Great Lakes Terminal Warehouse Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 13, 1940

21 N.L.R.B. 580 (N.L.R.B. 1940)

In the Matter of GREAT LAKES TERMINAL WAREHOUSE COMPANY and
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS, A. F. of L.
Case No. R-1'7.0.Decided March 13, 1940
Warehousing Industry-Investigation of Representatives : controversy concern-
ing representation of employees : rival organizations ; refusal by employer to
recognize either of the unions involved as the exclusive representative of em-
ployees; stipulation as to-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaininq : election
to determine whether engineers desire industrial or craft union , or neither ;
(Smith , dissenting ) no justification for permitting craft unit to split off from
industrial unit, history of collective bargaining not sufficiently shown-
Election Ordered _
Mr. Harry L. Lodish, for the Board.
Mr. L. M. Ashenbrenner, and Mr. Leland L. Lord, of Toledo, Ohio,
for the Company.
Mr. Floyd A. LeGron, of Toledo, Ohio, for the International.
Mr. Kenneth L. Cole, of Toledo, Ohio, for the United.
Miss Mary Metlay, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On November 6, 1939, International Union of Operating Engineers,
herein called the International, filed with the Regional Director for
the Eighth Region (Cleveland, Ohio) a petition alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of Great Lakes Terminal Warehouse Company, Toledo,
Ohio, 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 January 25, 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, ordered an investigation and
21 N. L R B.. No. 55
580
GREAT LAKES TERMINAL WAREHOUSE COMPANY 581
authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for
an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
On February 1, 1940, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the
International, and United Wholesale, Warehouse, and Delivery
Employees of America, Local No. 363, herein called the United, a
labor organization claiming to represent employees directly affected
by the investigation. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on
February 9, 1940, at Toledo, Ohio, before John T. Lindsay, the
Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board and the
Company were represented by counsel, the International by its busi-
ness agent, and the United by its president ; all 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. At the hearing, the facts and the issue&
involved in the proceeding were stipulated by the parties and appear
in the record as recited by Board's counsel.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Great Lakes Terminal Warehouse Company of Toledo, Ohio, an
Ohio corporation, is engaged in the business of receiving, storing,
handling, and distributing general merchandise and cold-storage
products. In 1939 the Company received approximately 85,803,798
pounds of products of which about 75 per cent came from points
outside the State of Ohio. During the same year the Company sent
out approximately 76,627,402 pounds of products of which 25 per
cent were shipped to destinations outside the State of Ohio. The
Company is composed of 10 departments, 1 of which, the engine
room, is operated by 4 engineers. All the parties agree that the
Company conducts its business in interstate commerce.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Union of Operating Engineers Local No. 10 is a
labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,
admitting to membership all licensed engineers employed by the
Company.
United Wholesale, Warehouse, and Delivery Employees of America
Local No. 363 is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, admitting to membership all employees
of the Company.
2 5 3 03 2-4 1- vol 21--38
582 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
It was stipulated at the hearing by the parties that the Inter-
national requested the Company to recognize it as the exclusive bar-
gaining agent of the engineers employed by the Company and that
the Company refused such recognition on the ground that the United
also claimed to represent its engineers.
We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation
of employees of the Company.
IV. 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 commerce
and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The International contends that the engineers employed by the
Company constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining. The United contends that such employees should be
included within a unit composed of all employees of the Company.
The Company makes no contentions as to the appropriate unit.
In 1937 the Company entered into a collective bargaining contract
with the United. This contract covered only members of the United.
At that time two of the four engineers employed by the Company
had signed cards with the United.' In 1939 the Company entered
into a "union shop" contract with the United. The Company under
the terms of this contract recognized the United as the exclusive
representative of its employees in the general, cold-storage, and ice
departments, and the helpers in the maintenance department. It is
apparent that the engineers are not covered by the terms of this
contract. The International has had informal relations and discus-
sions with the Company concerning its engineers since 1937 or early
1938. It has recently received signed cards from all four of the
Company's engineers.
Engineers are, a well-defined and highly skilled craft. The engi-
neers employed by the Company are all licensed by the State of Ohio.
1 The record does not indicate whether these were membership or application caids
GREAT LAKES TERMINAL WAREHOUSE COMPANY 583
In view of all the circumstances we are of the opinion that the ques-
tion of the proper unit in which the engineers belong should be
determined by the desires of the engineers themselves.2 We will,
therefore, direct that an election be held among the engineers em-
ployed by the Company to determine whether they desire to be repre-
sented by the International or by the United for the purposes of
collective bargaining, or by neither. If a majority of the engineers
cast their votes for the International, we shall hold that they consti-
tute a separate appropriate unit and we. shall certify the Interna-
tional as the exclusive representative thereof. If a majority of such
employees cast their votes for the United or for neither or if the votes
for the United and for neither together constitute a majority, We shall
conclude therefrom that they do not desire to constitute a separate
unit. In that event we will dismiss the petition.3
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
Although the parties stipulated at the hearing that all the engineers
employed by the Company had signed cards with the International,
the International, the United, and the Company requested that an
election be held. We shall order that an election by secret ballot
be held among the engineers employed by the Company.
We find that those eligible to vote in the election shall be the
engineers employed by the Company during the last pay-roll period
next preceding the date of this Direction, including engineers who
did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on
vacation and those who were then or have since been temporarily
laid off, but excluding those who have since quit or been discharged
for cause.
On the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
i ecord in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSION OF LAW
A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representa-
tion of employees of Great Lakes Terminal Warehouse Company,
Toledo, Ohio, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6)
amid (7) 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 Relations
s Matter of Globe Machine and Stamping Co and Metal Polishers Union, Local No. 3,
et al, 3 N L R B 294, and subsequent cases
The United does not seek certification as the iepresentati%e of employees in the plant-
wide unit which it deems appropriate.
584 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Rela-
tions 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 Great Lakes Terminal Warehouse Company, Toledo, Ohio, 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 of Election,-
under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the
Eighth 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 the engineers employed by said Company
during the pay-roll period next preceding the date of this Direction
of Election, including those 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 temporarily laid off, but excluding those who
have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether
they desire to be represented by International Union of Operating
Engineers, Local No. 10, affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, or by United Wholesale, Warehouse, and Delivery Employees
of America, Local No. 363, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial
Organizations, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
MR. EDWIN S . SMITH , dissenting :
The history of collective bargaining herein by the International
is not sufficiently disclosed by the record to warrant setting up a sep-
arate unit of engineers nor does it appear from the record that the
United, despite the 1939 contract with the Company, has relinquished
its claim to represent these employees. For the reasons given in my
dissenting opinion in Matter of Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Com-
pany,4 I would not permit the engineers to set themselves apart in a
bargaining unit separate from the industrial unit.
4Matter of Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company and International Union, United'
Automobile Workers of America, Local 248, 4 N. L. R. B. 159.