Socony Vacuum Oil Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 13, 1941

34 N.L.R.B. 236 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of SOCONY VACUUM OIL COMPANY, INC. WHITE STAR-
OHIO DIVISION and OIL WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, DETROIT
LocAr, #389
In the Matter of SOCONY VACUUM OIL COMPANY, INC. WHITE STAR-
OHIO DIVISION and SIGN, PICTORIAL AND DISPLAY- UNION, LOCAL
591, AFFILIATED WITH THE A. F. L.
In the Matter of SOCONY VACUUM OIL COMPANY, INC. WHITE STAR-
OHIO DIVISION-TRENTON REFINERY and OIL WORKERS INTERNA-
TIONAL UNION, LOCAL 456, AFFILIATED WITH THE C. I. O.
Cases Nos. R 2775, R-2776, and R-2777.-Decided August 13, 1941
Jurisdiction : petroleum products manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : dis-
pute as to appropriate units ; refusal to grant recognition to rival unions
until after certification by the Board ; elections necessary.
Units Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : (Detroit Operating and Mainte-
nance Department) single or separate units comprising (1) all employees
including various groups and excluding various groups of employees, with
or without the inclusion of Sign Shop employees, and (2) Sign Shop em-
ployees including and excluding various groups of employees ; determination
of, dependent upon elections-(Trenton Refinery) all employees including
assistant foremen, watchmen, janitors, janitresses, and cafeteria employees
and excluding various groups of employees.
Mr. W.. D. Gowans and Mr. R. H. Lowe, of Detroit, Mich., for the
Company.
Mr. Maurice Sugar, by Mr. Jack N. Tucker, of Detroit, Mich., for
the C. I. O.
Mr. Leon A. Cousens, of Detroit, Mich., for the A. F. L.
Mr. Wm. J. Bell, of Detroit, Mich., for Socony Vacuum Oil Em-
ployees Union No. 1. -
Mr. Joseph J. George, of Wyandotte, Mich., for Socony Vacuum
Employees Association of Trenton, Michigan.
Mr. Armin Uhler, of counsel to the Board.
34 N. L. R. B., No. 33.
236
S'OCONIY VACUUM OIT: COMPANY, ncc. 237
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On June 12, 1941, Oil Workers International Union, Detroit Local
#389, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, here-
in called C. I. O. Local 389, and Sign, Pictorial and Display Union,
Local 591, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein
called A. F. L. Local 591, each filed with the Regional Director for
the Seventh Region (Detroit, Michigan) a petition alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa-
tion of employees in the Detroit Operating and Maintenance Depart-
ment of Socony Vacuum Oil Company, Inc., White Star-Ohio
Division, Detroit, Michigan, herein called the Company, and request-
ing 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 June 17, 1941, Oil Workers International
Union, Local 456, affiliated with the C. I. 0., herein called C. I. O. '
Local 456, filed a similar petition with respect to employees of the
Company at its Trenton Refinery, Trenton, Michigan. On July 16,
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, and, acting pursuant to Article III, Section
10 (c) (2), of said Rules and Regulations, further ordered that the
three cases be consolidated.
On July 18, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served upon the Company, C. I. O. Locals
389 and 456, A. F. L. Local 591, and also upon Socony Vacuum Oil
-Employees Union No. 1, herein called the Independent Union, and
Socony Vacuum Employees Association of Trenton, Michigan, herein
called the Independent Association, both independent' organizations
claiming to represent employees directly affected by these proceedings.
Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on July 22, 1941, at Detroit,
Michigan, before Colonel C. Sawyer, the Trial Examiner duly desig-
nated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company and the unions
were represented by counsel 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.
No objections to the rulings of the Trial Examiner were made by
238 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
any of the parties. 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:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Socony Vacuum Oil Company, Inc., a New York corporation, with
its principal office at 26 Broadway, New York City, is engaged in
the production, transportation, refining, sale, and distribution of
petroleum products in various States and foreign countries. The
White Star-Ohio Division of the Company operates plants in the
States of Ohio and Michigan, including the Detroit Operating and
Maintenance Department, comprising several plants in the city of
Detroit, Michigan, and the Trenton Refinery, Trenton, Michigan,
whose ,employees alone are involved in the§e proceedings. The gen-
eral offices for the operations conducted at Detroit and Trenton,
Michigan, in which some 675 employees are engaged, are located at
903 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit, Michigan.
The Company purchases and uses crude oil as its principal raw
material. In excess of $500,000 worth of crude oil was purchased
by the Company for its operations at Detroit, Michigan, during the
first 6 months of 1941, approximately 20 per cent of which was pur-
chased outside the State of Michigan. Approximately 2 per cent of
the products finished at Detroit, valued in excess of $100,000, were
sold to customers outside the State of Michigan. During the first
6 months of 1941, the Company purchased raw materials exceeding
$500,000 in value for its operations at Trenton, Michigan. Of this
amount in excess of 50 per cent was purchased outside the State of
Michigan. During the same period, finished products valued at more
than $500,000, produced at the Trenton Refinery, were sold to cus-
tomers outside the State of Michigan.
II. THE ORGANJZATIONS INVOLVED
Oil Workers International Union, Detroit Local #389, is a labor
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
admitting to membership employees of the Company in its Detroit
Operating and Maintenance Department.
Sign, Pictorial and Display Union, Local 591, is a labor organiza-
tion affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to
membership employees of the Company in the Sign Shop of the
Detroit Operating and Maintenance Department.
SOCONIY VACUUM OIL COMPANY, I NC. 239
Socony Vacuum Oil Employees Union No. 1 is an independent
labor organization, admitting to membership employees of the Com-
pany at the Detroit Operating and Maintenance Department.
Oil Workers International Union, Local No. 456, is a labor organi-
zation affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, ad-
mitting to membership employees of the Company at the Trenton
Refinery.
Socony Vacuum Employees Association of Trenton, Michigan, is
an independent labor organization, admitting to membership em-
ployees of the Company at the Trenton Refinery.
III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The parties stipulated at the hearing that the Company refuses
to recognize C. I. O. Local 389, A. F. L. Local 591, or the Independent
Union as the exclusive representative of certain employees in the
respective units claimed by the several unions to be appropriate in
the Detroit Operating and Maintenance Department. The parties
further stipulated that the Company refuses to recognize either C. 1. 0.
Local 456 or the Independent Association as the exclusive representa-
tive for the unit claimed by them to be appropriate in the Company's
Trenton Refinery. The Regional Director reported that the several
unions represent substantial numbers of employees in the several
units hereinafter found to be appropriate.'
We find that questions have arisen concerning the representation
of employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
UPON COMMERCE
We find that the questions concerning representation which have
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Com-
1 The Regional Director' s report shows the following : C. I. O. Local 389 submitted 126
application-for-membership cards bearing genuine signatures which correspond to an equal
number of names on the Company's June 16, 1941, pay roll for the Detroit Operating and
Maintenance Department, comprising approximately 300 employees. The Independent
Union submitted a membership roster and dues records with 176 genuine signatures affixed
of members in good standing whose names appear on the Company's June 16, 1941, pay
roll for the Department. A. F. L. Local 591 submitted 17 application-for-membership
cards bearing genuine original signatures of employees appearing on the Company's June
16, 1941, pay roll for the Department. All of the signatures on the 17 cards submitted by
A. F. L., Local 591, 2 of the signatures on the cards submitted by C. I O. Local 389, and
11 of the signatures on the records of the Independent Union correspond to names on
the Company's June 16, 1941, pay roll for the Sign Shop of the Detroit Operating and
Maintenance Department.
The Regional Director's report further shows that C. I. O. Local 456 submitted 139
application-for-membership cards with genuine original signatures of employees appearing
on the Company's June 16, 1941, pay roll for the Trenton Refinery, while the Independent
Association submitted a membership, roster with 174 original signatures of members In
good standing whose names appear on the Company's June 16, 1941, pay roll for the
Trenton Refinery.
240 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
pany described in Section I above, have a close, intimate, and sub-
stantial relationship to trade, traffic, and commerce among the
several States and tend to lead to labor disputes burdening and
obstructing commerce and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS
The Detroit Operating and Maintenance Department
The parties stipulated and agreed that two separate elections
should be held in the Detroit Operating and Maintenance Depart-
ment in order to determine
(a) Whether all employees in the Detroit Operating and Mainte-
nance Department, including clerks' routers, assistant cashiers, cashier
routers, janitors, janitresses, elevator operators, Trenton' bulk plant
truck drivers, Trenton routers, Trenton assistant cashiers, and other
Detroit Operating and Maintenance Department employees working
at Trenton, and including gang leaders, but excluding foremen,
assistant foremen, the head cashier, Sign Shop employees, exclusive
of clerks, and all employees in the front office upstairs at the Avery
Avenue plant, and all other supervisory employees desire to be re-
presented for collective bargaining purposes by C. I. O. Local 389,
the Independent Union, or neither; and
(b) Whether all employees in the Sign Shop of the Detroit Operat-
ing and Maintenance Department, including sign painters, sign hang-
ers, bulletin board erectors, display men and their helpers, but ex-
cluding foremen and assistant foremen and clerical help desire to be
represented for collective bargaining purposes by C. I. O. Local 389,
A. F. L. Local 591, the Independent Union, or none of these
organizations.
The parties further agreed that the question of whether Sign Shop
employees should be held to constitute a part of the plant-wide unit
or a separate unit should be determined in the light of the selection
nor non-selection of the same representative as selected by the
employees in the plant-wide unit.
We find that the employees in the Detroit Operating and Mainte-
nance Department of the Company described under (a) above, with
or without the inclusion of the Sign Shop employees specified under
(b) above, may properly constitute an appropriate unit, and that the
Sign Shop employees may properly constitute a separate appropriate
unit or be merged into a plant-wide unit, for the purposes of collective
bargaining, and that such unit or units would insure to the employees
of the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization and
to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the
SOCONY VACUUM OIL COMPANY, WC. 241
Act. We shall accordingly order that separate elections shall be held,
among the employees in the groups specified under (a) and (b)
above 2
The Trenton Re flmery
The parties stipulated, and we find, that all employees at the
Company's Trenton Refinery, including assistant foremen, watch-
men, janitors, jainitresses and cafeteria employees, but excluding the
Trenton bulk plant truck drivers, Trenton routers, and 'Trenton assist-
ant cashiers, and other employees 'of the Detroit Operating and Main-
tenance Department working at Trenton, and also excluding office
and clerical help, foremen (but not excluding still men), engineers,
superintendents and supervisory officials, constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining.
We further find that such a unit will insure to the employees of
the Company at the Trenton Refinery the full benefit of their right
to self-organization and to collective bargaining and will otherwise
effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the questions which have arisen concerning the rep-
resentation of employees of the Company can best be resolved by
elections by secret ballot. The parties have agreed and we shall direct
that the employees of the Company eligible to vote in the elections
shall be those in the stipulated units who were employed during the
pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of
Elections herein, subject to such limitations and additions as are set
forth 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:
CONCLusIONS OF LAW
1. Questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees in the Detroit Operating and Maintenance
Department, Detroit, Michigan, and in the Trenton Refinery, Tren-
ton, Michigan, of Socony Vacuum Oil Company, Inc., White Star-
Ohio Division, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6)
and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All employees at the Company's Trenton Refinery, including
assistant foremen, watchmen, janitors, janitresses, and cafeteria em-
ployees, but excluding the Trenton bulk plant truck drivers, Trenton
8 See Matter of The Texas Company and Oil Workers International Union, Locals No.
867 and 228, 29 N. L. R. B. 623.
242 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
routers and Trenton assistant cashiers, and other employees of the
Company's Detroit Operating and Maintenance Department working
at Trenton, and also excluding office and clerical help, foremen (but
not excluding still men), engineers, superintendents and supervisory
officials, 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 ELECTIONS
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Re-
lations Act and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National La-
bor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended,
it is hereby
DIxECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with the Detroit Operating and Maintenance Department and the
Trenton Refinery of Socony Vacuum Oil Company, Inc., White Star-
Ohio Division, elections by secret ballot shall be conducted within
thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction
and supervision of the Regional Director for the Seventh Region,
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 those employees of the Company who fall within the groups
indicated below and who were employed by the Company during the
pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of our Direction of
Elections, including employees on vacation or in the active military
service or training of the United States, or temporarily laid off, but
excluding employees who have since quit or been discharged for
cause:
(1) Among all employees of the Company's Detroit Operating and
Maintenance Department, including clerks' routers, assistant cashiers,
cashier. routers, janitors, janitresses, elevator operators, Trenton bulk
plant truck drivers, Trenton routers, Trenton assistant cashiers and
other Detroit Operating and Maintenance Department employees
working at Trenton, and including gang leaders, but excluding fore-
men, assistant foremen, the head cashier, Sign Shop employees, ex-
clusive of clerks, and all employees in the front office upstairs at the
Avery Avenue plant, and all other supervisory employees, to deter-
mine whether they desire to be represented by Oil Workers Interna-
tional Union, Detroit Local #389, affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, or by Socony Vacuum Oil Employees Union
No. 1, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither;
SOCONfY VACUUM OIL COMPANY, INC. 243
(2) Among all employees in the Sign Shop of the Company's De-
troit Operating and Maintenance Department, including sign painters,
sign hangers, bulletin board erectors, display men and their helpers,
but excluding foremen and assistant foremen and clerical help, for the
purpose of determining whether or not they desire to be represented
by Oil Workers International Union, Detroit Local #389, affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, by Sign, Pictorial and
Display Union, Local 591, affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, by Socony Vacuum Oil Employees Union No. 1 for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining, or by none of these organizations :
(3) Among all employees in the Company's Trenton Refinery, in-
cluding assistant foremen, watchmen, janitors, janitresses and cafe-
teria employees, but excluding the Trenton bulk plant truck drivers,
Trenton routers and Trenton assistant cashiers and other employees
of the Company's Detroit Operating and Maintenance Department
working at Trenton, and also excluding office and clerical help, fore-
men (but not excluding still men), engineers, superintendents and
supervisory officials, to determine whether or not they desire to be
represented by Oil Workers International Union, Local 456, affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, or by Socony Vacuum
Employees Association of Trenton, Michigan, for the purposes of
collective bargaining, or by neither.