Swan Engineering & Machine Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 10, 1946

70 N.L.R.B. 1293 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In-the Matter Of SWAN ENGINEERING & MACHINE COMPANY, EMPLOYER
and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, DISTRICT 102,
PETITIONER
Case No. 18-R-1-531.-Decided September 10, 1946
Huber, Reidy cC Data, by Mr. C. 0. McAndrews, of Rock Island, Ill.,
and Messrs. A-Tel W. Swan, and Verne Ehlers, of Davenport, Iowa,
for the Employer.
Messrs. James Ashe, Earl P. Hogan, and George Watson, of Moline,
Ill., for the Petitioner.
Miss Katharine Hall and Mr. George 0. McMahill, of Rock Island,
Ill., for the Intervenor.
Mr. Herbert J. Nester, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Daven-
port, Iowa, on July 18, 1946, before Clarence A. Meter, Trial Ex-
aminer? The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. At the hearing the
Intervenor moved to dismiss the petition, which motion was referred
to the Board by the Trial Examiner. For reasons stated in subsection
III, infira, the motion is hereby denied.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. TILE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Swan Engineering & Machine Company, an Iowa corporation, is
engaged in the manufacture of tools, dies, jigs, fixtures, and special
machinery, with its plant located at Davenport, Iowa. During 1945,
the Employer purchased raw materials valued at in excess of $100,000,
90 percent of which originated from points outside the State of Iowa.
1 At the hearing, the Trial Examiner granted the motion of Local #213 , United Farm
Equipment & Metal `Workers of America, CIO , hereinafter called the Intervenor , to inter-
vene in this proceeding
70 N. L. R. B., No. 122.
1293
1294 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR' RELATIONS BOARD
During the same period, the Employer manufactured and sold'fin-
ished products valued at in excess of $600,000, over 75 percent of
which was sold and shipped to points outside the State of Iowa.
The Employer admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
. The Petitioner is an unaffiliated labor organization claiming to,
represent employees of the Employer.
Local #213, United Farm Equipment Metal Workers of America,
is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Or-
ganizations, 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 -fifitil -the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
In support of its motion to dismiss the petition, the Intervenor
urges: '(1) that there is pending before the Board an appeal from the
Regional Director's dismissal of charges filed by the Intervenor in
Case No. 8-C-1266, and (2) that the contemplated removal of the
Employer's plant to its new location would -render a determination
of representatives impractical at this time because of the substantial
changes in personnel that would be occasioned thereby.
Under date of August 7, 1946, the National Labor Relations Board
issued its decision affirming the action of the Regional Director dis-
missing the charges filed by the Intervenor against the Employer in
Case No. 8-C-1266. Consequently, the basis of the Intervenor's first
contention in support of its motion to dismiss has ceased to exist.
With respect to the second ground urged for dismissal of the peti-
tion, the record reveals that the Employer will move to a new plant
in October 1946. The record further shows, however, that-this con-
templated shift of operations will be made on a piece-meal basis
without interruption of production activities, and that it will not
entail any substantial turn-over or lay-offs of the'Employer's present
personnel. In view of the foregoing, we are of the opinion that this
contention of the Intervenor is without merit.
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
We find, in accord with the stipulation of the parties, that all pro-
duction and maintenance employees of the Employer, excluding office
SWAN ENGINEERING & MACHINE COMPANY 1295
and clerical employees , draftsmen , foremen, and all or any other super-
visory employees with authority to hire, promote , discharge , discipline,
,or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees , or effectively
recommend such action , constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 ( by of the
Act.2
DIRECTION OF ELECTION .
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Swan Engineering & Machine
Company, Davenport, Iowa, an election by secret ballot shall be con-
ducted,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 Eighteenth Region, acting in this matter
as agent for the 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, among the employees in
1 he 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
1trho 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 they desire to be represented by International
Association of Machinists, District 102, or by Local #213, United
Farm Equipment & Metal Workers of America, CIO, for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining, or by neither.
The foregoing unit, comprising approximately 50 employees, was found appropriate by
the Board in 61 N. L. R B. 1601. '