Treadwell Engineering Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 25, 1953

106 N.L.R.B. 898 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

898 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
FOURTH: Subject to the Labor Management Relations Act
of 1947 or any amendments thereto, all employees referred
to in this agreement now or hereafter employed during the
term of this agreement shall within thirty (30) days follow-
ing the commencement of such employment be members of
the Union in good standing or become and remain members
in good standing throughout such employment as a condition
of cntinued employment.
TWENTY-SEVENTH: Any provision contained in this
agreement which in any way violates any State of Federal
Law or Rule shall be deemed to be inoperative or amended
so as to comply with such Law or Rule. The invalidity of
any provision or any part thereof shall not affect any other
provision valid or the contract as a whole.
This contract does not expressly accord to the old employees
who are not members of the unionthe statutory grace period of
30 days from the effective date of the contract. However, the
Intervenor and the Employer have included the same union-
security clause in each of their contracts, which have been con-
tinuous since 1949.2 In view of the continuing contractual re-
quirement of union membership, we find that the 1952 contract
is not invalid and that it is a bar to the petition.3 Accordingly,
we shall dismiss the petition.`
[The Board dismissed the petition.]
2Union-shop authorization had been secured in 1948, in accordance with the requirements
of the Act at that time.
3 Kind and Knox Gelatine Company, 104 NLRB 1034, Sylvania Electric Products, Inc., 100
NLRB 357; Josten Engraving Company, 98 NLRB 49; Charles A Krause Milling Co., 97 NLRB
536
It is clear that the old employees in the contract were either (1) union members on Decem-
ber 1, 1952, in which case they would not be entitled to the statutory grace period (Krause
case, supra ; or (2) were nonmembers, who had received at least 30 days' grace; or (3) were
nonmembers who, having been hired less than 30 days before December 1, 1952, had not yet
received 30 days' grace but would be entitled under the 1952 contract to complete their 30-
day grace period, beginning with the date of their employment.
Chairman Farmer joins in the finding that the contract is a bar, but finds it unnecessary to
determine here whether the contract is for all purposes valid.
41n view of our disposition of this case, it is not necessary to pass on the contention of the
Employer and the Intervenor that the savings clause validates the contract.
TREADWELL ENGINEERING COMPANY and PATTERN
MAKERS LEAGUE OF NORTH AMERICA, EASTON ASSO-
CIATION, AFL, Petitioner. Case No. 4-RC-2015. August 25,
1953
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Morris
Mogerman, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made
106 NLRB No. 147.
TREADWELL ENGINEERING COMPANY 899
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the
Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to
a three-member panel [Members Houston, Murdock, and Peter-
son].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning
of the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent
certain employees of the Employer.
3. The United Steelworkers of America, CIO, herein referred
to as the Intervenor, was permitted to intervene on the basis
of its current contract with the Employer which it asserts as
a bar to this proceeding. The Employer takes no position.
Pursuant to the provisions of the May 31, 1949, contract, the
Intervenor served notice upon the Employer of its desire to
terminate the contract and negotiate a new agreement. Nego-
tiations were conducted between the parties. The instant peti-
tion was filed on May 28, 1953. Although agreement had been
reached between the parties, the new contractwas not executed
at the time of the filing of the petition. As the new contract
was not executed until after the filing of the petition herein,
in accordance with Board precedent, we find no merit in the
Intervenor's contention.1
We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer within the
meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner seeks a unit of patternmakers and appren-
tices. The Intervenor contends that the unit sought is inappro-
priate. The Employer takes no position. The Intervenor has
represented the employees in question in a production and
maintenance unit since 1941. The record reveals that the
patternmakers A and B and pattern checkers exercise similar
skills as members of a distinct and highly skilled craft. They
work in the pattern shop which is under the immediate super-
vision of a patternmaker foreman. Although there is no formal
apprenticeship program, it is clear from the record that these
employees classified as learners achieve the status of pattern-
maker s. As the patte rnmake r s A and B, pattern checkers, and
learners constitute a highly skilled and well-recognized craft
group, we find that they may be separately represented
notwithstanding the history of collective bargaining on a
broader basis. 2 The fact that these employees may at infre-
quent occasions spend a minor portion of their time in duties
other than patternmaking does not derogate from their right
to separate representation.3
1 The New York and Pennsylvania Company, Incorporated, 81 NLRB 1326.
2 W A Jones Foundry & Machine Co., 83 NLRB 211
3Jefferson Chemical Co., Inc , 98 NLRB 805.
322615 0 - 54 - 58
900 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Accordingly, we shall direct an election in the following
voting group:
All patternmakers, 4 including patternmakers A and B,
pattern checkers, and learners employed by the Employer at
its Easton, Pennsylvania, plant, excluding all other employees,
professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in
the Act.
If a majority of the employees in this group vote for the
Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to
be represented in a separate unit, and the Regional Director
conducting the election directed herein is instructed to issue
a certification of representatives to the Petitioner for such a
unit, which the Board under such circumstances, finds to be''
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. If, how-
ever, a majority of the employees in the group vote for the
Intervenor, they will be taken to have indicated their desire
to remain part of the existing production and maintenance
unit, and the Regional Director is instructed to issue a certifi-
cation of results of election to that effect.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
Member Peterson, dissenting:
The employees sought herein by the Petitioner have been
represented by the Intervenor in a production and maintenance
unit for 12 years. In view of this substantial collective-
bargaining history on a plantwide basis, and in the absence
of any other factors which would warrant their severance
from the established unit other than their craft status, I would
not accord these employees separate representation.5
4 The record reveals that one patternmaker is engaged in the work of setting iron cores in
the iron foundry. The record, however, does not reveal if he exercises the skills of his craft
when performing this work. We. therefore, direct that if such employee is regularly engaged
in patternmaking work for a substantial number of hours each week, he is eligible to vote.
The Ocala Star Banner, 97 NLRB 384.
5 See my dissenting opinion in W. C. Hamilton and Sons, 104 NLRB 627.
FRASER AND JOHNSTON MANUFACT URING COMPANY and
INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIR-
CRAFT AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS
OF AMERICA, UAW-CIO, Petitioner . Case No. 30-RC-821.
August 25, 1953
SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND
CERTIFICATION OF RESULTS OF ELECTION
Pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election issued on
November 28, 1952, an election by secret ballot was conducted
on December 19, 1952, under the direction and supervision of
the Regional Director for the Seventeenth Region, among
employees in the unit found appropriate by the Board. Following
the election, a tally of ballots was furnished the parties. The
106 NLRB No. 132.