American Chain and Cable Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 31, 1951

94 N.L.R.B. 1023 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

R-P&C VALVE DIVISION 1023
R-P&C VALVE DIVISION AND READING STEEL CASTING DIVISION OF THE
AMERICAN CHAIN AND CABLE COMPANY, INC. and PATTERN MAKERS
LEAGUE OF NORTH AMERICA, READING ASSOCIATION, A. F . L ., PETI-
TIONER. Case No. 4-R61-1070. May 31, 1951
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 Ramey Donovan,
hearing officer . The hearing officer's rulings made 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 Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case , the Board finds :
1. The Employer 1 is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. On January 20, 1950, the Employer and United Steelworkers
of America , CIO, the Intervenor herein, entered into an agreement
captioned "Insurance and Pension Agreement" with an initial termi-
nation date of December 31, 1951, and with a provision for its con-
tinuance thereafter until October 31, 1954, under certain conditions.
This agreement reinstated the Basic Agreement , a 2-year contract be-
tween the parties entered into on June 14 , 1947,2 and provided that
it should continue in frill force and effect until December 31, 1951.
The instrument also included a wage reopening clause under which
either party might give notice of desire to negotiate wage changes
only on November 1 , 1950. This clause provided in pertinent part
as follows :
Within 30 days after the giving of such-notice the parties shall
meet to negotiate with respect to the matter . .. If the parties
shall not agree with respect to such matter by midnight, Decem-
ber 31 , 1950, either party may thereafter resort to strike or lock-
out, as the case may be ( in support of its position in respect of
such matter ) ; and if such strike or lockout shall occur, the basic
agreement shall terminate at the beginning of such strike or lock-
out; provided , however, that , if and when the parties shall have
reached an agreement with respect to such matter, the basic agree-
i The petition and other formal papers were amended to show the correct name of
the Employer
2 The record does not indicate if the Employer and the Intervenor were under contractual
relations between June 15, 1949, and January 20, 19 ).
94 NLRB No. 149.
1024 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ment shall be reinstated and there shall be added to and incorpo-
rated therein such change as shall have been agreed to with respect
to such matter only, but no others, and the basic agreement, as so
modified shall thereafter continue in effect to midnight of Decem-
ber 31, 1951. Said provision for reinstatement shall continue to
be a continuing obligation in the event the basic agreement is
terminated as above provided.
In accordance with this provision, the Intervenor gave notice to
the Employer of its desire to negotiate with respect to a change in the
rates of pay. The ensuing negotiations were unsuccessful and on
December 31, 1950, the Intervenor called a strike. The Petitioner
made its request to the Employer for recognition on January 27, 1951,
and filed its petition on January 29. The strike was settled on Febru-
ary 19, at which time the Basic Agreement was reinstated in its en-
tirety with certain wage changes.
The Employer takes no position on the contract bar issue. The
Intervenor, however, contends that, by its terms, the January 20, 1950,
agreement is to continue through December 31, 1951, and therefore
precludes a present determination of representatives. The Petitioner
argues, in effect, that its petition was timely filed since the contract
had at that time been terminated.
We find merit in the Petitioner's position. -By reason of the strike
called by the Intervenor on December 31, 1950, the Basic Agreement
was terminated in accordance with its terms as of the date, subject
to being reinstated under certain conditions. And although the Basic
Agreement was thereafter reinstated, the petition was filed during
the interval when there was no effective collective bargaining agree-
ment.' In these circumstances, neither the Basic Agreement, nor the
Basic Agreement as subsequently reinstated, can prevent a current
determination of representatives.'
Accordingly, we find a question affecting commerce exists concern-
ing 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 all wood and metal patternmakers
including pattern checkers, and pattern shop handymen at the Em-
ployer's Reading, Pennsylvania, plant, excluding all other employees,
watchmen, guards, professional employees, and supervisors as defined
3 Clearly the "Insurance and Pension Agreement," apart from the Basic Agreement,
which was still effective during the interval , and covered only pensions and insurance,
was not a collective bargaining agreement effective for bar purposes . Cf. Associated
Transport, Inc, 93 NLRB 1564, Independence Lumber & Manufacturing Company, Inc,
93 NLRB 1353; Texas Telephone Company, 93 NLRB 741; The Laclede Gas Light
Company, 76 NLRB 199; Peoria Wholesale Liquor Distributors Association , et at.,
74 NLRB 208
° Cf Lynchburg Foundry Company, 83 NLRB 415, E L Bruce Company, 74 NLRB
1354 Also of Western Electric Company, Incorporated , 94 NLRB 54.
R-P&C VALVE DIVISION 1025
in the Act. The Intervenor contends that only a comprehensive pro-
duction and maintenance unit, including patternmakers, is appropri-
ate. The Employer takes no position as to the appropriate bargaining
iit.
The pattern shop is located in a separate room adjacent to the
foundry. The foreman and assistant foreman of the pattern shop
have under their supervision approximately 12 patternmakers, 3 pat-
tern checkers, 3 pattern shop handymen, 16 pattern storage men, and,
on occasion, pattern shop laborers.' The patternmakers spend ap-
proximately 95 percent of their time repairing and reheading pat-
terns; the remainder of their time is spent in making new patterns.
This work requires the customary skills of journeymen patternmakers.
Pattern checkers are skilled patternmakers who check the dimensions
of wood and metal patterns against the blueprint specifications, and
ascertain if the constructional features of patterns are suited to the
foundry practice. Although the Employer has no apprenticeship
training program; as such, the duties of the pattern shop handymen
indicate that these employees are, in effect, apprentice patternmakers.
The pattern storage men receive, store, and issue patterns, core boxes,
and accessories related to these items. They also deliver and remove
the above items from the pattern shop, foundry, and pattern storage.
Their duties are not in any way connected with the making or repair-
ing of patterns.
It is clear that the Employer's patternmakers, pattern checkers,
and pattern shop handymen constitute a well-recognized craft group,
such as the Board has frequently held may be represented in a separate
unit notwithstanding their previous inclusion in a broader unit.'
However, we shall make no final unit determination at this time, but
shall first ascertain the desires of the employees as expressed in the
election hereinafter directed.'
Accordingly, we shall direct that an election be held among all
patternmakers, pattern checkers, and pattern shop handymen in the
Employer's pattern shop at the R-P&C Valve Division and Reading
Steel Castings Division plant in Reading, Pennsylvania, excluding
all other employees, guards, watchmen, and supervisors as defined
in the Act. If a majority of these employees select the Petitioner as
5 There were no pattern shop laborers employed at the time of the hearing
6 Union Steel Castings Division of Blaw-Knox Company, 88 NLRB 209; The Westing-
house Air Brake Company, 85 NLRB 1133, Aluminum Company of America, 85 NLRB 915;
and cases cited theiein
7In view of the nature of their duties, we shall exclude the pattern storage men from
the voting group. Union Steel Castings Division of Blaw-Knox Company, supra; The
Westinghouse Air Brake Company, supra; The Buckeye Steel Castings Company, 75
NLRB 982, Dow Chemical Company, Bay City Division, 77 NLRB 328, The Babcock c€
Wilcox C6,niptiiy, 72 NLRB 1256.
953841-52-vol 94-66
1026 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
their bargaining representative, they will be taken to have indicated
their desire to constitute a separate unit.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
CONTINENTAL CARBON, INC. and INTERNATIONAL UNION OF ELECTRICAL,
RADIO AND MACHINE WORKERS, CIO , PETITIONER . Case No.8-RL(i-
1197. June 1, 1951
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 Charles A. Fleming, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made 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 Styles].
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 Employer and the Intervenor assert that their current con-
tract is a bar to this proceeding. The Petitioner denies this assertion
on the ground, among others, that the contract contains an illegal
union-security clause.
The Employer and the Intervenor, which was authorized in June
1948 to enter into a union-security contract, entered into their current
contract on February 27, 1951. This contract contains the following
paragraph concerning union membership :
By agreement of both parties to this agreement it is a condition
of employment that all employees of the employer are required to
join the Union after they have been on the pay-roll thirty (30)
days, and it is a continuing condition of employment that such
employees of the employer shall remain good standing members
of the Union.
i The Employer and the Intervenor , Federal Labor Union, No. 18907 , American Federa-
tion of Labor , contend that the petition should have been dismissed as the Petitioner
did not submit evidence of representation within the 48-hour period specified in the Board's
Statement of Procedure , Sec. 101.16 . We find no merit in this contention as the Board
has repeatedly held that representation evidence is an administrative expedient , not subject
to direct or collateral attack . See Standard Oil Company (Indiana ), 80 NLRB 1275.
94 NLRB No. 148.