Utility Tool Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 18, 1941

35 N.L.R.B. 478 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter Of UTILITY TOOL MANUFACTURING COMPANY AND
UTILITY ELECTRIC COMPANY and UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO &
MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, DISTRICT COUNCIL No. 8, C. I. O.
and UTILITY EMPLOYEES FEDERATION AND ITS SUCCESSOR, UTILITY
INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION, PARTIES TO THE CONTRACTS
In the Matter Of UTILITY TOOL MANUFACTURING COMPANY AND
UTILITY ELECTRIO COMPANY and METAL. POLISHERS, BUFFERS,
PLATERS AND HELPERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, A. F. or L.
Cases Nos. C-1949 and C-1950.-Decided September 18,1941
Jurisdiction : tool, die, and machine stamping products manufacturing industry.
Settlement : stipulation providing for compliance with the Act.
Remedial Orders: entered on stipulation.
Mr. L. N. D. Wells, Jr., for the Board.
Cobbs, Logan, Roos and Armstrong, by Mr. Walter L. Roos, of
St. Louis, Mo., for respondents.
Mr. William Sentner and Mr. R. B. Logsdon, of St. Louis, Mo.,
for the United.
Mr. Joseph A. Waldron, of St. Louis, Mo., for the Metal Polishers.
Mr. Fred J. Hoffineister, for the Organization.
Mr. Edward D. Kramer, of St. Louis, Mo., for the Federation.,
Mr. Dan M. Byrd, Jr., of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon charges and amended charges duly filed respectively by
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, District
Council No. 8, C. I. 0., herein called the United, and Metal Polish-
ers, Buffers, Platers and Helpers International Union, A. F. of L.,
herein called the Metal Polishers, and after an order of consolida-
tion, dated July 15, 1941, consolidating the cases, the National Labor
Relations Board, herein called the Board, by its Regional Director
for the Fourteenth Region (St. Louis, Missouri) issued its com-
plaint dated July 16,'1941, against Utility Tool Manufacturing Com-
35 N. L. R. B., No. 110.
478
UTILITY TOOL MANUFACTURING COMPANY 479
pany, St. Louis, Missouri, herein called the Tool Company, and
Utility Electric Company, St.. Louis, Missouri, herein called the
Electric Company, both herein collectively called the respondents,
alleging that the respondents had engaged in and were engaging in
unfair labor practices affecting commerce, within the meaning of
Sections 8 (1), (2), (3), and (5) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the
National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. _ 449, herein called the Act.
Copies of the complaint accompanied by notice of hearing were duly
served upon the respondents, the United, the Metal Polishers, Utility
Employees Federation, herein called the Federation, and Utility In-
dustrial Organization, herein called the Organization, the latter two
being labor organizations allegedly dominated by the respondents.
Concerning the unfair labor practices, the complaint alleged, in
substance, (1) that on or about May 1, 1937, and thereafter, the
respondents warned their employees to refrain from joining, forming
or assisting any outsida labor organizations, offered raises in wages
on condition employees would refrain from joining, forming, or as-
sisting labor organizations, attempted to bribe employees to divulge
information as to the internal affairs of outside labor organizations,
and threatened to close their plant should their employees persist in
joining, forming, or assisting outside labor organizations; (2) that
on or about June 4, 1.937, the respondents initiated, formed, and
sponsored the Federation, and that until on or about December 12,
1940, the respondents dominated, contributed support to,,and inter-
fered with the administration of the Federation; (3) that on or
about December 12, 1940, the respondents initiated, formed, and
sponsored the Organization, as a continuation of and successor to
the Federation, and that thereafter the respondents dominated, con-
tributed to the support of, and interfered with the administration
of the Organization; (4) that as a consequence of and a continua-
tion of a plan of interference with the rights of employees as guar-
anteed in Section 7 of the Act, the respondents have entered into
various contracts with the Federation and the Organization; (5)
that the respondents transferred four named employees on specified
dates from their regular jobs to unfamiliar jobs in other depart-
ments of the respondents' plant, discharged' five named employees
on specific dates and thereafter refused to reinstate said persons, and
temporarily laid off three named persons on specific dates for the
reason that the employees joined and assisted the Metal Polishers
and engaged in concerted activity with other employees for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining and other mutual aid and protection ;
(6) that on or about January 15, 1941, and thereafter, the respond-
ents refused to bargain collectively with the Metal Polishers as the
representative of employees within an appropriate unit.
480 ` DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
On July 30, 1941 , the respondents filed an answer to the complaint
in which they denied the allegations of unfair labor practices, and
alleged certain affirmative matters. On July 31 , 1941, the Organiza-'
tion filed an answer to the complaint in which it denied all allega-
tions that it was formed , dominated , or supported by the respond-
ents, and alleged certain affirmative matters.
Pursuant to notice , a hearing was commenced on August 4, 1941,
at St . Louis, Missouri , before Samuel H . Jaffee , the Trial Examiner
duly designated by the Acting Chief Trial Examiner . On August 6,
1941 , during the,course of the hearing the respondents , the United,
the Metal Polishers , the Federation , the Organization , and an attorney
for the Board entered into a stipulation in settlement of the case.
The stipulation provides as follows :
It is hereby stipulated and agreed by and between Utility
Tool Manufacturing Company ( hereinafter called the Tool Com-
pany ), Utility Electric Company ( hereinafter called the Elec-
tric Company ), United Electrical , Radio & Machine Workers of
America, District Council No . 8, C. I. O . (hereinafter called
the U. E. R. M. W . A.), the Metal Polishers , Buffers, Platers
and Helpers International Union , A. F. of L . (hereinafter called
the Metal Polishers Union ), Utility Employees Federation
(hereinafter called the Federation ), Utility Industrial Organ-
ization ( hereinafter called the Industrial ), and L . N. D. Wells,
Jr., Regional Attorney, Fourteenth Region, National Labor
Relations Board , as follows :
I
Charges and amended charges were filed by the U. E. R.
M. W. A. and the Metal Polishers Union alleging that the Tool
Company and the Electric Company had engaged in and were
engaging in certain unfair labor practices affecting commerce
as set forth and defined in the National Labor Relations Act.
Thereafter, on July 15, 1941, the National Labor Relations
Board ordered that the two cases above named be consolidated.
Thereafter, on July 16, 1941, the National Labor Relations
Board, by the Regional Director for the Fourteenth Region, duly
issued its Complaint and Notice of Hearing alleging that the
Tool Company and the Electric Company had engaged in and
were engaging in unfair labor practices affecting commerce
within the meaning of Section 8, subsections 1, 2, 3, and 5, and
Section 2, subsections 6 and 7, of the National Labor Relations
Act.
On July 17, 1941, the charges and the Complaint, together
with the Notice of Hearing, were duly served upon the Tool
UTILITY TOOL MANUFACTURING COMPANY 481
Company, the Electric Company,' the U. E. R. M. W. A., the,
Metal Polishers Union, the Federation, and the Industrial.
Thereafter, on July 28, 1941, the Industrial filed an Answer
to the Complaint; and on July 29, 1941, the Tool Company and
the Electric Company filed joint answers to the above-mentioned
Complaint.
The Tool Company, the Electric Company, and the Industrial
hereby withdraw the answers heretofore filed.
By the withdrawal of the pleadings mentioned in the para-
graph above, and by entering into this stipulation, the tool
Company and the Electric Company do not admit that they, or
either of them, have in any way violated the National Labor
Relations Act, or that they have engaged in any unfair labor
practices affecting commerce within the meaning of the National
Labor Relations Act.
II
Respondent Utility Tool Manufacturing Company is and
has been at all times material hereto a corporation organized
under and existing by virtue of the laws of the State of Mis-
souri, having its principal office and place of business in the
City of St. Louis; State of Missouri ; and is now and has been
at all times material hereto engaged ate a place of business at
620-22 Tower Grove Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri, in the pro-
duction, sale, and distribution of tools and dies and machine
and stamping products.
Respondent Utility Electric Company is and has been at all
times material hereto a corporation organized under and exist-
ing by virtue of the laws of the State of Missouri, having its
principal office and place of business in the City of St. Louis,
State of Missouri; and is now and has been at all times material
hereto engaged at a place of business at 620-22 Tower Grove
Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri, in the production, sale, and dis-
tribution of household and commercial electrical appliances.
The respondents, and each of them, in the course and conduct
of their business as above described now cause and at all times
material hereto continuously have caused the raw materials used
in the production of the above-described products to be pur-
chased and transported'in interstate commerce from and through
states of the United States other than the State of Missouri to
the aforementioned plant in the State of Missouri; and the
respondent Utility Electric Company causes and at all times
material hereto continuously has caused the products above de-
scribed to be sold and transported in interstate commerce from
482 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the aforementioned plant in the State of Missouri to, into, and
through states of the United States other than the State of
Missouri.
The respondents, and each of them, agree and admit that
they, and each of them, are engaged in interstate commerce
within the meaning of Section 2, subsections 6 and 7, of the
National Labor Relations Act, and that any unfair labor prac-
tices which might occur in connection with the operations of
them, or either of them, would tend to lead to labor disturbances
burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow of
commerce.
All parties hereto expressly agree that the National Labor
Relations Board may forthwith make jurisdictional findings
based on the facts and admissions stipulated herein.
III
The U. E. R. M. W. A., and the Metal Polishers Union, the
Federation, and the Industrial, are each labor organizations
within the meaning of Section 2, subsection 5, of the National
Labor Relations Act.
All persons employed in the polishing and plating depart-
ments at the respondents' plant described in II hereof, exclusive
of supervisory employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act.
For the purposes of this stipulation, all parties agree that
the Metal Polishers Union at all times material hereto has been
and now is the representative for purposes of collective bar-
gaining of a majority of the employees in the unit described in
the paragraph above.
IV
The record in this case shall consist only of the documents
mentioned in paragraph I hereof and this stipulation. The
parties specifically agree to exclude from the record herein the
transcript of the testimony and exhibits taken before Trial
Examiner Samuel H. Jaffee on August 4, 5, and 6, 1941, except,
as to those documents mentioned in paragraph I hereof.
V
All parties hereto expressly waive the right to further hear-
ing on the issues raised by the Complaint herein, and further
waive the making of findings of fact and conclusions of law by
the National Labor Relations Board. .
UTILITY TOOL MANtUFACTURI G COMPANY 483:
VI .
All parties hereto expressly agree and consent that the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board may forthwith enter an Order
providing as follows :
The respondents, Utility Tool Manufacturing Company and
Utility Electric Company, jointly and severally, and their
respective officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall :
1. Cease and desist from :
a. Discouraging membership in the United Electrical, Radio,
& Machine Workers of America, District Council No. 8,
C. I. 0., Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers and Helpers Inter-
national Union, A. F. of L., or any other labor organization
of their employees, by transferring, laying off, discharging
or refusing to reinstate, or by in any manner discriminating
against their employees in regard to their hire or tenure of
employment or any term or condition of employment.
b. In any manner dominating or interfering with the ad-
ministration of the Utility Employees Federation and/or its
successor, the Utility Industrial Organization, or the forma-
tion or administration of any other labor organization of their
employees, or contributing financial or other support to the
said Utility Employees Federation or to the Utility Indus-
trial Organization, or to any other labor organization of
their employees.
c. Giving effect to any written or oral contract or agreement
executed with the Utility Employees Federation and/or the
Utility Industrial Organization.
d. Recognizing or in any manner dealing with the Utility
Employees Federation and/or the Utility Industrial Organi-
zation as the representative of their employees, or any of them,
for the purpose of dealing with the respondents concerning
grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of
employment, or other conditions of employment.
e. Refusing to bargain collectively with Metal Polishers,
Buffers, Platers and Helpers International Union, A. F. of L.,
as the exclusive representative of all their employees in the
polishing and plating departments, exclusive of supervisory
employees.
f. In any other manner interfering with, restraining, or
coercing their employees in the exercise of their rights to self-
organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to
bargain collectively through representatives of their own
451270-42-vol 35-32
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD484
choosing, and to engage in concerted activities for the purpose
of collective bargaining or other mutual aid and protection,
as guranteed in Section 7 of the National Labor Relations
Act.
2. Take the following affirmative action to effectuate the
policies of the National Labor Relations Act :
a. Offer to Gerald Wilson, Joseph Norbert, A. Isom, A.
Kosmicke, and Edward J. Bundzarcwicz immediate and full
reinstatement to their former positions, without prejudice to
their seniority or other rights and privileges.
b. Withdraw all recognition from the Utility Employees
Federation and Utility Industrial Organization as a repre-
sentative of their employees, or any of them, for the purposes
of dealing with the respondents concerning grievances, labor
disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or other
conditions of employment, and completely disestablish said
Utility Employees Federation and Utility Industrial Organi-
zation as such representatives.
c. Notify the Utility Employees Federation and its succes-
sor, the Utility Industrial Organization, in writing, that its
contracts with said organizations are void and of. no effect.
d. Upon request, bargain collectively with Metal Polishers,
Buffers, Platers and Helpers International Union, A. F. of L.,
as the exclusive representative of all their employees in the
polishing and plating departments, exclusive of supervisory
employees, in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employ-
ment, and other conditions of employment; and if an under-
standing is reached on such matters, embody said understand-
ing in a signed agreement.
e. Post immediately upon the entry of this Order by the
National Labor Relations Board, and maintain for a period
of at least sixty (60) consecutive days from the date of post-
ing, in conspicuous places in each department of the respond-
ents' plant at St. Louis, Missouri, notices stating :
(1)' That respondents will not engage in the conduct from
which they are ordered to cease and desist in 1 (a) through
(f), inclusive, of this Order.
(2) That the respondents will take the affirmative action,
set forth in paragraphs •2 (a) through (d), inclusive, of this
Order, and
(3) That the respondents' employees are free to become or
remain members of the United Electrical, Radio & Machine
Workers of America, District Council No. 8, C. I. 0., or the
Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers and Helpers International
Union, A. F. of L., and that respondents will not discriminate
UTMITY TOOL MANUFACTURING COMPANY 485
against any employee because of membership or activity in
those organizations, or either of them.
f. Notify the Regional Director for the Fourteenth Region
in writing within ten (10) days of the date of the entry of
this Order by the National Labor Relations Board of the
steps the respondents have taken to comply herewith.
AND IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Complaint in so far as
it relates to Michael Kristich, Louis Bielor, and Theodore
Triplett be, and it hereby is, dismissed."
VII
The parties hereto consent to the entry by the United States
Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit of an Enforce-
ment Order embodying the terms of the Board's Order agreed
to above in Paragraph VI herein, and all parties hereby waive
further notice of the application for, and the entry of, such Court
Order.
VIII
By the signature of the UERMWA to this stipulation the parties
understand that UERMWA does not waive any rights it may
have to proceed against the Respondents for any alleged unfair
labor practice, not included within the complaint, including
refusal by the Respondents to bargain collectively with the
UERMWA. It is understood that this reservation does not
constitute any admission by the respondents that they have
refused to bargain.
IX
All stipulations herein made are subject to the approval of
the National Labor Relations Board, and should said Board fail
to approve the terms and conditions contained herein, this stipu-
lation shall be entirely void and of no effect.
X
The entire agreement of the parties is contained within this
stipulation, and there is no other agreement, verbal or written,
except the agreement with the Metal Polishers Union attached
hereto, which in any way varies or alters the agreements con-
tained herein.
On August 18, 1941, the Board issued its Order approving the
stipulation, making it a part of the record, and pursuant to Article
II, Section 36, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regu-
lations-Series 2, as amended, transferred the proceedings to the
486 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Board for the purpose of entry of a Decision and Order pursuant to
provisions of said stipulation.
Upon the above stipulation and the entire record in the case, the
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE RESPONDENTS
Utility Tool Manufacturing Company is a Missouri corporation
having its principal office and place of business/ as 620-22 Tower
Grove Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri. It is engaged in the production,
sale, and distribution of tools and dies and machine stamping
products.
Utility Electric Company is a Missouri corporation having its prin-
cipal office and place of business at 620-22 Tower Grove Avenue,
St. Louis, Missouri. It is engaged in the production, sale, and dis-
tribution of household and commercial electric appliances.
At all times material hereto, the respondents, in the course and
conduct of their businesses, have caused the raw materials used at
their plant to be purchased and transported in interstate commerce
from and through States of the United States other than Missouri to
its plant in St. Louis, Missouri. Utility Electric Company, at all
times material hereto, has caused its finished products to be sold and
transported in interstate commerce from the State of Missouri to,
into, and through States of the United States other than Missouri.
The respondents admit that they are engaged in interstate commerce
within the meaning of Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor
Relations Act.
We find that the above-described operations constitute a con tinuous
flow of trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact, stipulation, and the
entire record in the case, and pursuant to Section 10 (c) of the
National Labor Relations Board Act, the National Labor Relations
Board hereby orders that Utility Tool Manufacturing Company.
St. Louis, Missouri, and Utility Electric Company, St. Louis, Mis-
souri, their respective officers, agents, successors, and- assigns, shall :
1. Cease and desist from :
(a) Discouraging membership in the United Electrical Radio &
Machine Workers of America, District Council No. 8, C. I. 0., Metal
Polishers, Buffers, Platers and Helpers International Union, A. F.
of L., or any other labor organization of their employees, by trans-
UTILITY TOOL MANUFACTURING COMPANY 487
(erring, laying off, discharging, or refusing to reinstate, or by in
any manner discriminating against their employees, by transferring,
laying off, discharging, or refusing to reinstate, 'or by in any manner
discriminating against their employees in regard to their hire or
tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment;
(b) In any manner dominating or interfering with the administra-
tion of the Utility Employees Federation and/or its successor, the
Utility Industrial Organization, or the formation or administration
of any other labor organization of their employees, or contributing
financial or other support to the said Utility Employees Federation
or to the Utility Industrial Organization, or to any other labor organi-
zation of their employees;
(c) Giving effect to any written or oral contract or agreement ex-
ecuted with the Utility Employees Federation and/or the Utility
Industrial Organization; -
(d) Recognizing or in any manner dealing with the Utility Em-
ployees Federation and/or the Utility Industrial Organization as
the representative of their employees, or any of them, for the purpose
of dealing with the respondents concerning grievances, labor disputes,
wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or other conditions of
employment;
(e) Refusing to bargain collectively with Metal Polishers, Buffers,
Platers and Helpers International Union, A. F. of L., as the ex-
clusive -representative of all their employees in the polishing and
plating departments, exclusive of supervisory employees;
(f) In any other manner interfering with, restraining, or coercing
their employees in the exercise of their rights to self-organization,
to, form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively
through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in con-
certed activities for the, purpose of collective bargaining or other
mutual aid and protection, as guaranteed in Section 7 of the National
Labor Relations Act.
2. Take the following affirmative action to effectuate the policies
of the National Labor Relations Act :
(a) Offer to Gerald Wilson, Joseph Norbert, A. Isom, A. Kos-
micke, and Edward J. Bundzarcwicz immediate and full reinstate-
ment to their former positions, without prejudice to their seniority
or other rights and privileges;
(b) Withdraw all recognition from the Utility Employees Federa-
tion and Utility Industrial Organization as a representative of their
employees, or any of them, for the purposes of dealing with the
respondents concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of
pay, hours of employment, or other conditions of employment, and
488 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
completely disestablish said Utility Employees Federation and Util-
ity Industrial Organization as such representatives;
(c) Notify the Utility Employees Federation and its successor,
the Utility Industrial - Organization, in writing, that its contracts
with said organizations are void and of no effect;
(d) Upon request, bargain collectively with Metal Polishers,
Buffers, Platers and Helpers International Union, A. F. of L., as
the exclusive representative of all their employees in the polishing
and plating departments, exclusive of supervisory employees, in re-
spect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other condi-
tions of employment; and if an understanding is reached on such
matters, embody said understanding in a signed agreement;
(e) Post immediately upon the entry of this Order by the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board, and maintain for a period of at least
sixty (60) consecutive days from the date of posting, in conspicuous
places in each department of the respondent's plant at St. Louis,
Missouri, notices stating :
(1) That respondents will not engage in the conduct from which
they are ordered to cease and desist in 1 (a) through (f), inclusive,
of this Order.
(2) That the respondents will take the affirmative action set forth
in paragraphs 2 (a) through (d), inclusive, of this Order, and
(3) That the respondents' employees are free to become or remain
members of the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of
America, District Council No. 8, C. I. 0., or the Metal Polishers,
Buffers, Platers and Helpers International Union, A. F. of L., and
that respondents will not discriminate against any employee because
of membership or activity in those organizations, or either of them.
(f) Notify the Regional Director for the Fourteenth Region in.
writing within ten (10) days of the date of the entry of this Order
by the National Labor Relations Board of the steps the respondents
have taken to comply herewith.
AND IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Complaint in. so far as it re -
lates to Michael Kristich, Louis Bielor, and Theodore Triplett be,
and it hereby is, dismissed.