The National Sanitary Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 13, 1941

31 N.L.R.B. 824 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the' Matter of THE NATIONAL SANITARY COMPANY and INTERNA-
TIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF FOUNDRY EMPLOYEES, LOCAL #104 (INDE-
PENDENT)
- Case No. R-2465.-Decided May 13, 1941
Jurisdiction : plumbing fixture and fitting manufacturing industry.
Practice and Procedure : petition dismissed where no appropriate unit within
the scope of the petition.
Mr. Louis Probst, of Salem, Ohio, for'the Company.
Mr. Lawrence J. Brick, of Alliance, Ohio, and Mr. Stroh Caldwell,
of Salem, Ohio, for the Union.
Mrs. Augusta Spaulding, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On March, 14, 1941, International Brotherhood of Foundry Em-
ployees, Local #104 (Independent), herein called Local 104, filed
with the Regional Director for the Eighth Region (Cleveland, Ohio)
a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen
concerning the representation of employees of The National Sanitary
Company, Salem, Ohio, herein called the Company,,and requesting
an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Sec-
tion 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein
called the Act. On April 3, 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 investiga-
tion and- authorized the Regional Director to, conduct it and to pro-
vide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
On April 4, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served upon the Company and Local 104.
Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on April 10, 1941, at Salem,
Ohio, before Max W. ' Johnstone, the Trial Examiner duly desig-
nated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company was represented
by its vice president, Local 104 by its representatives; both partici-
31 N. L. R. B., No. 135.
824
THE NATIONAL SANITARY COMPANY 825
pated 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 the admission of ev
dente. 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
The National Sanitary Company is engaged in the manufacture
of enameled cast iron plumbing fixtures and brass plumbing fittings.
It maintains its principal plant and offices at Salem, Ohio. The raw
materials used in the manufacture of its products consist for the
most part of pig iron, coke, molding sand, lumber, and, chemicals.
During the year 1940 the approximate value of such raw materials
was $1,250,000, about 40 per cent of which came to the plant from
outside Ohio. During the same year the value of its finished prod-
ucts, consisting of bath tubs, kitchen 'sinks, washpans, bathroom
sinks, and drain boards, amounted to approximately $2,500,000,
about 80 per cent of which were sold outside Ohio. The Company
admits that it is engaged in interstate commerce.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Foundry Employees, Local #104,
is an unaffiliated labor organization. It admits to membership em-
ployees in the enameling department of the Company's plant.
III. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
Local 104 contends that employees in the enameling department,
excluding supervisors, constitute an appropriate unit." The Com-
pany contends that the proposed unit is inappropriate and seeks
the dismissal of the petition.
The Company employs about 530 production and maintenance
employees, of whom 120 are in the enameling department. The-
employees in the enameling department vary in experience and-
ability. Other departments of the plant are likewise composed of
skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled workers. Wages paid to em-
On February 28 and on March 10, 1941, Local 104 tried to secure recognition as bar-
gaining agent of employees in the enameling department at the Company 's plant It was
unsuccessful in its attempts.
826 D'E'CISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ployees in the enameling department are comparable to wages paid
to employees in other production departments. All production em-
ployees work on a piece-rate or hourly basis. All departments except
the pattern and shipping departments operate 24 hours. So far as
the record discloses, the hours and working conditions of employees
in the enameling department, other than enamelers who constitute
48 of the 120 employees in the department, do not vary in any ma-
terial way' from those of other production employees. Enamelers
work on 6-hour shifts. All other production employees work on
8-hour shifts.
In 1933 and 1934 there was a labor organization in the plant
called The Steel & Metal Industrial Union. It admitted to mem-
bership all production and maintenance employees of the Company,
but a majority of its members were employed in the enameling
department. In ' 1937 the Enamelers' Independent Union, an or-
ganization limited to employees in the enameling'department, was
active in the plant. - The Company dealt with this organization for
its members respecting hours, wages, and grievances, but did not
enter into any contract with it.
In 1940 International Brotherhood of Foundry Workers, herein
called the Brotherhood, began organizing _the maintenance and pro-
duction employees at the Company's plant. In January 1941 it
granted a charter to a group 'of such employees in the enameling
department. This local union, Local 104, is the petitioner in the
present proceeding. The Brotherhood, however, has extended and
is extending its organizing efforts generally among employees at
the plant and many membership cards have been signed by em-
ployees outside the enameling department. The Brotherhood has
held mass meetings for such employees. At a meeting held shortly
before the hearing, temporary officers were elected. The Brother-
hood had not granted a charter to these employees at the time of
the hearing. The Brotherhood states that it intends to group pro-
duction and maintenance employees at the plant, excluding employees
in the enameling department, in a separate local of the Brother-
hood. Later, if the employees so desire, it will combine the two
groups of employees in one industrial union comprising all pro-
duction and maintenance employees of the Company.
The Brotherhood has plant-wide, collective bargaining agreements
with three competitors of the Company. So far as the record dis-
closes, neither the Brotherhood nor any other labor organization
has collective bargaining agreements on any departmental basis
with any employer in the industry.
It does not appear that employees in the enameling department
constitute a craft or that they have had contracts in-the past cover-
THE NATIONAL SANITARY COMPANY 827
ing such a unit or that they enjoy a community of work interests
which, sets them apart from other production and maintenance em-
ployees at the plant. Furthermore, the Brotherhood has organized
and represents employees in departments of the plant other than the
enameling department and considers a plant-wide unit ultimately
appropriate. For these reasons, we find that a unit restricted to em-
ployees in the `enameling department is inappropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining.2
'IV. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Since the bargaining unit sought to be established by the petition
is not appropriate, as stated in Section III above, we find that no
question has been raised concerning the representation of employees
of the Company in an appropriate bargaining unit.
On the basis of the above findings of fact and, upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSION OF LAW
No question concerning representation of employees of The Na-
tional Sanitary Company, Salem, Ohio, in a unit appropriate for the,
purposes of collective bargaining has arisen within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and conclusion
of law, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the
petition for investigation and certification filed by International
Brotherhood'of Foundry Employees, Local #104 (Independent), be,
and it hereby is, dismissed.
2 See Matter of Arlington Mills and Federation of Woolen & Worsted Workers, UTIT'A-
AFL; Matter of Arlington Mills and Textile Workers Union of America, 31 N. L R B.,
No 6; Western Union Telegraph Company and Commercial Telegraphers Union , Local 48,
A. F L, 31 N. L R B., No. 106 ; Matter of Tovrea Packing Company and Amalgamated
Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, Local No 313, 12 N. L. R B. 1063;
Matter of El Paso Electric Company and Local Union 585, International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers : and N. P. Clay, et al, 13 N. L It. B , 213.