Horton Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 31, 1938

7 N.L.R.B. 557 (N.L.R.B. 1938)

In the Matter of HORTON MANUFACTURING COMPANY and UNITED
ELECTRICAL & RADIO WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 904
Case No. R-606.-Decided May 31, 1938
Washing Machine and Electric Ironer Manufacturing Industry-.Investiga-
tion of Representatives: controversy concerning representation of employees:
rival organizations ; employer's refusal to grant recognition of union as exclu-
sive bargaining representative-Contract: with each of two unions, as repre-
sentative of its members only-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining.
all employees, exclusive of executives, clerical employees, foremen, assistant
foremen, and all other employees engaged in a supervisory capacity ; stipula-
tion as to-Election Ordered: pursuant to stipulation-Certification of Repre-
sentatives : following election.
Mr. Walter Chel f, for the Board.
Barrett, Barrett c McNagny, by Mr. Phil M. McNagny, of Fort
Wayne, Ind., for the Company.
Mr. Julius Emspak and Mr. James J. Matles, of New York City,
for the United.
Mr. H. T. Hamilton and Mr. C. F. MacDonald, of Washington,.
D. C., for the I. A. M.
Mr. Walter T. Nolte, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On June 19, 1937, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers
of America, Local 904,' herein called the United, filed with the Re-
gional Director for the Eleventh Region (Indianapolis, Indiana) a
petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen con-
cerning the representation of employees of Horton Manufacturing
Company, Fort Wayne, Indiana, herein called the Company, and
requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pur-
suant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat.
449, herein called the Act. On December 9, 1937, the National Labor
'Designated in the petition and the Board 's order directing an investigation as United
Electrical & Radio Workers of America, Local 904 . The Union has since changed its
name by adding the word "Machine."
557
V
.558 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section
'9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, ordered
an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it
and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On
December 29, 1937, the United filed an amended petition for the
purpose of clarifying and correcting the original petition.
On February 1, 1938, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear-
ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, upon the
United, and upon the International Association of Machinists, Local
1561, herein called the I. A. M., a labor organization claiming to repre-
sent employees directly affected by the investigation. On February 8,
1938, the I. A. M. filed a motion to intervene with the Regional Direc-
tor, in which it questioned the allegations of the United's petition and
alleged that it represented a substantial number of the production
employees of the Company. On February 18, 1938, the Regional
Director issued an order permitting intervention by the I. A. M.
Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on February 21, 1938, at
Fort Wayne, Indiana, before William P. Webb, the Trial Examiner
duly designated by the Board. The Board and the Company were
represented by counsel and the United and the I. A. M. by their officers
and agents. All participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be
-heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evi-
dence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. During the
course of the-hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on
motions and on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board
has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no preju-
dicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed.
After examining the record in the case, the Board concluded that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of the Company, and on the basis of such conclusion, and
acting pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of said Rules and Regula-
tions-Series 1, as amended, issued a Direction of Election on March
16,19381 2 in which it found that all employees of the Company at its
Fort Wayne, Indiana, plant, exclusive of executives, clerical employees,
foremen, assistant foremen, and all other employees engaged in a super-
visory capacity, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining. For the purpose of expediting the election and thus
insuring to the employees of the Company the full benefit of their
right to collective bargaining as early as possible, the Board directed
the election without at the same time issuing a decision embodying
complete findings of fact and conclusions of law.
2 6 N. L. R B. 2.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 559
The above-mentioned Direction of Election limited eligibility to
vote in the election to employees of the Company "as of October 31,
1937." Pursuant to a joint request by all of the parties to the pro-
ceeding, the Board issued an Amendment to Direction of Election
on March 28, 1938,3 in which it amended the Direction of Election by
substituting "on the pay roll for the week ending October 29, 1937,"
for "as of October 31, 1937." In the same Amendment the Board di-
rected that the words, "Local No. 1561, should be added to the desig-
nation of the International Association of Machinists on the ballot,
that organization having requested such addition.
Pursuant to the Direction and Amendment thereto, an election by
secret ballot was conducted on March 29, 1938. Full opportunity was
accorded to all parties to this investigation to participate in the con-
duct of the secret ballot and to make challenges. On March 31, 1938,
Robert H. Cowdrill, Regional Director for the Eleventh Region (In-
dianapolis, Indiana), acting pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of
said Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, issued his Inter-
mediate Report on Secret Ballot, copies of which were duly served
upon all parties to the proceeding. No exceptions to the Intermediate
Report have been filed by any of the parties.
As to the results of the ballot, the Regional Director reported as
follows :
Total number of employees eligible to vote-------------------- 92
Total number of votes cast---------------------------------- 85
Total number of votes for the United Electrical, Radio & Ma-
chine Workers of America, Local No. 904, affiliated with the
C. I. 0--------------------------------------------------- 59
Total number of votes for the International Association of Ma-
chinists, Local No. 1561, affiliated with the A. F. of L-------- 24
Total number of votes for neither organization---------------- 2
Total number of blank ballots------------------------------- 0
Total number of void ballots--------------------------------- 0
,Total number of challenged ballots--------------------------- 1
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Horton Manufacturing Company, an Indiana corporation, main-
tains a single, combined plant and office building in Fort Wayne, Indi-
ana, and engages in the manufacture and sale of electric and gasoline
engine power washing machines and electric ironing machines.
The raw materials used in the manufacturing operations are unfab-
ricated steel, electric motors and gasoline engines, iron castings, fabri-
cated wringers, aluminum castings, and paint. Of these raw
$6N.LRB3.
.560 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
materials, approximately 75 per cent are purchased outside the State
of Indiana. The raw material purchases in an average year amount
to approximately $400,000.
In 1937 the Company's production amounted to 11/2 per cent of the
total for the industry in which it is engaged. Its gross sales amounted
to approximately $700,000. Ninety-nine and five-tenths per cent of
such sales were made outside of the State of Indiana. Sales are made
through district salesmen to wholesale distributors, who in turn sell-to
-dealers throughout the United States. In promoting its sales the
Company advertises on a national scale through the medium of trade
journals and the radio.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, Local
`904, is a labor organization affiliated with the Committee for Indus-
trial Organization, admitting to its membership all hourly paid pro-
-duction employees of the Company, excluding supervisory employees.
International Association of Machinists, Local No. 1561, is a labor
organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It
admits to its membership production employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The United claimed to represent a majority of the employees of the
-Company within an appropriate collective bargaining unit and as-
serted that it was entitled to be the exclusive representative of such
.employees. The I. A. M. maintained that the United's claim was
unfounded and claimed to represent a substantial number of em-
ployees within a like unit.
On June 10, 1937, the Company entered into nearly identical con-
tracts with both the United and the I. A. M., in which it agreed to
bargain with each organization on behalf of its members only. Both
-contracts are by their terms still in force. Apparently neither labor
organization insisted, prior to the execution of such contracts, 'upon
formal recognition as the representative of a majority. After the
contracts became effective, the Company refused to entertain the
United's request for recognition as the exclusive collective bargaining
representative.
We find that a question has arisen concerning representation of
employees of the Company.
3V. 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
DECISIONS AND-ORDERS 561
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
At the hearing representatives of the United and the I. A. M.
and counsel for the Company and the Board entered into a stipulation
in which it was agreed that all employees of the Company, exclusive
of executives, clerical employees, foremen, assistant foremen, and all
other employees engaged in a supervisory capacity, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.
• We find that all employees of the Company, exclusive of executives,
clerical employees, foremen, assistant foremen, and all other em-
ployees engaged in a supervisory capacity, constitute a unit appro-
priate 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 stipulation referred to in the previous section further provided
that the Board should order an election among employees of the
Company to determine which of the two unions represents a majority
and that employees within the appropriate collective bargaining unit
whose names appear on the pay roll of the Company as of October
.31, 1937,4 should be entitled to vote in such election. The parties
to the stipulation also agreed therein that, upon the determination of
the result of the election, the contract of the unsuccessful union
should be automatically canceled and annulled and the contract of the
union successful in the election should continue in full force and
effect until it expires by its terms. The results of the ballot as set
forth above show that the United has been designated by a majority
of the employees of the Company within the appropriate unit as their
representative for the purposes of collective bargaining.
We find that the United has been designated and selected by a ma-
jority of the employees in the appropriate unit as their representative
for the purposes of collective bargaining. It is, therefore, the ex-
clusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining, and we will so certify.
4 As has been previously stated herein the parties subsequently requested the Board to
amend its Direction of Election by changing "as of October 31, 1937," to "on the pay roll
for the week ending October 29, 1937."
562 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 repre-
sentation of employees of Horton Manufacturing Company, Fort
Wayne, Indiana, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2'
(6) and (7), of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All employees of Horton Manufacturing Company, Fort Wayne,.
Indiana, exclusive of executives, clerical employees, foremen, assist-
ant foremen, and all other employees engaged in a supervisory ca-
pacity, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective-
bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act.
3. United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, Local'
No. 904, is the exclusive representative of all the employees in such
unit for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of
Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National-Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act,
and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended,
IT Is aEREBY CERTIFIED that United Electrical, Radio and Machine
Workers of America, Local No. 904, has been designated and selected
by a majority of all employees of Horton Manufacturing Company,
Fort Wayne, Indiana, exclusive of executives, clerical employees, fore-
men, assistant foremen, and all other employees engaged in a super-
visory capacity, as their representative for the purposes of collective
bargaining and that, pursuant to the provisions of Section 9 (a) of the
Act, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, Local
No. 904, is the exclusive representative of all such employees for the
-purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages,
hours of employment, and other conditions of employment.