General Electric Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 17, 1942

42 N.L.R.B. 569 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter of GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF FIREMEN & OILERS (A F L) AND INTERNATIONAL
UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS (A F L )
Case No R -39,1V -Decided July 17, 19,142
Jurisdiction - tungsten steel and puiified gas manufacturing industry
Investigation and Certification of Representatives existence of question 'tipu-
lation that Company refused to accord petitioners tecogmtion until certified by
the Boaid, election necessai3
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining election do ected among emplo3 ees
of engine room and boiler loom to deteimme desires with respect to collecti%e
bargaining, despite apparent history of collective baigaining on plant-wide
bases in other plants of Company, where engine and boiler-room employees
had been excluded from Noting in pies ions election among other employees,
supervisory employees, chief engineci and foremen in boiler room excluded
from voting group
Piactice and Procedure inteiNenoi's contention that petition filed by joint
petitioners was rmploper, overruled where substantial unity of interest was
found between employees iepi esented by them
Mr Ramey Donovan, for the Board
Mr. A A. Pergande, of Nela Palk, Ohio, and Mr L G Cover, of
Euclid, Ohio, foi the Company `
Mr Hubert J McCaffe7'y, Mr R E Seitz and Mr R J Janvzeson,
of Cleveland, Ohio, foi the Firemen and the Engineers
Mr Henry Fiering and Mr Clifjoid Saunders, of Cleveland, Ohio,
for the United
Mr Charles W Selzneider, of counsel to the Boaid
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a joint petition duly filed by Inteinational Brotherhood of
Firemen & Oilers (A F L) and International Union of Operating
Engineers (A F L ), herein called respectively, the Firemen, and the
Engineers, alleging that a question affecting commeice had arisen
concerning the representation of employees of General Electric Com-
pany, Euclid, Ohio, herein called the Company, the National Labor
-Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before Charles E Persons, Trial Examiner Said hearing was held
42 N L R B, No 117
569
570 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
at Cleveland, Ohio, on June 26, 1942 The Company, the Firemen,
the Engineers, and United Electi ical, Radio & Machine Workers of
America (C I 0 ), a labor organization claiming to represent em-
ployees directly affected by the investigation, appeared, participated,
and were afforded full oppoi tunity to be heard, to examine and cross-
examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the' issues.
The Trial Examiner's iuhngs made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed
-Upon the entree record in the case, the Buaid makes the following
FINDINGS OF FACT
I THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
General Electric Company is a New York corporation operating
a number of plants throughout the United States and Canada. The
plant here involved is known as the Company's Cleveland Wire
Works plant, located at Euclid, Ohio Over 75 percent of the raw
and processed material used at the Euclid plant are purchased out-
side the State of Ohio The plant produces annually tungsten steel
and purified gasses valued at more than $500,000, over 50 percent of
which is shipped to points outside the State of Ohio. The Company
stipulated that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act '
II '1 HE ORG tNTZATIONS INN OIXED
International Brotherhood of Fiiemen & Oilers, and International
Union of Operating Engineers, are labor oigamzations affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership em-
ployees of the Company
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America is a labor
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industual Organizations,
admitting to membership employees of the Company
III THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The parties stipulated that a question concerning representation
has arisen in that the Company has refused to recognize the Firemen
and the Engineers unless they are certified by the Board
Evidence submitted at the heaiing indicates that the Fiemen and
the Engineers represent a substantial number of employees, within
the alleged appropriate unit 1
I At the heaimg the Firemen submitted in evidence S dues cards 1),ui otting to show dues
payments of members through March 1942 The names on all sot the cards were those of
persons on the Compsni s April 22, 1942, pay roll the Engineers submitted in evidence 2
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 571
- We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act
TV APPROPRIATE UNIT, THE, DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Firemen and the Engineers contend that the engineers , firemen,
oilers, apprentices, and helpers, employed in the engine room and the
boiler loom of the Cleveland Wire Works plant, excluding super-
visory employees, the chief engineer , and foremen in the boiler room,
constitute an appropriate unit. The Company and the United con-
tend that such a unit is inappropriate for the reason that the appro-
priate unit is plant-wide 2
On July 21, 1941, after a consent election in which only the United
was involved, we certified that organization as collective bargaining
i epi esentatlve at this plant within the following appropriate unit
` `All hourly-rated production and maintenance employees * * *
excluding electricians, plant-protection employees, clef ical employees
and super visor y employees " 3 The engine-room and boiler-room em-
ployees appear to have been then, and apparently are now, hourly
paid employees
At the time of that election and ceitification, the firemen were
performing plant protection duties as well as working in the boiler
room They were therefore excluded from voting in the election.
However, the remainder of the employees in the engine room and
the boiler room, who did no plant protection work, were also ex-
cluded 4 Since about the beginning of January 1942, the firemen
have ceased to do plant protection work Such duties are now per-
formed by a regular staff of guards.
Although the United is recognized as exclusive bargaining repre-
sentative on plant-wide bases , in a large number of the Company's
undated authorvatiou cards ueating appateutly genuine original signatures which were the
names of persons on the April 22 pay roll That pay roll appears to list 15 employees in
the alleged appropriate unit Of these 5 are licensed firemen , 3 helpers of apprentices in
the boilei room, 3 licensed firemen acting as engineer assistants or oileis in the engine loom,
and 4 ate licensed engineers
i The United further contended at the hearing that the joint petition of the firemen and
the Engineers is improper for the reason that the apparently substantial majority of the
Firemen will compensate for the alleged minority sEatus of the Enginecis un the engine
room We find a substantial unity of interest between the emplo3ees of the engine room
and those of the boiler room The United's contention in that respect is therefore
overruled
3Mattei of General Electisc Company, Cleveland Wire Works Plant and Local 707, United
Electrical, Radio cC Machine Workers of America ( C I 0 ), 33 N L R B 088
'An official of the Company testified at the hearing that engineers were excluded from
the-election because they were then deemed to be "straw bosses " He assigned no reason
for the exclusion of the other engine- and boiler -room employees An organizer for the
United testitied that lie did not know at the time of the election that there were engine- and
boiler - i coal employees who were not engaged in plant protection
572 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
plants throughout the United States and Canada, we are of the opin-
ion that the engine room and boiler-room employees should have the
opportunity denied them in the previous election, namely, to ex-
piess their desires regarding iepiesentation We find that those em-
ployees could function, under the present circumstances, either as a
separate bargaining unit, of as part of a larger unit We shall
therefore make no final deteimination of the unit at this time, but
shall direct that the question concerning representation which has
arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the engi-
neers, firemen, oilers, apprentices, and helpers, excluding supervisory
employees, the chief engineer, and foremen in the boiler loom, who
were employed during 'the pay-roll period immediately preceding
the date of the Direction of Election herein, subject to the limita-
tions and additions set forth in the Dnection The election shall
determine whether those employees desire to be represented-by the
Firemen and the Engineers, or by the United, or by neither If a
majority chooses the Fnemen and the Engineers, the group will con-
stitute an appropriate unit Otherwise the petition will be dis-
missed
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board b3 Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Re-
lations Act, 49 Stat 449, and pursuant to Article III Sections 8 and
9, of National Laboi Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series
2, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as pact of the nnestigation authoiized by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing with General Electiic Company, Euclid, Ohio, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
thnty (30) days from the date of this Direction of Election, under the
direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Eighth
Region, acting in this mattes as agent for the National Labor Re-
lations Board and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and
Regulations, among the engineers, firemen, oilers, apprentices, and
helpers employed in the engine ioom and the boiler ioom, who weie
employed during the pay-loll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction, including any such employees who did not work
durrn,, r«:d p-i3-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or in
the active military service of training of the United States, or tem-
porarily laid off, but excluding supervisory employees, the chief en-
gineer, and foiemen in the boilei room, and any who have since quit
of been discharged for cause, to deter mine whether they desire to be
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 573
repiesentecl by International Biotheihoocl of Firemen & Oilers and
International Union of Operating Engnieeis, affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, or by United Electrical, Radio &
Machine Workers of Ameiica, affiliated with the Congress of Indus-
trial Organizations, for the purposes of collective baigaming, or by
neither.
MR GERARD D REILLY took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Direction of Election
t