General Motors Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 6, 1953

102 N.L.R.B. 1139 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 1139
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION (MILWAUKEE PLANT) A. C. SPARK
PLUG DIVISION and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF FIREMEN &
OILERS, LOCAL 125, A. F. L., PETITIONER. Case No. 13-RC-2916,
February 6, 1953
Decision and Order
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before John P. von
Rohr, hearing officer. The hearing officer's 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 Employer (herein called GMC) is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent employees of
the Employer.
3. The alleged question concerning representation :
International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricul-
tural Implement Workers of America, CIO (herein called UAW-
CIO), the Intervenor, was certified as the exclusive bargaining agent
for the Employer's production and maintenance employees, including
the employees now sought by the Petitioner, in Case No. 13-RC-883,
on April 26, 1950. A few weeks later, on May 29, 1950, GMC and
UAW-CIO entered into a national agreement which is to expire,
subject to 60-day notice of termination, on May 29, 1955. On July
7, 1950, Local 438, UAW-CIO, and the Employer entered into a local
wage agreement, which was also signed by an UAW-CIO interna-
tional representative. On January 11, 1951, Local 438, UAW-CIO,
and the Employer entered into a local seniority agreement, which was
again signed also by an UAW-CIO international representative. Al-
though these local agreements incorporated parts of the national
agreement, the May 29, 1950, contract was not extended to the A. C.
Spark Plug Division, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, until March 14, 1951,
when, pursuant to its terms, the extension was negotiated by GMC and
the UAW-CIO international representatives.
The Petitioner contends that the contract between the Employer
and the UAW-CIO became effective on May 29, 1950, and has run for
more than 2 years and is therefore not a bar. In the alternative, it
argues that the contract became effective on March 14, 1951, but that
a petition is not premature with respect to the 2-year period thereafter.
The Employer and the UAW-CIO assert the contract to be a bar.,,
" During the hearing, the Employer contended that the May 29, 1950 , agreement is a
bar to an election for its 5-year term . In its brief , the Employer contends that the con-
tract is a bar because it has been in effect for the employees in question for less than 2
years. In view of our holding herein, we need not decide how long the contract has been
in effect for these employees.
102 NLRB No. 124.
1140 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The UAW-CIO moved to dismiss the petition on the ground of con-
tract bar. That motion is hereby granted.
For the reasons stated in General Motors Corporation, Detroit
Transmission Division, 102 NLRB 1140, we hold that the May 1950
agreement is a bar to an election, in the absence of other considera-
tions, during its term. The Petitioner also contended that practices
within the automobile industry are not relevant here because the plant,
although subject to the national agreement, is not engaged in the manu-
facture either of automobiles or automotive parts 2 We find insuffi-
cient merit in this argument. The considerations which led the
Board to find the national General Motors agreement to be a bar
warrant holding that it similarly precludes an election for any group
of employees subject to its terms, regardless of their specific work
assignments.
Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition.
Order
IT Is HEREBY ORDERED that the petition herein be, and it hereby is,
dismissed.
2 A. C. Spark Plug Division maintains and operates plants in Flint , Michigan , and Mil-
waukee, Wisconsin . The Milwaukee plant is engaged in the manufacture of navigation
computers and bombsights under contracts with the United States Government.
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, DETROIT TRANSMISSION DIVISION and
WILLIAM FORD, PETITIONER and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED
AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT & AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF
AMERICA, UAW-CIO AND ITS LOCAL No. 735. Case No. 7-RD-135.
February 6,1953
Decision and Order
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Herbert C.
Kane, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hear-
ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer (herein called General Motors) is engaged in
commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Peitioner, an employee of the Employer, asserts that the
Union is no longer the representative of certain of the Employer's em-
ployees as defined in Section 9 (a) of the Act.
The International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricul-
tural Implement Workers of America, UAW-CIO (herein called
UAW-CIO), a labor organization, was certified on February 24, 1944,
in Case No. 7-R-1588, as the exclusive bargaining representative of
the Employer's employees involved herein.
102 NLRB No. 115.