Ford Motor Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 21, 1941

34 N.L.R.B. 671 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of FORD MOTOR COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL UNION,
UNITED AUTOMOBILE WORKERS OF AMERICA, AFFILIATED WITH THE
C. I. O.
Case No. C-1927.-Decided August 21, 1941
Jurisdiction : automobile manufacturing industry.
Settlement : stipulation providing for compliance ith the Act.
Remedial Orders: entered on stipulation.
Mr. Harold Crane field, for the Board.
Mr. I. A. Capizzi, Mr. Edmund J. Gallagher, and Mr. Frank Nolan,
of Detroit, Mich., for the respondent.
Mr. Maurice Sugar and Mr. Ernest Goodman, of Detroit, Mich,
for the Union.
Mr. Norman M. Neel, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon charges and amended charges duly filed by International
Union, United Automobile Workers of America, affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, herein called the Union, the
National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, by its
Regional Director for the Seventh Region (Detroit, Michigan),
issued its complaint and amended complaint, dated March 21 and
April 1, 1941, respectively, against Ford Motor Company, Dearborn,
Michigan, herein called the respondent, alleging that the respondent
had engaged in and was engaging in unfair labor practices affecting
commerce within the meaning of Section 8 (1), (3), and (4), and
Section 2 (6) and (7), of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat.
449, herein called the Act. A copy of the complaint, accompanied
by a notice of hearing, was duly served upon the respondent.
Concerning the unfair labor practices, the complaint alleged in sub-
stance, (1) that the respondent, through specifically enumerated activi-
ties, was engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of the
Act; (2) that the respondent, while engaged in the operation of its
River Rouge, Highland Park, and Lincoln plants, for the purpose of
learning the union affiliation and sympathies of its employees and the
34 N. L. R. B., No. 83.
671
672 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
activities of the Union, by specifically enumerated acts caused and per-
mitted the operation of an extensive espionage system; (3) that the
respondent, at its River Rouge, Lincoln, and Highland Park plants,
subjected union organizers and sympathizers to surveillance, intimi-
dation, assaults, threats, and acts of violence for the purpose of thwart-
ing, obstructing, and impeding union organization and collective bar-
gaining among its employees in the said plants; (4) that the respond-
ent, by specifically enumerated acts and conduct, interfered with, re-
strained, and coerced its employees in the exercise of the rights guar-
anteed in Section 7 of the Act; (5) that the respondent attempted to
corrupt union members and officials for the purpose of procuring from
them lists of persons affiliated with the Union and reports of the ac-
tivities of the Union, and attempted to induce such persons who had
testified as witnesses in another proceeding to repudiate testimony
given therein; (6) that the respondent directed, caused, and permitted
widespread violence in its plants throughout the country for the pur-
pose of thwarting, obstructing, and impeding union organization in
such plants; (7) that the respondent, while engaged in the operation
of its River Rouge plant, discharged and refused to reinstate certain
named employees for the reason that they, and each of them, were
affiliated with and acted in behalf of the Union or were believed by the
respondent to be sympathetic toward labor organizations, and/or be-
cause they engaged with other employees in concerted activities for
the purposes of collective bargaining and other mutual aid and pro-
tection, and/or by reason of their failure or refusal to sign applica-
tions for membership in the Liberty Legion of America, or Ford
Brotherhood of America, or a paper entitled "The Vote of Confidence";
(8) that the respondent, while engaged in the operation of its Lincoln
plant, discharged and refused to reinstate certain named employees for
the reason that they, and each of them, were affiliated with and acted
in behalf of the Union, or because they refused to sign "The Vote of
Confidence," or because they, and each of them, were believed by the
respondent to be sympathetic toward labor organizations, and/or be-
cause they, and each of them, engaged with other employees in con-
certed activities for the purposes of collectives bargaining and other
mutual aid and protection ; (9) that the respondent, while engaged in
the operation of its Highland Park plant, laid off and refused to rein-
state certain named employees for the reason that they were active in
behalf of or were believed by the respondent to be sympathetic toward
labor organizations, and because they were engaged with other em-
ployees in concerted activities for the purposes of collective bargaining
and other mutual aid and protection; (10) that the respondent, while
engaged in the operation of its River Rouge, Highland Park, and Lin-
coln plants, discharged and refused to reinstate one Mack Cinzori for
FORD MOTOR COMPANY 673
the reason that he testified as a witness called by the Board, and for the
reason that he joined and assisted the Union, with the intent thereby
to discourage its employees from filing charges or giving testimony
under the Act; and (11) that the respondent, by *the above-named and
other acts, engaged in and was engaging in unfair labor practices
within the meaning of Section 8 (1), (3), and (4) of the Act.
On May 3, 1941, the respondent filed an answer admitting the allega-
tions of the complaint with respect to the interstate character of its
business, but denying the unfair labor practices alleged in the com-
plaint. On June 24, 1941, the respondent and counsel for the Board
entered into a stipulation. On July 11, 1941, the respondent and
counsel for the Board executed a substitute stipulation which provided
for the withdrawal and cancellation of the stipulation executed on
June 24, 1941, between the said parties, and provided further as
follows :
WHEREAS, a hearing in the above entitled matter has been in
progress at intervals since May 22, 1941, before the National
Labor Relations Board by its Trial Examiner, duly designated
thereto in accordance with the rules and regulations of the said
Board; and
WHEREAS, a stipulation between the parties hereto providing
among other things for the entry of an Order in this proceed-
ing by the said Board in the terms set forth in the said stipu-
lation was heretofore on June 24, 1941, executed and filed with the
Trial Examiner (as the agent of the Board conducting the hear-
ing), and whereas it is agreed between the parties hereto that the
said stipulation shall be withdrawn and this instrument substi-
tuted therefor;
IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between Ford Motor Company,
hereinafter referred to as Respondent, by I. A. Capizzi, its at-
torney, and Harold A. Cranefield, attorney for the National Labor
Relations Board;
I. International Union, United Automobile Workers of Amer-
ica, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, here-
inafter referred to as the Union, is a labor organization within the
meaning of Section 2, Subsection 5 of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act. '
II. Respondent waives its right to a further hearing in this
matter; waives the making or entry by the National Labor Rela-
tions Board of findings of fact or conclusions of law and stipu-
lates and agrees that the National Labor Relations Board may,
without other or further notice to Respondent, forthwith make
and enter an Order in the following terms :
674 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Respondent, Ford Motor Company, its' officers , agents, succes-
sors and assigns shall:
(a) Offer to the persons named in Paragraphs 14, 15, 16, 17,
18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 25, and in Appendices A, B, C, D, E
and F of the Amended Complaint in this matter immediate
and full reinstatement to their former or substantially equiva-
lent positions without prejudice to their seniority and other
rights and privileges.
(b) Notify the Regional Director for the Seventh Region
of the National Labor Relations Board in writing within
twenty (20) days from the date of this Order of the steps
Respondent has taken to comply herewith.
III. Respondent further stipulates and consents to the entry
by any appropriate United States Circuit Court of Appeals of a
decree for the enforcement of the Order of the National Labor
Relations Board, as above set forth, and waives its right to con-
test any application by the National Labor Relations Board for
the entry of such a decree, and further waives any and all require-
ments of notice of filing of such application by the National Labor
Relations Board before any United States Circuit Court of
Appeals. - ,
IV. This stipulation when approved shall be filed with the Chief
Trial Examiner of the National Labor Relations Board and when
so filed together with the pleadings heretofore filed in this pro-
ceeding, to wit, the Complaint, Amended Complaint, Answer to
Amended Complaint and Amendment to Answer shall constitute
the record in this case.
V. IT IS FURTHER STIPULATED AND AGREED that the stipulation be-
tween the parties hereto, dated June 24, 1941, and on said date
filed with the Trial Examiner in this matter shall be withdrawn
and this stipulation substituted therefor.
VI. IT IS FURTHER STIPULATED AND AGREED that this stipulation
contains the entire agreement between the parties to this stipula-
tion concerning the disposition of this proceeding, being Case No.
VII-C-148, before the National Labor Relations Board.
VII. IT IS FURTHER STIPULATED AND AGREED that this stipulation
is subject to the approval of the National Labor Relations Board
as to form.
On July 14, 1941, the Board issued an order approving the above
stipulation, making it a part of the record in the case, and transferring
the proceedings to the Board for the purpose of entry of a decision and
order pursuant to the provisions of the stipulation.
FORD MOTOR COMPANY 675
Upon the above stipulation and the entire record in the case, the
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE RESPONDENT
Ford Motor Company is a Delaware corporation, with an author-
ized capital of $100,000,000, having its principal executive offices at
Dearborn, Michigan. It owns and operates manufacturing plants
located in the cities of Dearborn, Detroit, Highland Park, Northville,
Ypsilanti, Flat Rock, Waterford, Phoenix, Plymouth, Nankin Mills,
Newburg, Dundee, Iron Mountain, L'Anse, and Pequaming, in the
State of Michigan ; St. Paul, Minnesota ; Green Island, New York ;
and Hamilton, Ohio, as well as numerous plants in foreign countries.
The respondent owns and operates automobile assembly plants in
numerous other cities in the United States, at each of which it is
engaged and has been engaged in the manufacture, assembly, sale,
and distribution in interstate commerce of automobiles, and automo-
bile parts and accessories. The respondent employs more than 80,000
employees at its River Rouge plant, and in connection with the op-
eration of this plant owns blast furnaces, open-hearth furnaces, steel
mills, foundry, coke ovens, paper mill, sintering plant, glass factory,
tire factory, cement plant, laboratories, and the largest industrial
steam-generating plant in the world. The Lincoln plant has at all
times since its inception been engaged in the manufacture, assembly,
and sale of automobiles of the Lincoln line, and of parts and acces-
sories thereof, and has been managed by the respondent, which has
controlled and directed employment at the Lincoln plant and promul-
gated and effectuated its labor policies. The Highland Park plant is
engaged in the manufacture of fender enamel, frame paint, anti-rust
solution, dryers, polishers , resins, and artificial leather. In the ordi-
nary course of its operations at the River Rouge, Lincoln, and High-
land Park plants the respondent causes a substantial amount of raw
and other materials used in the manufacture and assembly of the
several plants to be purchased, delivered, and transported in interstate
commerce from and through States of the United States, other than
the State of Michigan, to each of the said plants, and causes a sub-
stantial part of the products of each of the said plants to be delivered
and transported in interstate commerce from each of the said plants
to, into, and through States of the United States other than the State
of Michigan.
We find that the above-described operations constitute a continuous
flow of trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States.
676 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ORDER
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact, the above stipulation,
and the entire record in the case, and pursuant to Section 10 (c)
of the National Labor Relations Act, the National Labor Relations
Board hereby orders that the respondent, Ford Motor Company, its
officers, agents, successors and assigns shall:
(a) Offer to the persons named in Paragraphs 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,
19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 25, and in Appendices A, B, C, D, E, and F of
the Amended Complaint in this matter immediate and full reinstate-
ment to their former or substantially equivalent positions without
prejudice to their seniority and other rights and privileges.
(b) Notify the Regional Director for the Seventh Region of the
National Labor Relations Board in writing within twenty (20) days
from the date of this Order of the steps Respondent has taken to
comply herewith.
MR. EDWIN S. SDZITH took no part in the consideration of the
sbove Decision and Order.
V