Massachusetts Bonding and Insurance Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 30, 1946

71 N.L.R.B. 1283 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter Of MASSACHUSETTS BONDING AND INSURANCE COMPANY,
EMPLOYER and UNITED OFFICE AND PROFESSIONAL WORKERS OF
AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No.1-B-3405.Decided December 30,1946
Mr. Edmund J. Blake, of Boston, Mass., for the Employer.
Grant & Angoff, by Mr. Frederick Cohen, of Boston, Mass., for the
Petitioner.
Mr. Jack J. Mantel, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION '
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Boston,
Massachusetts, on November 15, 1946, before Leo J. Halloran, hear-
ing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Massachusetts Bonding and Insurance Company is a Massachu-
setts corporation engaged in the general casualty insurance and
surety bonding business, having its home office in Boston, Massa-
chusetts. The various types of insurance policies written by the
Employer include accident and health, automobile liability, aviation,
burglary and theft, plate glass, and miscellaneous liability and prop-
erty damage. The surety business includes the' issuance of court,
fidelity, fiduciary, forgery, license, and public official bonds. The
Employer has branch offices in various cities of the United States
including New York City and Syracuse, New York; Philadelphia
and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Cleveland, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois;
San Francisco and Los Angeles, California; and the District of
Columbia. The Employer has policy holders in all of the States
of the United States, 80 percent of the insurance having been written
71 N. L. R. B., No. 204.
1283
1284 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
outside the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. For the year 1945,
the Employer received $17,751,000 in premiums. The premiums are
deposited in banks in the cities where the branch offices are located
and transferred ultimately to the home office. Approximately 50
employees are employed in its offices outside the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts and are paid by the Employer from the home office.
We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations , claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and ( 7) of the Act.
IV. TIIE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in substantial accord with the agreement of the parties,
that all office, clerical, and salaried employees of the Employer em-
ployed at 10 Post Office Square, Boston, Massachusetts , /excluding
building service employees , part -time employees , confidential em-
ployees, executives, department heads, and all other supervisory em-
ployees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees , or effectively rec-
ommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Massachusetts Bonding and
Insurance Company , Boston, Massachusetts , an election by secret bal-
lot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30)
days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the First Region. acting in this
matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject
to Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board
MASSACHUSETTS BONDING AND INSURANCE COMPANY 1285
Rules and Regulations-Series 4, among the employees in the unit
found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during
the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction,
including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period
because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and in-
cluding employees in the armed forces of the United States who pre-
sent themselves in person at the polls, but excluding those employees
who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been
rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented by United Office and
Professional Workers of America, CIO, for the purposes of collective
bargaining.