Sterling Steel Castings Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 20, 1946

66 N.L.R.B. 974 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of STERLING STEEL CASTINGS Co. and INTERNATIONAL.
MOLDERS AND FOUNDRY WORKERS UNION OF NORTH AMERICA.
LOCAL 117, EAST ST. Louis, ILLINOIS, AFFILIATED WITH THE
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR
Case No. 14-R-1237.-Decided March. 20, 1946
Mr. Ray O. Skive, of Monsanto , Ill., for the Company.
Messrs. Charles Blome and Lloyd E. Boas, both of St. Louis, Mo.,
for the AFL.
Messrs. Walter E. Shilling and Walter S. Love, both of Granite
City, Ill., for the CIO.
Margaret H. Patterson, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Molders and Foundry
Workers Union of North America , Local 117, East St . Louis, Illinois,
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor , herein called the
AFL, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concern-
ing the representation of employees of Sterling Steel Castings Co..
Monsanto , Illinois, herein called the Company, the National Labor
Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before Harry G. Carlson , Trial Examiner . The hearing was held at
St. Louis, Missouri, on October 22, 1945. The Company , the AFL.
and United Steelworkers of America ( CIO), Local 1095, herein
called the CIO , appeared and participated .' All parties were afforded
full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses.
and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues . The Trial Examiner's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed . All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs
with the Board.
" At the beginning of the hearing, the Trial Examiner granted a motion to intervene
made by the CIO.
66 N. L . It. B., No. 118.
974
STERLING STEEL CASTINGS CO. 97S
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Sterling Steel Castings Co. is an Illinois corporation with its prin-
cipal place of business at Monsanto, Illinois, where it is engaged in
the manufacture of rough steel castings. During 1944, the Company
purchased raw materials in excess of $100,000, of which approximately
80 percent was shipped from points outside the State of Illinois.
During the same period, the Company's sales exceeded $100,000, of
which approximately 85 percent was shipped to points outside the
State of Illinois.
We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Molders and Foundry Workers Union of North
America, Local 117, East St. Louis, Illinois, affiliated with the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to mem-
bership employees of the Company.
United Steelworkers of America, Local 1095, affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admit-
ting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the AFL as the
exclusive bargaining representative of the Company's employees. The
CIO has been the recognized bargaining representative for the Com-
pany's employees since 1936. On June 22, 1944, the AFL filed a
petition for investigation and certification of representatives,2 which
resulted in an election and the certification of the CIO on October
31, 1944, as the exclusive bargaining representative. On the previous
May 16, 1944, the expiration date of the then current contract between
the CIO and the Company, the parties had agreed in writing to ex-
tend that contract to July 16, 1944, or "to such time as a new contract
should be negotiated." On June 29, 1944, the CIO and the Company
submitted certain issues in dispute to the War Labor Boards At the
9 Sterling Steel Castings Company, 58 N. L. R. B. 545.
8 On August 29, 1945, the War Labor Board held a hearing on the various issues sub-
mitted to it the year before by the CIO and the Company. As of the date of the hearing
in the instant case (October 22, 1945), no decision had been reached by the War Labor
Board. The 2-year contract signed on June 22, 1945, recited that no decision had been
reached by the war Labor Board with respect to the disputed issues of wages , vacations,
and shift differentials , and that when such decision should be reached , the Board 's order
would become a part of the contract.
976 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
time of the CIO's certification, on October 31, 1944, the Company and
the CIO were still operating under the May 16, 1944, written exten-
sion. On May 25, 1945, 7 months after the Board's certification of
the CIO, the AFL notified the Company by letter that it represented
a majority of the Company's employees and requested a bargaining
conference . The Company made no reply. On June 7, 1915, the
AFL filed its petition with the Board. On June 22, 1945, the CIO
and the Company completed their negotiations and executed a 2-year
renewal contract, to be effective from May 16, 1945, to May 16, 19-17.
The CIO contends that no question concerning representation has
been raised by the AFL for three reasons :
(1) That the authorization cards submitted by the AFL were neces-
sarily fraudulent because the number submitted overlapped the CIO
membership; and that in the absence of proof of authenticity there
is no evidence that a substantial number of the Company's employees
desire the AFL as a bargaining representative;
(2) That the pendency of various questions before the War Labor
Board has prevented the CIO from obtaining the full benefits of it.-
certification, and consequently , that the Allis-Chalmers 4 doctrine
applies;
(3) That its present contract is a bar to a determination of repre-
sentatives because it was executed within the year following the
certification.
The CIO's first contention is without merit. A Board agent re-
ported that the AFL submitted 80 designation cards bearing the
names of employees listed on the Company's pay roll of June 16, 1945,
which contained the names of 180 employees in the appropriate unit.
This prima facie'showing was adequate to satisfy our administrative
requirements . The fact that some CIO members may have signed
cards designating the AFL as bargaining representative warrants no
inference that the cards were fictitious or fraudulently procured.'
We need not pass upon the CIO's second contention, inasmuch as we
consider the principle inherent in its third argument dispositive of the
issues. It is clear that the AFL's petition, filed on June 7,1945, only 7
months and 7 days after the Board's certification of the CIO, was
premature . A certified union is entitled to a reasonable time, usually
1 year, in which, undisturbed, it may bargain collectively for the em-
ployees it represents ." Therefore, no valid question of representation
4 Matter of Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company . 50 N L R B. 306.
8 Matter of Atlas Powder Company, 43 N L R B 757; Matter of Amos-Thompson
Corporation, 49 N. L. It. B. 423; Matter of Regina Corporation , 57 N L R B 4; Matter
of Bakelite Corporation , 60 N L. R B 318
e See Matter of Aluminum Company of America, Newark Works. 57 N. L. R. B. 913;
Matter of Bohn Aluminum and Brass Corporation , 57 N L R B 1684; Matter of
Komberly-Clark Corporation, 61 N. L. It. B 90; Matter of American Woolen Company,
61 N L. R B 1045. See also Matter of Botany Worsted Mills , 41 N. L. R. B. 218,
enf'd 133 F. (2d) 876 (C C. A. 3), cert . den 319 U. S . 751; Matter of The Century Oxford
STERLING STEEL CASTINGS CO. 977
was raised by the AFL's unseasonable claim and petition, and the
CIO's contract with the Company, signed after the filing of the peti-
tion, but less than 8 months after the CIO's certification, constitutes
a bar to a new investigation of representatives until the 1947 renewal
date of the contract approaches.' The petition will accordingly be
dismissed.
ORDER
The National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the petition
for investigation and certification of representatives of employees of
Sterling Steel Castings Co., Monsanto, Illinois, filed by International
Molders and Foundry Workers Union of North America, Local 117,
East St. Louis, Illinois, affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, be, and it hereby is dismissed.
Mn. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Order.
Manufacturing Corporation , 47 N. L. R. B. 835, enf'd 140 F. (2d) 541 (C. C. A. 2) ; Matter
of Motor Valve and Manufacturing Corporation , 58 N. L . R B. 1057 , enf'd 149 F. (2d) 247
(C. C. A. 6).
7 None of the parties contended that the 2 -year term is unreasonable See Matter
of Umbridge Worsted Company, Inc., Andrews Mill, 60 N. L. it. B. 1395.
686572-46-63