Link-Belt Speeder Co.

In the Matter of LINK- BELT SPEEDER COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, LOCAL 831 Case No. R-3287-Decided December 03, 1941 Jurisdiction : power-operated shovels, cranes, and drag lines manufacturing and sales industry Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: con- flicting claims of rival representatives ; refusal to accord union recognition ; contract, definite term of which is'about to expire, although subject to continue thereafter until thirty days notice of termination by either party, no bar to; election necessary Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees of the Company, in- cluding service men, watchmen, firemen, and janitors, but excluding engineer- ing employees, office employees, and full-time foremen ; agreement as to ; certain stockroom employees included notwithstanding contention of petitioner that they are clerical employees, where they receive the' same supervision as other stockroom employees, and all except one (merely a fortuitous exception) were covered by the terms of a prior contract. Messers. Henry E. Seyfarth, and Lee C. Shaw, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company. Mr. J. E. Stewart, of Cedar Rapids,' Iowa, for Local 831. Mr. Dwight Krw,nboltz, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for Independent Allied Workers of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Mr. Reynolds C. Seitz, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION', " , 1 HI '1 STATEMENT OF THE CASE On June It, 1941, the International Association 'of Machinists, Local 831, herein called Local 831, filed with the Regional Director for the Eighteenth Region' (Minneapolis, Minnesota) a petition al- leging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Link-Belt Speeder, Company,, Cedar Rapids,,Iowa,,herein called the Company, and requesting an investi- gation and certification of representatives 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 37 N. L. R. B., No. 144. 889 890 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD called the Board, acting pursuant to Section' 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of the 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 27, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear- ing, copies of which were duly served on the Company, Local 831, and Independent Allied Workers of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, herein called the Allied Workers. Pursuant to notice a hearing was held on No- vember 12, 1941, at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, before Guy Farmer, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company, Local 831, and Allied Workers were represented by counsel 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 various 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 December 2, 1941, the Company and the Allied Workers filed briefs in the case which the Board has duly considered. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Link-Belt Speeder. Company is an Illinois corporation licensed to do business in Iowa, and is a subsidiary of the Link-Belt Co. of Chicago. Its only plant and principal place of business are at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It is engaged in the manufacture and sale of power- operated shovels, cranes, and drag lines. Materials arrive in both raw and semi-finished condition. The Company purchased over $1,300,000 worth of raw materials in 1940. Ninety-two percent of such material originated in States other than Iowa. The Company sold products valued' at $2,120,000. Ninety-five percent in value of such products were sold: to customers outside the State of Iowa. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED International Association of Machinists, Local 831, and Independ- ent Allied Workers of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, are labor organizations admitting to membership employees of the Company. LINK-BELT SPEEDER COMPANY III. THE QUESTION _CONCERNING REPRESENTATION 891 Early in June 1941, Local 831 sent 'a letter to the -Company and requested that it be recognized as the exclusive bargaining agent in the unit hereinafter described in Section V. The Company refused to bargain with Local 831 on the ground that it has a collective bar- gaining contract with the Allied Workers -which it entered into on March 11, 1941, and which it maintains is still in effect. The contract expires December 31, 1941, with the proviso that it shall continue thereafter until 30 days' written notice of termination is given by either party. As a result of the refusal of the Company, Local 831 filed its petition in this proceeding. • Since the definite term of the contract is about to expire, we find it is not a bar to the present determination of representation. A statement of the Regional Director introduced at the hearing shows that Local 831 and the Allied Workers each represents a sub- stantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be ap- propriate.' 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 with foreign countries and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT All the parties agree that the unit should be composed of all em- ployees of the Company employed at its Cedar Rapids plant, includ- ing service men, watchmen, firemen, and janitors, but excluding engineering employees, office employees, and full-time foremen. 1 As set forth in Section V, the unit' contended for by each of the parties involved is sub- stantially the same. There are approximately 218 employees in the unit. The Regional Director states that Local 831 submitted 146 cards, 1 dated January 1940 and, 145 dated between January and June 1941 . He also states ' the following : Original signatures seem to be on 144 of the cards ; 133 of the 144 signatures are names of persons whose names are on the Company's pay roll of March 15, 1941 ; 48 of the cards were signed prior to March 15, 1941 . In respect to the cards of the Allied Workers , the Regional Director sets forth the following : A total of 141 cards were submitted , all of which appear to contain original signatures ; 132 of the cards were dated between April 1940 and March 15, 1941 , the re- mainder after that time ; 138 of the signatures are the names of persons whose names are on the Company's pay roll of March 15 , 1941., Allied Workers is presently the exclusive bargaining representative of the employees pursuant to the above -mentioned contract. 892 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD There is a dispute as respects the stockroom employees of the Company. There are 3 stockroom men who do clerical work. They keep ledgers and records concerning the material in the stockroom. 'They receive the same supervision as the other 14 stockroom em- ployees. By fortuitous arrangement in connection with the hiring process one is paid on a salary basis . The others are paid on an hourly basis and their pay was increased along with the pay of other hourly workers in the plant. Their hourly pay is established by .the contract of March 11, 1941. The Allied Workers and the Company take the position that all' of the stockroom employees should be in- cluded in the appropriate unit: Local 831 contends that all stock- room 'employees should be included except those who are employed exclusively as clerical employees. There is no unit for clerical employees operating in the plant. Since all stockroom employees receive the same supervision , and all except one (in that case merely a fortuitous exception ) are covered by terms of the contract, we shall include the stockroom employees. We find that all employees of the Company employed at its Cedar Rapids plant, including service men, watchmen , firemen, janitors, and all stockroom men, but excluding engineering employees, office employees, and full-time foremen, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining and that such unit will insure to the employees 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 concerning representation which has arisen can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. We shall direct that the employees in the appropriate unit Who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction , shall be eligible to vote. ' 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 the Link-Belt Speeder Company, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. ' 2. All employees of the Company employed at its Cedar Rapids plant, including service men, watchmen , firemen, janitors, ' and all stockroom men,, but excluding engineering employees , office employees, LINK-BELT SPEEDER COMPANY 893 and full-time 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 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 Link-Belt Speeder Company, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 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 direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Eighteenth Region; acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Rela- tions Board and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all employees of the Company employed at its Cedar Rapids plant during the pay-roll period immediately pre- ceding the date of this Direction of Election, including service men, watchmen, firemen, janitors, all stockroom men, 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 engineering employees, office employees, full-time foremen, and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by the International Association of Machin- ists, Local 831, or the Independent Allied Workers of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election.