American Steel Foundries

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 31, 1944

55 N.L.R.B. 960 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of AMERICAN STEEL FOUNDRIES and PRIVATE PROPERTY
PROTECTORS, LOCAL 253, AFFILIATED WITH BUILDING SERVICE EM-
PLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR
Case No. 14-R-894.-Decided March 31,1944
Messrs. E. J. Walsh, L. C. Farquhar and A. F. Hansen, all of
East St. Louis, Ill., for the Company.
Messrs. Fred Olds and John Coleman, both of East St. Louis, Ill.,
for the Union.
Miss Margaret M. Farmer, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Private Property Protectors, Local
253, affiliated with Building Service Employees International
Union, American Federation of Labor, herein called the Union,
alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the
representation of employees of American Steel Foundries, East St.
Louis, Illinois, herein called the Company, the National Labor Rela-
tions Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before Harry G. Carlson, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at
St. Louis, Missouri, on March 13, 1944. The Company and the Union
appeared and participated. All parties were afforded full oppor-
tunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to
introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an opportunity 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
American Steel Foundries is a New Jersey corporation engaged in
the production of steel castings. It operates 9 plants in various
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AMERICAN STEEL FOUNDRIES 961
parts of the United States, only one of which, located at 2039 East
Broadway, East St. Louis, Illinois, is involved in the present matter.
During the year 1943 purchases of raw materials, consisting chiefly
of pig iron and scrap metal for the East St. Louis plant, exceeded
$100,000, in value, approximately 55 percent of which was shipped
to the East St. Louis plant from points outside of the State of
Illinois. During the same period, finished products in excess of
$100,000 in value were manufactured, sold, and shipped from the
East St. Louis plant to points outside the State of Illinois.
The Company admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
IT. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Private Property Protectors, Local 253, affiliated with Building
Service Employees International Union, American Federation of
Labor, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of
the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of its militarized guards until the
Union has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of em-
ployees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.'
We find that a question affecting commerce has 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.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Company and the Union stipulated at the hearing that the unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining should comprise
all militarized guards employed by the Company except the chief
guard and the assistant chief guards.
We find that all militarized guards employed by the Company but
excluding the chief guard, the assistant chief guards, and all or any
other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge,
discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or
' The Tiial Examiner reported that the Union submitted 19 cards all of which bore ap-
parently genuine original signatures, that the names of 16 persons appearing on the cards
were listed on the Company's pay loll of January 30, 1944, which contained the names of
29 employees in the appropriate unit; and that the cards were all dated January 1944.
Testimony at the hearing indicated that as of Match 13, 1944, there were 26 military
guards on the Company's pay roll.
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962 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b)
of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Union requested at the hearing that the Company's pay roll of
March 11, 1944, be used to determine eligibility to vote in the election,
but it advanced no substantial reason for a departure from our normal
practice.
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediate preceding the date of the Direction of Election
herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
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 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, it is hereby
DIRECTED that , as part of the investigation to ascertain represent-
atives for the purposes of collective bargaining with American Steel
Foundries, East St. Louis, Illinois, 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 Fourteenth Region, acting in this matter
as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to
Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations,
among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV,
above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately
preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not
work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation
or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces
of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls,
but excluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged
for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date
of the election, to determine whether or not they desire to be repre-
sented by Private Property Protectors, Local 253, affiliated with
Building Service Employees International Union, American Federa-
tion of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining.