American Thermometer Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 13, 1941

34 N.L.R.B. 222 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of AMERICAN THERMOMETER COMPANY and INTERNA-
TIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS , LOCAL No. 688, DISTRICT No. 9,
AFFILIATED WITH THE A. F. OF L.
Case No. R-2659.-Decided August 13, 1941
Jurisdiction : precision temperature indicating and controlling device manufac-
turing industry.
Practice and Procedure : petition dismissed where no appropriate unit within
the scope of the petition.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : a separate unit comprising tool
and die makers separate from a plant-wide unit contended for by petitioning
craft organization held inappropriate in view of their inclusion in a contract
on a plant-wide basis between Company and rival industrial union.
Mr. C. W. Weisenfels and Mr. E. Bandoly, of St. Louis, Mo., for the
Company.
Mr. Lloyd Weber and Mr. Larry Connors, of St. Louis, Mo., for
the Machinists.
Mr. Joseph Dernoneourt and Mr. Roy Hartlein, of St. Louis, Mo.,
for the S. W. O. C.
Mr. Ralph S. Clifford, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On April 29, 1941, International Association of Machinists, Local
No. 688, District No. 9, affiliated with the A. F. of L., herein called
the Machinists, filed with the Regional Director for the Fourteenth
Region (St. Louis, Missouri) a petition alleging that a question affect-
ing commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees
of American Thermometer Company, St. Louis, Missouri, 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 May 29, 1941,
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 2,
as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional
Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon
due notice.
34 N. L. R. B., No. 31.
222
AMERICAN THERMOMETER COMPANY 223
On June 16, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the Machinists
and Local 1979, Steel Workers Organizing Committee, C. I. 0., herein
called the S. W. O. C., a labor organization claiming to represent,
under an existing contract, employees directly affected by the investi-
gation. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on June 23, 1941,
at St. Louis, Missouri, before L. N. D. Wells, Jr., the Trial Examiner
duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. During the course
of the hearing the Trial Examiner made 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. Pursuant to leave
granted by the Board, briefs were filed by S.W. O. C. and the Com-
pany on July 3, 1941, which the Board has considered.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The American Thermometer Company, a Delaware corporation,
having its offices and plant located in St. Louis, Missouri, is engaged
in the manufacture of precision temperature indicating and controlling
devices. The Company purchased raw materials and supplies for its
use in operations valued at $418,023 during 1940, of which 90 per cent
were shipped from sources outside of the State of Missouri, to the
Company's, plant at St. Louis, Missouri; finished products valued at
$1,164,827, of which approximately 93 per cent were sold and trans-
ported to States other than Missouri.
The Company admits that the aforesaid operations constitute a
continuous flow of trade, traffic, and commerce between the several
States, and that it is engaged in interstate commerce within the
meaning of Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Associations of Machinists, Local No. 688, District
No. 9, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor
organization admitting to membership employees of the Company.
Local 1979, Steel Workers Organizing Committee, affiliated with
the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization
admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Machinists contend that the tool and die makers employed
by the Company in its St. Louis, Missouri, plant, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.
224 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The S. W. O. C. and the Company contend that the tool and die
makers should be included in a plant-wide unit, which they contend
is appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. The
S. W. O. C. and the Company further contend that the petition should
be dismissed.
On July 13, 1939, the Regional Director certified the S. W. O. C.
as the exclusive representative of the production employees of the
Company, excluding tool and die makers and maintenance employees.
On July 31, 1939, the Company entered into a contract with the
S. W. O. C. recognizing it as the -exclusive representative of em-
ployees in the unit for which it had been certified. The Company
entered into a second contract with the S. W. O. C. on July 31, 1940,
specifically including the tool and die makers and the maintenance
employees. The contract expired July 31, 1941. The contract pro-
vides that "the Company recognizes the Union as the sole bargaining
agency for the employees of the Company" and that "the Company
agrees to use its moral force, with the co-operation of the Union, to
assist in retaining membership in the Union on the part of all eligible
employees." The Company and the S. W. O. C. are in the process of
negotiating a new contract.
The Machinists began organizing the tool and die makers in March
1941. A circular letter and application card were mailed to each
employee in the tool and die department. Six cards were signed and
returned on March 25, 1941. There are nine tool and die makers.
The tool and die department, employing 9 of the 234 production
employees, makes and maintains new dies, milling fixtures, drilling
jibs, and checking gauges. The department is in charge of the ma-
chinery and any special equipment. The employees in this depart-
ment are required to work throughout the factory making repairs,
replacements, and adjustments. Regular production men are from
time to time detailed to the toolroom to run production jobs on the
tool and die machines. The tool and die makers require more training
and receive somewhat higher wages than the general plant-production
employees.
C. W. Weisenfels, an official of the Company, testified that during
the life of the first contract the S. W. O. C. indirectly represented the
tool and die makers and the benefits gained by the S. W. O. C. were
given to them.' He testified further that during the life of the second
i Weisenfels testified that the tool and die makers were excluded from the plant-wide
unit by the first contract at the request of the Company. This request was made because
the contract was the Company 's first experience with a labor organization and collective
bargaining and the Company did not know how the inclusion of the tool and die makers
and maintenance employees would affect general cooperation and harmony in the plant.
After the experience of bargaining with the S. W. 0 C for one year the Company and
the S. W. 0. C. agreed to include both the tool and die makers and the maintenance
employees in the plant -wide unit under the second contract, in order to promote and
insure harmonious cooperation among the employees of the Company.
AMERICAN THERMOMETER COMPANY 225
contract the S. W. O. C. has bargained for and obtained vacations with
pay and wage increases for the entire plant, including these employees.
These negotiations were on a plant-wide basis.
Under all the circumstances, we find that the unit sought to be
established by the Machinists is not appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining. We shall, therefore, dismiss the petition filed
by the Machinists.
IV. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Since, as pointed out in Section III, above, the bargaining unit
sought to be established by the petition is inappropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining, we find that no question has arisen
concerning the representation of employees in an appropriate
bargaining unit.
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
No question concerning the representation of employees of American
Thermometer Company, St. Louis, Missouri, is a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining has arisen,.within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act.
ORDER
Upon the basis -of the findings of fact and conclusion of law, the
National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the petition for
investigation and certification of representatives of employees of
American Thermometer Company, St. Louis, Missouri, filed by Inter-
national Association of Machinists, Local No. 688, District No. 9,
A. F. of L. be, and it is dismissed.
MR. WILLIAM M. LEISERSON , dissenting :
I dissent from the decision of the majority to dismiss the petition
in this case. The tool and die makers are a recognized craft group.
The bargaining history discloses that they were excluded from the
plant-wide unit established by the first contract between the S. W. O. C.
and the Company and that they were included in the plant-wide unit
under the second contract although there was no proof that the
S. W. O. C. represented them. Moreover, there is no proof that the
S. W. O. C. represents any of them at the present time. Under the
circumstances I would direct an election • among them to determine
whether they desire to be represented by the Machinists or the
S. W. 0. C.