brief which the Board has considered. Subsequent to the close of the hearing, the Company and the Union filed with the Board a stipulation correcting the record. The stipulation is,hereby admitted into evidence and made a part of the record. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: CHRYSLER CORPORATION FINDINGS OF FACT - I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY 159 Chrysler Corporation, organized 'in "Delaware on June '6, 1925, is engaged in the manufacture of automobiles, parts, "and accessories. Its principal office is in Detroit, Michigan, and it has plants in Detroit, Hamtramck, Warren "Tozynship, and Marysville, Michigan; New Castle, Evansville, and Kokomo, Indiana; and Los Angeles, Cali- fornia. In May 1939 more than 50,000 persons were employed in these plants, and an additional, 5,000 who were not employed had seniority standing. The Company also owns between 25 and 30 sub- sidiaries in the United States. It manufactures approximately 1,200,000 automobiles and trucks per year. Only the Marysville, Michigan, Division of.the Company is herein involved. This Divi- sion of the Company is a parts depot supplying both dealers and other plants of the Company. Approximately 45 per cent by value of the raw materials used by the Company at its plants, valued at more than $240,000,000 annually, and approximately 75 per cent by value of the finished and partly .finished products of the Company, valued at approximately $625.000,- 000 annually, are transported in interstate commerce. Domestic and foreign sales of the Company's products are handled by a number of subsidiary corporations in which the Company is the sole stockholder. II. TILE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED International Union, United Automobile Workers of America is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organi- zations, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On April 19, 1941, the Company's office employees at its Marysville Division, through the Association of Office Workers, informed the Company that a majority of its employees within an alleged appro- priate unit had designated the Union as their exclusive representative for the purposes of collective bargaining and requested recognition of the Union as such agent. On April 23, 1941, the Company replied that it did not believe that the Union could properly represent its office employees because of an existing contract in which the Company recognized the Union as the exclusive representative of a unit com- posed of all production and maintenance employees of the Company at its Marysville Division, excluding foremen, assistant foremen, time- keepers, plant-protection employees, office employees, confidential sal- 160 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD cried employees, and salaried engineers, which unit is herein called the factory unit. The Company moved to dismiss the petition :upon the ground that the Union had contracted not to represent the employees within the alleged appropriate unit. The contract defines the scope 'of the fac- tory unit w'ith'the exclusions noted above but contains no provision which precludes the Union fxpm representing employees in another appropriate unit or units such as here sought. Moreover, ti substan- tial group of employees have indicated their desire to be represented by the Union,2 and the Union is seeking certification as the repre- sentative of the employees in the unit here involved. Under the cir- cumstances, we find the Company's contention to be without merit and its motion to dismiss has been hereinabove denied. We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company. IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON COM]IERCE 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 obstructiIlg commerce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Union contended that the appropriate unit should consist of all salaried and hourly rated office workers,3 including timekeepers and factory clerks,' but excluding supervisory employees, all em- ployees in the time-study, methods, and budget department except secretarial employees, credit men, professional employees, and em- ployees in the labor relations department. The Company would also 1 The Company first recognized the Union in a contract dated November 29, 1939. This agreement was subsequently amended and is presently in effect. 2 A statement of the Regional Director introduced in evidence shows that the Union. submitted to him 83 applications for membership cards in the Association of Office Workers, the reverse side of which carries language designating the Union as the representative of the signer for the purposes of collective bargaining , together with 100 authorization cards designating the Union as the representative for the purposes of collective bargain- ing, all dated between February and July 1941 , bearing apparently genuine original signatures . The Regional Director reported further that 145 of the 189 signatures are the names of persons on the Company's pay roll beginning May 12, 1941 , which lists a total of approximately 250 names. We construe the term "office workers" to include secretarial employees not specifically excluded herein. 4 These factory clerks are secretaries to foremen and are not the same as the clerks referred to in Section VI, infra. CHRYSLER CORPORATION 161 exclnde •timekeepers, secretarial employees to executives, foremen, and heads of departments, telephone and teletype operators, all employees in the employment department, ,draftsmen, package engineers ;(or .designers),, ;and snail clerks. The parties agreed to exclude :all .engi- neers, and the secretaries to the traffic manager, the superintendent .of parts order, plant engineer, plant superintendent, and supervisor of the tilne-study, methods, and budget department. Timekeepers. The Company employs six -tiin,ekeepers in addition. to the chief timekeeper. Their duties require them daily to collect time cards of all employees, ascertain if the cards are correctly punched, and determine the amount of pay due from the cards. They also distribute pay checks. The ,timekeepers are hourly paid, receive no sick leave or vacation, and are excluded from the factory unit established by the contract between the Company and the Union. The Company contended that the duties and functions of the time- keepers are so closely related to the functions of inanagement as to. require the exclusion of timekeepers from both the factory unit and the unit herein alleged.to..be appropriate. On the basis of the record before us, we find that the duties of the timekeepers are primarily clerical in nature and that their interests are similar to those of other employees within the alleged appropriate unit. We shall therefore include timekeepers.5 Secretaries to other departmental heads and foremen. This ad- ditional group of secretaries has generally the same types of clerical duties as the secretaries excluded by agreement of the parties such as dictation, filing, and typing,s All these employees have access to the files of their respective superiors, containing information about the in- ternal affairs of the Company which it desires to be kept confidential. The secretaries or clerks to the foremen make up reports on em- ployee grievances and, as a general rule, have access to advance in- formation on the disposition of such grievances. In addition it does not appear that the other secretaries in dispute will not have similar information about the disposition of grievances arising from among the employees within the unit which we hereafter find to be appro- priate. We believe that the duties of these employees will allow them to have knowledge of such confidential labor affairs and that their other duties are sufficiently comparable to the duties of the secretarial employees whom the parties have agreed to exclude, as to warrant their exclusion from the appropriate unit. We shall therefore exclude 5 Cf. Matter of Chrysler Corporation and United Automobile Workers of America, Local 371, affiliated with C. I. 0., 13 N. L. R. B. 1303. 9 In dispute were the secretaries to the supervisors of the following departments : package engineers, receiving, reclamation, inspection, millwrights, service shipping, plan- ning and scheduling, service stores, materials control, and service billing. 433113-42-vol. 30-12 162 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the confidential secretaries to all foremen and supervisors of ,departments.', Telephone and teletype operators. The Company engages two tele- phone, operators who operate its switchboard, and at times transfers -two employees from its accounting department to substitute tempo- rarily for the two regular operators. In addition; the Company en- gages three employees who operate teletype machines and telegraph machines. The Company contends that the telephone operators should be excluded because they may acquire, either by inadvertence or design, knowledge respecting the Company's confidential labor affairs. We find no merit in this contention. It does not appear that the tele- type operators in the normal course of their duties have obtained information of a sufficiently confidential character relating to labor policy to warrant their exclusion. We shall therefore include tele- phone and teletype operators within the appropriate unit. Draftsmen. The Company employs two draftsmen who work under the supervision of the chief engineer. They are engaged mainly in drafting plans for the change in lay-outs of the Marysville plant and the Company's eight supply depots in the United States. They not only act as draftsmen but they also conceive designs for the efficient lay-out of the Company's plant. We believe the interests of the .draftsmen are sufficiently distinguishable from the interests of the ,employees within the,alleged appropriate unit, mainly clerical in nature, as to warrant their exclusion. We shall therefore exclude draftsmen. Package engineers. The Company's four package engineers are Tesponsible for the development and design of packages in which parts and accessories for the Company's automobiles are packed. They per- form no clerical work, instead, being engaged in creative work based upon their knowledge of the strength and protective qualities of various packaging materials. We shall therefore exclude package engineers. . Mail clerks. The mail department is composed of a supervisor, a mail clerk, messenger, three mail and zone clerics, and three truck drivers. The mail clerk receives and opens mail as it arrives and sorts it out for distribution to the various departments of the plant. In addition, the mail clerk sorts outgoing mail. The mail and zone clerks are required to assemble all letters or mail for one addressee in a single envelope, to weigh all mail and parcel post matter and to determine the cost of mailing. After the mail clerk has opened the mail she gives it to the departmental messenger to deliver. Interplant mail 'Batter of Creamery. Package Banufactariug Company and Steel Workers Organizing Committee, C. I. 0., 34 N. L. R. B., No. 15. CHRYSLER 'CORPORATION 163 is transmitted in -envelopes addressed to specified individuals and remains sealed during delivery. Mail from the outside must be opened to determine its destination within the plant. We believe that the duties of these employees are clerical in nature. We shall therefore include them within the appropriate unit. Employment department. Employees in the Company's employment department are located in the same office, and work with the same records, as do employees in the labor relations department whose exclu- sion is requested by the Union. - We believe that such facts warrant the ,exclusion of the employees in the employment department. We shall therefore exclude all employees in the employment department from the appropriate unit. We find that all salaried and hourly rated office workers, including timekeepers, telephone and teletype operators, and mail clerks, but excluding supervisory employees, engineers, all employees in the labor relations department and the employment department, all employees in the time-study, methods, and budget department (except secretarial employees), credit men, professional employees, draftsmen, package engineers, and the confidential secretaries to executives, heads of de- partments and foremen, 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 will otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act. V.I. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. The Company employs some 53 clerks in the office who were, at the time of the hearing, carried on the factory pay roll. It appears that these employees have been temporarily assigned to the office. They a p- pear upon the factory seniority list and are at present represented by the Union as part of the factory unit. The Company takes the position that so long as these jobs are filled by employees on the fac- tory pay roll these employees should be ineligible to participate in- the election. The Union did not express a desire to have employees, whom it now represents in the factory unit, participate in the election. Since these clerks are at present represented by the Union, we find that they are ineligible to vote in the election which we shall direct unless they have, between the date of the hearing and the date of the Direc-. tion of Election, been permanently transferred from the factory pay roll to the office pay roll. Iii accordance with our usual practice we shall direct that an elec- tion be held among those employees within the appropriate unit who 164 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABO ;R BE^LATIONS BOARD were employed by the Company during the .pay-roll period imme- diately preceding the date of this Direction of Election , subject to such limitations and ,additions as are set forth in the Direction. CONCLUSIONS AF LAW 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Chrysler Corporation , Marysville, Michi- gan, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All salaried and hourly rated office workers of the Company at its Marysville Division, including timekeepers, telephone and tele- type operators, and mail clerks, but excluding supervisory employees, engineers, all employees in the labor relations department and the employment department , all employees in the time -study, methods, and budget department (except secretarial employees ), credit men , profes- sional employees, draftsmen , package engineers, and the confidential secretaries to executives , heads of departments and foremen , 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 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 D3RECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Chrysler Corporation , Marysville, Michigan, 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 direc- tion and supervision of the Regional Director for the Seventh 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 salaried and hourly rated office workers, including time- keepers , telephone and teletype operators, and mail clerks, at its Marys- ville Division, who were employed during the pay-roll period imme- diately preceding the date of this Direction , including employees who 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 , engineers; all employees in the labor relations department and the employment department , all employees in the time-study, methods, and budget department (except secretarial employees), credit CHRYSLER CORPORATION 165 men, professional employees, draftsmen, package engineers, and the confidential secretaries to executives, heads of departments and fore- men, and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Inter- national Union, ,, United• Automobile Workers of America,, affiliated with C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining. MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the. consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election.