Republic Steel Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsAug 9, 1946

69 N.L.R.B. 1339 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION , EMPLOYER and UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. 0., PETITIONER Case No. 3-R-1231.-Decided August 9, 1946 Mr. G. R. Rauschenberg, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Employer. Mr. David R. Sneddon, of Buffalo, N. Y., for the Petitioner. Mr. Emil C. Farkas, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Buffalo, New York, on June 18, 1946, before Philip Licari, Trial Examiner. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. At the hearing, the Em- ployer moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that the unit sought is inappropriate. The Trial Examiner referred this motion to the Board. For reasons indicated hereinafter, the motion is hereby denied. Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Republic Steel Corporation is a New Jersey corporation engaged in the manufacture of iron and steel products. This proceeding is concerned solely with the Employer's plant located at Buffalo, New York. During the current calendar year, the Employer sold products manufactured at this plant valued in excess of $1,000,000, approx- imately 50 percent of which was shipped to points outside the State of New York. During the same period, the Employer received at the Buffalo plant raw materials, consisting of iron ore, coal, and lime- stone, valued in excess of $1,000,000, approximately 50 percent of which was shipped to the plant from points outside the State of New York. 69 N. L. R. B., No. 169. 1339 1340 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with 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. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Petitioner seeks a unit of all yard office employees, including weighers, expediter and pig iron shipper, but excluding yard laborers, switchmen, and all supervisory employees. The Employer contends that the unit sought is inappropriate because it includes weighers and the expediter who are allegedly already included in the production and maintenance unit now represented by the Petitioner. In addition, the Employer would exclude the pig iron shipper from the unit on the ground that he is a supervisory employee. The Employer argues that the expediter has been included in the production and maintenance unit represented by the Petitioner since August 11, 1942, and the weighers have been part of that unit since October 23, 1942, as attested by the fact that since those dates the Em- ployer has checked-off union dues for both categories of employees in the manner provided by the collective bargaining agreement cover- ing production and maintenance employees. The Petitioner does not dispute this check-off of union dues, but asserts that it merely ac- quiesced in such check-off as a result of inadvertence, and therefore should not be precluded from including the weighers and expediter in the unit sought. Weighers: These employees weigh and record weights of inbound and outbound loads and empties, and intraplant loads and empties. They record the weight, car number, stencil, and capacity of the cars on scale tickets and transmit the information to various departments. They perform certain clerical duties which are incidental to the job of weighing. REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION 1341 Expediter: The primary function of this employee is to expedite locomotive crane operations. He checks storage yards to see that cars are spotted for cranes. He informs the yard master of car re- quirements, designates spotting for loading and unloading, plans the working schedule to minimize travel between storage yards, orders switches of loads and empties, and conducts safety meetings with the crane crews. His clerical duties are subordinate to his other duties in the plant yard. The duties of the weighers and the expediter indicate that they might appropriately be included either in a production and maintenance unit, or in a clerical unit as now sought by the Petitioner. Despite the Petitioner's apparent contention to the contrary, we regard the Em- ployer's check-off for several years of union dues for the weighers and the expediter with the acquiescence of the Petitioner, as mutual acknowledgment of the fact that these two categories of employees are included within the coverage of the collective bargaining agree- ment pertaining to production and maintenance employees. Inas- much as we deem the weighers and the expediter to be already included in the production and maintenance unit., we shall exclude them from the unit sought herein by the Petitioner.' Pig Iron Shipper: This employee is at various times in charge of from one to three employees with respect to whom he has the power effectively to recommend changes in status. We are of the opinion that the pig iron shipper is a supervisory employee within the Board's customary definition. We shall exclude him from the unit. We find that all yard office employees at the-Eniployer's Buffalo, New York, plant, excluding weighers, expediter, pig iron shipper, yard laborers, switchmen, and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, consti- tute 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 Republic Steel Corporation, Buffalo, New York, 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, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Third Region, acting in this matter as agent for the 'We find no merit in the argument that because the Petitioner proposes to include the weighers and the expediter in the clerical unit the petition should be dismissed. The ade- quate remedy is to exclude these classifications from the proposed unit, as we have done above. 1342 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations- Series 3, as amended, 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 including employees in the armed forces of the United States who present 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 Steelworkers of America, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining.