Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 10, 1938

4 N.L.R.B. 824 (N.L.R.B. 1938)

In the Matter of ALLIS-CHALMERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY and
UNITED ELECTRICAL , RADIO AND MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA,
LOCAL No. 613
Case No. B-455.-Decided January 10, 1938
Electrical Transformer Industry-Investigatcon of Representatives : contro-
versy concerning representation of employees: rival organizations; refusal by
employer to recognize and bargain with either union until the question of
representation is determined-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining:
stipulation as to bargaining unit-Representatives : proof of choice ; membership
in union ; comparison of membership cards of rival unions with current pay
roll-Certification of Representatives-upon proof of majority representation.
Mr. Robert H. Kleeb, for the Board.
Mr. Fred Haug, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the United.
Miss Helen Dermick, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the Independent.
Mr. Martin Kurasch, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On October 14, 1937, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Work-
ers of America, Local No. 613, herein called the United, filed with
the Regional Director for the Sixth Region (Pittsburgh, Pennsyl-
vania) a petition alleging that a question affecting, commerce had
arisen concerning the representation of employees of Allis-Chalmers
Manufacturing Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 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 November
17, 1937, the United filed an amended petition, and on Novem-
ber 30, 1937, it filed a second amended petition. On December 3,
1937, 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 1, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the
Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice.
824
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 825
On December 4, 1937, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear-
ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, upon the
United, and upon the Independent Transformer Workers Union of
Pittsburgh, herein called the Independent, a labor organization
claiming to represent employees directly affected by the investiga-
tion. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on December 11,
1937, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before Tilford E. Dudley, the
Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The United was
represented by Fred Haug, a field organizer, and the Inde-
pendent was represented by Helen Dermick, an employee of the
• Company. The Board, the United, and the Independent participated
in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and to
cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the
issues was afforded to all parties.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY 1
Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company, a Delaware corporation,
operates plants at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, herein called the Pitts-
burgh Works; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; La Crosse, Wisconsin; La
Porte, Indiana; Springfield, Illinois; Norwood, Ohio; and Boston,
Massachusetts. The Pittsburgh Works of the Company consists of
five plants: The Bayard Plant, the Adams Plant, the Juniata Plant,
the Manchester Plant, and the Tannery Plant. The Pittsburgh
Works is engaged in the manufacture of electrical transformers.
It does approximately 20 per cent of the business in that industry.
The principal products purchased by the Pittsburgh Works are cop-
per, insulated wire, and copper bayer shapes and sheets; steel plates,
sheets, bars and shapes; oil; insulation materials; bolts and nuts;
porcelain bushings; paint and varnish. Sixty per cent of all the
products purchased by the Pittsburgh Works originate outside the
State of Pennsylvania.
The average monthly production of the Pittsburgh Works during
the period of 1935-1936 and the first four months of 1937 amounted
to $296,559.38. Approximately 90 per cent of the total products of
the Pittsburgh Works are shipped outside the State of Pennsylvania.
The products are sent to all States of the United States and occa-
sionally shipments have been made to the Hawaiian Islands, Philip-
pine Islands, Cuba, Porto Rico, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil,
China, Russia, Canada, and Spain.
1 The facts in this section are derived from a stipulation entered Into by the Company
and the Board.
826 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, Local
No. 613, is a labor organization affiliated with the Committee for
Industrial Organization, admitting to its membership all production
and maintenance employees of the Company, excluding office work-
ers, supervisory employees, engineers, chemists, technicians, inspec-
tors, apprentices, and watchmen.
Independent Transformer Workers Union of Pittsburgh is a labor
organization admitting to membership all production and mainte-
nance employees of the Company, excluding office workers, super-
visory employees, engineers, chemists, technicians, inspectors, ap-
prentices, and watchmen.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On August 18, 1937, the Independent asked the Company to recog-
nize it as the bargaining agency for the employees at the Pittsburgh
Works, and on September 13, 1937, the United requested recognition
as sole bargaining agency. On September 16, 1937, the Company
posted a notice to its employees and sent letters to' both labor organ-
izations stating that it would recognize neither organization until the
Board had made a finding as to the appropriate unit and as to the
group having the majority in such unit.
We find that a question has arisen concerning 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 of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
At the hearing both labor organizations stipulated that they con-
sidered the appropriate unit to be "production and maintenance
workers, exclusive of foremen, assistant foremen, supervisory and
clerical employees, engineers , chemists, technicians (including drafts-
men and tracers), group leaders, inspectors, apprentices, and watch-
men." This corresponds, in general, with the eligibility rules of
both organizations.
We find that the production and maintenance employees of the
Company, excluding foremen, assistant foremen , engineers , chemists,
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 827
technicians (including draftsmen and tracers), group leaders, in-
spectors, apprentices, watchmen, and excluding those in supervisory
capacities, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining and that said unit will insure to employees of the,
Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization and to
collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the
Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
Russell Miller, a field examiner of the Sixth Region of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board, testified that he had compared mem-
bership cards of the United and of the Independent with the pay-roll
sheets prepared by the Company. The authenticity of the member-
ship cards of the United and of the Independent was not questioned.
No objection was made to the pay-roll sheets that had been submitted
by the Company. He made the following findings :
Number of employees in the appropriate unit-------------- 1038
United membership cards---------------------------------- 637
Independent membership cards----------------------------- 146
Duplications----------------------------------------------- 51
At the hearing the Independent introduced 59 additional member-
ship cards. The Trial Examiner did not consider it necessary to
compare these additional cards with the pay-roll sheets or with the
United cards since, even assuming that all of the 59 cards duplicated
cards submitted by the United, the cards submitted by the
United which were not duplicated by Independent cards would num-
ber 527 and would thus constitute a majority in the appropriate unit.
We find that the United has been designated and selected by a
majority of the employees in the appropriate unit as their representa-
tive for the purposes of collective bargaining. It is, therefore, the
exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining, and we will so certify.
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 Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and
Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The production and maintenance employees of the Company,
excluding foremen, assistant foremen, engineers, chemists, techni-
cians (including draftsmen and tracers), group leaders, inspectors,
apprentices, watchmen, and excluding those in supervisory capac-
ities, constitute a unit for the purposes of collective bargaining
828 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations
Act.
3. United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, Local
No. 613, is the exclusive representative of all the employees in such
unit for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning
of Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended,
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that United Electrical, Radio and Machine
Workers of America, Local No. 613, has been designated and selected
by a majority of the production and maintenance employees of
Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
excluding foremen, assistant foremen, engineers, chemists, techni-
cians (including draftsmen and tracers), group leaders, inspectors,
apprentices, watchmen, and excluding those in supervisory capac-
ities, as their representative for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing and that, pursuant to the provisions of Section 9 (a) of the
Act, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America,
Local No. 613, is the exclusive representative of all such employees
for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay,
wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment.
Mn. DONALD WAKEFIELD SMITH took no part in the consideration
of the above Decision and Certification of Representatives.