Marquette Cement Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 17, 1951

93 N.L.R.B. 1522 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

1522 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
MARQUETTE CEMENT MANUFACTURING COMPANY and UNITED CEMENT,
LIME AND GYPSUM WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, AF OF L, PETI-
TIONER . Case No. 33-RC--309. April 17, 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 Anthony J. Sabella,
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 em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c)
(1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
The Employer and the Intervenor, United Stone and Allied Prod-
ucts Workers of America, CIO, contend that the contract between the
Employer and Local No. 69 of the Intervenor, covering the period
June 1, 1950, to June 1, 1952, is a bar to this proceeding. The Peti-
tioner contends that Local No. 69 is no longer in existence.
On November 16, 1950, at a regular meeting of Local No. 69, the
38 officers and members present voted unanimously to disaffiliate from
the Intervenor and to affiliate with the Petitioner. On December 4,
1950, pursuant to resolutions adopted at meetings on November 16 and
November 22, 1950, a letter signed by 53 former officers and members
of Local No. 69 was mailed to the international secretary of the Inter-
venor advising that they had resigned their membership in Local No.
69. On the same day, a letter was mailed to the Employer which was
similarly signed, notifying the Employer to the same effect, and also
directing the Employer to discontinue the checkoff of union dues.l
In accordance with a resolution adopted at a meeting on December 15,
1950,2 the funds and most of the books of Local No. 69 were turned
over to the Intervenor. On January 22, 1951, the same individuals
who had served as officers of Local No. 69 were elected to identical
offices in Local 312 of the Petitioner. Local 312 holds meetings twice
I The letters were dated November 25, 1950.
2 On December 15, 1950, the employees requested a wage increase from the Employer.
Because of the question concerning representation involved herein, this request was
made by a petition individually signed by 53 employees.
93 NLRB No. 254.
RADIO OFFICERS' UNION OF COMMERCIAL TELEGRAPHERS UNION 1523
a month. No meetings of Local No. 69 have been held since the forma-
tion of Local 312.
It does not appear that Local No. 69 contained any members who
were not employees of the Employer at the plant herein involved.
There are approximately 60 employees in the plant, of whom approxi-
mately 50 are in the agreed appropriate unit. As previously noted,
38 members voted at the meeting of November 16, 1950, to disaffiliate
from the Intervenor and to affiliate with the Petitioner. We conclude,
therefore, that a majority of the members of Local No. 69 voted for
such action. Furthermore, it appears that there are at present no
officers or members of Local No. 69 and that all employees in the plant
are members of the Petitioner.
In the light of the foregoing events, and on the basis of the entire
record, we find that the identity of the bargaining representative of
the Employer's employees has become a matter of such confusion that
the relationship between the Employer and the contracting Union
can no longer be said to promote stability in industrial relations. As
the Board recently stated,' to treat the contract as a bar in such cir-
cumstances would seriously impede rather than encourage the prac-
tice of collective bargaining which the Act was designed to foster and
protect. We are of the opinion, therefore, that the conflicting claims
to representation of the two labor organizations involved can, best be
resolved by an election.4
4. In accordance with the agreement of the parties, we find that all
production and maintenance employees of the Employer at its Mem-
phis, Tennessee, sand and gravel plant, excluding office and clerical
employees, technical engineers, guards, and supervisors, constitute a
unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
a Boston Ifachtne Works Company, 89 NLRB 59.
4 Boston Machine Works Company, supra. The Intervenor's motion to dismiss the pro-
ceeding is hereby denied.
THE RADIO OFFICERS' UNION OF THE COMMERCIAL TELEGRAPHERS
UNION, AFL and WILLARD CHRISTIAN FOWLER. Case No. 2-CB-91:
April 18, 1951
Decision and Order
On July 24, 1950, Trial Examiner William F. Scharnikow issued
his Intermediate Report in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that
93 NLRB No. 249.