Inland Steel Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 26, 1941

34 N.L.R.B. 1294 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter Of INLAND STEEL COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, LOCAL 1226, AFFILIATED WITH THE
A. F. OF L.
In the Matter Of INLAND STEEL COMPANY and TEAMSTERS UNION,
LOCAL 520
In the Matter Of INLAND STEEL COMPANY and LOCAL UNION Nos. 1010
AND 64, STEEL WORKERS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE, AFFILIATED WITH
THE C. I. O.
Cases Nos. R-2677 to R-2679, inclusive.Decided August 26, 1941
Jurisdiction : steel products manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re-
fusal to accord petitioning union recognition until they are certified by the
Board; certification on the record where no objection by Company.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : single unit comprising the produc-
tion, maintenance, and transportation workers at Company's two plants
situated 25 miles apart previously determined by the Board to be appropriate
held appropriate.
Practice and Procedure : petitions of two unions dismissed where units which
they requested comprising respectively, machinists and truck drivers are
found to be inappropriate.
Mr. Ernest S. Ballard and Mr. Owen Fairweather, of Chicago, Ill.,
for the Company.
Mr. H. O. Denman, of Elkhart, Ind., and Mr. Daniel G. Johnson,
of Hammond, Ind., for the I. A. M.
Mr. J. A. Meade, of East Chicago, Ind., for the Teamsters.
Mr. John J. Brownlee, of Chicago, Ill., and Mr. Joseph Kovner and
Mr. Lee Pressman, of Washington, D. C., for the S. W. O. C.
Mary M. Persinger, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
AND
ORDER
On March 29, and April 11, 1941, respectively, International
Association of Machinists, Local 1226, affiliated with the A. F. of L.,
34 N. L. R. B., No. 124.
1294
INLAND STEEL COMPANY 1295
herein called the I. A. M., filed with the Regional Director for the
Thirteenth Region (Chicago, Illinois) a petition and an amended
petition, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen con-
cerning the representation of certain machinists employed at the
Indiana Harbor plant of Inland Steel Company, Chicago, Illinois,
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 April 26, 1941, Teamsters Union, Local 520, herein called the
Teamsters, filed a similar petition with said Regional Director alleg-
ing that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the
representation of- truck drivers and helpers of the Company. On
May 29, June 17, and June 25, 1941, respectively, Local Union Nos.
1010 and 64, Steel Workers Organizing Committee, affiliated with
the C. I. 0., herein called the S. W. O. C., filed similar petitions with
the Regional Director alleging that a question affecting commerce
had arisen concerning the representation of employees at the Indiana
Harbor and Chicago Heights plants of the Company.
On June 13, 1941, the National Labor Relations Board, herein
called the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and
Article III, Sections 3 and 10 (c) (2), of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, ordered an
investigation, authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to
provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice, and consolidated
the three cases.
On June 17, 1941, the Regional Director issued-a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served upon the Company and upon each
of the unions involved in these proceedings. On June 27, 1941, a
hearing was held at Chicago, Illinois, before I. S. Dorfman, the Trial
Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. All parties
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, the I. A. M. moved to amend its peti-
tion to include certain machinists at the Indiana Harbor plant of the'
Company not theretofore claimed by it. The Trial Examiner granted
such motion. His ruling is hereby affirmed. The Trial Examiner
made several rulings on other motions. The Board has reviewed the
rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors
were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed.
The Company, the Teamsters, and the S. W. O. C. have filed briefs,
which the Board has considered.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
1296 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Inland Steel Company is a Delaware corporation having its prin-
cipal place of business in Chicago, Illinois, and plants at Indiana
Harbor, Indiana, and Chicago Heights, Illinois, with which the pres-
ent proceedings are concerned. At its Indiana Harbor plant the
Company is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of
semi-finished and finished steel products, pig iron, and coke. At its
Chicago Heights plant, the Company is engaged in the manufacture,
sale, and distribution of merchant bars, concrete reinforcing steel bars,
and steel fence posts. In the course of said operations at its Indiana
Harbor plant, the Company obtains raw materials, having an aggre-
gate value in excess of $25,000,000 per annum from States other than
Indiana, and sells and ships manufactured products to customers
located in States other than Indiana and in foreign countries, of an
aggregate value in excess of $80,000,000 per annum. In the course
of its operations at said Chicago Heights plant the Company obtains
raw materials, having an aggregate value in excess of $2,000,000 per
annum, from States other than Illinois, and sells snd ships manufac-
tured products to customers located in States other than Illinois and
in foreign countries, of an aggregate value in excess of $1,000,600 per
annum.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Association of Machinists, Local 1226, affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting
to membership employees of the Indiana Harbor plant of the Com=
pany.
Teamsters Union, Local 520, affiliated with the American Federation
of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees
of the Inidana Harbor plant of the Company.
Local Union No. 1010, Steel Workers Organizing Committee, affili-
ated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor or-
ganization admitting to membership employees of the Indiana Harbor
plant of the Company.
Local Union No. 64, Steel Workers Organizing Committee, affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization
admitting to membership employees of the Chicago Heights plant of
the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
It appears from a stipulation entered into by all the parties and
made a part of the record herein, that the Company has refused to bar-
INLAND STEEL COMPANY 1297
gain with the unions involved in this proceeding as the exclusive rep-
resentatives of the employees in the bargaining units alleged to be
appropriate by the unions, until said units have been determined by the
Board, and representatives have been selected by a majority of the
employees in such units.
Each of the unions here involved introduced evidence at the hearing
which indicates that each of them-has been designated as bargaining
representative by a substantial number of the Company's employees-
within the unit alleged by each to be appropriate.'
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 I. A. M. contends that all skilled mechanics and apprentices and
helpers and maintenance machine men in the main machine shop and
all other machine shops under the supervision of B. S. Burrell, Master
Mechanic, Indiana Harbor, Indiana, excluding foremen and all other
employees, constitute an appropriate unit. The Teamsters desire a
unit comprising employees who are classified as teamsters and truckers
and truck drivers' helpers at the Indiana Harbor plant of the Com-
pany. The S. W. 0. C. contends that neither the unit desired by the
I. A. M. nor that requested by the Teamsters is appropriate, and asserts
that a unit composed of all production, maintenance, and transporta-
tion workers employed by the Company at both the Indiana Harbor
and the Chicago Heights plants, excluding foremen, assistant foremen,
supervisory, office, and salaried employees, bricklayers, timekeepers,
technical engineers , technicians, draftsmen, chemists, watchmen, and
1 (1) The I. A. M. introduced in evidence the cards of 145 members , and the names
of 10 more who, it claimed, were members, and it was stipulated that such names were
names of machinists on the pay roll of the Company as of May 31 , 1941 . There are
approximately 316 employees in this alleged appropriate unit.
(2)'The Teamsters placed in evidencee a list containing 50 names of persons within the
alleged appropriate unit, accompanied by an affidavit that the persons named were mem-
bers of the Teamsters . There are 55 employees in this alleged appropriate unit.
(3) Since the S. W. O. C. has requested certification on the record , without objection
from the Company , we have considered its membership showing in detail in Section VI,
infra.
1298 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
nurses, is the only appropriate unit under all the circumstances. The
Company takes no position respecting the appropriateness of the units
desired by the I. A. M. and the Teamsters. It does, however, claim
that the two-plant unit requested by the S. W. O. C., is inappropriate,
and that each of the two plants of the Company should constitute a
single appropriate unit.
The I.- A. M.
As stated above, the I. A. M. desires a unit composed of machinists
in the main machine shop and all other machine shops at the Indiana
Harbor plant. It appears from the record that in addition to these
machinists, there are 171 other employees at the plant who do ma-
chinists' work, although they do not work in the machine 'shops.
Machinists in the shops are frequently transferred to mill machinists'
jobs outside the shops. Although 88 of the mill machinists are desig-
nated by the Company as "Not Apprenticeable," because they work at
jobs which do not strictly require machinists' training, the other 83
are considered by the Company to be doing work parallel to that of
machine shop machinists.- Hence it is obvious that the I. A. M. is not
asking for a unit set up on legitimate craft lines. The Board has, in
similar cases, refused to find a unit composed of only a portion of a
well-established craft group.3
Moreover it appears that collective bargaining with the Company
has been conducted on a plant-wide basis since before 1937, and that
the I. A. M. did not begin to organize at Indiana Harbor until 1939. In
a prior decision we found that on June 8, 1937, the S. W. O. C. was the
exclusive representative of a majority of the Company's employees, in-
cluding machinists, at its Chicago Heights and Indiana Harbor plants'
Since 1939 the I. A. M. has presented grievances to the management on
behalf of its members. But it was stipulated that the grievance pro-
cedure established in 1937 by the S. W. 'O. C. and the Company, ex-
tends to and includes each of the machine shops, and that innumerable
grievances in the machine shops including wage matters, have been
adjusted and disposed of through such machinery.
Under these circumstances, and particularly in view of the col-
lective bargaining history at the Indiana Harbor plant, we are of
the opinion that the unit requested by the I. A. M. is not appropri-
ate. We shall, therefore, dismiss the petition filed by the I. A. M.
2 The I. A. M. does not contend that the mill machinists are not eligible for membership
in the I. A. M.
3 Matter o f U. S. Phosphoric Products Division, Tennessee Corporation and International
Union of Operating Engineers , Local Union No. 925, affiliated with the American Federa-
tion of Labor, 30 N. L. R B. 500
4 Matter of Inland Steeel Company and Steel Workers Organizing Committee and
Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers of North America, Lodge Nos. 64,
1010, and 1101, 9 N. L. It. B. 783. Set aside on other grounds, 109 F. (2d) 9 (C. C. A. 7).
INLAND STEEL COMPANY
The Teamsters
1299
The Teamsters contend for a unit consisting of employees who are
classified as teamsters and truckers and truck drivers' helpers at
the Indiana Harbor plant of the Company. There are 42 truck
drivers and 14 truck drivers' helpers at the Harbor plant. Ninety
per cent of their work is performed inside the plant, and consists
of the transfer of semifinished and finished products in the produc-
tion of which other employees are engaged, the delivery of materials
and supplies to various departments' of the plant, and the transpor-
tation of employees from place to place within the plant.
The continuity of service of truck drivers and truck drivers'
helpers is determined on the same basis as that of all other workers in
the plant. They are promoted from lower ranking jobs to truck
drivers and helpers, and they are promoted from truck drivers and
helpers to higher ranking jobs.
The Teamsters first began to organize the truck drivers in 1937.
In March 1941, they demanded bargaining rights for the drivers
but the Company responded that the question of unit was one for
the Board to decided. There has never been a contract between the
truck drivers and the Company. In April 1941, a number of mem-
bers of the Teamsters presented certain grievances to the plant
management through a representative of the S. W. 0. C., stating to
the management that such was their desire, and that they were mem-
bers of both organizations. The S. W. 0. C., through its established
grievance procedure, has represented truck drivers and handled the
adjustment of their grievances.
Under these circumstances, and particularly in view of the col-
lective bargaining history at the Indiana Harbor plant, and the fact
that the work and interests of the truck drivers and helpers are
closely allied with those of the production and maintenance workers
in the plant, we find the unit contended for by the Teamsters to be
inappropriate. We shall, therefore, dismiss the Teamsters' petition.
The S. W. 0. C.
As has been stated, the S. W. 0. C. requests that Local Union Nos.
101'3 and 64 be certified as the exclusive representative of a single
unit comprising the employees in both the Indiana Harbor and the
Chicago Heights plants of the Company. The Company contends
that the employees in each of its two plants should constitute -a sepa-
rate bargaining unit, for the reasons, inter alia, that because of the
different methods of operation in the two plants, certain differentials
in wage rates 'and working conditions must exist between the Chi-
cago Heights plant and the Indiana Harbor plant if the former is
1300 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
to survive; that if the employees of the two plants are joined in one
unit for bargaining purposes there will be constant pressure to
eliminate these differentials; and that consequently friction and irri-
tation will continually plague the negotiators. The following facts
appear to,support the Company's contention : The Chicago Heights
plant is essentially a hand-operated mill, small in size, while the
Indiana Harbor plant is a large, 'modern, fully mechanized steel
plant; the two plants are-in different steel districts, and transfer
of employees between them is. rare because of the differing skills
required at each plant; the Company receives $3 less per ton, on an
average, from steel products produced at the Chicago Heights plant,
than it receives for similar products produced at the Indiana Harbor
plant. However, it also appears from the record that plant-wide
increases and reductions in wages and changes in basic hours of
work at both plants are determined by the central executive officers
of the Company, and that the work of the Chicago Heights plant
could be substantially abandoned and substitute products produced
by different'processes at the Indiana Harbor plant.
Although the Board found 5 that on June 8, 1937, the S. W. O. C.
was the exclusive representative of the employees in the two plants,
and that the two plants constituted a single appropriate bargaining
unit, the record indicates that the two-plant unit has been an issue
between the parties since 1937. Thus, on May 26, 1937, a strike was
called simultaneously at both plants by the predecessor locals to
Local 1010 and 64, the issue being a signed agreement. On June 8,
1937, the S. W. O. C. sent a telegram to the Company, claiming to
represent a majority of its employees at both plants and demanding
bargaining rights as exclusive representative of all the employees
with a view toward negotiating a signed agreement between the
parties. The Company did not take issue with any part of this
demand, except as it related to a signed contract. On January 15,
1940, and again on March 22, 1941, the S. W. O. C. demanded bar-
gaining rights on a two-plant basis, to which demand the Company
countered with the proposition that each plant should constitute a
separate' unit. While we have considered anew the contentions of
the Company, we are of the opinion that the reasons in favor of a
two-plant unit advanced in our prior decision are still controlling.
From the foregoing facts and upon the basis of the entire record,
we find that the production, maintenance, and transportation workers
employed by the Company at its Indiana Harbor and Chicago
Heights plants, excluding foremen, assistant foremen, supervisory,
6 Matter of Inland Steel Company and Steel Workers Organizting Committee and
Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers of North America, Lodge Nos. 64,
1010, and 1101, 9 N. L. R B. at p. 816
INLAND STEEL COMPANY 1301
office, and salaried employees, bricklayers, timekeepers, technical
engineers, technicians, draftsmen, chemists, watchmen, and nurses,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing, and that said unit will insure to such employees the full benefit
of their right to self-organization and collective bargaining and
otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
At the hearing the S. W. 0. C. requested that it be certified on the
record as the representative of a majority of the employees in the
appropriate unit. The Company did not object to such request. The
S. W. 0. C. and the Company agreed that the S. W. 0. C. would
submit its dues record cards to an agent of the Board and that the
agent would check the cards against the pay rolls of the Company
and submit the results of such check to the Board for' whatever
action it might deem proper. The check, which was participated in
by representatives of the Company and the S. W. 0. C., as well as
by the Board's agent, reveals that the S. W. 0. C. represents approxi-
mately 75 per cent of the employees in the unit found above to be
appropriate.'
We find that the S. W. 0. C. has been designated and selected
by a majority of the employees in the appropriate unit- as their
representative for the purposes of collective bargaining. It is, there-
fore, the exclusive representative of all employees in such unit for
the purposes of collective bargaining, and we will so certify.
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 Inland Steel Company, at its Indiana
Harbor and Chicago Heights plants, within the meaning of Section
9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The production, maintenance, and transportation workers em-
ployed by the Company at its Indiana Harbor and Chicago Heights
6 The agent of the Board reported the results of the check to be as follows:
a Total number of names listed on the May 31, 1941 pay roll for Indiana
Harbor, Chicago Heights, and those on the "army list"----------------- 14, 295
h. Total number of names listed as exclusions for Indiana Harbor, Chicago
Heights, and army list______________________________________________ 1,536
' Net total number of names on pay roll of Indiana Harbor and Chicago Heights __ 12, 759
iI Total number of cards which checked against the net total number of
names on pay rolls-------------------------------------------------- 9, 590
e. Percentage of cards which checked against the net total number of names
on pay rolls---- ---------------------------------------------------- 75.1
451269-42-vol. 34-83
1302 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
plants, excluding foremen, assistant foremen, supervisory, office, and
salaried employees, bricklayers, timekeepers, technical engineers,
technicians, draftsmen, chemists, watchmen, and nurses, constitute a
unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act.
3. Local Union Nos. 1010 and 64, Steel Workers Organizing Com-
mittee, affiliated with the C. I. 0., is the exclusive representative of
all the employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing within the meaning of Section 9 (a) of the National Labor
Relations Act.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
By the 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, Sections 8 and 9, of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended,
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Local Union Nos. 1010 and 64, Steel
Workers Organizing Committee, affiliated with the C. I. 0., has been
designated and selected-by a majority of the production, maintenance,
and transportation workers employed by Inland. Steel Company at
its Indiana Harbor and Chicago Heights plants, excluding foremen,
assistant foremen, supervisory, office, and salaried employees, brick-
layers, timekeepers, technical engineers, technicians, draftsmen,
chemists, watchmen, and nurses, as their representative for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining, and that, pursuant to Section 9 (a) of
the Act, Local Union Nos. 1010 and 64, Steel Workers, Organizing
Committee, affiliated with the C. I. 0., is the exclusive representative
of all such employees for the purposes of collective bargaining in
respect to rates pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions
of employment.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, the National Labor
Relations Board hereby orders that the petitions for investigation
and certification of representatives of employees of Inland Steel Com-
pany at its Indiana Harbor plant, filed by International Association
of Machinists, Local 1226, affiliated with the A. F. of L., and Teamsters
Union, Local 520, be, and they hereby are, dismissed.