Ore Steamship Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 21, 1941

31 N.L.R.B. 1151 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter Of ORE STEAMSHIP CORPORATION and SEAFARERS' INTER-
NATIONAL UNION OF NORTH Ai rERICA
Case No. R-2519-Decided May 21,1941
Jurisdiction : water transportation industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re-
fuses to accord union recognition ; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : unlicensed personnel employed on
vessels operated by the Company in the deck, engine, and stewards' depart-
ments, excluding -wireless and radio opeiators, and junior engineers-who-hold
licenses ; agreement as to.
Cravatls, DeGersdorff, Swaine cf Wood, by Mr. Chester A. McLain,
of New York City, for the Company.
Mr. Charlton Ogburn, by Mr. C. C. Johtncsonn, of New York City, for
the Union.
Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On May 24, 1939, Seafarers' International Union of North America,
herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the
Second Region (Nemv York City) a petition alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Ore Steamship Corporation, New York City, herein called
the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of
representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Re-
lations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On April 8, 1941,
the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting
pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2,
as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional
Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing
upon due notice. -
On April 25, 1941, -the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served on the Company and the Union.
Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on April 30, 1941, at New
York City, before Daniel Baker, the Trial Examiner duly designated
31N,L R.B,No 174
1151
1152 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR-RELATIONS BOARD
by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company and the Union were
represented by counsel and participated in the hearing. Full'oppor-
tunity 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 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 prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are' hereby
affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
i
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Ore Steamship Corporation, a Delaware corporation, is engaged
in the transportation of iron ore from ports in Brazil, Chile, and
Cuba to ports along the Atlantic Coast of the United States. The
Company operates 10 vessels in such transportation, each having as
its port of registry, New York City. The chief port of call of these
vessels is Baltimore, Maryland. The total unlicensed personnel em-
ployed by the Company on its vessels numbers approximately 300.
The Company admits, and we find, that it is engaged in trade,
traffic, commerce, and transportation among the several States and
that the unlicensed personnel employed by the Company on the afore-
mentioned vessels are directly engaged in such trade; traffic, commerce,
and transportation.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Seafarers' International Union of North America is a labor organi-
•ration affiliated with the American 'Federation of Labor. It admits
to membership unlicensed personnel employed on the vessels operated
-by the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company refuses to bargain with the Union as exclusive rep-
iesentative of its unlicensed personnel until such time as it is fur-
nished with satisfactory proof that the Union represents a majority
of said employees. A statement of the Regional Director introduced
in evidence shows that the Union represents a substantial number
of employees in the unit alleged by it to be appropriate.'
i The Regional Director reported that the Union presented to her dues record cards of
205 employees whose names appear on the Company 's crew list , between January 10 and
Diarch 13 , 1941. - There are 300 employees on this crew list who are in the alleged appro-
priate unit
ORE STEAMSHIP CORPORATION 1153
We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation
of employees of the Company and that such question tends to lead
to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free
flow of commerce.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The'Union and the Company agreed at the hearing, and we find,
that all unlicensed personnel employed on vessels operated by the
Company in the deck, engine, and stewards' departments, excluding
wireless and radio operators, and junior engineers who hold licenses,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
]]lg. We find, further, 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.
V. 1IIE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen ,can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot.
We shall direct that elections on the Company 's ships shall be
conducted as soon as convenient and beginning as promptly as is
practicable after the date of this Direction of Election , under the
direction and supervision of the Regional Director , who shall deter-
mine in her discretion the exact time, place, and procedure for post-
ing notices of election and for balloting on each ship, provided, how-
ever , that each vessel will be posted with a notice of -election, a
sample ballot , a list of employees eligible to vote, and a notice of
the time and place where balloting will be , conducted, at some port
of call in the United States prior to the port where balloting is
conducted, or, in the event the vessel is to be posted and voted in
the same port without an intervening trip, at least 48 hours before
balloting is conducted.
Those eligible to vote in the election will be the unlicensed per-
sonnel employed by the Company within the appropriate unit, who
are employed on a vessel operated by the Company when it is posted
and who are still so employed at the time balloting takes place, pro-
vided, howei-er, that if any person so employed be transferred from
one ship of the Company to another during the period when the
elections are being conducted , he shall be entitled to vote but once.
Upon the basis of the foregoing 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 Ore Steamship Corporation, New York
1154 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
City, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7)
of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All the unlicensed personnel employed on vessels operated by
the Company in the deck , engine, and stewards ' departments, ex-
cluding wireless and radio operators, and junior engineers who hold
licenses , constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining,, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National
Labor Relations Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the 'National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of the National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended,
it is hereby
DIRECTED that, ' as part of the investigation ordered by the Board
to determine representatives for the purpose of collective bargaining
with Ore Steamship Corporation, New York City, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as soon as convenient and beginning
as promptly as practicable after the date of this*Direction of Election
in conformity with the Rules set forth hereinabove for the conduct
of such ' yi'n election , under the direction and supervision of the Re-
gional Directoi for the Second Region, acting in this matter as agent
for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III,
Section 9of 'said Rules and Regulations, among all the unlicensed
personnel employed on vessels operated by the Company in the deck,
engine, and stewards ' departments , except wireless and radio opera-
tors , and junior engineers who hold licenses , at the time the vessels
are posted and still employed in the same capacity at the time the
election is held, to determine whether or not they desire to be rep-
resented by Seafarers' International Union of North America for
the purposes of collective bargaining.