Stewart Warner Corp.

In the Matter of STEWART WARNER CORPORATION and DIE AND TOOL MAKERS LODGE No. 113, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, A. F. OF L. Case No. R-3088.Deeided December 3, 1941 Jurisdiction : automobile accessory, car heater, radio, refrigerator, and ordnance and aviation material manufacturing industry. Practice and Procedure : petition dismissed where unit composed of die and tool makers in three departments of Company's North Side Diversey Boulevard Plant, but excluding other groups of die and tool makers and tool hardeners and tool designers is held to be inappropriate for the-purposes of collective bargaining. Mr. F. H. Towner, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company. Mr. Arthur A. Netrefa, of Chicago, Ill., for the I. A. M. Mr. Ernest De Maio, of Chicago, Ill., for the United. Mr. Stanley L. Drexler, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND ORDER STATEMENT OF THE CASE On July 30, 1941, Die and Tool Makers Lodge No. 113, Interna- tional Association of Machinists, affiliated with the American Federa- tion of Labor, herein called the I. A. M., filed with the Regional Director for the Thirteenth Region (Chicago, Illinois) a petition, and on September 20, 1941, an amended petition, alleging that a ques- tion affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Stewart Warner Corporation, Chicago, 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 September 29, 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 Regula- tions-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. 37 N. L. R. B., No. 38. 242 STEWART WARNER CORPORATION 243 On October 1, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear- ing, copies of which.were duly served upon the Company, the I. A. M., and United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, affili- ated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, herein called the United, a labor organization claiming to represent employees di- rectly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to•notice, a hearing was held on October 8, 1941, at Chicago, Illinois, before Russell Packard, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company, the I. A. M., and the United were represented and 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. During the course of the hearing, the Trial Examiner made several rulings on motions and objections to the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors were com- mitted. The rulings are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Stewart Warner Corporation is a Virginia corporation. It is en- gaged -in manufacturing enterprises in various States of the United States and at Belleville, Ontario, Canada. This proceeding involves a plant of the Company located at 1828 West Diversey Boulevard in Chicago, Illinois. It is known as the North Side plant.' The Company is engaged at this plant in the manufacture and distribu- tion of automobile accessories, car heaters, radios, and refrigerators, and in the manufacture of ordnance and aviation material under defense contracts with the United States Government. The prin- cipal raw materials used by the Company in the manufacture of the products of this plant are steel, -brass, wood, aluminum,, copper, bronze, and chemicals. The Company uses approximately $2,000,000 worth of such materials monthly. Approximately two-thirds of these materials are obtained from sources outside of the State of Illinois. During 1940, the Company sold approximately $45,000,000 worth of products of this plant. About 90 per cent of these products were delivered to places outside the State of Illinois. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Die and Tool Makers Lodge No. 113, International Association of Machinists, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a 1 There is also a plant of the Company situated on the south side of Diversey Boulevard, across the street from the North Side plant 1 244 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization also admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The I. A. M. seeks a unit composed of all die and tool makers in three departments of the Company's North Side plant : 2 Department 325, the die, gauge, and grinding department; Department 326, the fixture, machine, and fool manufacturing department; and Depart- ment 350, the fixture manufacturing and machine construction and repair department.3 The United contends that all employees of the Company at the North Side plant constitute an appropriate unit.' It also maintains that the unit sought by the I. A. M. is inappropriate since it excludes die and tool makers in other departments of the North Side plant. The Company takes no position with respect to the appropriate unit. In addition to the die and tool makers whom the I. A. M. now seeks to represent, the Company employs other die and tool makers in the North Side plant. Department 236, the experimental tool making department, consists exclusively of die and tool makers.5 In Department 428, the tool designing department, and in Depart- ment 8, the manufacturing hardening department, there are tool designers and tool hardeners 6 who, under the definition which the I. A. M. employs in setting forth its jurisdiction, are classified as die and tool makers.7 In addition there are nine die and tool makers scattered through other departments of the plant.8 All these employees are eligible for membership under the bylaws of the I. A. M., and the I. A. M. admitted at the hearing that it has 8 There are 512 employees in these three departments. 3In its petition the I. A. M sought a unit consisting of all employees in the "Die and Gauge Department (Departments 325, 325-A, 325-D, and 325-G)." In its amended petition it requested a unit composed of "all tool and die makers, die grinders, and gauge makers, excluding foremen, superintendents, and all other employees of the Company." 4 There are approximately 8 900 employees in the North Side plant The United does not now seek an election among these employees 6 There are 46 employees in Department 236. 6 Tool designers, whose number the record does not disclose, constitute the entire personnel of Department 428 Department 8 has a tool hardening division which con- sists of three tool hardeners 7 At the hearing the I A M introduced into evidence the following excerpt from its bylaws : "Definition of a Die and Toolmaker. . . . Die and Toolmakers include persons who can, with the aid of tools, with or without drawings, perform all work necessary in the making of Dies, Tools, Bakelite or Die Cast Molds, Tool Designing, Tool Hardening, Jigs, Fixtures, Gauges, Experimental or Model Work Such persons may be admitted to membership in this Lodge upon making application, payment of required fee and passing the Examination Committee " (Italics ours ) 8 Five in the i adio manufacturing department. 3 in the short order department, and 1 in the aircraft department STEWART WARNER CORPORATION 245 jurisdiction over them. It stated that it wishes to exclude these employees for the reason that they have not asked the I. A. M. to bargain for them. The I. A. M. indicated that it would seek to include these die and tool makers in the appropriate unit at such time as it secures them as members. We do not believe that a mere portion of a single craft consti- tutes an appropriate bargaining unit within the meaning of the Act. The die and tool makers and the tool designers and tool hardeners in the North Side plant of the Company comprise a recognized craft and they may not be arbitrarily divided.9 The I. A. M., admittedly, has jurisdiction over all these employees and there is no history of collective bargaining at the plant which would justify such a division of a recognized craft. Under the circum- stances, we find that a unit-con ' fined to the employees in Depart- ments 325, 326, and 350 of the North Side plant, as proposed by the I. A. M., is not appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. IV. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION Since the bargaining unit sought to be established by the peti- tioning union is not appropriate, as stated in Section III above, we find that no question has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company in an appropriate unit. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: CONCLUSION OF LAW No question concerning the representation of employees in the North Side plant of Stewart Warner Corporation, Chicago, Illinois, has arisen in a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar- gaining within the meaning of Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act. ORDER Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and conclusion of law, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the petition for investigation and certification filed by 'Die and Tool Makers Lodge No. 113, International Association of Machinists, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, be, and it hereby is, dismissed. 0 Cf. Matter of The Nozelty Steam Better Works and Loral 101, Welders, Burners, Apprentices, A F of L., 7 N L R B 969; Matter of Rembrandt Lamp Corporation and Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers, and Helpers International Union, Local No. 6, Chicago, Illinois, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, 13 N L R B 945; Matter of Climax Machinery Company and Metal Polishers, Bu/fers, Platers, and Yelpers, Local Union No 7, affiliated with the A F of L, 14 N L R L' 252 433257-42-von. 37--17