Eastern Iron & Metal Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 14, 1953

106 N.L.R.B. 1261 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

EASTERN IRON & METAL COMPANY 1261
lar KFRE operations were permitted to operate this equipment
during the closed circuit telecasts and demonstrations. In de-
monstrations and telecasts the live television cameras have been
operated by announcers and broadcast technicians, but primarily
by the latter, whereas the television film cameras and the pro-
jectors have been operated by technicians and others on a 50-50
basis. The television equipment has been setup and taken down
by the technicians. All television film editing has been done by
the vice president in charge of programs.
The Employer and another radio station in Fresno have filed
applications with the Federal Communications Commission for
television broadcasting permits and both are seeking the use
of the same television channel. The Employer estimates, and
the Petitioner agrees, that, even if it receives the permit, its
television station will not be in operation prior to January 1,
1955, and employees for its operation will not be needed until
November 1, 1954.
In view of the foregoing facts, more particularly the fact that
there appears to be no reasonable likelihood that employees of
the disputed job categories will be employed in the near future,
and for the further reason that we are unable to ascertain from
the present record what the future duties and skills of such
employees might be, we shall make no present determination
as to their inclusion in the unit.'
We therefore find that all broadcast technicians, including
technician-announcers , employed by the Employer at Fresno,
Monsen , and Meadow Lakes, California, in work in connection
with the installation, operation, and maintenance of radio broad-
cast, voice, facsimile, rebroadcast, and other apparatus, by
means of which electricity is applied in the transmission or
transference, production or reproduction, of voice or sound, and
including cutting and/or processing and/or spinning of records,
transcriptions, and tapes, excluding announcers, professional
employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act, and
all other employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9
(b) of the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
'Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 97 NLRB 566, 571; Chrysler Corporation, 98 NLRB
1105; United States Time Corporation, 86 NLRB 724, 727.
EASTERN IRON & METAL COMPANY and LODGE 1570,
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, AFL,
Petitioner . Case No. 16-RC-1311. October 14, 1953
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held on June 25, 1953,
106 NLRB No. 220.
1262 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
before J. Howard Stark, hearing officer. On August 12, 1953,
further hearing was held before John F. White, hearing officer,
pursuant to a Board Order remanding the proceeding. The
hearing officers ' 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 petition filed herein on June 2, 1953, named Eastern
Iron & Metal Company and notice of hearing issued and was
served accordingly. At the hearing counsel appeared on be-
half of The Merchants & Planters National Bank of Sherman,
Texas, and Mrs. Tessie Shosid, executors of the will of Meyer
Shosid, deceased. The executors moved to dismiss the petition
on the grounds that no employer by the name of Eastern Iron
& Metal Company exists, that the executors are not engaged in
commerce within the meaning of the Act, and that, in any event,
the executors are engaged solely in preserving the assets of
the estate of Meyer Shosid and do not possess authority to en-
gage in business or to execute long -term contracts. The
Petitioner contends that amendment of the petition is not
necessary for the reason that sufficient evidence exists that
Eastern Iron & Metal Company continues to do business under
that name.
Meyer Shosid, owner of and doing business under the trade
name of Eastern Iron & Metal Company, died on May 20, 1952.
On or about June 6, 1952, The Merchants & Planters National
Bank of Sherman, Texas, and Tessie Shosid qualified as
executors under the will of Meyer Shosid and, in this capacity,
operate the business in Sherman , Texas , at the same location
and deal in the same products, i.e., the purchase and sale of
scrap metal, welding supplies and equipment. When the
executors have completed their function of winding up the
estate of Meyer Shosid and paying the debts and charges
existing against the estate, the will of Meyer Shosid provides
that the estate go to the trustees, The Merchants & Planters
National Bank of Sherman, Texas, and Tessie Shosid, to be
held by them until the son of Meyer Shosid, Martin E. Shosid,
has reached the age of 25 years or until the death of Mrs.
Tessie Shosid, whichever is the last to occur. Tessie Shosid
is still living and Martin E. Shosid is at this time 20 years old.
The executors of the estate are represented in the operation
of the Company by an office manager who, it appears, is paid
by check drawn on the account of the executors. Employees of
the Company are paid by checks drawn on a bank account held
in the name of Eastern Iron & Metal Company. Withholding tax
is forwarded to the collector of internal revenue under a form
on which appears the name Meyer Shosid, d/b/a Eastern Iron
& Metal Company. The Company's Federal income tax and
Texas unemployment insurance tax returns are made by and
from the estate.
During the past year the purchase of scrap metal by Eastern
Iron & Metal Company did not exceed $100,000 while sales of
scrap metal exceeded $ 100,000. Slightly less than 25 percent
EASTERN IRON & METAL COMPANY 1263
of the sales of scrap metal represented out-of-State shipments.
In 1952, Eastern Iron & Metal Company sold iron and steel
products valued at approximately $170,000 to Hardwicke Etter
Company, located in Sherman, Texas. During the same period
gross sales of Hardwicke Etter Company were approximately
$5,000,000, of which about $3,000,000 represented the dollar
value of sales made directly outside the State of Texas. In
1952, Hardwicke Etter Company received about $9,000,000
under a national defense contract . During the past year,
Eastern Iron & Metal Company sold through brokers scrap
metal valued at $24,550 to Sheffield Steel Corporation at its
Houston, Texas, plant. Sheffield Steel Corporation shipped
products outside the State of Texas during the same period
valued at in excess of $500,000.
While it appears that in some respects the executors have
not in practice substituted themselves for Meyer Shosid,
d/b/a Eastern Iron & Metal Company, the enterprise is ad-
ministered under the lawful control of the executors by the
terms of the will of Meyer Shosid, deceased. During the course
of this transition , the operations of the business have remained
the same and the duties of the employees continue unchanged.
The fact that the executors are concerned with conserving the
assets of the estate and discharging the debts has not altered
the business operations of the enterprise . Nor does there ap-
pear to be any prospect of imminent dissolution thereof. Under
these circumstances, we are convinced that the substitution of
the executors for Meyer Shosid has not given rise to a change
in any essential attribute of the employment relationship.
We therefore find that the executors are successors to Meyer
Shosid, d/b/a Eastern Iron & Metal Company, the original em-
ployer. In accordance with our usual procedure in similar
circumstances, we shall amend the name of the Employer as it
appears in all formal papers and the Decision and Direction of
Election herein to reflect the change in the name of the Em-
ployer. i The name of the Employer is hereby amended to ap-
pear as The Merchants & Planters National Bank of Sherman,
Texas, and Tessie Shosid, executors under the will of Meyer
Shosid, deceased, d/b/a Eastern Iron & Metal Company. We
further find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the Act and we shall assert jurisdiction herein. 2
Accordingly, the Employer' s motions to dismiss are denied. 9
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent
certain employees of the Employer.
iCf. Allan W Fleming, Inc, 91 NLRB 612; Pacific Tankers, Inc., 84 NLRB 965.
2 Hollow Tree Lumber Company, 91 NLRB 635. Member Rodgers concurs in this finding but
does not thereby adopt the Board's past jurisdictional plan as a permanent policy.
3 Additional motions to dismiss on the grounds that the executors received no valid notice
of representation hearing and that there was no valid service of notice of hearing are likewise
denied. The office manager of the executors did in fact receive the notice of hearing naming
Eastern Iron & Metal Company and, as we find above, the executors are the successors to
Meyer Shosid d/b/a Eastern Iron & Metal Company.
1264 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the rep-
resentation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner seeks a unit of all production and mainte-
nance employees at the Employer's plant including truckdrivers
but excluding office clerical employees, watchmen, guards,
professional employees, and all supervisors. The Employer
takes no position as to the appropriate unit.
The Employer has in its scrap metal and welding equipment
operations 8 laborers, 1 machinist, 1 metalworker, 2 crane
operators, 1 public weigher, and 2 truckdrivers. The scrap iron
is weighed, taken into the scrapyard and unloaded, piled,
separated, and cut into various lengths, and then loaded and
shipped out. The employees are under the supervision of a yard
foreman except that one of the truckdrivers, assigned to load
and deliver welding supplies, is under the supervision of the
oxygen department manager.4 This truckdriver spends a
portion of his time on the road selling welding supplies. All
employees are paid on an hourly basis, work the same shift, and
receive the same benefits. There is some interchange among
personnel.
In view of the foregoing, we find that all production and
maintenance employees herein constitute an appropriate unit.
Retail sales-office clerk: The Employer would include while
the Petitioner would exclude the combination retail sales-office
clerk. This employee is engaged principally in the sale of
welding supplies over the counter. The remainder of her time
is spent in keeping the clerical records pertaining to the sale of
welding supplies under the supervision of the oxygen depart-
ment manager . We think the sale and clerical functions of this
employee are sufficiently distinct from those of the other em-
ployees involved herein to warrant excluding this job classifica-
tion from the unit. We shall therefore exclude the retail sales-
office clerk.
Public weigher: The Employer would include while the Pe-
titioner would exclude the public weigher. This employee spends
60 percent of her time under the supervision of the yard fore-
man weighing trucks loaded with scrap metal in and out of the
yard and making payment therefor. The remainder of her time
is spent in routine office work under the supervision of the
office manager. As the public weigher is predominantly engaged
in duties connected with the essential operations of the plant,
we shall include the public weigher in the unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees at the
Employer's Sherman, Texas, plant, including truckdrivers and
public weigher, but excluding office clericals, retail sales-
office clerk, watchmen, guards, professional employees, yard
foreman, oxygen department manager, and all other supervisors
within the meaning of the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for
4The oxygen department is so called only for cost-accounting purposes and is functionally
integrated with the Employer's overall operations.
LOCAL 214, INTERNATIONAL FUR & LEATHER WORKERS UNION 1265
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of
Section 9 (b) of the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
COMPLIANCE STATUS of LOCAL 214, INTERNATIONAL FUR
& LEATHER WORKERS UNION
THE AM-O-KROME COMPANY and CONGRESS OF INDUS-
TRIAL ORGANIZATIONS, Petitioner and LOCAL 214, IN-
TERNATIONAL FUR & LEATHER WORKERS UNION
THE AM-O-KROME COMPANY, Petitioner and CONGRESS
OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS and LOCAL 214, INTER-
NATIONAL FUR & LEATHER WORKERS UNION. Cases
Nos. 9-RC-949 and 9-RM-64. October 15, 1953
ORDER
On August 25, 1953, the Board issued a notice to show cause
in the above-entitled proceeding why the Board should not
treat the non-Communist affidavit filed by Tevis B r u c e
Schooler on August 21, 1950, as false, and an abuse of the proc-
esses of the Board, and accordingly, (1) find that Local 214,
International Fur & Leather Workers Union, was not in com-
pliance with Section 9 (h) of the Act at the time of the certifi-
cation which issued in this case on January 31, 1951, and (2)
declare the said certification tobe of nofurther force or effect.
Upon request of Local 214, an extension of time in which to
answer was granted to all parties . On September 18, 1953,
counsel for Local 214, International Fur & Leather Workers
Union, filed a response and memorandum in opposition , and re-
quested oral argument thereon . The Employer did not reply.
The Board having duly considered the response and memoran-
dum in opposition to the notice to show cause , decided that suf-
ficient cause has not been shown why the Board should not find
that Local 214, International Fur & Leather Workers Union,
was not in compliance with Section 9 (h) at the time of the
certification issued in this case on January 31, 1951 , and de-
clare the said certification to be of no further force or effect.
WHEREFORE the Board has determined that the compliance
letter, dated August 28, 1950, sent to Local 214, International
Fur & Leather Workers Union, should be, and it hereby is,
revoked.
The Board having found that Local 214, International Fur &
Leather Workers Union, was therefore not in compliance with
Section 9 (h) on January 31, 1951, concludes that, in the
interest of protecting its own processds fromfurther abuse, its
certification of January 31, 1951, should be considered of no
further force and effect.
NOW THEREFORE said certification is adjudged and declared
to be of no further force and effect, and
106 NLRB No. 223.