Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 26, 1941

35 N.L.R.B. 841 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of DETROIT & CLEVELAND NAVIGATION COMPANY and
SEAFARERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA, GREAT
LAKES DISTRICT, AFFILIATED WITH THE A. F. OF L.
Case No. R-2926.-Decided September 26, 1941
Jurisdiction : water transportation industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re-
fusal of Company to accord union recognition ; election directed to be held
at commencement of Company's next season.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees in the stewards' de-
partments on all passenger vessels of the Company, excluding chief stewards
and food stewards ; agreement as to.
Mr: A. D. Ruegsegger, of Detroit, Mich., for the Company.
Mr. J. L. Busby and Mr. Mardy Polaner, of Detroit, Mich., for
the Seafarers.
Mr. J. M. Secord, of Buffalo , N. Y. for the Marine Cooks.
Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On August 5, 1941, Seafarers, International Union of North
America, Great Lakes District, affiliated with the A. F. of L., herein
called the Seafarers, filed with the Regional Director for the Seventh
Region (Detroit, Michigan) a petition alleging that a question affect-
ing commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees
of Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company, Detroit, Michigan,
herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and cer-
tification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On August
11, 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 Regula-
tions-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.
35 N. L . R. B., No. 178.
841
842 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
On August 15, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear-
ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the Sea-
farers, and Marine Cooks and Stewards Union of the Great Lakes,
herein called the Marine Cooks, a labor organization claiming to
represent employees directly affected by the investigation. Pur-
suant to notice, a hearing was held on August 22, 1941, at Detroit,
Michigan, before Colonel C. Sawyer, the Trial Examiner duly desig-
nated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company was represented
by counsel, the Seafarers and the Marine Cooks by their representa-
tives; all participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard,
to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence
bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. During the course of
the hearing the Trial Examiner made several 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.
On September 8, 1941, the Marine Cooks filed a brief 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
Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company is a Michigan corpora-
tion with its principal place of business at Detroit, Michigan. It
owns and operates combination passenger and freight boats upon the
Great Lakes. In the course of its business the Company operates
these boats between Detroit, Michigan, Buffalo, New York, Cleveland,
Ohio, Mackinac Island, Michigan, Harbor Springs, Michigan, and
Midland, Ontario. During the 1940 shipping season gross revenues
received from the operation of the combination passenger and freight
boats amounted to about $1,450,000 for the passenger business and
about $756,000 for the freight business.
We find that the Company is engaged in traffic, trade, transporta-
tion, and commerce among the several States and with foreign coun-
tries, and that the employees in the stewards' departments employed
on boats owned or operated by the Company are directly engaged in
such trade, traffic, transportation, and commerce.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Seafarers' International Union of North America, Great Lakes
District, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federa-
tion of Labor. It admits to membership employees in the stewards'
departments on the vessels operated by the Company.
DETROIT & CLEVELAND NAVIGATION COMPANY 843
Marine Cooks and Stewards Union of the -Great Lakes is an un-
affiliated labor organization, admitting to membership employees
in the stewards' departments on the vessels operated by the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
In July 1941 the Seafarers , claiming to represent a majority of
the employees in the stewards' departments on the vessels operated
by the Company, requested the Company to recognize it as the ex-
clusive representative of such employees. The Company denied this
request, stating that it was operating under a contract with the
Marine Cooks. -
On January 18, 1939, the Company and the Marine Cooks entered
into an exclusive bargaining contract covering the employees in the
stewards' departments on the vessels operated by the Company. In
April 1941 the Company and the Marine Cooks entered into a sup-
plement to, this agreement. The supplement provides that it shall
remain in effect from year to year unless either party thereto notified
the other of its intention to terminate said contract by 30 days' notice
prior to April 1 of any given year. The Marine Cooks contends
that its contract, as supplemented, constitutes a bar to a present
determination of representatives and urges the dismissal of the
petition herein. However, it is not necessary to pass upon this
question, because, as stated in Section V herein, we will not conduct
any election in this proceeding until the commencement of the
Company's next season which will be approximately May 1942.
Thus, the present contract will have expired.
A statement of the Regional Director, introduced into evidence
at the hearing, shows that the Seafarers represents a substantial
number of employees in the alleged appropriate unit.,'
We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation
of employees of the Company, and that such question tends to lead
to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free
flow of commerce.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Company, the Seafarers, and the Marine Cooks agreed at
the hearing, and we find, that all employees in the stewards' depart-
ments on all passenger vessels of the Company, excluding chief
stewards and food stewards, constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining. We find further that said unit
1 The Regional Director reported that the Seafarers presented 495 authorization cards
bearing the names of persons who appear on the Company 's pay roll for the period of
July 16-31, 1941 . There are approximately 718 employees in the alleged appropriate
unit. The Marine Cooks presented its contract with the Company as evidence of its
interest in this proceeding
844 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. The
Seafarers urges the use of the July 16-31, 1941, pay roll to deter-
mine eligibility to vote. The Marine Cooks contends that the pay
roll for the period immediately preceding the date of the Direction
of Election should be used for this purpose. The Company takes
no position with respect to the eligibility date. It appears that the
Company's business is seasonal, reaching its peak in July of each
year and abruptly dropping immediately following Labor Day of
each year. The record discloses that from 33 to 75 per cent of the
employees involved herein are laid off by the Company immediately
following Labor Day. Under these circumstances, we find that the
election in this proceeding shall not be held until the commence-
ment of the Company's next season which will be approximately
May 1942. Eligibility to vote in the election will, therefore, be ex-
tended to employees Within the appropriate unit employed by the
Company during a pay-roll period to be determined by the Board
in the future.
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 rep-
resentation of employees of Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Com-
pany, Detroit, Michigan, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and
Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All employees in the stewards' departments on all passenger
vessels of the Company, excluding chief stewards and food stewards,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act.
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 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
DETROIT & CLEVELAND NAVIGATION COMPANY 845
with Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company, Detroit, Michigan,
an election by secret ballot shall be conducted at such time as the
Board may in the future direct , under the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Seventh Region, acting in this
matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board and subject
to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations , among all
employees in the stewards' departments and on passenger vessels of
the Company who were employed during a pay-roll period to be
determined by the Board at a future date, including employees who
did not work during that pay-roll period because they were ill or
on vacation or in the active military service or training of the
United States, or temporarily laid off , but excluding the chief
stewards , food stewards, and employees who, between the pay-roll
date to be determined by the Board and the date of the election,
have quit or been discharged for cause , to determine whether they
desire to be represented by Seafarers ' International Union of North
America, Great Lakes District , affiliated with the American Fed-
eration of Labor, or by Marine Cooks and Stewards Union of the
Great Lakes, for the purposes of collective bargaining , or by neither.