New York Wire Cloth Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 17, 1944

54 N.L.R.B. 1418 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of NEW YORK WIRE CLOTH COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, DISTRICT No. 98, A. F. L.
Case No. 4-R-1302.-Decided February 17, 19.44
Messrs. Fisher, Ports & May, by Mr. Ralph F. Fisher, of York, Pa.,
for the Company.
Mr. R. Richard Ebersole, of York, Pa., for the IAM.
Mr. Arthur F. Johnston., of York, Pa., for the Steelworkers.
Mr. David V. Easton, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Association of Machin-
ists, District No. 98,' A. F. L., herein called the IAM, alleging that
a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa-
tion of employees of 'New York Wire Cloth Company, York, Pennsyl-
vania, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations
Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before
Eugene M. Purver, Trial Examiner. , Said hearing was held at York,
Pennsylvania, on January 20, 1944. The -Company, the IAM, and
United Steelworkers of America, District No. 11, affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, herein called the Steelworkers,
appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard,
to examine and cross -examine witnesses , and to introduce evidence
bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the
hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All
parties were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
New York Wire Cloth Company, a Delaware corporation, is en-
gaged in the manufacture of insect screen cloth. For this purpose
it operates a single plant located at York, Pennsylvania, which is
' At the hearing , the Trial Examiner , after adducing evidence thereon, ordered the
amendment of all papers in the instant proceeding to reflect the district involved.
54 N. L. R. B, No. 220
1418
NEW YORK WIRE CLOTH COMPANY 1419
comprised of several connected buildings in and about the vicinity
of East Market Street and an additional building used for its wire
drawing operations located in the same city but approximately three-
fourths of a mile from the other buildings. All steel and plastics
used in the operations of the Company are imported from points out-
side the State of Pennsylvania. During the past fiscal year the value
of raw materials used by the Company and obtained from points out-
side the State of Pennsylvania was in excess of $100,000; and within
the same period, the Company produced 65,595,000 square feet of
screen cloth valued at $1,616,372.26, of which 95 percent was shipped
to points outside the State of Pennsylvania.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
IT. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Association of Machinists, District No. 98, is a labor
organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admit-
ting to membership employees of the Company,
United Steelworkers of America, District No. 11, is a labor organi-
zation affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admit-
ting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE UNIT
The IAM, in its petition, sought to represent a unit comprised of all
production and maintenance employees of the Company, excluding
salaried, clerical, and supervisory employees ; however, at the hearing,
'it contended that its petition included therein only employees engaged
at the wire drawing plant of the Company, which as hereinbefore in-
dicated, is physically separated from the Company's other operations.
Both the Company and the Steelworkers urge that a unit comprised
solely of the wire drawing plant is inappropriate, contending that all
production, and maintenance employees of the Company, both in the
main plant and the wire drawing plant comprise the proper unit. No
disagreement exists among the parties with respect to specific composi-
tion of the unit.
The Company is engaged solely in the manufacture of protective
screen cloth. Up until approximately 10 years ago, it obtained the
drawn wire used in its manufacturing from outside sources; at that
time, however, it set up its own wire drawing plant. Since no space
was available within the immediate vicinity of its operations, the Com-
pany was forced to take space at a considerable distance therefrom.
All products of the wire drawing plant are destined for use in the main
plant,2 and said plant is considered by the Company as merely a single
2 The record reveals two isolated instances wherein products of the wire drawing plant
were utilized by parties other than the Company herein. It further shows, however, that
1420 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
department performing one of the operations necessary in the manu-
facture of its product. The general policies of the Company with
respect to seniority, vacations, and other conditions of employment
uniformly affect all its employees, including those engaged at the wire
drawing plant. All work in connection with accounting, auditing,
billing, pay rolls, and purchasing, is performed at the main plant for
the Company as a single entity. Supervision of both the main plant
and the wire drawing plant is centralized in the hands of a general
superintendent and an assistant general superintendent; the latter,
although performing many of his duties in the wire drawing plhhnt, has
responsibilities extending to all operations of the Company. All
maintenance work, with few exceptions, is centered in the main plant,
wherein most of the maintenance employees are stationed. Inter-
changes of personnel between departments in the main plant and the
wire drawing plant are not infrequent, the record indicating that
'within the 3 months preceding the hearing herein approximately one-
fourth of the total employees engaged in the wire drawing plant were
interchanged with employees at the main plant.
The foregoing circumstances indicate the existence of the same func-
tional relationship between the wire drawing employees and the re-
maining employees of the Company as exists between those in any of
the other departments of the Company. - In view of this, we see no
reasonable basis for separating the employees engaged in wire drawing
from the remaining employees of the Company, particularly since one
of the labor organizations involved herein is in the process of organiz-
ing the employees on a company-wide basis. Accordingly, we find that
the unit sought in the petition herein is inappropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining.
IV. THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Since, as indicated in Section III, above, the bargaining unit sought
to besestablished by the petition herein is inappropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining, we find that no question concerning the
representation of employees in an appropriate unit has been raised.
Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition herein.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the findings of fact, the National Labor Relations
Board hereby orders that the petition for investigation and certifica-
tion of employees of New York Wire Cloth Company, York, Pennsyl-
vania, filed by International Association of Machinists, District No.
98, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, be, and it hereby
is, dismissed.
both transactions were surrounded by exceptional circumstances not related to the general
business of the Company.