Mendon Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 20, 1954

108 N.L.R.B. 310 (N.L.R.B. 1954)

310 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that footnote 7 of the aforesaid
Decision and Direction of Elections be, and it hereby is,
amended by striking therefrom the language as written and
substituting therefor the following language:
71f the votes are pooled, they shall be accorded their
face value.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Decision and Direction of
Elections, as printed, shall appear as hereby amended.
By direction of the Board:
Ogden W. Fields,
Associate Executive Secretary.
MENDON COMPANY, R.B.M. DIVISIONiand UNITED STEEL-
WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO and INTERNATIONAL ASSO-
CIATION OF MACHINISTS, AFL, Petitioners. Cases Nos.
9-RC-2046 and 9-RC-2047 (Consolidated). April 20, 1954
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held
before Bernard Marcus, 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 these cases , the Board finds:
1. The Employer,is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the Act.'
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent
certain employees of the Employer.
3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate units:
In Case No. 9-RC-2046, United Steelworkers of America,
CIO, herein called the Steelworkers, seeks to represent a pro-
duction and maintenance unit, including tool and die workers. In
Case No. 9-RC-2047, International Association of Machinists,
AFL, herein called the Machinists, seeks to represent a unit of
tool and die makers, die repairmen, machinists, and tool crib
attendants. Local NB-1080, International Brotherhood of Elec-
trical Workers, AFL, herein called the Electricians, agrees
with the Steelworkers that a production and maintenance unit
is appropriate.3
1 The Employer's name appears as amended at the hearing.
2 Essex Wire and Associated Machines, Inc., 107 NLRB No. 250.
3 Although notified of the hearing, the Employer did not appear. Its unit position is unknown.
108 NLRB No. 68.
MENDON COMPANY, R.B.M DIVISION 311
The Employer is engaged in the manufacture of solenoid
switches for automobile starters, horn relays, and similar
electrical equipment. For 6 years, the Employer has bargained
on a plantwide basis for the employees in the plant involved.
During the last 3 of these years, the Electricians has been
the bargaining representative of such employees.4
All the employees sought to be represented by the Machinists
work in the tool and die machine shop and in the experimental
laboratory machine shop. The tool and die machine shop is
located in an enclosed area on the first floor of the plant, and the
laboratory machine shop is located in a separate room on the
second floor. The tool and die employees spend most of their
time making and maintaining the dies used in the production of
electrical parts. Working under the direct supervision of the
tool and die shop supervisor, they work to close tolerances,
read blueprints, make sketches, and exercise independent
judgment in the performance of their duties. A machinist who
works in the experimental laboratory machine shop has the
skills and uses the equipment of the tool and die employees.
Although the Employer does not have a formal apprenticeship
program for tool and die employees, there is a progression of
promotion in the toolroom from the lowest rated machinist to
tool and die maker. There are no employees elsewhere in the
plant with skills similar to those required in the tool and die
and experimental laboratory machine shops.
We find that the tool and die employees and the machinists
comprise a true craft group. Moreover, the Union requesting
severance is one which historically and traditionally represents
such units. Accordingly, we find that the tool, die, and machinist
employees may, if they so desire, constitute a separate craft
unit or they may remain a part of the existing production and
maintenance unit.5
We shall , therefore , make no determination as to the scope of
the appropriate unit or units, until we have first ascertained the
desires of the employees as expressed in the elections herein
directed. We shall direct separate elections among the following
groups of employees at the Employer's Lancaster, Ohio, plant:
(A) All tool and die makers, die repairmen and machinists,
excluding tool crib attendants,6 all other employees, guards,
and supervisors as defined in the Act.
(B) All production and maintenance employees, excludingthe
employees in group (A), guards, and supervisors as defined
in the Act.
4In September 1950, the Employer and the Electricians signed a collective- bargaining con-
tract which terminated on October 30, 1953.
5 John Deere Planter Works of Deere & Co., 107 NLRB 1497 at 2 and 3.
6 The Machinists would also include two tool crib attendants in the tool and die voting
group The tool crib attendants work in a separate enclosure and are in charge of issuing
tools primarily, to the tool and die employees. Although these two employees work in close
association with the tool and die employees, they do not perform any distinctive and typical
craft tasks nor are they in the direct line of progression within the tool and die craft.
Accordingly, we exclude them from the voting group of such employees. American Potash
& Chemical Corp., 107 NLRB 1418 at 8.
31 2 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
If a majority of the employees in voting group (A) select the
Machinists , they will be taken to have indicated their desire to
constitute a separate bargaining unit and the Regional Director
conducting the elections is instructed to issue a certification of
representatives to the Machinists as the labor organization
seeking and selected by the employees in that doting group, which
the Board , in such circumstances , finds to be appropriate for
purposes of collective bargaining . On the other hand , if a majority
of the employees in voting group ( A) do not vote for the Ma-
chinists , that group will appropriately be included in the produc-
tion and maintenance unit and their votes shall be pooled with
those in voting group ( B),' and the Regional Director conducting
the elections is instructed to issue a certification of representa-
tives to the labor organization selected by a majority of the em-
ployees in the pooled group, which the Board , in such circum-
stances, finds to be a single unit appropriate for purposes of
collective bargaining.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.]
Member Beeson took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Direction of Elections.
7 If the votes are pooled, they are to be tallied in the following manner: The votes for the
Machinists shall be counted as valid votes, but neither for nor against any union seeking to
represent the more comprehensive unit; all other votes are to be accorded their face value,
whether for representation in a union seeking the more comprehensive group or for no union.
American Potash & Chemical Corp., supra, at 12.
E. H. BLUM and THE AMALGAMATED CLOTHING WORKERS
OF AMERICA, CIO, Petitioner. Case No. 15-RC- 1000. April
20, 1954
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
On November 20, 1953, pursuant to a Decision and Direction
of Election ' issued by the Board, an election by secret ballot
among employees of the Employer in the unit found appropriate
was conducted under the direction and supervision of the Region-
al Director for the Fifteenth Region . The tally of ballots shows
that of the 61 ballots cast, 34 were cast for the Petitioner, 17
were cast against the Petitioner , 9 ballots were challenged, and
1 ballot was void. Thereafter, the Employer filed timely objec-
tions to the election, alleging in substance that employees were
interfered with, restrained , and coerced in the exercise of their
free choice of bargaining representatives by actions of the Pe-
titioner as charged in Case No . 15-CB-113; and that the Peti-
tioner electioneered in the vicinity of the election while the
election was being conducted , in violation of the Board ' s Rules
and Regulations set forth in the notice of election.
iNot reported in printed volumes of Board Decisions and Orders.
108 NLRB No. 65.