Ball Brothers Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 7, 1945

64 N.L.R.B. 1240 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the. Matter of BALL BROTHERS COMPANY and FEDERATION OF GLASS,
CERAMIC AND SILICA SAND WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO
Case No. 16-R-1337 .-Decided December 7,1945
Messrs. Bracken , Gray, and DeFur, by Mr. A. M. Bracken, of
Muncie, Ind., for the Company.
Mr. William T. Lewis, of Columbus, Ohio, and Mr . Jack Craig, of
Okmulgee, Okla., for the CIO.
Mr. Z. C. Wright, of Winchester , Ind., and Mr. Albert K. Plone, of
Camden, N. J., for the GBBA.
Mr. Benj. E. Cook, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Federation of Glass, Ceramic and
Silica Sand Workers of America, CIO, herein called the CIO, alleging
that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Ball Brothers Company, Okmulgee, Okla-
homa, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board
provided for an appropriate hearing upon clue notice before Glenn
L. Moller, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Okmulgee,
Oklahoma, on July 17, 1945. The Company, the CIO, and Glass
Bottle Blowers Association of the United States and Canada, herein
called the GBBA, appeared and participated. All parties were af-
forded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine wit-
nesses, 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 opportunity
to and did 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
Ball Brothers Company is an Indiana corporation with its principal
office at Muncie, Indiana. It operates glass plants at Okmulgee,
64 N. L. R B.. No 207.
1240
BALL BROTHERS COMPANY 1241
Oklahoma, Wichita Falls, Texas, and Muncie, Indiana. It also oper-
ates a paper mill at Noblesville, Indiana. The Okmulgee plant, the
only one involved in this proceeding, is engaged in the manufacture,
distribution, and sale of glass containers. During the preceding 12
months, the Company made monthly purchases of raw materials for
its Okmulgee plant valued in excess of $40,000, and during the same
period of time, made monthly shipments of finished products to
points outside the State of Oklahoma valued in excess of $100,000.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Federation of Glass, Ceramic and Silica Sand Workers of America
is a labor organization, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial,Or-
ganizations, admitting to membership employees of the Company.
Glass Bottle Blowers Association of the United States and Canada
is a labor organization, affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
By letters dated January 10, 1945, and February 25, 1945, respec-
tively, the CIO requested recognition from the Company as the bar-
gaining representative of certain of its employees. The Company
made no reply to the foregoing letters, but at the hearing admitted
their receipt and refused to accord recognition to the CIO because of
an existing contract with the GBBA. The Company contends that
its contract with the GBBA, entered into on April 19, 1945, consti-
tutes a bar to the instant proceeding. The foregoing contract, how-
ever, was entered into after the Company had received notice of the
CIO's claim to representation, and consequently cannot operate as a
bar to a present determination of representatives?
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the CIO represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate 2
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.
i See Matter of Allied Mills, Inc , Plant #1, 57 N . L. It. B. 1807.
The Field Examiner reported that the CIO submitted 226 cards , bearing the names
of 94 employees listed on the Company ' s pay roll of April 18 , 1945, and that 113 of the
cards are dated February 1944 to May 1945, and that 13 are undated.
The GBBA relies upon its contract with the Company to support its interest in the
present proceeding.
There are approximately 182 employees in the appropriate unit.
1242 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The CIO requests a unit of all production and maintenance employ-
ees at the Okmulgee plant of the Company excluding machine op-
erators, apprentice operators, machine upkeep men, mold makers,
mold repairmen, clerical employees, watchmen, mechanical engineers,
salaried employees, and supervisors. The Company and the GBBA,
while generally in agreement as to the specific composition of the
foregoing unit, would exclude all employees engaged in cold repair
work 3 and would include also the employees at the Wichita Falls
plant. The Company would further exclude machinists, and all other
employees engaged in the maintenance and repair of the automatic
glass machines.
For many years; the skilled operators and upkeep men in all the
Company's plants have been represented by the GBBA under industry-
wide contracts. The employees in the so-called Miscellaneous Depart-
ment, however, which corresponds to the unit sought herein by the
CIO, have been represented by the GBBA since 1937 in separate plant-
wide units and under separate contracts at both the Okmulgee and
Wichita Falls plants. These cities are approximately 287 miles apart;
there is little, if any, transfer of personnel between the plants; and
each plant has its own supervisory staff. In view of the absence of
integration between the Okmulgee and Wichita Falls plants, and the
existence of a separate bargaining history, we are of the opinion that
the employees at the Okmulgee plant constitute a separate appropriate
bargaining unit.
The evidence shows that in the "cold repair" of the glass machines,
the work is customarily performed by the operators of such machines
with the assistance of machine shop mechanics. Ordinarily, upon
completion of the repair job, the glass machines are returned to the pro-
duction line for operation under the guidance of the operators who had
been engaged in their repair. Although the major portion of the time
which an operator spends in cold repair work is devoted to repairing
his own machine, there are occasions when the plant is shut down for
repairs that an operator spends weeks and even months in cold repair
work generally. The extent of an operator's role as repairman depends
upon the size of the plant, the number of impaired machines, and the
available personnel competent to perform cold repair work. It is
apparent, however, that the major portion of an operator's time is
devoted to operating work, and that in final analysis he is primarily
an operator and not a repairman. Moreover, as indicated above,
operators at all times, whether performing operating or repair work,
3 " Cold repair" is a term used to designate repair work performed on the automatic glass
machines when they are completely removed from production for overhauling . There is no
such category as "cold repairman " on the Company 's pay roll.
BALL BROTHERS COMPANY 1243
have been represented by the GBBA in an industry-wide unit for many
years. In view of the foregoing, we are of the opinion that cold repair
work is an integral part of an operator's duties, and consequently we
shall exclude from the miscellaneous unit all operators whether en-
gaged in operating or assigned to cold repair work. On the other
hand, oilers, machinists, and other employees who engage in the main-
tenance and repair of glass machines, all of whom the Company would
now exclude, have functions and interests differing from those of the
operators, and since 1937 have been included in the Miscellaneous De-
partment unit under separate plant-wide contracts. Accordingly, we
shall include these employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.
We find that all production and maintenance employees at the
Okmulgee plant of the Company, including oilers, machinists, and all
employees who engage in the maintenance and repair of glass machines
with the exception of operators, but excluding operators,4 apprentice
operators, machine upkeep men, mold makers, mold repairmen, watch-
men, mechanical engineers, clerical employees, salaried employees and
all or any 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.
V. TIIE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among employees
in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period
immediately 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 Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Ball Brothers Com-
pany, Okmulgee, Oklahoma, an election by secret ballot shall be con-
ducted as early as possible, but not later than sixty' (60) days from the
date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Re-
gional Director for the Sixteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent
4 Those assigned to either operating or cold repair work.
1244 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III,
Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among 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 dale of the election, to determine
whether they desire to be represented by Federation of Glass, Ceramic
and Silica Sand Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, or by Glass Bottle Blowers Association
of the United States and Canada, affiliated with the American Federa-
tion of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.