Republic Steel Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 29, 1941

37 N.L.R.B. 173 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION and RAITNIUND #121 &
SPAULDING #556, INTFRNATIONAL UNION OF MINE, MILL & SMELTER
WORKERS
Case No. R-3196.-Decided November 29, 19.41
Jurisdiction : iron and steel products manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : refusal
to accord union recognition ; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees of two mines and ore
concentration mill, excluding supervisory and clerical employees.
Mr. James W. Dorsey, for the Board.
Mr. Borden Burr, of Birmingham , Ala., for the Company.
A11r . J. A. Lipscomb ,. of Bessemer , Ala., for the Mine Workers.
Mr. Richard Hail Brown , of Birmingham , Ala., for the A. O. C. W.
Mr. Sydney S. Asher, Jr., of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF TI3E CASE
On September 9, 1941, Raimund #121 & Spaulding $x556, Interna-
tional Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers, affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, herein jointly called the Mine
Workers, filed with the Regional Director for the Tenth Region
(Atlanta, Georgia) a petition alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Re-
public Steel Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, 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 October 9, 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 October 14, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear-
ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the Mine
37 N. L. R. B., No. 23.
173
174 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Workers, and Alabama Ore Conditioning Workers , Inc., unaffiliated,
herein called the A. O. C. W., a labor organization claiming to repre-
sent employees directly affected by the investigation . Pursuant to
notice, a hearing was held on October 22 , 1941, at Birmingham, Ala-
bama, before Alexander E. Wilson, Jr., the Trial Examiner duly des-
ignated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company, the Mine
Workers, and the A. O. C. W. were represented 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 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. On November 4, 1941, the Mine Workers and the
A. O. C. W. filed briefs , which have been considered by the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Republic Steel Corporation is a New Jersey corporation , with its
principal offices in Cleveland , Ohio. It is engaged in the manufacture,
production , sale, and distribution of iron and steel products. It ob-
tains iron ore from its mines near Bessemer, Alabama , including the
Raimund and Spaulding mines, concerned in the present proceedings.
The Company uses the output of these two mines in furnaces which it
maintains at Birmingham and Gadsden, Alabama. Approximately 60
per cent of the products of the Gadsden and Birmingham furnaces are
shipped outside the State of Alabama. The Company admits that it
is engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of the Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Local # 121, located at Raimund , and Local #556, located at Spauld=
ing, of the International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers, are
labor organizations affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organ-
izations , which admit to membership employees of the Company.
Alabama Ore Conditioning Workers, Inc., is an unaffiliated labor
organization which admits to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
In July 1941, the Mine Workers asked the Company to recognize it
as the sole bargaining agent for the employees within the unit which
it alleges is appropriate . The Company refused to do so unless the
'REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION 175
-Mine Workers was certified by the Board. On September 19, 1941, the
A. O. C. W. demanded that the Company recognize it as the sole bar-
gaining agent of the employees in the unit alleged by it to be appro-
priate. This demand was likewise refused by the Company.
At the hearing; the Mine Workers and the A. O. C. W. each
introduced., evidence of substantial representation within the unit
each alleges as 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.'ofi commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Mine Workers contends that all the employees of the Raimund
and Spaulding mines and of the Spaulding ore concentration mill,
except supervisory and clerical employees, constitute an appropriate
unit. The A. O. C. W. seeks a unit limited to the employees of
the Spaulding ore concentration mill, except supervisory employees.
The Company takes no position with respect to the appropriate unit.
The Spaulding and Raiinund mines are about 6 or 7 miles apart.
'The ore concentration mill, which is located at Spaulding, is a sepa-
rate building approximately 100 to 150 yards from the entrance of
the Spaulding mine. It was constructed in _1940. The iron ore
taken from the Spaulding mine is crushed and screened and then
sent by conveyor belt to the ore concentration mill, where is it
reground, washed, dried and put into railroad cars to be carried to
the Company's furnaces. The function of the ore concentration mill
is to increase the percentage of iron ore in the finished product before
it is shipped to the furnaces. The entire product of the Spaulding
:'The Mine workers submitted to the Trial Examiner a certified list of its members
bearing 703 names for the Raimund mine and 69 names for the Spaulding mine and ore
concentration mill . This was checked against the Company's pay roll for the period
ending August 21, 1941, which contained 674 names for the Raimund mine, 94 names for
the Spaulding mine, and 36 names for the Spaulding ore concentration mill. The check
indicated that 581 names on the list furnished by the Mine Workers for the Raimund
mine appeared upon the pay roll, and 69 of the names for the Spaulding mine and ore
concentration mill appeared on the pay roll The A 0 C. W. submitted a certified list
of its members at the Spaulding ore concentration mill, containing 28 names. Of these,
22 names appeared on the pay roll for the Spaulding ore concentration mill.
176 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
mine is treated in the Spaulding ore concentration mill. In addi-
tion, the concentration mill also treats outcroppings found at Spauld-
ing. If a surplus of ore is taken from the mine and the outcroppings,
it is temporarily stored in bins in the mill.
On occasions, employees have been transferred from the mine to
the mill. In addition, there are temporary interchanges of the,
maintenance men at the mine and the mill for repair work. The mill
workers are paid at the same pay office as the miners and use the
same commissary. The same bookkeeping department is used for
the mine and mill, although separate records are maintained.
The Raimund local of the Mine Workers was organized in 1933,
and the local at Spaulding in July 1941. Prior to the organization
of the local at Spaulding, some of the Spaulding employees were
members of the Raimund local. For a number.\of years, the Com-
pany has recognized the Mine Workers as the bargaining represen-
tative of its members. Since the ore concentration mill was built in
1940, the Mine Workers has handled grievances at Spaulding for its
members among the employees of both the mine and the ore con-
centration mill. The A. O. C. W. was formed about 6 weeks prior
to the hearing. Although nothing in its constitution prohibits it
from accepting employees of the mine as members, it has made no
attempt to organize the mine employees and all its members are
employees of the ore concentration mill.
It is clear that the Spaulding mine and the ore concentration
mill are operated as an integrated system. The work of employees
in the mine is closely dependent upon the work of the employees
in the mill. There is, by virtue of their close association, a com-
munity of interest among the employees of the mine and the mill.
To a certain extent, there is interchange of employment. In view
of the fact that the work of the employees'and the operations of the
mine and the mill are closely interrelated, the fact that the Mine
Workers has bargained for the employees of both mines and the
employees of the mill since it was constructed, and the fact that
the A. O. C'. W., which can extend its membership beyond the mill,
first demanded recognition after the Mine Workers had filed its
petition, we are of the opinion that the employees of the ore con-
centration mill do not constitute a separate bargaining unit.2 Ac-
cordingly, we find that all employees of the Raimund and Spaulding
mines and of the Spaulding ore concentration mill, except super-
visory and clerical employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining and that said unit will insure to
2 See Matter of Tennessee Copper Company and A. F of L. Federal Union No. 21164,
5 N. L. R B. 768; Matter of Providence Coal Mining Company and United Mine Workers
of America Distract #23, 27 N. L. R B., No. 205.
REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION 177
employees of , the Company the full benefit of their right to self-
organization and 'to collective bargaining and otherwise will effectuate
the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
. We find that the question which has arisen concerning the rep-
resentation of employees of the Company can best be resolved by,
and we shall accordingly direct, an election by secret ballot. If the
A. O. C. W. desires not to appear on the ballot, it shall notify the
Regional Director to that effect within five (5) days after receipt of
this Decision' and Direction of Election ; thereupon its name shall
be omitted from the ballot . We shall direct that those eligible to
vote in the election shall be the , employees of the Raimund and
Spaulding mines and of the Spaulding ore concentration mill, except
supervisory and clerical employees , who were employed by the Com-
pany during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of the Direction of Election herein, subject to the limitations and
additions appearing in the Direction.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following : I
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Republic Steel Corporation , Cleveland, Ohio,
at its Raimund and Spaulding mines and its Spaulding ore concentra-
tion mill , within the meaning of Section 9 ( c) and Section 2 (6) and
(7) of the Act.
2. All employees of the Raimund and Spaulding mines and of the
Spaulding ore concentration mill, except supervisory and clerical em-
ployees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of National Labor Relations Act,
and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as -amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with Republic Steel Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, an election by secret
ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty
(30) days from the date of this Direction of Election, under the direc-
tion and supervision of the Regional Director for the Tenth Region,
178 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board
and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations,
among all employees employed by the Company at its Raimund and
Spaulding mines and its Spaulding ore concentration mill during the
pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of
Election, including employees who did not work during such pay-roll
period because they were ill or on vacation or in the active military
service or training of the United States, or tempprarily, laid off, but
excluding supervisory and clerical employees and employees who have
since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they
desire to be represented by International Union of Mine, Mill &
Smelter Workers, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organiza-
tions, by Alabama Ore Conditioning Workers, Inc., for the purposes
of collective bargaining, or by neither.