Republic Steel Corp.

In the Matter of REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION and RAITNIUND #121 & SPAULDING #556, INTFRNATIONAL UNION OF MINE, MILL & SMELTER WORKERS Case No. R-3196.-Decided November 29, 19.41 Jurisdiction : iron and steel products manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : refusal to accord union recognition ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees of two mines and ore concentration mill, excluding supervisory and clerical employees. Mr. James W. Dorsey, for the Board. Mr. Borden Burr, of Birmingham , Ala., for the Company. A11r. J. A. Lipscomb ,.of Bessemer, Ala., for the Mine Workers. Mr. Richard Hail Brown , of Birmingham, Ala., for the A. O. C. W. Mr. Sydney S. Asher, Jr., of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF TI3E CASE On September 9, 1941, Raimund #121 & Spaulding $x556, Interna- tional Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, herein jointly called the Mine Workers, filed with the Regional Director for the Tenth Region (Atlanta, Georgia) a petition alleging that a question affecting com- merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Re- public Steel Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, 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 October 9, 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 October 14, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear- ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the Mine 37 N. L. R. B., No. 23. 173 174 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Workers, and Alabama Ore Conditioning Workers , Inc., unaffiliated, herein called the A. O. C. W., a labor organization claiming to repre- sent employees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on October 22 , 1941, at Birmingham, Ala- bama, before Alexander E. Wilson, Jr., the Trial Examiner duly des- ignated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company, the Mine Workers, and the A. O. C. 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 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. On November 4, 1941, the Mine Workers and the A. O. C. W. filed briefs, which have been considered by the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Republic Steel Corporation is a New Jersey corporation , with its principal offices in Cleveland, Ohio. It is engaged in the manufacture, production , sale, and distribution of iron and steel products. It ob- tains iron ore from its mines near Bessemer, Alabama , including the Raimund and Spaulding mines, concerned in the present proceedings. The Company uses the output of these two mines in furnaces which it maintains at Birmingham and Gadsden, Alabama. Approximately 60 per cent of the products of the Gadsden and Birmingham furnaces are shipped outside the State of Alabama. The Company admits that it is engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of the Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Local # 121, located at Raimund , and Local #556, located at Spauld= ing, of the International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers, are labor organizations affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organ- izations, which admit to membership employees of the Company. Alabama Ore Conditioning Workers, Inc., is an unaffiliated labor organization which admits to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION In July 1941, the Mine Workers asked the Company to recognize it as the sole bargaining agent for the employees within the unit which it alleges is appropriate . The Company refused to do so unless the 'REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION 175 -Mine Workers was certified by the Board. On September 19, 1941, the A. O. C. W. demanded that the Company recognize it as the sole bar- gaining agent of the employees in the unit alleged by it to be appro- priate. This demand was likewise refused by the Company. At the hearing; the Mine Workers and the A. O. C. W. each introduced., evidence of substantial representation within the unit each alleges as 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 commerce and the -free ,flow.'ofi commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Mine Workers contends that all the employees of the Raimund and Spaulding mines and of the Spaulding ore concentration mill, except supervisory and clerical employees, constitute an appropriate unit. The A. O. C. W. seeks a unit limited to the employees of the Spaulding ore concentration mill, except supervisory employees. The Company takes no position with respect to the appropriate unit. The Spaulding and Raiinund mines are about 6 or 7 miles apart. 'The ore concentration mill, which is located at Spaulding, is a sepa- rate building approximately 100 to 150 yards from the entrance of the Spaulding mine. It was constructed in _1940. The iron ore taken from the Spaulding mine is crushed and screened and then sent by conveyor belt to the ore concentration mill, where is it reground, washed, dried and put into railroad cars to be carried to the Company's furnaces. The function of the ore concentration mill is to increase the percentage of iron ore in the finished product before it is shipped to the furnaces. The entire product of the Spaulding :'The Mine workers submitted to the Trial Examiner a certified list of its members bearing 703 names for the Raimund mine and 69 names for the Spaulding mine and ore concentration mill . This was checked against the Company's pay roll for the period ending August 21, 1941, which contained 674 names for the Raimund mine, 94 names for the Spaulding mine, and 36 names for the Spaulding ore concentration mill. The check indicated that 581 names on the list furnished by the Mine Workers for the Raimund mine appeared upon the pay roll, and 69 of the names for the Spaulding mine and ore concentration mill appeared on the pay roll The A 0 C. W. submitted a certified list of its members at the Spaulding ore concentration mill, containing 28 names. Of these, 22 names appeared on the pay roll for the Spaulding ore concentration mill. 176 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD mine is treated in the Spaulding ore concentration mill. In addi- tion, the concentration mill also treats outcroppings found at Spauld- ing. If a surplus of ore is taken from the mine and the outcroppings, it is temporarily stored in bins in the mill. On occasions, employees have been transferred from the mine to the mill. In addition, there are temporary interchanges of the, maintenance men at the mine and the mill for repair work. The mill workers are paid at the same pay office as the miners and use the same commissary. The same bookkeeping department is used for the mine and mill, although separate records are maintained. The Raimund local of the Mine Workers was organized in 1933, and the local at Spaulding in July 1941. Prior to the organization of the local at Spaulding, some of the Spaulding employees were members of the Raimund local. For a number.\of years, the Com- pany has recognized the Mine Workers as the bargaining represen- tative of its members. Since the ore concentration mill was built in 1940, the Mine Workers has handled grievances at Spaulding for its members among the employees of both the mine and the ore con- centration mill. The A. O. C. W. was formed about 6 weeks prior to the hearing. Although nothing in its constitution prohibits it from accepting employees of the mine as members, it has made no attempt to organize the mine employees and all its members are employees of the ore concentration mill. It is clear that the Spaulding mine and the ore concentration mill are operated as an integrated system. The work of employees in the mine is closely dependent upon the work of the employees in the mill. There is, by virtue of their close association, a com- munity of interest among the employees of the mine and the mill. To a certain extent, there is interchange of employment. In view of the fact that the work of the employees'and the operations of the mine and the mill are closely interrelated, the fact that the Mine Workers has bargained for the employees of both mines and the employees of the mill since it was constructed, and the fact that the A. O. C'. W., which can extend its membership beyond the mill, first demanded recognition after the Mine Workers had filed its petition, we are of the opinion that the employees of the ore con- centration mill do not constitute a separate bargaining unit.2 Ac- cordingly, we find that all employees of the Raimund and Spaulding mines and of the Spaulding ore concentration mill, except super- visory and clerical employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining and that said unit will insure to 2 See Matter of Tennessee Copper Company and A. F of L. Federal Union No. 21164, 5 N. L. R B. 768; Matter of Providence Coal Mining Company and United Mine Workers of America Distract #23, 27 N. L. R B., No. 205. REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION 177 employees of , the Company the full benefit of their right to self- organization and 'to collective bargaining and otherwise will effectuate the policies of the Act. VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES . We find that the question which has arisen concerning the rep- resentation of employees of the Company can best be resolved by, and we shall accordingly direct, an election by secret ballot. If the A. O. C. W. desires not to appear on the ballot, it shall notify the Regional Director to that effect within five (5) days after receipt of this Decision' and Direction of Election ; thereupon its name shall be omitted from the ballot . We shall direct that those eligible to vote in the election shall be the , employees of the Raimund and Spaulding mines and of the Spaulding ore concentration mill, except supervisory and clerical employees , who were employed by the Com- pany during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions appearing in the Direction. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : I CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Republic Steel Corporation , Cleveland, Ohio, at its Raimund and Spaulding mines and its Spaulding ore concentra- tion mill, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 2. All employees of the Raimund and Spaulding mines and of the Spaulding ore concentration mill, except supervisory and clerical em- ployees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of 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 Republic Steel Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, 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 Election, under the direc- tion and supervision of the Regional Director for the Tenth Region, 178 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 employees employed by the Company at its Raimund and Spaulding mines and its Spaulding ore concentration mill during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, 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 tempprarily, laid off, but excluding supervisory and clerical employees and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organiza- tions, by Alabama Ore Conditioning Workers, Inc., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.