Aluminum Forgings, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 2, 1943

53 N.L.R.B. 1054 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

[n the Matter of ALUMINUM FORGINGS, INC. and INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF FIREMEN AND OILERS , LOCAL 249
In the Matter of ALUMINUM FORGINGS , INC. and UNITED AUTOMOBILE.,
AIRCRAFT AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA,
CIO
In the Matter of ALUMINUM FORGINGS, INC. and DISTRICT 50, UNITED
MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA
In the Matter of ALUMINUM FORGINGS, INC. and ERIE DIE SINKERS
LODGE No. 270 OF THE INTERNATIONAL DIE SINKERS CONFERENCE
Cases Nos. 6-R-800, 6-R--816, 6-R-827 and 6-R-852 respectively.-
Decided December 2, 1943
'Messrs. John S. Slosson and Robert 0. Pickard, both of Erie, Pa.,
for the Company.
Messrs. Peter Maccagno and Stanley Yopek, both of Erie, Pa., for
District 50.
Messrs. Eugene P. Drumm and Ralph W. Tillitson, both of Erie,
Pa., for the U. A. W. o
Mr. Ralph N. Texter, of Erie, Pa., for the Firemen.
Messrs. J. G. Meiner and Samuel Jackson, both of Erie, Pa., for the
Die Sinkers.
Mr. Edward F. Netzler, of Erie, Pa., for the Blacksmiths.
Mr. David V. Easton, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petitions duly filed by International Brotherhood of Firemen
and Oilers Local 249, herein called the Firemen, United Automobile,
Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America, CIO, herein
called the U. A. W., District 50, United Mine Workers of America,
herein called District 50, and Erie Die Sinkers Lodge No. 270 of the
International Die Sinkers, herein called the Die Sinkers, alleging that
questions affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
53 N. L. R. B., No. 196.
1054
ALUMINUM FORGINGS, INC. 1055
of employees of Aluminum Forgings, Inc., Erie, Pennsylvania, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board consolidated
the cases and provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before S. Craig Carnes, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at
Erie, Pennsylvania, on November 4, 1943. The Company, the Fire-
men, the U. A. W., District 50, the Die Sinkers, and International
Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers, Welders and Helpers,
American Federation of Labor, herein called the Blacksmiths, ap-
peared,' participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard,
to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence
bearing on the issues. Both the U. A. W. and District 50 objected
to the participation of the Blacksmiths in the hearing, and to its being
placed upon the ballot in any election ordered by the Board as a result
of the hearing. The Trial Examiner overruled the objections with
respect to intervention in the hearing, and permitted the Blacksmiths
to take part therein; however, he reserved for decision by the Board
that part of the objections relating to participation by the Black-
smiths in any ordered election. For reasons hereinafter stated, the
objections reserved to the Board are hereby sustained. The Trial
Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial
error, and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an oppor-
tunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Aluminum Forgings. Inc., a Pennsylvania corporation, operates a
plant located at Erie, Pennsylvania, engaged in the production of
aluminum forgings of all types utilized in the airplane industry.
All equipment contained within -said plant is entirely owned by the
Defense Plant Corporation, an instrumentality of the United States
Government, and the entire productivity of said plant is devoted to
war purposes. During the 12-month period ending September 9,
1943, the Company purchased raw materials valued in excess of
$500,000, of which more than 50 percent was_transported to the Com-
pany from points outside the State of Pennsylvania. During the
same period the Company produced finished products valued in excess
of $200,000, of which more than 50 percent was transported to points
outside the State of Pennsylvania. The Company admits that it is
engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor
Relations Act.
3 The International Association of Machinists , although duly notified , did not appear in
this proceeding.
1056 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers
of America, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, admitting to membership employees of the
Company.
District 50, United Mine Workers of America, is a labor organiza-
tion admitting to membership employees of the Company.
Erie Die Sinkers Lodge No. 270 of the International Die Sinkers
Conference is an unaffiliated labor organization, admitting to mem-
bership employees of the Company.
International Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers, Local 249, and In-
ternational Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers, Welders and
Helpers, are labor organizations affiliated with the American Federa-
tion of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company refuses to recognize the labor organizations involved
herein as the bargaining representatives of the units each claims to be
appropriate unless and until said labor organizations are certified by
the Board.
A statement of the Regional Director introduced into evidence at
the hearing; indicates that the Firemen, the U. A. W., District 50, and
the Die Sinkers each represents a substantial number of employees in
the unit which each respectively contends is appropriate.'
We find that questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
2 The Regional Director reported that the Firemen submitted 8 authorization cards bear-
ing apparently genuine, original signatures, and containing the names of employees appear-
ing on the Company's pay roll dated October 4, 1943 ; that said pay roll contained the names
of 10 persons in the unit sought by the Firemen. Ile further noted that neither the U. A. W.
nor District 50 represented any of the employees in said unit.
With respect to the claims of the U. A. W., the Regional Director reported that it sub-
mitted cards bearing apparently genuine, original signatures containing the names appearing
upon the afore-mentioned pay roll, indicating that it represented 36 percent of the em-
ployees in the unit which it seeks. Ile further noted that among these cards were 9 signed
by persons classified by the Company as timekeepers, and that the Company presently
employs 10 such employees.
With respect to the claims of District 50, the Regional Director reported that it submitted
authorization cards bearing apparently genuine, original signatures, and containing the
names of persons appearing upon the above-mentioned pay roll equal in number to 18 per-
cent of the total number of persons in the unit which it seeks.
With respect to the claims of the Die Sinkers, the Regional Director reported that it
submitted a petition containing 51 signatures ; that all the names appearing thereon also
appeared upon the afore-mentioned pay roll ; and that said pay roll contained the names
of 51 persons in the unit sought by the Die Sinkers.
The Blacksmiths, although it asserted an interest in this proceeding, failed to substan-
tiate said interest in that it made no showing of representation among the employees in
the snit which it seeks to represent. IJnder these circumstances we shall not permit it
to paricipate in the elections hereinafter ordered. See Matter of Fisher Cleveland Aircraft
Division, General Motors Corporation, Plant No. 2, 52 N. L. R. B. 1291.
. ALUMINUM FORGINGS, INC. 1057
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS
The U. A. W. seeks to represent a unit consisting of all production
and maintenance' employees of the Company, including factory cleri-
cals and timekeepers and their assistants, but excluding die sinkers,
die sinkers' appentices, all person working on dies or parts of dies used
in the manufacture and completion. of forgings, executives, office
clerical employees, guards, salaried supervisors, and all other super-
visory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline,
or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively
recommend such action, salaried employees with the exception of
those timekeepers who receive a salary, power plant employees, cafe-
teria employees, Methods and Time Study Department employees,
Production Planning. Department employees, laboratory employees
and technical employees. District 50 agrees generally with the fore-
going inclusions and exclusions but would exclude timekeepers, time-
keepers' assistants, and shop clerical employees from the industrial
unit. The Company is also generally in accord with the, foregoing
unit, but would include therein power plant employees and exclude
therefrom timekeepers, timekeepers' assistants, and factory clerical
employees.
Timekeepers and Timekeepers' assistants: These employees work
on the production floor and perform the duties usual to these classi-
fications. Prior to August 1943, they were paid on an hourly, basis, but
since that time the Company has placed them upon the salaried pay
roll. They report to the chief timekeeper and are not subject to super-
vision by any production and maintenance supervisors.' The Com-
pany, in contending that they be excluded from the industrial unit,
argues that these employees have access to information with respect
to matters pertaining to the Company's production and therefore con-
fidential. While they do not appear to have access to matters pertain-
ing to labor policy, and therefore ' do not fall within our customary
definition of confidential employees, we are of the opinion that their
duties and interests are not sufficiently akin to those of the production
and maintenance workers as to warrant their inclusion within the
same bargaining unit. We shall therefore exclude them from,the
industrial unit.3
Factory clerical employees: These employees are attached to various
production departments and report to production supervisors. The
U. A. W. would include all of them' within the industrial unit with
the exception of those clericals assigned to the Production Planning
3 See Matter of Mills Novelty Company, 46 N. L. R. B. 1205. It is apparent from our
finding herein that we do not thereby preclude such employees from being represented for
the purposes of collective bargaining in a separate unit. See Matter of General Motors
Corporation, Eastern Aircraft Division, Baltimore Plant, 52 N. L. R. B. 954;1 Matter
of General Motors Corporation, Eastern Aircraft, Trenton Division, 51 N. L. R. B 1366.
1058 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Department (except the shipping clerk, who is assigned thereto but re-
ports to the supervisor of the Shipping Department), and the secre-
taries to the general superintendent and the master mechanic; both
the Company and District 50, however, desire their exclusion. The
record indicates that the work performed by these clerical employees is
closely aligned to that of the production and maintenance workers.
Accordingly, we shall include all factory clerical employees with
the exception of the secretaries of the general superintendent and the
master mechanic, and the clericals attached to the Production Plan-
ning Department (but not the shipping clerk) within the unit here-
inafter found appropriate."
Power Plant employees: The Firemen seeks to represent in a'sepa-
rate unit all employees of the Company engaged as licensed engineers,
firemen, and ash men in the Company's power plant, excluding all
supervisory employees. Both the U. A. W. and District 50 lack rep-
resentation within this group, and agree that they should be excluded
from the industrial unit; the Company contends that they should
be included therein. We have previously found that the duties and
interests of these employees are such that would warrant our placing
them in a separate and distinct unit,5 and since neither industrial or-
ganization seeks to represent them, we shall find that these employees
constitute a separate appropriate unit.
Die Sinker employees: The Die Sinkers seeks to represent all em-
ployees of the Company working on dies or parts of dies used in the
manufacture and completion of forgings. Both the Company and the
industrial labor organizations agree that these employees should con-
stitute a separate unit, and neither of the latter claims any interest
among these employees. We are of the opinion that these employees
have interests and duties which clearly indicate the propriety of a
separate unit as to them, and we shall, therefore, find that they con-
stitute a separate and distince appropriate unit .6
In accordance with the foregoing we find that the following groups
of employees of the Company, excluding all supervisory employees
with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise
effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend
such action, constitute appropriate units:
1. All licensed engineers, firemen, and ash men in the power plant
of the Company,'
2'. All employees working on dies or parts of dies used in the
manufacture and completion of forgings;
4 Matter of Jaeger Watch Company, 45 N. L. R. B. 616.
"Matter of Trojan Powder Company, 46 N. L. R. B. 403; Matter of Bear Brand Hosiery
Company, 46 N. L. R. B. 609, at p. 615.
6 Matter of Armstrong Bros. Toot Co ., 47 N. L. R. B. 221.
ALUMINUM FORGINGS, INC. 1059
3. All production and maintenance employees including factory
clericals , but excluding licensed engineers, firemen, and ash men in
the power plant of the Company, employees working on dies or parts
of dies used in the manufacture and completion of forgings, execu-
tives and administrators, cafeteria employees, office clerical employees,
Methods and Time Study Department employees, Production Plan-
ning Department employees (except the shipping clerk assigned
thereto), Sales Department employees, timekeepers and their assist-
ants, secretaries to the general superintendent and the master me-
chanic, laboratory and technical employees, guards and salaried
supervisory employees.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the questions concerning representation which
have arisen be resolved by elections by secret ballot among the em-
ployees in the appropriate units hereinbefore described. It appears
that at the time of the hearing the Company employed approximately
40 percent of its anticipated personnel, and expected to increase its
staff by approximately 10 to 12 percent per month until its full com-
plement is reached in the spring of 1944. Since, as nearly as can
be ascertained, the Company will have employed approximately 50
percent of its total anticipated personnel on or about December 15,
1943, we shall direct that the employees of the Company eligible to
vote in the elections shall be those who were employed during the
pay-roll period immediately subsequent to December 15, 1943,' sub-
ject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction s
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
By virtue of and pusuant 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 9 of the National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Aluminum Forg-
ings, Inc., Erie Pennsylvania, elections by secret ballot shall be con-
ducted 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 Sixth Region, acting' in this matter as
7 See Matter of Remington Rand, Propeller Division, 50 N. L R B. 819.
8 The Firemen requested that it be designated on the ballot as "Firemen and Oilers Local
249, A. F. L."; the Die Sinkers requested that it be designated thereon as "Local 270 of
the I. D S. C " ; and the U. A. W. requested that it be designated thereon as "U. A. W.-
C. I. 0., Aircraft Division." These requests are hereby granted.
1060 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
agent for the National Labor Relations Board; and subject to Article
III, Sections 10 and 11,i of said Rules and Regulations, -among the
employees in the units listed below who were employed during. the
pay-roll period, immediately subsequent. to December 15, 1943,' in-
cluding employees .who did not work during said pay=roll period
because they 'were ill or on vacation. or temporarily laid off, and in-
cluding • employees in the armed forces of the United States who
present themselves in person at the polls, but, excluding any who
have since quit or. been discharged for cause, and - have not been
rehired or reinstated prior to the date, of,the Direction of Elections,
and excluding all supervisory employees with authority to hire,
promote, discipline, discharge, or otherwise effect changes in the status
of employees, or effectively recommend such action :
1. All employees engaged as licensed engineers, firemen, and ash
men, in the power plant,'to determine whether or'not they desire to
be represented by International Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers,
Local 249, A. F. L., for the purposes of collective bargaining;
2. All employees working on dies or parts of 'dies, used in the
manufacture and completion of forgings, to determine 'whether or
not they desire to be represented by Local 2'70, of the 1. D. S. C.;
3. All production and maintenance employees including all factory
clerical employees whose work is closely allied with that of the pro-
duction and maintenance employees, but excluding those employees
in groups 1 and 2 above, 'executives, administrators, cafeteria em-
ployees, office clerical employees, Methods and Time Study' Depart-
ment employees, Production Planning Department employees (with
the exception of the shipping clerk assigned thereto), timekeepers
and their assistants, secretaries to the general superintendent and
master mechanic, clericals attached to the Sales Department, labora-
tory and technical employees, guards, and salaried supervisory em-
ployees, to determine whether they desire to be represented by
U. A. W.-C. I. 0., Aircraft Division, or by District 50, United Mine
Workers of America, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or
by neither.