General Motors Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 30, 1940

28 N.L.R.B. 793 (N.L.R.B. 1940)

In the Matter of GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION , CHEVROLET DIVISION
and INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS , LOCALS 30 &
30-A
Case No. R-2184.-Decided December 30, ,1940
Jurisdiction : automobile assembling industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : refusal
to accord recognition to union; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : operating engineers , including
apprentice operating engineers but excluding chief engineers.
Mr. John T. Smith, by Mr. Kevin McInerney and Mr. Gerard
Smith, of New York City, for the Company.
Goldstein d Goldstein, by Mr. Lawrence Kovalsky and Mr. Michael
P. Connors, of New York City, for the Union.
Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On September 9,1940, International Union of Operating Engineers,
Locals 30 & 30-A, herein called the Union, filed with the Regional
Director for the Second Region (New York City) a petition alleging
that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of General Motors Corporation, Chevrolet
Tarrytown Division, North Tarrytown, New York, herein called
the Company, and requesting an 'investigation and certification of
representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Re-
lations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On November 14,
1940, 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 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.
On November 14, 1940, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and
28 N. L. R. B., No. 122.
793
794 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the Union. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on December 2
-and 6, 1940, at New York City, before Shad Polier, the Trial Ex-
aminer duly designated by the Board. The Company and the Union
were represented by counsel and 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 counsel for the Union moved to
amend the petition as to certain formal matters. The motion was
granted. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made
several rulings on other motions and on objections to the admission
of evidence. The Board has reviewed all the rulings of the Trial
Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The
rulings are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the,case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Company is a Delaware corporation with its principal offices
located in New York City and with other offices in Detroit, Michigan.
The Company has several unincorporated divisions.
The division with which we are here concerned, Chevrolet Tarry-
town Division, operates a plant at North Tarrytown, New York,
where it is engaged in the assembling of complete automobiles from
parts and accessories. All the parts and accessories used at the Tar-
rytown plant are shipped to it from points outside of the State of
New York and a substantial number of the completed automobiles
are shipped by it to points outside the State of New York. The
Company admits that the Tarrytown plant of Chevrolet Tarrytown
Division is engaged in commerce within the meaning of Section 2
\ - .9 ^1.- A ...
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Union -of Operating Engineers, Locals 30 & 30-A,
are labor organizations affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor. They admit to, membership all operating engineers and ap-
prentice operating engineers in the Tarrytown plant of Chevrolet
Tarrytown Division of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Union, claiming to represent a majority of the employees in
the powerhouse at the Tarrytown plant of Chevrolet, Tarrytown
Division, has requested the Company to `bargain with it as exclusive
GENERAL, MOTORS CORPORATION 795'
representative of'those employees. These requests have been refused
by the Company. The'Union and the Company agreed at the hear-
ing that all of the ' employees involved herein are members of the
Union.
We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation
of the employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find that the question concerning representation which has11
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 commerce
and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union urges that all operating engineers and apprentice op-
erating engineers employed in the powerhouse at the Tarrytown
plant of Chevrolet Tarrytown Division of the Company, including
the chief engineer, constitute an appropriate unit. At the hearing,
a controversy arose concerning the proposed inclusion of the two
apprentice operating engineers, both of whom are paid on an hourly
basis, and the chief engineer.
The Company objected to the proposed inclusion of the apprentice
operating engineers in the unit. It contends that the apprentice
operating engineers should be excluded because they are covered by
a contract executed between the Company and International Union,
United Automobile Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, herein called the United. Pursuant
to a Direction of Election of the Board,' an election was conducted
among all hourly paid production and maintenance employees at
the Chevrolet Tarrytown Division of the Company, excluding cer-
tain classifications of employees, among them being the operating
engineers. Subsequently, as a result of the election, the Board certi-
fied the United as the exclusive representative of the employees at
the Chevrolet Tarrytown Division of the Company in the unit set
forth above.2 Thereafter the United and the Company entered 'into
an exclusive bargaining contract covering the employees in the above
unit. The Company maintains that, inasmuch as the apprentice
' Matter of General Motors Corporation and International Union, U. A. W : A, affiliated
withtheA F.L,etal,20 N L R.B.950.
2 24 N. L. R B. 159.
796 DECISIONS " OF NATIONAL LABOR , RELATIONS BOARD
operating engineers were not expressly, excluded from the unit of
production and maintenance employees in the previous election and
fall within the classification of hourly paid maintenance employees,
they are covered by its existing contract with the United. The two
apprentice operating engineers work 'in the powerhouse under the
direct supervision of six operating engineers. Although one of the
apprentice operating engineers voted in the election alluded to above,
he testified in this proceeding 'that he did so under a misapprehen-
sion.3 The two apprentice operating engineers are and have been
members of the Union since 1938. The Trial Examiner stated in the
record of this proceeding that the Regional ' Director had notified
the United of this proceeding and that the United disclaimed any
interest in this controversy. Under these circumstances, we find that
the, apprentice operating engineers should be included in the unit.
The* Company objected to the proposed inclusion of the chief
engineer in the unit. The Company contends that he should be ex-
cluded because he is a supervisory and confidential employee. The
chief engineer recommends hiring and discharging of employees in
the' powerhouse, receives a higher rate of pay than the ordinary
engineers, and, except in emergencies, does not engage in any manual
work. We find that the chief engineer should be excluded from the
unit.
We find that all, operating engineers at the Tarrytown plant of
Chevrolet Tarrytown Division of the Company, including apprentice
operating engineers, but excluding the chief engineer, 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.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Union seeks to be certified on the basis of the record.
Although the Company and the Union agreed at the hearing that
all the employees in the appropriate unit were members of the Union,
the Company stated that it desired an election prior to a certification
of the Union., Under these circumstances, we believe that the ques-
tion concerning representation which has arisen can best be resolved
by means of an election by secret ballot.4
8 No notices of that election were posted in the powerhouse and this employee was the
only employee in the powerhouse that voted.
See Matter of 4rmour & Company and-United Packinghouse Workers, Local Industrial
Union, Local No 13 of Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee, affiliated with CIO,
13 N.L . R. B. 567.
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 797 `
We find that the employees of the Company eligible to vote in
the election shall be those employees in the appropriate unit who
were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding
the date of the • Direction of Election herein, including employees
who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill
or on vacation and employees who were then or have since been tem-
porarily laid off, but excluding employees who have since quit or
been discharged for cause.
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 at the Tarrytown plant of Chevrolet Tarry-
town Division, General Motors Corporation, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor
Relations Act.
2. All operating engineers at the Tarrytown plant of Chevrolet
Tarrytown Division of the Company, including apprentice operating
engineers, but excluding the chief engineer, constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective 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 Re-
lations 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
with General Motors Corporation, Chevrolet Tarrytown Division,
North Tarrytown, New York, an election by secret ballot shall be
conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days
from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Second 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
operating engineers at the Tarrytown plant of Chevrolet Tarrytown
Division of the Company who were employed during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including'
apprentice operating engineers, employees who did not work during
798 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation, and em-
ployees who were then or have since been temporarily laid off, but
excluding the chief engineer and employees who have since quit or
been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire
to be represented by International Union of Operating Engineers,
Locals 30 & 30-A, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,
for the purposes of collective bargaining.
CHAIRMAN HARRY A. MIILrs took no part in the consideration of
the above Decision and Direction of Election.