Quincy Compressor Co.

In the Matter of QUINCY COMPRESSOR COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS Case No. R-2831.Decided August 19,194f1 Jurisdiction : air compressor manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: Com- pany refused to accord union recognition until certified by the, Board ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective ' Bargaining : machine operators, assemblers, drill-press operators, testing-bench and repair men, maintenance men, spray- painting and stockroom employees, and crating and shipping-room employees, but excluding clerical, office, and supervisory employees, salesmen, watchmen, foremen , and janitors. Mr. Mac Irwin, of Quincy, Ill., for the Company. Mr. J. T. Farr, of Springfield, Ill., for the I. A. M. Mr. Bliss Daffan, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On June 25, 1941, Lodge 822, International Association of Ma- chinists, herein called the I. A. M., filed with the Regional Director for the Fourteenth Region (St. Louis, Missouri) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Quincy Compressor Company, Quincy, Illinois, 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 July 30, 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 Reg- ulations-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. On July 31, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the I. A. M. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on August 1, 1941, at Quincy, 34 N. L. R. B., No. 70. 486 QUINCY COMPRESSOR COMPANY , 487 Illinois, before Wallace Cooper, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company and the I. A. M. were represented by counsel 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 course of the hearing, the Trial Examiner made several 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. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY The Company is an Illinois corporation with its principal place of business at Quincy, Illinois. It is engaged in the manufacture and sale of air compressors. The principal raw materials used by the Company are castings, forgings, tanks, motors, and electrical ap- paratus. During the 12 months preceding the date of the hearing, the value of the raw materials purchased and used by the Company was approximately $300,000. More than 50 per cent of these raw materials were shipped from points outside the State of Illinois to the Company's plant at Quincy. During the same period of time, the Company manufactured finished products of the approximate value of $500,000. Approximately 75 percent of these finished prod- ucts were shipped from the Company's plant at Quincy to points outside the State of Illinois. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Lodge 822, International Association of Machinists, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, ad- mitting to membership employees of the Company. M. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On some undisclosed date during June 1941, the I. A. M. requested recognition as the exclusive bargaining representative of the em- ployees of the Company. The Company refused to grant the I. A. M. such recognition until it should be certified by the Board as the bar- gaining representative of the employees. A report prepared by the Regional Director of the Board, which was introduced into evidence at the hearing, shows that the I. A. M. 488 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD' represents a substantial number of the employees of the Company within the unit alleged to be appropriate.' 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 com- merce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The I. A. M. contends that the appropriate unit consists of all machine operators, assemblers, drill-press operators, testing-bench and repair men, maintenance men, spray-painting and stockroom men, excluding clerical, office, and supervisory employees, 'salesmen, crating or shipping employees, watchmen, foremen and janitors. The Com- pany is in accord with the unit contended for by the I. A. M. except that it objects to the exclusion therefrom of crating- or shipping-room employees. There are only two crating- or shipping-room employees in the em- ploy of the Company. They are engaged in preparing the compressors for shipment after they leave the paint department of the plant. In this connection they see that all the parts and materials are assembled in the crate or box, prepare name plates, stamp the serial number and other information on each compressor, and complete the work of crating for the purpose of delivery to the carrier. They are hourly paid employees, one of them receiving 46 cents an hour and the other 55 cents an hour. Ordinary production employees of the Company, consisting principally of machine operators, are paid substantially the same rates. The only reason asserted by the I. A. M. for the exclusion of the two crating or shipping employees from the unit is because they are not members of the I. A. M. The record shows, however, that shipping employees are eligible to membership in the organization and have been included in the unit by the I. A. M. at other plants when they 'The Regional Director reported that the I A. M. submitted to him 22 membership application cards of employees on the pay roll of the Company as of July 18, 1941, 15 of which were variously dated from April 1 through May 31, 1941, and 7 of which were undated. There are approximately 50 employees in the alleged appropriate unit. QUINCY COMPRESSOR' COMPANY 489 were members of the organization. Under these circumstances, we will include the two crating or shipping-room employees within the unit. We find that all machine operators, assemblers, drill-press opera- tors, testing-bench and repair men, maintenance men, spray-painting and stockroom employees, and crating and shipping employees, but excluding clerical, office, and supervisory employees, salesmen, watch- men, foremen, and janitors, constitute a unit appropriate for the pur- poses of collective bargaining and that such unit will insure to em- ployees of the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organi- zation 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 an election by secret ballot. Both the I. A. M. and the Company agree that the pay roll to be used to determine eli- gibility to vote shall be the Company's pay roll of July 18, 1941. Under these circumstances, we find that the employees of the Company eligible to vote in the election shall be those employees in the appro- priate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period of July 18, 1941, subject to such limitations and additions as are set forth in the Direction of Election hereinafter. 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 Quincy Compressor Company, Quincy, Illi- nois, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All machine operators, assemblers, drill-press operators, testing- bench and repair men, maintenance men, spray-painting and stock room employees, and crating- and shipping-room employees, but ex- cluding clerical, office, and supervisory employees, salesmen, watch- men, foremen, and janitors, 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 490 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Quincy Compressor Company, Quincy, Illinois, 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 di- rection and supervision of the Regional Director for the Fourteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regula- tions, among all machine operators, assemblers, drill-press operators, testing-bench and repair men, maintenance men, spray-painting and stockroom employees, and crating- and shipping-room employees, who were employed by the Company during the pay-roll period of July 18, 1941, 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 clerical, office, and supervisory employees, salesmen, watch- men, foremen, and janitors, and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Lodge 822, International Association of Machinists, for the purposes of collective bargaining. MR. EDwiN S. SMITH took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election.