Aluminum Ore Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 16, 1938

8 N.L.R.B. 914 (N.L.R.B. 1938)

In the Matter of ALUMINUM ORE COMPANY and ALUMINUM
WORKERS UNION No, 18780, A. F. OF L.
Case No. R-939.-Decided August 16, 1938
Aluminum Processing Indnstrp-Investigation of Representatives: contro-
versy concerning representation of employees: employer desires certification by
Board of bargaining representative before entering into further negotiations-
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining: production and maintenance em-
ployees, including watchmen and gatemen, but excluding supervisory employees,
office and clerical workers, metermen, routine chemists, subforemen, and fore-
men who have no assistants ; controversy as to inclusion of watchmen' and gate-
men ; unit found appropriate-Representatives: proof of choice : financial rec-
ords of Union show majority as compared with total number employed as indi-
cated on pay roll-Certification of Representatives: upon proof of majority rep-
resentation.
Mr. Alan Pearl, for the Board.
Cobbs c6 Logan, by Mr. Cobbs, of St. Louis, Mo., for the Company.
Mr. Charlton Ogburn, by Mr. Arthur E. Reyman, of New York
City, for the Union.
Mr. Richard Meigs, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On June 13, 1938, Aluminum Workers Union No. 18780, A. F.
of L., herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for
the Fourteenth Region (St. Louis, Missouri) a petition alleging that
a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa-
tion of employees of Aluminum Ore Company,' East St. Louis, Illi-
nois, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and
certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On
June 16, 1938, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the
Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III,
1 On motion of Board's attorney made at the healing, the petition and other Board docu-
ments were amended, changing the designation of the Company, incor, ectly'called Aluminum
Company of America, to Aluminum Ore Company
SN.L.R.B.,No.112.
914
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 915
Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula-
tions-Series 1, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized
the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appro-
priate hearing upon due notice.
On June 22, 1938, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear-
ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, upon the
Union, and upon Committee for Industrial Organization, herein
called the C. I. 0., a labor organization claiming to represent em-
ployees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to notice,
a hearing was held on July 11, 1938, at St. Louis, Missouri, before
Hugh C. McCarthy, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the
Board. The Board, the Company, and the Union were represented
by counsel and participated in the hearing.2 Full opportunity to
be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce
evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. At the hear-
ing the Trial Examiner granted a motion made by counsel for the
Union to amend the petition to include maintenance employees in
the unit claimed to be appropriate. No objection to this motion
was made by any of the parties. During the course of the hearing
the Trial Examiner made several rulings on motions and on objec-
tions 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
Aluminum Ore Company, a Delaware corporation employing ap-
proximately 1,369 persons, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the
Aluminum Company of America. It operates its plant at East St.
Louis, Illinois, for the purpose of processing natural bauxite into
aluminum oxide. The operations involved at this plant are known
as the second and third steps in the industry of mining, reducing,
refining, manufacturing, and fabricating aluminum. The raw ma-
terials used by the Company aggregate more than 100,000 tons per
year. Of this amount approximately 80 per cent consists of bauxite
and soda ash, all of which are obtained from outside the State of
Illinois. The total volume of products manufactured at the East
St. Louis plant aggregates over 100,000 tons per year. Ninety-five
per cent of this amount consists of alumina (aluminum oxide) and
the remaining five per cent is made up of aluminum hydrate, elec-
trolyte, and dry sodium aluminate, and other miscellaneous prod-
' No appearance was filed by the C. I. O.
117213-39--vol S-59
916 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ucts. Approximately 95 per cent of the said alumina is shipped
outside the State of Illinois. k
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Aluminum Workers Union No. 18780, A. F. of L., is-,t labor organ-
ization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein
called the A. F. of L., admitting to its membership all hourly pro-
duction and maintenance employees of the Company, including
watchmen and gatemen, and excluding supervisory employees, office
and clerical workers, metermen, routine chemists, subforemen, and
foremen.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On December 2, 1936, the Aluminum Company of America and
its subsidiaries entered into a contract concerning hours, wages, and
other conditions of employment with several organizations, including
the Union, affiliated with the A. F. of L., acting jointly, in coopera-
tion with-the National Council of Aluminum Workers and local
Unions of the International Association of Machinists. By its terms
this contract was to remain in effect "until November 1, 1937, and
thereafter until notified, after at least thirty (30) days notice."
By a series of letters, the first of which was dated October 18, 1937,
representatives of the A. F. of L. notified the Aluminum Company of
America of certain changes desired in the said contract by the Union
and another A. F. of L. local, and requested that a conference be held
between representatives of the Aluminum Company of America and
the said two locals for the purpose of discussing the terms 'of the new
contract.
The evidence indicates that contemporaneously or slightly prior to
this time, the C. I. O. had served notice upon the Aluminum Com-
pany of America that it represented a majority of its employees at
various plants throughout the country, and had filed petitions with
the Board for certification on a nation -wide basis . Some of these
petitions, including one pertaining to the East St. Louis plant, were
withdrawn. Because of its inability to determine the relative merits
of the claims of the rival organizations , the Company refused to enter
into a new agreement with the Union unless and until it obtained
a certification by the Board. In the letter dated December 10, 1937,
I. W. Wilson, vice president of the Aluminum Company of America,
stated that "under the National Labor Relations Act we believe the
only procedure open to us by two organizations both claiming to rep-
resent the employees for the purposes of collective bargaining is to
ask that a certification be obtained from the Board as to the proper
agency."
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 917
We find that a question concerning representation has arisen con-
cerning 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
relationship to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States
and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing com-
merce and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union alleges in its petition, as amended at the hearing, that
all hourly production and maintenance employees of the Company,
including watchmen and gatemen, but excluding supervisory em-
ploy ees, office and clerical workers, metermen, routine chemists, sub-
foremen, and foremen constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining. The Company agreed generally that the
unit proposed by the Union is appropriate, but objected to the in-
clusion of 19 employees who are classified as watchmen, because of
the nature of their duties in protecting Company property. The
evidence shows that these watchmen and gatemen act in no super-
visory capacity. Their duties consist of making rounds of inspection
in the plant, collecting passes, and similar duties performed by pro-
tection employees everywhere. In accordance with our usual practice
of including such employees when they are desired by the petitioning
union, we shall include them in the bargaining unit.,
All the persons sought to be excluded by the Union from the unit
claimed to be appropriate are eligible, with the exception of super-
visory employees, for membership in Aluminum Administrative
Union No. 20661, a separate A. F. of L. local active in the Company's
plant. The jurisdiction of this organization and the Union are
separate and distinct.
We find that the production and maintenance employees of the Com-
pany, including watchmen and gatemen, but excluding supervisory
employees, office and clerical workers, metermen, routine chemists,
subforemen, and foremen constitute a unit appropriate for the pur-
poses of collective 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.
3 See In the Matter of Luckenbach Steamship Co., Inc , et al, 2 N. L It. B 181.
918 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
At the hearing it was stipulated between the Company and the
Union that on- June 11, 1938, 1,015 persons were employed at an
hourly rate as production and maintenance employees , exclusive of
supervisory and clerical employees and the 19 watchmen at the East
St. Louis plant.
The Union submitted financial reports indicating the payment of
a per capita tax to the A. F. of L. for the month of June 1938, and
a receipt dated June 3, 1938 , acknowledging the said payment of the
per capita tax on 1,014 members. It was testified that these reports
were prepared from the permanent records of the Union. These
permanent records were produced at the hearing and an opportunity
to inspect them was furnished all parties.
The Company does not question the majority status of the Union.
We find that the Union 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
purposes of collective bargaining , and we will so certify.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record of the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the rep-
resentation of employees of the Aluminum Ore Company , East St.
Louis, Illinois, 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,
including watchmen and gatemen , but excluding supervisory em-
ployees, office and clerical workers, metermen , routine chemists, sub-
foremen, and foremen constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining , within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
National Labor Relations Act.
3. Aluminum Workers Union No. 18780, A . F. of L ., is the ex-
clusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the pur-
poses 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,
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 919
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Aluminum Workers Union No. '18780,
A. F. of L., has been designated and selected by a majority of the
production and maintenance employees of the Aluminum Ore Com-
pany, East St. Louis, Illinois, including watchmen and gatemen, but
excluding supervisory employees, office and clerical workers, meter-
men, routine chemists, subforemen, and foremen, as their representa-
tive for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that, pursuant
to the provisions of Section 9 (a) of the Act, Aluminum Workers
Union No. 18780, A. F. of L., 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.
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