Service Products Corp.

In the Matter of SERVICE PRODUCTS CORPORATION and UNITED ELEC- TRICAL, RADIO & MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL No. 1003, C.11. O. Case No. B-3152.-Decided December 6, 19,411 Jurisdiction : metal products manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: refusal to accord union recognition until certified by the Board; existing wage- increase contract with independent committee representing employees not desiring to participate in the election, no bar to ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em- ployees, excluding clerical and supervisory employees ; stipulation as to. Mr. Carl Wilde, of Indianapolis, Ind., for the Company. Mr. Fred Gardner, of Indianapolis, Ind., for the Union. Mr. Robert R. Hendricks, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE J On August 5, 1941, United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local No. 1003, C. I. 0., herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the Eleventh Region (Indianapolis,. Indiana) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Service Prod- ucts Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana, herein called the Com- pany, and requesting an investigation and certification of repre- sentatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On October 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 Regional Director to conduct it and to, provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On October 10, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the, 37 N. L. R. B., No. 61. 374 = SERVICE -PRODUCTS' CORPORATION 375 Union and upon a committee representing an "association" of, em= ployees of the Company.' Pursuant 'to notice, a,hearing was held on October 14; 1941; at 'Indianapolis, Indiana, -before Arthur" R. Donovan, the 'Trial.'Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. , The Company and the Union were represented and par- ticipated in the hearing. ' Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing upon the issues was: afforded all parties. During the course of the hear- ing, the Trial Examiner made various rulings with respect 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 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY The Company is engaged in' the prodilction of metal fans (for trucks, tractors, and other industrial purposes), autographic registers, and metal stampings at its plant in Indianapolis, Indiana. Approx- imately 75 per cent of the raw materials used by the Company is obtained from without the State of Indiana. Approximately 95 per cent of its finished products is shipped outside of the State of Indiana. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local No. 1003, is a labor organization affiliated with the C. I. O. It ad- mits to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On May 22, 1941, the Company and a three-man committee 3 pur- porting to represent the employees of the Company, entered into an agreement providing for an increase in pay, effective May 29, 1941, and continuing until December 31,' 1941, of 5 cents per hour- for "all employees in the factory who work on an hourly 'It was disclosed at the hearing that the "association " of employees has no name, constitution , bylaws, or officers and that its members neither pay dues nor conduct regular meetings From time to time the "association" has nominated and elected com- mittees to represent the employees in bargaining with the Company concerning wage matters ' All three members of the present committee of the "association " appeared at- the hearing and testified that the "association " did not wish to intervene. The "association " took no further part in this proceeding 'The usual 5-div notice of hearing was waived by the Company and the Union ' This was a committee of the "association ' discussed above . See footnote 1, supra. 376 DECISIONS 'OF NATIONAL' LABOR-'RELATIONS BOARD basis." The agreement further provided' that any, alteration' of its terms by either party, subsequent to its expiration- date,'-had to be preceded ' by 60 days' notice. On August 4, 1941, the Union requested 'that the, Company recognize it as the bargaining agent -for its employees. 'The Company informed the Union of its wage-in-- crease agreement with the committee and refused to recognize the Union until such time as it had been certified by the Board. The agreement made between the Company and the committee pro- vides for nothing other than the increase, as above noted, in the hourly rate of pay. It does not purport to be an agreement wherein the Company contracts to recognize the committee, or the ^"association," as the exclusive bargaining representative of the Company's em- ployees. Moreover, as previously' noted, all three members of the present committee of the "association" appeared at the hearing and testified that the "association" of employees whom they represented did not wish to intervene "against the C. I. 0." in any election which might be ordered by the Board. Under the circumstances, we find that the 'agreement constitutes no bar to a present determination of representatives. A statement made by the Trial Examiner during the course of the hearing indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of employees in the unit alleged to be appropriate.4 We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company. IV. TIIE 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 of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The' Company and the Union stipulated at the hearing, and we find, that all production and maintenance employees, excluding cleri- cal and supervisory employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. We further find that said unit will 4 The Trial Examiner's statement shows that the Union presented 70 authorization-for- representation cards ; that 66 of said cards bore the apparently genuine signatures of persons whose names appeared on the pay roll of the Company for the week ending September 18, 1941 ; that all the cards, excepting one which was dated in March 1941, bore dates subsequent to June 1, 1941 , that the pay roll of the Company for the week ending September 18, 1941, listed 117 employees in the unit alleged as appropriate SERVICE PRODUCTS CORPORATION 377 insure to:`employees of 'the Company "the full benefit of their right to self-organization and to collective bargaining and otherwise will effec- tuate the policies of the Act. I , I . " 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 -the employees of the Company eligible to vote in the election shall be those 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 limitations and additions as are set forth 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 : CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Service Products Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 2. All production and maintenance employees of the Company, ex- cluding clerical and supervisory employees, constitute a unit appro- priate 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 the National Labor Re- lations 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 Service Products Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana, 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 direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Eleventh Region, acting in this matter as agent for the Na- tional `Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all production and maintenance employees of Service Products Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding 378 DECISIONS -OF NATIONAL LABOR: RELATIONS BOARD 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 tempo- rarily laid off, but excluding clerical and supervisory, employees and those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by United Electrical, Radio & ,Machine Workers of America, Local No. 1003, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective- bargaining.