Atlas Power Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 21, 1946

71 N.L.R.B. 723 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of ATLAS POWDER COMPANY, EMPLOYER and DISTRICT 50,
UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, PETITIONER
Case No. 4-R-2209.-Decided November 21, 1946
Messrs. J. A. Laughlin and W. B. Blakey, both of Wilmington,
Del., and Mr. J. Randall Ward, of White Haven, Pa., for the Employer.
Messrs. Angelo S. Ce f alo and John J. Kmetz, Jr., both of Phila-
delphia, Pa., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Solomon Golat, of Newark, N. J., for the Intervenor.
Mr. Warren H. Leland, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Hazelton,
Pennsylvania, on August 6, 1946, before Paul Bisgyer, hearing officer.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudi-
cial error and are hereby affirmed. At the hearing the Intervenor
moved to dismiss the petition, contending (1) that it has an existing
contract with the Employer which operates as a bar to an election
at this time; and (2) that the Petitioner has not demonstrated a
sufficient showing of interest to warrant further proceedings. For
reasons set forth in Section III, infra, we find the Intervenor's first
contention to be without merit. And we also are of the opinion that
the Intervenor's second contention lacks merit. We have held that
the requirement that a petitioning union submit proof of substantial
representation is but an administrative expedient "adopted to enable
the Board to determine for itself whether or not further proceedings
are warranted . . ." 1 Accordingly, the motion is denied.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Atlas Powder Company, a. Delaware corporation with its principal
offices in Wilmington, Delaware, is engaged at its White Haven,
Pennsylvania, plant, in the manufacture of industrial explosives.
1 Matter of 0. D. Jennings & Company, 68 N L R B. 516.
71 N. L. R. B., No. 120.
723
724 DECISION S OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
During the past year the Employer received from points outside the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania raw materials valued at approxi-
mately $415,000, which represented about 43 percent of its total pur-
chases of raw materials for the White Haven plant. During the same
period, the Employer manufactured and shipped to points outside the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania finished products valued at approxi-
mately $1,300,000, which represented about 59 percent of the White
Haven plant's total production.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
United Gas, Coke & Chemical Workers of America, Local 221,
herein called the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees
of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On October 3, 1944, following a consent election conducted under
Board auspices,2 the Intervenor was designated as bargaining repre-
sentative of the Employer's production and maintenance employees.
A period of negotiations for a collective agreement followed and cer-
tain disputed issues were submitted to the War Labor Board for resolu-
tion. On September 1, 1945, the Employer and the Intervenor
.executed a collective bargaining agreement which embodied the War
Labor Board's disposition of the disputed issues and which provided
that it was to continue in effect for 1 year, and from year to year there-
after in the absence of written notice by either party to the other, 30
days prior to any anniversary date, of a desire to "amend or modify."
Because of certain "inadequacies" in this contract, particularly the'
matter of holiday pay, the Intervenor, in June 1946, requested the
Employer to negotiate a more satisfactory agreement. Subsequent
negotiations culminated in the execution of a new 1-year contract,
dated June 30, 1946, and made retroactive to May 1, 1946. On June
30,1946, the Petitioner notified the Employerpf its claim to representa-
tion, and, on July 1, 1946, it filed the petition in this proceeding.
The Employer and the Intervenor contend that the June 30, 1946,
contract is a bar to a present determination of representatives. We
do not agree.
It is well established that the filing of a petition before the operative
date of an automatic renewal clause, or Mill B date, of, a .collective
'Case No. 4-R-1534.
ATLAS POWDER COMPANY 725
agreement, warrants the direction of an election, despite the fact that
the contracting parties, either before or after the filing, enter into a
new agreement extending the terminal date of their relationship .3
Here, the petition was filed before the Mill B date of the 1945 contract.
We conclude, therefore, that the 1946 contract does not preclude a
current determination of representatives.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
In substantial accordance with the agreement of the parties, we find
that all production and maintenance employees at the Employer's
White Haven, Pennsylvania, plant, including employees in the job
classifications listed in Appendix A, attached hereto, but excluding
office, clerical, laboratory, and technical employees, employees in the
job classifications listed in Appendix B, attached hereto, and all other
supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge,
discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or
effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within- the meaning of Section
9- (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Atlas Powder Company, White
Haven, Pennsylvania, 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 Fourth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the
National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and
203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations--
Series 4, 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
3 If the filing precedes the making of the new agreement , the new agreement is, of
course, no bar Matter of Ste Genevieve Lieve & Quarry Company , 70 N. L. R . B. 1259. And
if the filing follows the making of the new agreement , the new agreement is no bar under
the "premature extension" doctrine. Matter of Worth Hardware Co., Inc, 71 N. L R B.
,684
Contrast , however, Matter of Northwestern Publishing Company (WDAN), a corpora-
tion , 71 N. L . R. B. 167 ; and Matter of Greenville Finishing Company, Inc ., 71 N. L. R B.
436. In those cases the Board held that the premature extension doctrine is inapplicable
when the filing follows the Mill B date of the old contract.
726 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 they desire to
be represented by District 50, United Mine Workers of America, or
by United Gas, Coke & Chemical Workers of America, Local 221,
CIO, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
APPENDIX A
STIPULATED INCLUSIONS
Acid Foreman
Acid Operator
Acid Helper
Box Print Operator
Box Print Helper No. 1
Box Print Helper No. 2
Box Print Helper No. 3
Dope and Shell Helpers
Firemen
Ingredient and Soda Dry Operator
Ingredient and Soda Dry Helper
Labor
Locomotive Engineer-Powder
Locomotive Engineer-Safety
Locomotive Helper-Powder
Locomotive Helper-Safety
Magazine Keeper
1st Mechanic
2nd Mechanic
3rd Mechanic
4th Mechanic
Mechanics' Helpers
N. G. Operator No. 1
N. G. Operator No. 2
N. G. Helpers
Powder Operators No. 1 (All
P o w d e r Building Operators,
Dope and Shell)
Powder Operators No. 2 (2nd Man
in All Powder Buildings, Shell
and Dope except Pack House)
Powder Helper (All other Helpers
in Powder Buildings, Truckers,
Magazine Helpers, L a u n d r y
Man)
Powder Repairman No. 1
Powder Repairman No. 2
Powder Repairman No. 3
Power House Engineer No. 1
Power House Engineer No. 2
Power House Helper
Janitress
Watchman
APPENDIX B
STIPULATED EXCLUSIONS
General Acid Foreman
Bomb Line Foreman
Bomb Foreman
Bomb Operator No. 1
Bomb Operator No. 2
Bomb Helper
Gang Helper
Sergeant of the Guards
Guards
Laboratory Helper No. 1
Laboratory Helper No. 2
Laboratory Helper No. 3
Labor Gang Foreman
Labor Foreman
General Mechanic Foreman
Mechanic Foreman
Powder Line Foreman
Store Helper
Stenographer