Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 23, 1955

114 N.L.R.B. 1197 (N.L.R.B. 1955)

BETHLEHEM PACIFIC COAST -STEEL CORPORATION 1197
authority Nardone and Cohn might exercise with respect to other
store personnel is of a sporadic and irregular nature, insufficient to
constitute them supervisors within the meaning of the Act' More-
over, even -assuming that Nardone and Cohn formerly wore assistant
manager- buttons for the purpose of receiving customer complaints,'
we are not persuaded, in the light of the foregoing, that they were
thereby endowed with the supervisory authority contemplated by the
Act. Accordingly, we hereby'overrule the challenges to the ballots
of Nardone and Cohn and shall direct that their ballots be opened
and counted.
[The Board directed that the Regional Director for the Second Re-
gion shall, within ten (10) days from the date of this Direction, open
and count the ballots of Nardone and Cohn and serve upon the parties
a revised tally of ballots.]
MEMBER MulinocK took no part in the consideration of the above
Supplemental Decision and Direction.
Helms Motor Express, Inc., 107 NLRB 132,135; Sileerwood's, 92 NLRB 1114, 1124-5.
The Regional Director found as a result of his investigation that Nardone never wore
such a button. He made no finding with respect to Cohn.
Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation , Shipbuilding Divi-
sion and International Association of Machinists , Lodge No.
68, AFL, Petitioner. Case No. 20-RC-0804. November 23, 1955
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National La-
bor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Shirley N. Bingham,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.'
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce, within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer .2
'This matter was consolidated with Cases Nos. 20-RC-2606; 2805; 2826; and 2832,
covering petitions filed by Brotherhood of Teamsters & Auto Truck Drivers, Local No. 85;
United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting In-
dustry Local Union 38, AFL; Warehousemen Local Union No. 860, International Brother-
hood of Teamsters , Chauffeurs , Warehousemen and Helpers of America , AFL ; and,
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL , respectively. The Regional
Director approved requests for the withdrawal of all of these named petitions prior to
the close of the hearing. Accordingly, the Order consolidating these cases is hereby
rescinded and all petitions so consolidated , other than the case considered herein are
hereby closed.
2 The Bay City Metal Trades Council, which was permitted to intervene in the con-
solidated proceeding, and which participated throughout the hearing by letter dated
114 NLRB No. 180.
1198 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
3. The question concerning representation :
The Employer urges as a bar to this proceeding its current contract
with the Bay City Metal Trades Council which has represented a unit
of Employer's production and maintenance employees at the San
Francisco , California, shipbuilding facility since 1941. This agree-
ment, with a July 1, 1955, anniversary date, contained an automatic
renewal clause providing for notice of "at least forty-five days but
not more than sixty days prior to the expiration of the term" to fore-
stall such renewal. The Petitioner, by letter dated May 13, 1955,
and received by the Employer on May 16, 1955, requested recognition
as representative of a unit of employees discussed infra, and filed its
petition on May 16, 1955. The Employer takes the position that the
contract including these employees had automatically renewed and
that the petition was, therefore, untimely.
The Board has strictly construed provisions which forestall auto-
matic renewal of a contract and will count each calendar day in apply-
ing the contract notice provision.3 In this case, the termination
date-the day preceding the first day of the new contract term-was
June 30, 1955. Including that day in the computation of 45 days re-
quired by the contract, the Mill B date, or day on which the automatic
renewal became operative, was May 17, 1955. The last day on which
a timely petition could be filed was therefore May 16, 1955 4 As
the petition herein was filed on that day, the contract does not bar
this proceeding.
The Employer further urges that its recognition of the Bay City
Metal Trades Council of which Petitioner is a constituent local pre-
vents the Petitioner from seeking to represent in a separate unit some
of the employees represented by the Council. We have found that
these circumstances do not prevent a union from seeking a separate
certification.5 Alternatively, the Employer contends that by Peti-
tioner's presence in discussions between the Council and the Em-
ployer on June 21 and 23, 1955, wherein certain voluntary changes in
the contract were being considered,' it waived any rights to pursue
October 12 , 1955, and received in the National Labor Relations Board office in Washington,
D. C, on October 13, 1955 , has requested permission to withdraw as Intervenor in this
proceeding and has requested that in the event an election is ordered by the Board its
name not appear on the ballot The Intervenor ' s requests are hereby granted.
3 See Koenig Brothers , Inc , 108 NLRB 304-305, and cases cited therein.
Calendar days from May 17 to June 30, 1955 , inclusive , total 45 days-the number
required by the contract automatic renewal clause
a See East Texas Pulp & Pape Company , 113 NLRB 539 , footnote 5. Also see The
Plumbing Contractors Association of Baltimore, Maryland, Inc. et at , 93 NLRB 1081, 1089
3 Contracts are signed by the Council president and secretary Representatives of the
constituent locals participate in negotiations . The Council had failed to gne notice to
the Employer for changes in the contract and requested the Employer to make voluntary
changes which would accord with a Pacific Coast association contract which was then
being completed These meetings were for the purpose of discussing such voluntary
changes The parties insist that they were not negotiating in the sense of attempting to
reach an agreement on a new contract . Several of the representatives of the constituent
locals of the Council, including the Petitioner , did not know the purpose of the meeting
BETHLEHEM PACIFIC "COAST STEEL CORPORATION 1199
its petition. The preponderance of the evidence presented on this
issue convinces us not only that the Petitioner was present at such
discussions only as an observer, but also that it made that fact known
for the stated reason that it wished to preserve its position under the
petition then pending. Furthermore, there is no dispute that near
the conclusion of the June 21, 1955, meeting, the Petitioner approached
Employer' representatives, referred to its pending petition, and re-
quested the Employer to execute an agreement with it covering the
employees for whom it had requested separate recognition. Nor do
we find in the testimony relating to the June 23 meeting any conduct
on the part of the Petitioner's observer which was inconsistent with
the position it had taken at the June 21 meeting.
Under these circumstances we need not determine what effect, if
any, active participation by Petitioner in those meetings would have
upon its status as Petitioner in this proceeding. Accordingly, we
find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the rep-
resentation of certain employees of the Employer within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (1) of the Act.
4. The following employees of the Employer at its shipbuilding
facility at San Francisco, California, may constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of
Section 9 (b) of the Act:'
All machinists, tool- and die-makers, cranemen within the machine
shop, their leadermen and helpers at the Employer's San Francisco,
California, shipyard, who are engaged in the installation or removal
(on structural or steel foundations) or inspection of all propulsion
machinery, heat exchange equipment, auxiliary machinery (except
folding hatch covers and manually operated dogged doors), mechani-
cal navigation aids (except underwater equipment on wooden hulls),
ordnance equipment, mechanical galley equipment, workshop machin-
ery, cast manifolds, hull strainers, sea valves, joints requiring metallic
gaskets, and mechanical hangers requiring setting of tensions; main-
and after this became apparent they stated their position to be one of observer rather
than part of the Council ' s discussion committee , because of their various pending petitions
After this information came to light the Employer representatives were asked to and did
leave the room to permit a caucus on the subject at which time it was determined that
those representatives who wished to remain as observers could do so. At the close of the
June 23 meeting it was stated that the Council 's acceptance of the changes in the contract
represented the majority vote and after the Council representatives had countersigned a
letter covering the agreed changes , the Petitioner ' s observer offered to restate his position
but was silenced by an officer of the Council.
7 It was stipulated at the hearing that this is the appropriate voting group . It appears
that except for a more specific elaboration in its description , it is identical to that previ-
ously found by the Board to "constitute a traditional craft group" after a detailed con-
sideration of the issue ( Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation, Shipbuilding Division,
San Francisco Yard, 93 NLRB 588-590) We find that the Petitioner is a traditional
representative of machinists , tool- and die -makers, and helpers and meets the requirement
of American Potash .4 Chemical Corporation , 107 NLRB 1418 , in this respect.
Although the Employer , in its brief , changed its position on the propriety of severance,
there is no basis in the record for overthrowing the stipulation which follows the
Board's prior unit finding as to the particular employees here involved
1200 DECISIONS OF, NATIONAL LABOR- RELATIONS BOARD
tenance and repair of machinery (except boilers and except work on
electric motors and generators other than work on bearings on large
motors and `generators) and of valves where work is done in place
(except plumbing in quarters) ; fabrication, installation, or removal of
said hand rails and stanchions in machinery spaces; operation and
adjustment of boilers and machinery during ship trials ( except elec-
trical equipment and dock machinery) ; operation of tool cribs and
central toolrooni; fabrication and repair of parts in machine shops;
work incidental to the foregoing, and operation and use of all hand
and power tools in the machine shops and of such hand and power tools
aboard ships or in the yard as required by the nature of the aforesaid
work; excluding riggers, all other employees, watchmen and guards,
office clerical employees,'and all, supervisors as defined in the Act.
5. If a majority vote for the Petitioner they will be taken to have
indicated their desire to constitute a separate appropriate unit, and the
Regional Director conducting the election directed herein is instructed
to issue a certification of representatives to the Petitioner for the unit
described in paragraph numbered 4, which the Board, under such cir-
cumstances, finds to be appropriate for purposes of collective bargain-
ing. In the event a majority do not vote for the Petitioner, the Board
finds the existing unit to be appropriate and the Regional Director
will issue a certification of results of election to such effect.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
MEMBER MURDOCK took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
American Forest Products Corporation and Printing Special-
ties and Paper Products Union , Local No . 382, AFL, Petitioner
American Forest Products Corporation and International Union
of Operating Engineers, AFL, Petitioner . Cases Nos. 20-RC-
2856 and 20-RC-2868. November 28, 1955
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, and thereafter consolidated, a hearing was held before
Shirley N. Bingham, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings
made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
114 NLRB No. 183.