Monarch Aluminum Mfg. Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 16, 1942

41 N.L.R.B. 1 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter Of MONARCH ALUMINUM MFG. COMPANY and INTER-
NATIONAL UNION OF MINE, MILL & SMELTER WORKERS (C. I. 0.)'
Case No. R-3679.-Decided May 16, 1942
Jurisdiction : ordnance manufacturing industry.
Practice and Procedure : petition dismissed without prejudice to the filing of a
new petition when.certification on a consent election.will have been in effect
for almost a year.
Mooney, Hahn, Loeser, Keough, ci% Freedheint, by Mr. Monroe A.
Loeser, Mr. C. Craig Spangenberg, Mr. John H. Keating, and Mr.
D. R. Gould, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Company.
Mr. Edward S. Crudelle and Mr. Samuel Handelman, of Cleveland,
-Ohio, for the Smelter Workers.
Mr. Joseph C. Breitenstein, Mr. Victor A. Lindstrom, and Mr.
Marshall A. Jones, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the A. W. 0.
Mr. Roy E. Seitz, of Cleveland, Ohio, for Local 52, International
Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers.
Mr. Milton A. Kallis, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by International Union of Mine, Mill &
Smelter Workers, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organiza-
tions, herein called the Smelter Workers, alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Monarch Aluminum Manufacturing Company, Cleveland,
Ohio, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board
provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Max W.
Johnstone, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Cleveland,
Ohio, on March 26, 27, and 28, 1942. The Company, the Smelter
Workers, Aluminum Workers Organizations, Inc., herein called the
A. W. 0., and International Brotherhood of Firemen -and Oilers,
Local 52, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, appeared,
participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to
examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bear-
ing on the issues. During the hearing the Company' and the A. W. 0.
41 N L. R. B., No. 1.
463892-42-vol. 41-1 1
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
moved to dismiss the petition. The Trial Examiner referred the
motion to the Board. For reasons hereinafter stated the motion is
hereby granted. The Trial Examiner's rulings, made at the hearing,
are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
On April 9, 10, and 11, 1942, respectively, the A. W. 0., the Coin-
pany and the Smelter Workers filed briefs which the Board has duly
considered.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the ' following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Monarch Aluminum Manufacturing Company, an Ohio corporation
with its office and plant in Cleveland, Ohio, is engaged principally
in the manufacture of airplane, bomb, and "jeep" parts. The Com-
pany uses raw materials, chiefly aluminum, of the approximate annual
value of $1,250,000, of which about 25 percent comes from sources
outside the State of Ohio. Its finished products approximate in
value $3,000,000 annually, of which amount 75 percent is sold and
transported to points outside the State of Ohio. The Company con-
cedes that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers, is a labor,
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
Aluminum Workers Organization, Inc., is an unaffiliated labor
organization.
International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers, Local 52, is a
labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.
All three organizations admit to membership employees of the
Company.
III. THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On July 31, 1941, the National Association of Die Casting Workers
(C. I. 0.) herein called the Casting Workers, having previously filed
a petition with the Board requesting an investigation and certification
of representatives, entered into an agreement with the A. W. O. and
the. Company for a consent election. This agreement provided,
among other things, that a contract entered into on October 21, 1940,
by the Company and the A. W. O. should be set aside.' The election,
The contract iclated to wages, hours, and we,kmc conditions and p1ov,(led fo, the
exclusive recognition of the A W. 0 as the representative of the shop employees of the
Company The contract also provided that it should be in effect until January 2, 1942,
and continue tiom year to year thereafter unless written notice of termination was given
by either of the parties
MONARCH ALUMINUM MFG. COMPANY 3
in which the employees were given an opportunity, to choose between
the A. W. O. and the Casting Workers, or to vote against both, was
held on August 12, 1941, but was inconclusive. At a run-off election,
held on September 9, 1941, out of the 273 voting, 160 voted-for the
A. W. O. and 98 for the Casting Workers, and on September 12, 1941,
the Regional Director certified the- A. W. O. as the bargaining
representative of the Company's employees. -
Between ' September 20 and October 2, 1941, the Executive Commit-
tee and"the president of the A. W. 0., suet on several occasions with
.the Company to negotiate a new contract. The Company offered
.terms which were not acceptable to the A. W. O. representatives, but
which they submitted to the general membership on October,2.2 The
members of the A. W. O. voted to reject the proposed contract and to
strike, the strike becoming effective that. night. On the same day
the General Committee, because of dissatisfaction previously ex-
pressed by the membership, requested in writing that Lindstrom,
president of the A. W. 0., resign. The following morning, October
3, the General Committee withdrew this request and Lindstrom, ac-
companied by several members of the Executive and General Com-
mittees of the A. W. O. resumed negotiations with the Company.
Upon learning ' that Lindstrom and the other representatives had
resumed negotiations with the Company, a meeting of the "rank and
file" members of A.' W. O. was held; those present repudiated the
authority of the negotiating committee and voted that no contract
would be accepted unless ratified by the membership and to notify
the Company of the action taken.' There is no evidence in the
record to show how this meeting was called or how many of the
members and officers of the A. W. O. participated in the meeting-
On the morning of October 4 at a regularly called -meeting of the
A. W. 0., members of the negotiating committee attempted to submit
to the employees the terms agreed upon by the negotiating committee
and the Company, on the previous day. Lindstrom testified that no
2 The constitution of the A W 0 requires that a contract be submitted to the mem-
bership only in the event that two-thuds of the General Committee , composed of repre-
sentatives from each department in the plant , do not agree, and this was,the first time
since 1937 that a contract had been submitted to the membership There is i}ncontra-
dicted testimony , however , that rior to the elections in August and Setember 1941,
members of the A W. 0 had assured employees that any new contract negotiated
would be submitted to the membership for approval
3 A telegram sent to the Company pursuant to this action and signed by 10 individuals
designated as "The Committee," i cad
"AT A MEETING OF THE RANK AND FILE OF THE ALUMINUM WORKERS
INC THE MEMBERSHIP UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO NOTIFY THE MANAGE-
MENT OF MONARCH ALUMINUM OF TIIE FOLLOWING NO CONTRACT
AGREED BY SO-CALLED NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE WILL BE ACCEPTED,
UNLESS APPROVED BY THE ME\IBERSHTP AS YET NO CONTRACT ITAS
BEEN DRAWN UP AND SUBMITTED TO THE MEMBERS, BECAUSE OF THIS.
WE FEEL THE, COMMITTEE NtW MEETING WITH YOU. NO LONGER REPRE-
SENTS THE STRIKERS FOR THE ALUMINUM WORKERS, INCORPORATED"
4 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
vote was taken because of the disturbance created by "outsiders" and
the record establishes that several C. I. O. organizers were present
during the meeting. There is also evidence indicating that the mem-
bers •at the meeting were dissatisfied because a completed contract
was not available and because they were dissatisfied with the terms
which had been agreed to by the negotiating committee.
On Sunday, October 5, the General Committee of the A. W. O.
met and approved by vote of 10 to 3, the contract which had been
submitted-by the Company. The contract was never submitted to a
vote of the membership.4 The contract provided for wage increases
land other improvements in working conditions, to be effective for a
period of 2 years, and contained a provision that upon its acceptance
'the strike would be called off and all strikers would be reinstated
-without discrimination. Although Lindstrom notified the strikers
that night that the contract had been signed and that the strike was
,'over, at least some of the pickets remained outside the plant during
the night.
The following morning about 100 employees appeared at the plant
in overalls and with lunches, apparently ready to return to 'work.
Confronted with the pickets, including several C. I. O. members not
employed by the Company, only about 40 of the employees went into
the plant to work. At a meeting held that night attended by approxi-
mately 185 employees, the "rank and file" faction voted to oust the
officers and conduct new elections and to continue the strike until
their demands, exceeding those granted in the contract, were met. A
C. I. O. organizer presided at the meeting. This faction subsequently
elected officers and purported to amend the constitution of the
A. W. O.
Approximately 60 additional employees returned to work between
October 6 and 16, and at a meeting of the dissident faction on October
16, it was voted that all remaining employees would return to work
in conformance with "the terms of the Court procedure." 5 On Jan-
uary 18, 1942, this faction voted to and thereafter did affiliate with
the Smelter Workers.
We doubt that the contract, negotiated as above described, would
in itself constitute a bar to a present determination of bargaining
representatives. However, a bargaining representative was selected
and certified in September 1941, and in the absence of a showing that
the certified representative is incapable of acting as such, the Board,
in the interests of stability of collective bargaining relations, has
refused to conduct another election to determine a collective bargain-
See footnote 2, supra.
6 The record shows that injunction proceedings were brought against the persons who
-continued to picket after October 6 but does not show the disposition of the - proceedings
MONARCH ALUMINUM MFG. COMPANY e5
ing representative within the period of a years That the A. W. O.
continues in existence is evidenced by Lindstrom's uncontradicted
testimony that 158 employees were dues-paying members of the
A. W. O. at the time of the hearing and that the Executive Committee
of the A. W. O. meets with the Company representatives monthly.
For the reasons stated above we will dismiss the petition, without
prejudice, however, to the filing of a new petition on or about August
15, 1942, when the certification of the A. W. O. will have been in
effect for almost a year.
We find that no question has arisen concerning the representation
of employees of the Company.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, the National
Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the petition for investiga-
tion and certification of representatives of employees of Monarch
Aluminum Manufacturing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, filed by Inter-
national Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers (C. I. 0.) be, and
it hereby is, dismissed, without prejudice, however, to the filing of a
new petition on or about August 15, 1942.
eCf. Matter of National Sugar Refining Company of New Jersey and International
Longshoremen's Association, Local 1476, Sugar Refinery Workers, 4 N. L. R. B. 276 ; Matter
of Waterman Steamship Corporation , et at. and Commercial Telegraphers Union, Marine
Division A. F. of L., 10 N. L . R. B. 1079; Matter of Pressed Steel Car Company, Inc. and
Steel Workers Organizing Committee , Local Union 1844, 36 N. L. R B. 560.