Thomas Truck & Caster Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 18, 1947

72 N.L.R.B. 847 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of THOMAS TRUCK R CASTER COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA (CIO), PETITIONER
Case No.18-R-166.2.Decided February 18, 1947
.Mr. J. O. Boyd and Mr. Lyle B. Miller, of Keokuk, Iowa, for the
Employer.
Mr. Clyde Huffstutler and Mr. Walter F. TVoodie, of St. Louis, Mo.,
and Mr. Leslie Maupin, of Hannibal, Mo., for the Petitioner.
Mr. James Ashe, of St. Paul, Minn., and Messrs. Vinfield S. Scott
and Everett E. West, of Keokuk, Iowa, for International Association
of Machinists.
Mr. Leonard J. Mandl, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Keokuk,
Iowa, on November 4, 1946, before Stephen M. Reynolds, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. TIIE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Thomas Truck R. Caster Company, an Iowa corporation, is engaged
at its plant in Keokuk, Iowa, in the business of manufactu; ing hand
trucks, truck casters, and truck wheels. During the period from
January to August, 1946, the Employer purchased raw materials
amounting to about $400,000, of which approximately 90 percent
represented shipments to it from points outside the State of Iowa.
During the same period the Employer's sales amounted to approxi-
mately $700,000, of which about 90 percent represented shipments to
points outside the State.
72 N. L. R. B, No. 138.
847
731242-47-vo1 72-55
848 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 ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
International Association of Machinists, Local 566, herein called
the Intervenor, is a labor organization, claiming to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
III. TIIE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On November 22, 1944, the Employer and the Intervenor signed
a collective bargaining contract, which was retroactive to May 8,
1944, and was to run for a period of 1 year and thereafter from year
to year, in the absence of 30 days' notice before the anniversary date
of a desire by either party to abrogate or change the agreement. On
April 3, 1946, the Intervenor notified the Employer of its "desire to
open the Agreement" and stated that it wished "the agreement now
in effect [to] remain in full force until the new Agreements or changes
in the old Agreement is (sic) fully negotiated." Negotiations ensued
between the Intervenor and the Employer. On July 23, an impasse
was reached and a strike was called at the Employer's plant by the
Intervenor. On August 23, the strike was terminated and on the
same date the Intervenor and the Employer executed the following
document :
MEMORANDUM OE AGREEMENT
Since the Contract dated May 8, 19441 between [the Intervenor)
.[and the Employer] has been continued in force by mutual con-
sent, pending determination of a raise in pay, in order to termi-
nate the negotiations, it.is agreed that, effective upon return of
the employees to work, a 121/2 cents per hour increase, across the
board, shall be granted to all production employees. Company
operations will be on a 40 hour work week.
Meanwhile, on August 21, the Petitioner, by letter,2 notified the
Employer that it represented the Employer's employees and requested
a meeting to negotiate a contract. Three days later, on August 24,
the Petitioner filed the instant petition.
' As noted above , May 8, 1944 , was the effective date and not the date of execution of
the contract.
2 The Employer received this letter on August 22.
THOMAS TRUCK & CASTER COMPANY 849
The Employer and the Intervenor maintain that the contract which
was signed on November 22, 1944, was automatically renewed in 1945
and again in 1946, and constitutes a bar to a present determination of
representatives. We do not agree. Inasmuch as the aforesaid notice
of April 3, 1946, effectively forestalled the automatic renewal of the
contract, that instrument cannot, under well-established principles,
bar an election at this time.3 Although the parties appear to have
undertaken to continue the contract in force, such action rendered the
contract, at best, one of indefinite duration, and, as such, cannot pre-
vent a current determination of representatives' And, insofar as the
memorandum agreement is concerned, it is clear that, because the
Petitioner's claim antedated that instrument and was followed 3 days
thereafter by a petition, the memorandum cannot operate as a bar
to the instant petition.5 We find, therefore, that there is no obstacle
to a current determination of representatives.
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 accordance with the agreement of the parties, that all
production and maintenance employees of the Employer, excluding
clerical and office employees, and all or any other supervisory em-
ployees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively rec-
ommend such action, constitute 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 Thomas Truck & Caster Com-
pany, Keokuk, Iowa, 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 Eighteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent
for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections
203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and
8 Matter of Purepac Corpoaa ation and Klinzmoth Chemical Corporation, 55 N. L. R. B.
1386
Matter of American Chain t Cable Company , Inc 59 N L R B 644 , Matter of Rheenc
Manufactui ing Company, 56 N. L R. B 139. -
Matter of General Electric X-Ray Corporation , 67 N. L It B 997.
850 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Regulations-Series 4, among the employees in the unit found appro-
priate 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 em-
ployees in the armed forces of the United States who present them-
selves 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 United Steelworkers of America (CIO),
or by International Association of Machinists, Local 566, for the
purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.