Bellmont Iron Works

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 25, 1938

9 N.L.R.B. 1202 (N.L.R.B. 1938)

In the Matter of BELMONT IRON WORKS and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIA-
TION OF BRIDGE, STRUCTURAL AND ORNAMENTAL IRON WORKERS
Case No. R-956.Decided November ^?5, 1938
Structural Steel hudustry-Investigation of Representatives: controversy con-
cerning representation of employees : employer's refusal to grant recognition of
union until question of representation is determined by Board ; rival organiza-
tions-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining: production and maintenance
employees, excluding those engaged in a clerical or supervisory capacity, fore-
men, and assistant foremen who have the power to hire and discharge ; geo-
graphical differences; past bargaining history-Representatives: proof of
choice : comparison of pay roll with union membership cards-Certification of
Representatives: upon proof of majority representation.
Mr. Louis Libbin, for the Board.
Syme & Simons, by Mr. Benjamin R. Simons, and Cllr. M. Herbert
Syme, of Philadelphia, Pa., for the International.
Mr. M. H. Goldstein, of Philadelphia, Pa., for the Amalgamated.
Mr. Francis V. Paone, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On March 3, 1938, International Association of Bridge Structural
and Ornamental Iron Workers, herein called the International, filed
with the Regional Director for the Fourth Region (Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce
had arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Royers-
ford, Pennsylvania, plant of Belmont Iron Works, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, herein called the Company, and requesting an investi-
gation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c)
of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the
Act. On May 17, 1938, the International filed an amended petition
with the Regional Director. On May 25, 1938, 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 Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, ordered
an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it
and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
9 N. L R. B., No. 109.
1202
I DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1203
Thereafter, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies
of which were duly served upon the Company, upon the Interna-
tional, and upon Lodge No. 1390, Amalgamated Association of- Iron,
Steel and Tin Workers of North America, herein called the Amall.
gamated, a labor organization claiming to represent employees, di.
rectly affected by the investigation.' Pursuant to notice, a hearing
was held on July 21 and 22, 1938, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, be,
fore Joel Berrall, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board.
At the hearing the Trial Examiner granted the motion of the Amal-
gamated to intervene. The' Board, the International, and, the
Amalgamated were represented by counsel, and the Company by its
officers; all participated in the hearing. Full opportunity, to be
heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evi-
dence bearing on the issues was- afforded • all parties. During the
course of the hearing,. the Trial Examiner made : several rulings on
motions and 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.
Subsequent to the hearing the =International requested an oppor-
tunity to present oral argument before the Board. Pursuant to not
tice duly • served upon all the parties, a hearing for the purpose of
oral argument``ivas held in Washington, D. C., on October 18, 1938.
Only the International appeared before the Board and participated
in the argument. ,
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Company is a Pennsylvania corporation engaged in the manu-
facture, sale, and distribution of structural steel and miscellaneous
steel. It maintains a branch office in New York City and plants at
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Eddystone, Pennsylvania; and Royers-
ford, Pennsylvania. This proceeding concerns only the plant located
in Royersford, Pennsylvania.
In the manufacture of its finished products, the Company uses
rolled steel plates, shapes, bars, bolts, rivets, sheets, and paint, of
which approximately 5 per cent are purchased outside the Com-
monwealth of Pennsylvania. Approximately • 75 per cent of its fin-
ished products are shipped to points outside the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania. The Company's manufactured products in 1937
amounted to 35,000 tons, valued at approximately $3,500,000.
"On April 28, 1938, the Amalgamated had filed with the Regional Director a motion
to intervene in the proceeding
134068-39-vol ix-77
1204 N ATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental
Iron Workers is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor. It admits to membership all employees of the
Company at its Royersford plant, except those engaged in a clerical
or supervisory capacity, foremen, and assistant foremen who have the
power to ' hire and discharge.
Lodge No. 1390, Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin
Workers of North America, is a labor organization affiliated with
the Committee for Industrial Organization and with the Steel Work-
ers Organizing Committee, herein called the S. W. O. C. It admits
to membership all employees of the Company, except those engaged
in a clerical or supervisory capacity, foremen, and assistant fore-
men who have the'power to hire and discharge.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
In March 1937 the S. W. O. C., on behalf of the Amalgamated,
started to organize the employees of the Eddystone and Philadelphia
plants of the Company' and on April 28 of the same year entered
into a 'contract with the Company whereby the latter agreed to recog-
nize the S. W. O. C. as the exclusive representative of all the em-
ployees in each plant when the employees therein should ratify the
contract. Such ratification was obtained in the Eddystone and Phila-
delphia plants. The Royersford plant, which had remained closed
since 1931, resumed operations in July 1937 and the International
commenced an organization campaign among the employees of this
plant. In March 1938 the Company renewed its contract with the
S. W. O. C. to cover the employees of the Eddystone and Phila-
delphia plants. Provision was also made to recognize the S: W. O. C.
at the Royersford plant when "the union is there established as-the
sole bargaining agency." Prior to the renewal of this contract, how-
ever, the International sought to negotiate with the Company for the
Royersford plant. Since the S. W. O. C., on behalf of the Amalga-
mated, also claimed to represent employees of this plant, the Com-
pany refused to negotiate with the International until it received
certification by the Board.
We find that a question has arisen concerning representation of
employees of the Company ,it its Royersford plant.
IV. TIIE 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
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1205
described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial
relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States and
tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce
and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
At the hearing it was agreed by all the parties that the appro-
priate bargaining unit should include all production and maintenance
employees. except those engaged in•a clerical or supervisory capacity,
foremen, and assistant foremen who have the power to hire and
discharge.
The International claims that the above-described employees of the
Royersford plant should constitute a separate unit. The Amalga-
mated contends that the appropriate unit should consist of the em-
ployees of all three plants. The work performed in all the plants is
basically the same, and all three plants utilize the same classification
of workers. There is a shifting of work from one plant to another
and some interchange of employees. In July 1937 the Royersford
plant reopened and a number of employees were transferred to it
from the Eddystone plant., Some products, are partially' manufac-
tured • in one plant • and then transferred to another ' for completion.
All purchases of raw materials' ar'e' handled by- one,production •man-
ager. Allocations of orders to the several plants are made by this
same production manager, as are decisions as to rates of pay, hours,
and working conditions. The production manager has general super-
vision. over the work at all plants, ' although there is a mill superin-
tendent at each plant who has direct supervision.
While it appears from the above-facts that a bargaining unit in-
cluding the employees in all 'three plants of the Company would be
practicable, other factois strongly support the claim of'the Interna-
tional. Whereas the Eddystone and Philadelphia plants are only
14 miles apart, the Royersford plant is 35 miles distant from; each
of the others. Moreover, the history of organization on the part 'of
both unions shows that they have never considered the employees in
the three plants as constituting a single appropriate unit.' Indeed;
the S. W. O. C., organizing on behalf of the Amalgamated, has al-
ways limited its claim to exclusive recognition to each plant in which
the employees designated it as their representative by virtue of their
ratification of the S. W. O. C.'s contract with the Company. The
renewal agreement executed in March 1938, covering the employees
of the Eddystone and Philadelphia plants, contained a provision
specifically excluding the Royersford plant until such time as the
S. W. 0.' C. was established as the sole bargaining agency in-that
plant. Accordingly, the S. W..0. C. bargained, only-,for the em=
1206 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ployees of the Eddystone and Philadelphia plants, nor did it ever
claim to represent a majority of employees of all three plants until
after the International had started to organize the employees of the
Royersford plant. Furthermore, as set forth below, virtually all the
employees at the Royersford plant are members of the International,
whereas the Amalgamated claims not more than four or five members
among the Royersford employees.
The fact that the Company has centralized the management of the
three plants to a great extent is not conclusive in the determination
of the appropriate unit or units for collective bargaining . • The coin-
parative isolation of the Royersford plant from the other two, the
past' bargaining history in the plants , and the fact that the Amalga-
mated claims only four or five members in the Royersford plant
impel us to the conclusion that the employees in the Royersford plant
properly constitute a separate appropriate unit.
We find that the production and maintenance employees - of 'the
Company at the Royersford plant; except those engaged in .a clerical
or supervisory capacity , foremen, and assistant foremen who have
the power to hire and discharge , constitute a,unit appropriate for the
purposes , 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.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Company 'submitted in evidence its pay rolls at the Royers-
ford plant for the months of March , May, and July, 1938. These pay
rolls listed the names of 50 , 59, and 54 employees in the appropriate
unit during these; respective ' months. The International then intro-
duced in evidence 58 membership cards, the signatures on which were,
duly authenticated by two members of the International who testified
that they had witnessed the signatures . A comparison of these cards
with the pay roll of July 1938 shows that of the 54 employees in the
appropriate unit, 52 were members of the International . The Amal-
gamated introduced no evidence of its membership in the Royersford
plant, although it claimed to have four or five members therein; nor
did it discredit by competent testimony the evidence of membership
introduced by the International . The Company did not question the
validity of the , union membership cards introduced 'in evidence.
We find that the International has been designated and selected by
a majority of the employees in the appropriate unit as their repre-
sentative for the purposes of collective bargaining. ^ ' It is, therefore,
the exclusive represelitative of all . the employees 'in such unit ,for )the
purposes of collective bargaining, :and. we will so certify. ,
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1207
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
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Belmont- Iron Works at, its Royersford,
Pennsylvania, plant, within the meaning of Section '9 (c) and Section
2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All employees of the Company at its Royersford, Pennsylvania,
plant, excluding those engaged in a clerical or supervisory capacity,
foremen, and assistant foremen who have the power to hire and dis-
charge, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining, with the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act.
3. International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental
Iron Workers, is the exclusive representative of all the employees
in such unit for the purposes 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,
IT IS I3EREBY CERTIFIED that International Association of Bridge,
Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers has been designated and
selected by a majority of the employees of the Company at its Royers-
ford, Pennsylvania, plant, excluding those engaged in a clerical or
supervisory capacity, foremen, and assistant foremen who have the
power to hire and discharge, as their representative for the purposes
of collective bargaining and that, pursuant to the provisions of Sec-
tion 9 (a) of the Act, International Association of Bridge, Structural
and Ornamental Iron Workers 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.