Farnsworth Television & Radio Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 11, 1940

21 N.L.R.B. 505 (N.L.R.B. 1940)

In the Matter of FARNSWORTH TELEVISION & RADIO CORPORATION
and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL
#B1160, AFFILIATED WITH THE A. F. OF L.
Case No. R-1,736.-Decided March, 11, 1940
Radio Set and Radio Combination Manufacturing Industry-Investigation
of Representatives: controversy concerning representation of employees: em-
ployer refuses to bargain with either of rival unions until certification of union
by Board-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining: all production and main-
tenance employees of Company at Marion, Indiana, excluding supervisory
employees, working group leaders, watchmen, laboratory employees, and clerical
and office employees; agreement as to-Election Ordered: eligibility determined
by pay roll of January 2 to 23, 1940.
Mr. Arthur R. Donovan, for the Board.
Mr. J. P. Rogers, of Marion, Ind., for the Company.
Mr. L. R. Van Emburgh, of Marion, Ind., and Mr. Francis
O'Rourke, of Indianapolis, Ind., for the I. B. E. W.
Mr. James Pascoe, of Indianapolis, Ind., and Mr. George B. Foulk,
of Marion, Ind., for the U. E. R. M. W.
Mr. Bonner Brown, of Marion, Ind., for certain employees of the
Company.
Mr. Louis S. Penfield, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On January 17, 1940, International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers, Local, #B1160, affiliated with the A. F. of L., herein called
the 'I. B. E. W., filed with the Regional Director for the Eleventh
Region (Indianapolis, Indiana) a petition alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Farnsworth Television & Radio Corporation, Marion,
Indiana, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation
and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act.
On February 9, 1940, the National Labor Relations Board, herein
called the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and
21 N. L. R. B., No. 47.
505
506 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and
Regulations-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.
In connection with said order, the Regional Director issued a
notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Com-
pany, upon the I. B. E. W., and upon the United Electrical, Radio
and Machine Workers of America, affiliated with the C. I. 0., herein
called the U. E. R. M. W., a labor organization purporting to repre-
sent employees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to
the notice a hearing was held on February 20, 1940, at Marion,
Indiana, before P. H. McNally, the Trial Examiner duly designated
by the Board. At the beginning of the hearing, the U. E. R. M. W.
moved to intervene in these proceedings. The Trial Examiner
granted the motion. At the same time Bonner Brown, purporting
to represent a certain independent group of employees of the Com-
pany, appeared at the hearing and moved to intervene on behalf of
these employees. Upon objection Brown voluntarily withdrew from
the hearing as representative of the independent group.' The Com-
pany, the I. B. E. W., and the U. E. R. M. W. appeared by their repre-
sentatives. All of the said parties participated at 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
rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evidence.
At the conclusion of the hearing the U. E. R. Al. W. moved to dismiss
the petition, and the I. B. E. W. moved to dismiss the petition to
intervene. The Trial Examiner referred these motions to the Board
for appropriate action. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the
Trial Examiner and finds no prejudicial errors were committed.
The motions to dismiss the petition and the motion to dismiss the
petition to intervene are hereby denied.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Farnsworth Television & Radio Corporation is a Delaware corpo-
ration with its principal office in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Com-
' Brown conceded that he did not represent a labor organization He claimed , however,
that he represented 134 employees of the Company whose names were signed to certain
petitions offered and received in evidence appealing "to the Board to determine the ques-
tion by a vote which will give each employee an opportunity to express his or her desires."
The I . B. E. W. objected to the intervention by Brown and thereupon Brown withdrew
from the hearing.
FARNSWORTH TELEVISION & RADIO CORPORATION 507
pany is engaged in the business of manufacturing radio sets and
radio combinations. It owns, operates, and maintains manufactur-
ing plants at Fort Wayne and Marion, Indiana. This proceeding
is concerned solely with employees at the Marion plant. That plant
has been in operation since May 1939 and in actual production since
August 1939. More than 50 per cent of the raw materials, worth
approximately $1,800,000, there used since the beginning of opera-
tions have come from outside the State of Indiana. Approximately
85 per cent of the finished products of the plant at Marion since
operations were begun, having an approximate value of $1,800,000,
were shipped from the plant to points outside of the State of Indiana.
The Company admits that it is engaged in interstate commerce,
within the meaning of the Act.
The Company employs approximately 185 persons at the Marion
plant.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local #B1160,
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organ-
ization admitting to membership employees of the Company at its
plant in Marion, Indiana.
United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, affil-
iated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor
organization admitting to membership employees of the Company
at its plant in Marion, Indiana.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
No collective agreement has ever existed between the Company and
any union covering wages or other working conditions of employment
at the Marion plant. On August 29, 1939, the I. B. E. W. requested
a meeting with the Company for the purpose of negotiating an
agreement. At subsequent conferences with the Company the
I. B. E. W. apprised the Company that it claimed to represent a
majority of the Company's employees at Marion for purposes of
collective bargaining, and that it was entitled to recognition as the
exclusive bargaining agency for all such employees in an appropriate
collective bargaining unit. In proof of its claim the I. B. E. W.
offered to submit to the Company its membership cards for check
against the Company pay rolls. The Company declined to make
such a check.
Sometime in the fall of 1939 the U. E. R. M. W. also requested
collective bargaining of the Company. The I. B. E. W. contends
that there is no showing that the U. E. R. M. W. represents a sub-
stantial number of employees of the Company at Marion. How-
508 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ever, the U. E. R. M. W.; as hereinafter set forth, does not seek a
place on the ballot.
The Company refused and refuses to recognize either union as the
exclusive bargaining agency of any of its employees until the matter
is determined by the Board.
We find that a question has arisen concerning representation of
employees of the Company.
IN. THE 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
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 com-
merce and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The petition alleges that "all hourly paid employees in the pro-
duction, maintenance, and shipping departments, excluding super-
visory, working group leaders, watchmen, clerical and office em-
ployees" working for the Company at Marion, Indiana, constitute a
unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. At the
hearing the Company, the I. B. E. W., and the U. E. R. M. W. stipu-
lated and agreed that the appropriate unit for collective bargaining
should be all production and maintenance employees of the Company
at its Marion plant, and those employees associated directly with
production and maintenance, excluding supervisory employees, work-
ing group leaders, watchmen, laboratory employees, and clerical and
office employees.
We see no reason for not finding the agreed unit to be appropriate.
Accordingly, we find that all production and maintenance employees
of the Company at its Marion plant, and those employees associated
directly with production and maintenance, excluding supervisory
employees, working group leaders, watchmen, laboratory employees,
and clerical and office employees 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.
VT. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
In January 1940, the Company employed approximately 300 per-
sons. Officials of the I. B. E. W. testified that the union had 206
FARNSWORTH TELEVISION & RADIO CORPORATION 509
members in the' Marion local at the time of the hearing, and that it
had, before the hearing, submitted 100 signed membership cards
for examination by the Regional Office. The U. E. R. M. W. does
not wish to appear on the ballot in any election. It objects, however,
to an election at the present time, or in the near future, on the ground
that the Company has not yet attained its full growth and that now
an election will hinder the U. E. R. M. W.'s efforts to perfect its
organization at the plant. The Company has operated less than a
year and the plant has a capacity for at least 1500 workers. The
business is seasonal with peak production coming in the fall and
the low point reached in the spring. There is nothing to indicate
that, apart from normal seasonal fluctuation, there will be any un-
usual expansion in the near future. In any event, we believe the
determination of a representative should not await such a contin-
gency. Both the Company and the I. B. E. W. are agreed the ques-
tion concerning representation of employees of the Company can
best be resolved by holding an election by secret ballot among em-
ployees in the appropriate unit to determine their desires with
regard to representation. We accordingly shall direct that such
election be held subject to such limitations as may be stated in the
Direction of Election. The U. E. R. M. W. will not appear on the
ballot.
The Company, the I. B. E. W., and the U. E. R. M. W. all stipu-
lated that if an election is to be held eligible employees should in-
clude all those in the appropriate unit on the Company pay roll be-
tween January 2 and January 23, 1940. In view of seasonal fluctu-
ations this appears appropriate. Accordingly, we shall direct that
all employees in the appropriate unit whose names are listed in the
Company pay roll between January 2 and January 23, 1940, shall
be eligible to vote, in the election.
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 Farnsworth Television & Radio Corpora-
tion, Marion, Indiana, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Sec-
tion 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All production and maintenance employees of the Company at
its Marion plant, and those employees associated directly with pro-
duction and maintenance, excluding supervisory employees, working
group leaders, watchmen, laboratory employees, and clerical and
office employees, constitute a unit appropriate for purposes of col-
510 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
lective bargaining , 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, 49 Stat . 449, 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 bargain-
ing with Farnsworth Television & Radio Corporation, Marion, In-
diana, an election by a secret ballot shall be conducted as early as
possible , but not later than thirty ( 30) days from the date of this
Direction of Election , under the direction and supervision of the
Regional Director for the Eleventh 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 production
and maintenance employees of the Company at its Marion plant,
and those employees associated directly with production and main-
tenance, whose names appear on the Company pay roll of January
2 to 23, inclusive , including employees not on that pay roll because
they were ill or on vacation , but excluding those on said pay roll
who have since quit or been discharged for cause , and further exclud-
ing all supervisory employees , working group leaders, watchmen,
laboratory employees , and clerical and office employees, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented by International Broth-
erhood of Electrical Workers, Local #B1160, affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining.