Wheeling Steel Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 12, 1936

1 N.L.R.B. 699 (N.L.R.B. 1936)

In the Matter of WHEELING STEEL CORPORATION and THE AMALGA-
MATED ASSOCIATION OF IRON, STEEL, AND TIN WORKERS OF NORTH
AMERICA, NRA LODGE No. 155, GOODWILL LODGE No. 157, ROD &
WIRE LODGE No. 158, GOLDEN RIILE LODGE No. 161, SERVICE LODGE
No. 163
Case No. C-3.-Decided May 12, 1936
Iron and Steel Industry-Employee Representation Plan: form and operation-
Company-Dominated Union: domination and interference with formation and
administration ; financial and other support ; initiation and sponsorship ; discrimi-
nation in favor of in employment , benefits and privileges , conditions of work ;
coercion to join and attend meetings of ; soliciting membership in ; disestablished
as agency for collective bargaining-Interference , Restraint or Coercion: ex-
pressed opposition to labor organization , threats of retaliatory action ; villifying
union and its leaders-Discrimination : discharge for refusal to join company-
dominated union-Reinstatement Ordered-Back Pay: awarded.
Mr. Robert B. Watts, Mr. A. L. Wirin and Mr. Thomas I. Emerson
for the Board.
Mr. Earl F. Reed, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for respondent.
Mr. Edmund M. Toland, of Washington, D. C., for General Coun-
cil and Departmental Councils, Wheeling Steel Corp., Portsmouth
Works.
Mr. Arthur E. Reyman, of Washington, D. C., for the Amalga-
mated Lodges.
Mr. Louis L. Jaffe, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
STATEMENT OF CASE
On November 27, 1935 N. R. A. Lodge No. 155, Goodwill Lodge
No. 157, Rod & Wire Lodge No. 158, Golden Rule Lodge No. 161, and
Service Lodge No. 163, hereinafter called the Amalgamated Lodges,
of the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers of
North America, hereinafter called the Amalgamated Association, filed
with the Board at Washington, D. C., a charge that the Wheeling
Steel Corporation of Wheeling, West Virginia, hereinafter called the
respondent, had engaged in and was engaging in unfair labor prac-
tices contrary to the National Labor Relations Act, approved July 5,
1935. At the same time the Amalgamated Lodges requested permis-
sion to file the charge directly with the Board at Washington, pursu-
699
700 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ant to Article II, Section 35 of National Labor Relations Board
Rules and Regulations-Series 1. Such permission was granted. On
February 4, 1936) the Board issued a complaint against the respondent
alleging that it had engaged in and was engaging in unfair labor
practices affecting commerce within the meaning of Section 8, subdi-
visions (1), (2) and (3) and Section 2, subdivisions (6) and (7) of
the Act.
In respect to the unfair labor practices, the complaint alleged that
the respondent has given and continues to give financial support to,
and dominates and interferes with the administration of certain labor
organizations of its employees in its Portsmouth Plant, known as
Departmental Councils and the General Council, contrary to Section
8, subdivision (2) of the Act; that the respondent has refused to
employ one William Patton because he refused to become a member
of one of the aforesaid Departmental Councils and has otherwise
discriminated in favor of the Departmental Councils and the General
Council and its members, and against the Amalgamated Lodges, the
Amalgamated Association and its members, contrary to Section 8,
subdivisions (1) and (3) of the Act.
The complaint and accompanying notice of hearing were served
,on the parties in accordance with Article V of said Rules and Regu-
lations-Series 1. The respondent filed a "Special Appearance and
Answer." It admitted that it contributes financial support to the
aforesaid Councils, but denied that it interfered with or dominated
their administration; admitted that William Patton is not now em-
ployed but denied that this was due to his refusal to become a mem-
ber of a Departmental Council, and denied any discrimination
against the Unions, or in favor of the Councils or their members,
with respect to terms and tenure of employment. It claimed that
the Act is in violation of Article III, Sections 1 and 2 of, and the
Fifth and Seventh Amendments to, the Constitution of the United
States, and is in any case, inapplicable to it, because neither its busi-
ness nor labor relations are in or affect interstate commerce. The
respondent for these reasons moved to dismiss the proceedings.
On March 9, 1936, a hearing was had at Portsmouth, Ohio, before
Walter Wilbur, the Trial Examiner designated by the Board, and
testimony was taken. The Departmental Councils and General
Council asked leave and were granted permission to intervene. Full
opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses and
to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded to all par-
ties. By stipulation there was incorporated into the record pages 1
to 180 of the Transcript of Testimony and the accompanying exhibits
in Case No. R-1, In the Matter of Wheeling Steel Corporation' and
certain lodges of the Amalgamated Association, being an investiga-
DECISIONS AND ORDERS .701
tion as to the representatives of the employees of the respondent at
its Portsmouth Plant. Counsel for the respondent objected to the
jurisdiction of the Board on the grounds stated in its Special Ap-
pearance and Answer , and then withdrew from further participation
in the hearing . Counsel for the Departmental Councils participated
in the hearing during the examination by the Board of certain officers
of those Councils and then withdrew on the ground that the Board
was without jurisdiction . The motions to dismiss the proceedings
are herewith denied.
A further hearing was held in Washington, D. C., April 2 to April
.8, 1936.
The material introduced into this record in connection with the
steel industry in general is substantially the same as that In the
Matter of Jones e€c Laughlin Steel Corporation , decided by us on
April 9, 1936. The findings made in the decision in that case have
been adapted to this one.
Upon the evidence adduced at the hearings and from the entire
record now before it, including the transcript of the hearings and
exhibits introduced, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE RESPONDENT
The respondent manufactures and sells iron and steel and the
products thereof. It has 15 plants located in Ohio and West Vir-
ginia with assets valued at $106,531 ,202.99 as of December 31, 1934;
during the year 1934, it employed 15,186 men , had a payroll of
$19,759 ,347, produced 438,253 gross tons of ore , 1,086,385 net tons of
coking coal , 471,940 net tons of heating coal, 840,452 net tons of
coke, 445,973 gross tons of pig , iron and 876 ,822 gross tons of ingots,
And sold $48 ,924,844 worth of products . It has an annual capacity
of 959,200 tons of pig iron, 1,500,000 tons of steel, and 974,000 tons
of finished hot rolled products . The respondent also prepares and
sells a number of by-products , chiefly coke , of which it has an annual
.capacity of 1,175,000 tons.
The respondent is an integrated vertical unit. It mines iron ore
and coal from its own mines. It has ore reserves of 20,000,000 tons;
coal reserves sufficient to meet its needs for 100 years . With its barges
and other equipment, it takes a part in transporting these materials
from the mines in Minnesota , Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania
to its plants. There it produces the coke used in reducing the ore;
casts the ore into pig iron; converts the pig into a great variety of
finished and semi-finished products. During the progress through
the plant materials move out again at numerous stages of the process.
702 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Semi-fabricated materials-pig iron, blooms , billets, sheets-go to
special steel fabricators for further work; go also for use in other
industries such as manufacture of automobiles , food canning. Wire,
roofing, pipes , nails, boilers, drums, heaters , go into building and
construction . Tie plates , track-metal , tar and creosote-the two latter
by-products of the coal to coke process-go to the railroads for opera-
tion and maintenance . To insure the nation -wide distribution of its
product respondent maintains 14 sales offices and 14 warehouses
located all over the United States.
The respondent has aptly characterized this continuous , fluid qual-
ity of its whole vast enterprise by its motto "From Mine to Market".
Concluding in a Company brochure its description of its business it
is said :
"Throughout all processes , . . . the raw material which has
come from Wheeling ore mines as ore has never once left the
confines of Wheeling plants . . . the many forms of Wheeling
steel products are ready for the markets of the world , either to
supply a raw material of prescribed character for industry be-
yond the limits of steel manufacture , or to go directly into use
in the hands of the consuming public.
"It is beyond question , . . . that the facilities of the Wheel-
ing Steel Corporation are a combination of every factor neces-
sary to efficient manufacture of sheet products."
The facts relating to the respondent's' Portsmouth Plant make
more concrete certain aspects of the respondent's activity. This plant
is located on the Ohio River upon which the respondent has a har-
bor. There the respondent's barges carrying coal to the Portsmouth
Plant and steel and coke from the plant are unloaded and loaded.
The respondent is served by the Norfolk & Western Railroad, which
has a terminal directly adjacent to the plant , and by the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad. On the plant's property there is an elaborate
system of tracks running through, around, and among the various
mills comprising the plant. Over these tracks the respondent oper-
ates its own flat cars, hand luggers, gondolas , tanks, locomotives,
cranes, and loading apparatus . This equipment is used both for
hauling in and out of the plant and among the various units of the
plant. The foreign railroad cars are brought to the shipping and
receiving points of the plant by the respondent's locomotives and
there they are loaded or unloaded by the respondent 's employees.
Engaged in operating and maintaining the respondent 's railway
and the loading apparatus are approximately 565 employees . In pre-
paring materials for shipment and in actual loading and unloading
approximately 246 more men are employed.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 703
Approximately 80% of the materials coming into the Portsmouth
Plant are from outside of Ohio, and 90% of the materials shipped
from that plant are consigned to places out of the State. Eighty
percent of the business of the Norfolk & Western Railroad and 85%
of the business of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in Portsmouth, are
constituted by shipments to or from the respondent's plant there. If
operations at the Portsmouth Plant were interrupted by labor or
other difficulties, the Portsmouth business of these interstate carriers
would be seriously crippled.
The ramifications of the Wheeling Steel Corporation are, thus, as
broadly extended as the nation. It is impossible to isolate the opera-
tions of its work in Ohio and West Virginia or to consider them as
detached, separate-"local"-phenomena. In practically all respects
the business of the respondent shows the characteristics of the steel
industry as a whole. This industry had, as of 1934, an investment of
$4,705,976,350. To support its activity 33,000 men mine ore, 44,000
men mine coal, 4,000 men quarry limestone, 16,000 men manufacture
coke, 343,000 men manufacture steel, and 83,000 men transport its
product. The conception of the industry as a conduit through. which
materials pass in a continuous stream from mine to consumer, under-
going transformations en route, at the mine, at the mill, at the fabri-
cating plant, until they are delivered to the consumer becomes, for
technical and economic reasons, more and more exact.
The steel industry involves enormous movements of materials
back and forth across the length and breadth of the nation. Of
approximately 25,000,000 tons of ore mined in the United States
in 1934, 15,000,000 were mined in Minnesota, 5,000,000 in Michigan,
and 2,000,000 in Alabama. These states, on the other hand, ac-
counted for less than 2,000,000 of the 15,686,442 tons of pig iron
manufactured in that year. In Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and
Indiana, producing 11,285,014 tons of pig iron, only 524,657 tons
of ore were mined. Additional iron ore is imported from Cuba
and Chile. States producing 9,429,305 tons of pig iron, 55.7% of
the total, import all the coal used by them in the manufacture of
coke. Of the approximately 114,000 tons of manganese used in the
industry, 95,000 tons are imported from Brazil, India, and Russia;
the remainder is mined in states of the United States producing
little or no pig iron or steel. A great steel company will, for ex-
ample, dig out and pick up its materials in one state, carry them
to its plant in another, there melt them down and fashion them into
shapes, transport them out of its plant, itself initiating the rail ship-
ment-sometimes performing all of a water shipment-, further fab-
ricate them at the conclusion of this shipment in still another state,
and then deliver them to the customer. This vertical integration of
704 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the entire process through the medium of a single company is typi-
cal of a few giant corporations which control the bulk of the steel
production in this country. Two corporations, the United States
Steel Corporation and the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, have over
50% of the steel capacity of the country. Add to this eight more
companies, among them the respondent, and 91% of the nation's
capacity is accounted for. This great size is in part an outgrowth
of technical forces. It has been estimated that the investment re-
quired for the most efficient blast furnace operation is in the neigh-
borhood of $100,000,000. Vertical integration, a further source of
economy, may increase capital requirements. The great capacities
thus built up, whatever their causes, require large markets and have
molded the steel industry as a whole and in its most important units
into a nationwide system.
The device of the "transit rate" for steel products-"transit rates"
on numerous products are permitted by the Interstate Commerce
Commission-which is used in the steel industry illustrates in par-
ticular that processing and fabrication are simply transformations
of materials en route.in the stream of commerce. Under the transit
rate a steel fabricator who buys steel forms from a steel producer
at point A, performs on them certain limited work at point B and
then ships the product to point C, receives from the railroads, the
privilege of the through rate from A to C (point B being considered
only as a temporary stopping place where service is performed in
transit). The great importance of transportation to the steel in-
dustry and of the steel industry to the railroads is shown by the
fact that 12% of the railroads' freight is attributable to the activity
of the steel industry.
An increasingly large part of this activity does not consist in
processing goods in the expectation of further sales but is a direct
response to the customer's orders. The steel industry is becoming
predominantly a special order business. It has been estimated that
the industry must.be prepared to produce no less than 100,000 varia-
tions of the approximately 500 different kinds of steel products.
Though no one plant will meet all these needs, it will seek-par-
ticularly where it is large-to fill all the demands possible for a
plant of its type; it will be ready to provide variations on its staple
products. But to carry sufficient inventories of such varieties be-
comes an increasing burden. Thus, the consumer's order directly
initiates particular plant activity and conversely, a breakdown in
this activity makes likely stoppage of shipment. This is true of
the Portsmouth Plant, where a considerable part of the product is
manufactured on special order.
The significance of the special order system, and the ramifying
effect of stoppage, are made clearer by an inquiry into the uses of
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 705
basic steel products. Steel, of course, is used to a great extent in
operations involving further manufacture and transportation. Re-
cent estimates show that about 20% of all steel products are used
by the automobile industry. The railrdads take nearly 12% of the
steel output. Other important uses are food packing-9% ; agricul-
tural implements-5%; building and fabrication of materials for
building-12%. Furthermore, a large pig iron and ingot plant such
as Portsmouth will produce semi-finished products to the order of
special steel fabricators. A stoppage of steel production hinders
normal operations in these many industries which depend on steel.
The price system of the steel industry emphasizes the close relation
between shipment and manufacture of the product. We refer to the
famous basing point system of quoting prices. "The essence of the
multiple basing point system in the steel industry," says the Federal
Trade Commission 1 of the price system now in use, "is to be found in
its use of a device of calculation whereby buyers of a commodity
located at any given point are charged by the industry, a definite uni-
form price for delivery at that point, regardless of the point of ship-
ment . . ." This system enlarges the market in which many com-
panies can compete, since it neutralizes transportation differentialE
based on differing distances between the plants of competitors and a
given customer. It no doubt assists many of the companies in main-
taining their great size, their broad structures of distribution, and
their high degree of integration. It reveals fully the fact that trans-
portation of the product is not only the final stage of that integration,
but one which conditions the extent and nature of the earlier stages.
The mining of materials, their transportation to and collection at a
point, their transformation there into pig iron, into steel shapes in all
stages of finish, their reshipment for further fabrication, for use in
railways, automobiles, buildings : all this is one giant, indivisible
economic process : it is commerce among the states.
We conclude that the operations of the respondent constitute a con-
tinuous flow of trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States.
II. ORGANIZATION OF THE AMALGAMATED LODGES
Shortly after the passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act
(NIRA) in August, 1933, the employees at the Portsmouth Plant held
a mass meeting for the purpose of deciding on a collective bargaining
agency. A committee of four was chosen to report back on the matter
of a choice of organization. C. C. Caudill, general manager of the
Portsmouth Plant, and Korns, general superintendent, asked this
committee to confer with them. Caudill asked that the committee dis-
1 Report of Federal Trade Commission to the President with Respect to the Basing
Point System , p 2, November 1934.
706 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
suade the men from organizing a "bona fide organization", and instead
suggest to the men the forming of a company organization ; he assured
them that he would pay them for time lost from the job in so doing.
Shortly after, the men voted to affiliate with the Amalgamated Asso-
ciation. On August 12, 1933, N. R. A. Lodge No. 155 of the Amal-
gamated Association was organized. Thereafter, were organized the
four other lodges of the Amalgamated Association now functioning
in the Portsmouth Plant : Goodwill Lodge No. 157, Rod & Wire Lodge
No. 158, Golden Rule Lodge No. 161, Service Lodge No. 163. The
Constitution of the Amalgamated Association provides that, where
two or more lodges are active in the same plant there shall be, for the
purpose of taking care of any matter which might concern more than
one lodge, a joint committee composed of three delegates from each
lodge. The Lodges deal with respondent through the medium of such
a Joint Committee.
III. ORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT COUNCILS
In the summer of 1934 the Portsmouth Plant was shut down.
Shortly after a movement was set on foot to organize "local" labor
.organizations called Departmental Councils, in each of the depart-
ments of the plant. One of the earliest to be formed was the Coke
Workers Council. This Council was inaugurated by a document
.signed by 178 employees . This petition addressed to the respondent
stated that the undersigned employees in the Coke Works, "desire a
better and more direct way of handling matters of wages, etc. We
are not satisfied with the present employees representative plan (this
plan, long antedating the formation of the Amalgamated Lodges, was
practically defunct at the time ) and we do not wish any national
organization to represent us. . . . Our purpose is to obtain steady
work, as good wages as possible, satisfactory working conditions and
have peaceful and harmonious relations with our employers." The
management , through;L. D. Huestis , superintendent of the Coke Plant,
acknowledged receipt of the "petition " and expressed itself as very
glad to meet with the committee . "We will be glad to render you any
assistance you request in the holding of an election." The Coke work-
ers held an election and adopted a constitution and by-laws . The con-
stitution, a very short document, provides for a Board of Directors
periodically elected from among the members , regular meetings of
the Board of Directors , and the handling of grievances , first through
one of the Board of Directors , who will take it up with the respondent,
and, if unsuccessful , will refer it to the full Board which will conduct
further negotiation . It is also provided that : "The members of the
Council will not have to pay any dues , but if at any time the Council
should need money for necessary expenses members may be assessed
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 707
the amount of the expenses . Members will not have to pay for the
cost of elections ." By-laws may be amended by a majority vote of the
Board of Directors . The plan and structure of the Council , which is
typical with minor variations of the other Councils ,-all are labor
organizations-do not, per se, involve participation or control by the
employer.
The Coke Workers Council , nevertheless , was in fact established by
the respondent and has been and continues to be financially supported
by it. The petition during the course of its circulation was kept in
the office of one of the coke department foremen. Its purpose was
explained to employees by Huestis , the superintendent . The first
elections were held in the offices of the department. Voting booths
were constructed by the respondent. The constitution and by-laws
were presented for approval to Huestis, who had them mimeographed
without preliminary presentation to the members . The meetings
were held in the plant and attended by company officials, until, when
the present Act was passed, it was considered advisable to move the
offices to an outside place . The council members were told that they
would have preference with respect to work and working conditions.
No dues were ever collected . There was never a treasury . Workers-
who lost time attending the meetings of the Council were paid by the
respondent . In July, 1935 , Huestis addressing a Council meeting,
told the members that they were on the winning side and he would
stick by them as long as he could do anything for them.
The histories of the Range Boiler Department and Mechanical De-
'partment Councils are practically the same. Both were inaugurated
by "petitions" to the respondent , which the respondent graciously
acknowledged and granted . In July, 1934, the general foreman of
the Range Boiler Department called his foremen together, presented
them with the form of petition used in forming the Coke Workers
Council, made some changes , and directed the foremen to circulate
the petition . The petition provided that there should be no dues and"
that the respondent should provide a suitable meeting place. The
employees wanted "steady work", a reiterated plea, by which it was
made clear that the respondent 's grace in reopening the plant was
directly connected with its employees taking an acceptable stand on
the question of organization. Applications for membership were
stenciled on the back of certain cost card forms in use by the re-
spondent. One of the Council directors hired a hall for the first
meeting; he was reimbursed by the superintendent of the Range
Boiler Department . No dues were ever collected ; there was no treas-
ury. Yet in January, 1935 , this Council ostensibly sent a representa-
tive to Washington to protest in a hearing being held by the National
Steel Labor Relations Board against the holding of an election asked
708 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
for by the Amalgamated Association. This representative was, in
fact, sent at the request of the respondent which guaranteed to coach
him as a witness. As to the Mechanical Department, Nunmaker, the
superintendent, paid an employee during one whole month for cir-
culating a petition for the Council in that department. Cards were
printed, membership books bought, a hall hired; yet no dues were
ever collected. We do not know the history of all the, Councils. In
some it appears that dues of 25¢ per month were levied. But there
can be no doubt that in the scheme of the Councils as a whole the
respondent was the active initiator and the continuous prop.
Once having launched the Departmental Councils or enough of
them to serve as models the respondent has continued to care for and
foster them. It assists in maintaining a meeting hall in a building
in Portsmouth. It permits them the use of its bulletin boards, at the
same time denying the use of these bulletin boards to the Union.
Foremen bring pressure on the men to join the Departmental Coun-
cils. William Patton, for example, after being hired, was asked by
his foreman to join the Council so as to make "it 100% for the Com-
pany." Patton replied that he did not wish to. "Well", said the
foreman. "you will sign it if you work." At the end of his first week,
Patton was told that when he was needed again, Lewis (the fore-
man) would call him. Lewis has never called him. We find that the
respondent discriminated against William Patton in regard to hire
and tenure of employment in order to encourage membership in a
Departmental Council. Men were not only urged to attend, but
threatened with consequences if they did not attend Departmental'
Council meetings. On one occasion the mill was stopped to make it
possible for everyone to be present at such a meeting. Company
officials appear at these meetings lauding the Councils, and suggesting
their antagonism to the Amalgamated Lodges.
That the respondent was and is the motive force activating the
whole 'structure is made clear by the founding of the General Coun-
cil in May or June of 1935. When the Departmental Councils were
being formed, the respondent had suggested in a letter to one of them
that there be formed a general council of delegates from all the De-
partmental Councils to handle matters of plant-wide concern. This
suggestion had not met with favor. After the Steel Labor Board in
1935 ordered an election in the plant, the respondent, apparently,
revived the idea. To head this General Council, the respondent had
in mind an employee, Earl H. Kalb, the president of the Electrical
Department Council, who was, in fact, elected president-chairman of
the General Council.
The General Council is composed of the presidents of the Depart-
mental Councils'. Its by-laws provide that the respondent shall pay
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 709
each year to the General Council 50¢ for every employee in the plant
eligible to vote, whether he belongs to a Council, to one of the Amal-
gamated Lodges, or to no labor organization at all. The first payment
of $2,500 was made at the end of June, 1935. The by-laws provide
also that the members of the Council shall be paid by the respondent
for all time spent on Council business whether or not in negotiation
with the respondent; this, since August, 1935, has amounted to a flat
monthly payment of $10 per councilman regardless of work time lost.
The money paid into the Council's treasury is controlled by a finance
committee which may use and has used the funds for General Council
or Departmental Council expenses. The Council holds meetings prior
to regular conference with the respondent; elects its officers; and has
power to amend its by-laws, except that the respondent has stated that
"if there should be any radical change in the Plan by which it should
become not fairly representative of the whole body of our employees,
we may have to terminate our obligations as to payments to be made
to representatives or for expenses, unless such charges are submitted
to us and our consent obtained." Edmund M. Toland, the attorney
who appeared at the hearing on behalf of the Councils, has given them
continuous legal service ,at least since the formation of the General
Council. He it was who transmitted to the respondent the by-laws
and constitution of the General Council. Yet Mr. Toland has never
rendered a bill for services or made any arrangements for payment
with the General Council. We conclude that he has been retained and
is paid by the respondent for his work in this connection.
We, are convinced that the respondent initiated the formation of the
Departmental Councils and the General Council, and that by means of
financial support, by favoritism and subtle devices of^ coercion is sus-
taining the life of those organizations. It is true that in form they are
independent and that the employees may on their own initiative
espouse and join such organizations. But from the beginning em-
ployee initiative with respect to the organization and perpetuation of
the Councils-even assuming any existed-has been determined by
fear of the respondent. The power of an employer over the economic
life of an employee is felt intensely and directly; and in the case of a
company, which like the Wheeling Steel Corporation has a great num-
ber of plants-some idle, some running below, capacity-this power
is enormously increased. The employee is sensitive to each subtle ex-
pression of hostility upon the part of one whose goodwill is so vital
to him, whose power is so unlimited, whose action is so beyond appeal.
Prior to the organization of the Councils, the respondent had em-
phatically' declared its antagonism to the Amalgamated. Subse-
quently, it had let it be understood that the continued operation of the
plant depended upon the inauguration of acceptable labor organiza-
710 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tions, ,which it itself started and in considerable measure supported
by money and by favoritism . As a result , the Councils in the minds
of the employees are indissolubly linked with the respondent's will
and desire.
Simply to order the respondent to cease supporting and interfering
with the Councils would not set free the employee 's impulse to seek
the organization which would most effectively represent him. We
cannot completely eliminate the force which the respondent 's power
exerts upon the employee . But the Councils will, if permitted to con-
tinue as representatives , provide the respondent with a device by
which its power may now be made effective unobtrusively , almost
without further action on its part. Even though he would not have
freely chosen the Council as an initial proposition , the employee,
once having chosen, may by force of a timorous habit, be held firmly
to his choice . The employee must be released from these unlawful
compulsions . Consequently the respondent must affirmatively with-
draw recognition from the Departmental and General Councils, as
organizations for the purpose of collective bargaining upon behalf
of its employees.
IV. INTERFERENCE WITH UNION ACTIVITY AND DISCRIMINATION
The respondent in organizing and supporting a labor organization
has interfered with the rights of its employees . But it has gone
further. Its general manager, its superintendents , its foremen con-
sistently and continuously have shown the hostility of the respondent
to the Amalgamated Association and the Lodges. A superintendent
said that the Amalgamated was "a bunch of high class racketeers."
Foremen have been ordered to prefer Council men to union men; a
foreman who gave a union man a good job was demoted ; Council
men received better wage rates than union men doing equivalent
work; men were told that it was against the rules of the respondent
to join the Amalgamated Lodges and that they must join the De-
partmental Councils. To an official of a Departmental Council, a
general superintendent suggested the wrecking of Lodge head-
quarters. Men active in union organization were warned and threat-
ened with discharge . Indeed, as has been found above , the respond-
ent warned the men when affiliation with the American Federation
of Labor was first suggested that it was absolutely against such an
idea. The Amalgamated nevertheless having gained many adherents,
the respondent set on foot rival organizations ; it let it be felt that
membership in these organizations was a test of "loyalty."
We find that the respondent has interfered with , restrained and
coerced its employees in the exercise of the right to self-organization,.
to form, join , or assist labor organizations , to bargain collectively
DECISIONS AND ORDERS" ' 711
through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in con-
certed activities, for the purpose of collective bargaining or other
mutual aid or protection, and by discrimination in regard to hire and
tenure of employment and terms and conditions of employment, and
by threats of such discrimination, has encouraged membership in the
Departmental Councils and discouraged membership in the Amalga-
mated Lodges.
In the past, disputes relating to the organizational activities of
labor have seriously disrupted operations in the steel industry. There
was the great steel strike of 1919 in which it is said more than 360,000
employees went out on strike because the steel companies refused to
meet any union representatives whatsoever for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining. Judge Gary of the United States Steel Cor-
poration said at that time that it is "the policy of our corporation
not to deal with union labor leaders." Coming to more recent times
in this industry. in 1934, 9,844 men suffered a loss of 264,810 man-
days of work with consequent serious injury to industry and com-
merce. We find that the aforesaid acts of the respondent tend to
labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow
of commerce.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact the Board makes
the following conclusions of law:
1. N. R. A. Lodge No. 155, Goodwill Lodge No. 157, Rod & Wire
Lodge No. 158, Golden Rule Lodge No. 161, and Service Lodge No.
163, Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers of
North America, are labor organizations, within the meaning of Sec-
tion 2, subdivision (5) of the Act.
2. The Departmental Councils and the General Council are labor
organizations, within the meaning of Section 2, subdivision (5) of the
Act.
3. By its domination and interference with the administration of
the Departmental Councils and the General Council and by contribut-
ing financial and other support thereto, the respondent has engaged
in and is engaging in unfair labor practices, within the meaning of
Section 8, subdivision (2).
4. By its discharge of William Patton for the reason that he
refused to join a Departmental Council, the respondent did discrim-
inate in regard to hire and tenure of employment to encourage mem-
bership in a. labor organization, and by said act did engage in and is
engaging in unfair labor practices, within the meaning of Section 8,
subdivision (3) of said Act.
97571-36-vol 1- 46
712 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
5. By discriminating in regard to hire and tenure of employment
and terms and conditions of employment, and by threats of such dis-
crimination, the respondent did encourage membership in the Depart-
mental Councils, and did discourage membership in the Amalga-
mated Lodges, and by all said acts and each of them, did engage in
and is thereby engaging in unfair labor practices, within the meaning
of Section 8, subdivision (3) of said Act.
6. By all of the acts set forth in these conclusions of law, the re-
spondent has interfered with, restrained and coerced its employees
in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act, and
has engaged in and is engaging in unfair labor practices, within the
meaning of Section 8, subdivision (1) of the Act.
7. The unfair labor practices in which the respondent has engaged
and is engaging are unfair labor practices affecting commerce, within
the meaning of Section 2, subdivisions (6) and (7) of the Act.
ORDER
On the basis of the findings and conclusions of law, and pursuant
to Section 10, subdivision (c) of the National Labor Relations Act,
the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the respond=
ent, Wheeling Steel Corporation, and its officers and agents, shall:
1. Cease and desist from in any manner interfering with, restrain-
ing or coercing its 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 concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining
or other mutual aid or protection, as guaranteed in Section 7 of the
National Labor Relations Act;
2. Cease and desist from encouraging membership in the Depart-
mental Councils or any other labor organization of its employees, or
from discouraging membership in the Amalgamated Lodges or any
Qther.labor organization of its employees, by discrimination in re-
gard' to hire or tenure of employment or any term or condition of
employment, or by threats of such discrimination;
3. Cease and desist from in any manner dominating or interfering
with the administration of the Departmental Councils or General
Council, or any other labor organization of its employees, and from
contributing financial or other support to such Councils or any other
labor organization of its employees, except that nothing in this para-
graph shall prohibit the respondent from permitting its employees
to confer with it during working hours without loss of time or pay;
4. Take the following affirmative action, which the Board finds will
effectuate the policies of the Act:
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 713
(a) Offer to William Patton immediate and full reinstatement, to
his former position without prejudice to the rights and privileges
previously enjoyed;
(b) Make whole said William Patton for any loss of pay he has
suffered by reason of his discharge by payment of a sum of money
equal to that which he would have normally earned as wages during
the period from the date of his' discharge to the date ,of such offer
of reinstatement, less any amounts earned by him during such period ;
(c) Withdraw all recognition from the Departmental Councils and
the General Council, as representative of its employees, for the pur-
pose of dealing with the respondent concerning grievances, labor dis-
putes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of
work;
(d) Post notices in conspicuous places in each of the yards and
shops of the Portsmouth Plant, stating (1) that the Departmental
Councils and General Council are so disestablished, and that the
respondent will refrain from any recognition thereof; (2) that the
respondent will cease and desist in the manner aforesaid; and (3)
that such notices will remain posted for a period of at least thirty
(30) consecutive days from the date of posting.