Virginia Bridge Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 27, 1946

68 N.L.R.B. 295 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter Of VIRGINIA BRIDGE COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL ASSO-
CIATION OF MACHINISTS, MAGIC CITY LODGE $942
Case No 5-R-2145.-Decided May 27, 1946
Mr Thomas S _lfarshall, of Roanoke, Va., for the Company.
Messrs. Walter F. McKenna and Claude W. Fairfield, of Baltimore,
Md., and Messrs. C C. Cochran and W. B. Weston, of Roanoke, Va.,
for the IAM.
Mr Robert Boyer, of Lynchburg, Va., and Mr. C. E. Reynolds, of
Roanoke, Va., for the CIO.
Mr Donald H. Frank, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Association of Machinists,
Magic City Lodge #942, herein called the IAM,1 alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of
employees of Virginia Bridge Company, Roanoke, Virginia, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for
an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Sidney J. Barban, Trial
Examiner. The hearing was held at Roanoke, Virginia, on February 12,
1946 The Company, the IAM, and United Steelworkers of America,
CIO, herein called the CIO, appeared and participated. All parties
were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-ex-
amine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues.
At the hearing the CIO moved the dismissal of the petition. For
the reasons stated in Section III, infra, the motion is hereby granted.
The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju-
dicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an oppor-
tunity to file briefs with the Board.
The name of the I A.M. appears herein as corrected on the record.
68 N. L. R. B, No, 34.
295
296 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon the entire record in the case , the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Virginia Bridge Company is a New Jersey corporation engaged in
the manufacture of fabricated structural steel, mine cars, and related
steel products. The Company operates plants located at Birmingham,
Alabama ; Memphis, Tennessee ; and Roanoke, Virginia. The last-
named plant is the sole operation of the Company involved in this pro-
ceeding. The Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of United States
Steel Corporation. Annually the Company purchases for the manufac-
turing processes of its Roanoke plant raw materials consisting of rolled
steel, coal, oil, and fuel valued in excess of $2,500,000, of which approxi-
mately 90 percent is shipped to it from points outside the State of Vir-
ginia. Annually, the Company produces at its Roanoke plant finished
products valued in excess of $8,000,000, of which 90 percent is shipped
from it to points outside the State of Virginia.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the National Labor Relations Act, and we so find.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Association of Machinists, Magic City Lodge #942,
is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the
Company.
United Steelworkers of America, affiliated with the Congress of In-
dustrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to membership
employees of the Company.
III THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The CIO bases its motion to dismiss the petition on the ground
that the filing of the petition was premature in view of the doctrine
enunciated in the Allis-Chalmers case.2
The CIO was certified by the Board on December 27, 1944, as the
collective bargaining representative of the unit determined to be appro-
priate in Matter of Virginia Bridge Company,3 a unit which the parties
stipulated in the present case is appropriate. Negotiations between the
CIO and the Company, pursuant to that certification, began in the
middle of January 1945. The parties disagreed, however, on the issues
of maintenance of membership, severance pay, shift differentials , and the
2 Matter of Allis -Chalmers Manufacturing Company, 50 N. L. R. B. 306.
8 59 N. L. R. B. 303.
VIRGINIA BRIDGE COMPANY 297
retroactive date. These issues were pending decision at that time in the
Basic Steel case, before the National War Labor Board. The parties
therefore agreed to submit their dispute on those issues to that Board;
the case was certified to the War Labor Board on March 3 On July
19, the Regional War Labor Board issued its decision on the four issues.
Immediately thereafter the CIO appealed the decision of the Regional
Board concerning the retroactive date to the National War Labor Board,
which handed down its decision on October 2, 1945. Throughout this
period the parties had continued their negotiations, and agreement had
been reached on all other matters. The present petition was filed on
October 10. On November 10, 1945, the CIO and the Company signed
their present contract.
We are of the opinion that there is merit to the C. I. O.'s argument
that the doctrine of the Allis-Chalmers case5 could equitably be applied
to the present situation. Moreover, the facts of this case bring it clearly
within the doctrine established by a recent case,6 that a contract made
within 1 year of the Board's certification precludes a new determination
of representatives during its term, if reasonable. Here the contract
was entered into 10/ months after the certification, and expires October
15, 1946, less than 1 year from its execution.
The IAM contends, however, that even though, absent other fac-
tors, we would dismiss its petition under our general rules, the cut-back
in employment which has taken place at this plant %ince the CIO's
certification requires a new determination of representatives. At the
time of the 1943 election, which was won by the IAM, there were
678 employees in this unit. Between that date and the 1944 election,
the Company's pay roll expanded to include 1,098 persons in the appro-
priate unit. Subsequently, due to reconversion, which is now complete,
the number of employees in the unit was reduced, and now stands at
491.7 We note that this is a reduction of approximately 55 percent. We
note, also, that there has been no alteration of the scope or character
of the unit, or of the manufacturing processes. The basic operations
of the Company, the fabrication of steel parts, remains unchanged.
The record reveals no substantial turn-over of the employees involved,
but rather that the Company has retained a residue of its old employees.
It is clear that no material change has ensued here, other than the con-
traction of the plant force. There has been no reconversion to a differ-
ent industry, no alteration of the physical set-up or transfer of the
geographical location, and no employment of personnel with different
* An ad,' itional proposal , concerning holidays , upon which the parties agreed, was also sub-
mitted to the War Labor Board, and approved by the Regional War Labor Board in April.
Matter of Allis-Chalmers Manu?acturtng Company, supra.
Matter of Con P Curran Printing Company, 67 N L. R B 1419.
7 A company representative stated that the level of employment will not vary more than 100
employees from the present total.
298 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
skills. Under the circumstances,s we do not regard the reduction in per-
sonnel, standing alone, as sufficient reason for ordering a present elec-
tion,9 and we find that the existing contract is a bar until its terminal
date approaches. We shall therefore dismiss the petition.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, and upon the entire
record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders
that the petition in Case No. 5-R-2145, filed by International Associa-
tion of Machinists , Magic City Lodge #942, for investigation and cer-
tification of representatives of employees of Virginia Bridge Company,
' Roanoke, Virginia, be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
'We note, additionally, that the contract expires on October 15 , 1946, a date approximately
5 months from the date of this Decision.
9 See Matter of Reliable Nut Company, 63 N. L R B 357, cf Matter of M. P Moller, Inc,
56 N. L. R. B. 16; Matter of Curtiss-Wright Corporation (Supplemental Decision and Second
Amendment to Direction of Elections ), 63 N. L. R. B. 919; and Matter of General Bronze
Corporation, 60 N. L. R. B. 1098, 'ilieretn other material changes were contemplated in a 'dition
to the reduction of personnel.