Stant Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 17, 1951

93 N.L.R.B. 1519 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

STANT MANUFACTURING COMPANY 1519
firemen, loom fixer instructors, mechanics, machinists, head over-
haulers, color grader, head grader and other graders, card room com-
bination man, section men, machinery movers, and loomfixers.
Exclusions: Office clericals, general payroll men, payroll clerks,
production statistics man, accounts payable clerk, supply clerk typist,
switchboard operator, general typists, timekeeper, head designer, as-
sistant designer, costs and standards men, laboratory technician, cloth
salesgirl, office janitor, gatemen, head slasher tenders, secretary to gen-
eral manager, personnel clerks, standards typists, raw material and
inventory supervisor, paymaster, waste control man, personnel super-
visor, assistant personnel supervisor, overseers, shift foremen (second
hands), master mechanics, warehouse supervisor, machinery mover
superintendent, production and standards supervisor, supply super-
visor, planning supervisor, guards, professional employees, and other
supervisors as defined in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
STANT MANUFACTURING COMPANY and LOCAL 70, METAL POLISHERS,
BUFFERS, PLATERS & HELPERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, A. F. L.,
PETITIONER
STANT MANUFACTURING COMPANY and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF
LABOR, PETITIONER . Cases Nos. 35-RC-413 and 35-RC-454. April
17, 1951
Decision and Direction of Elections
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before William A. McGowan,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
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.
4. The appropriate unit :
The Employer is engaged in the manufacture of automobile parts
and accessories, and employs approximately 550 employees. From
93 NLRB No. 253.
1520 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
1936 to 1946, Stant Independent Employees Association, herein called
the Independent, represented all the production and maintenance em-
ployees in the Employer's plant. In 1946, pursuant to a consent
election, the Board certified Local 70, Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers
Helpers International Union, A. F. L., hereinafter called the Metal
Polishers, as the bargaining agent for the approximately 122 em-
ployees in the coloring, buffing, and plating departments? The Metal
Polishers now seeks to add to this unit the 8 rack and 9 solution makers
employed by the Employer. United Automobile, Aircraft and Agri-
cultural Implement Workers of America, C. I. 0., hereinafter called
the UAW, the Independent, and the Employer contend that the em-
ployees now sought by the Petitioner should remain in the production
and maintenance unit in which they have been included, and for which
the Independent and the UAW seek to be certified. The American
Federation of Labor, hereinafter called the A. F. of L., also seeks to
represent the employees of the Employer on a production and mainte-
nance basis, but has no objection to the severance of the employees
sought herein by the Metal Polishers. All parties agree that the
employees already represented by the Metal Polishers should be ex-
cluded from the production and maintenance unit, as well as all
guards, professional employees, and supervisors.
The rack makers make and repair racks on which the parts that
are to be plated are placed prior to their immersion in the plating
solution. The solution makers prepare the plating solution. The
plating department does the actual plating of the parts, and the polish-
ing and coloring departments polish and color the plated parts. One
supervisor is in charge of rack and solution making and also in over-
all charge of the various plating operations, which have different
direct supervisors for various types of plating. One supervisor
supervises both the polishing and coloring departments. The rack
and solution makers work out of separate departments which are lo-
cated close to the plating department. Most of the solution makers
work at night when the plating department is not in operation, but
at least one of them is continuously present in the plating department
during the plating operations to see that the plating solutions are
properly maintained.
With the exception of one rack making job, rack and solution making
require little skill and training. The rack and solution men receive
the same base pay as the polishers and slightly more than the platers,
but receive less total pay than either of these groups of employees,
as they are entitled to a direct production bonus which the rack and
solution men do not get. The rack and solution men do receive an
indirect production bonus, as do the employees in various other de-
' The record shows that there are 54 employees in the plating department , and 68 In the
polishing department , but does not give the number in the coloring department.
STANT MANUFACTURING COMPANY 1521
partments of the Employer who perform a maintenance type of func-
tion. Production departments receive direct production bonuses.
Prior to the advent of the Metal Polishers , seniority was plant-wide,
and transfers between the various departments of the Employer were
common. At present the Employer tries to avoid transfers of em-
ployees between the groups represented by the Independent and by
the Metal Polishers. Seniority is acquired in each group, and em-
ployees transferring from a department represented by the Inde-
pendent to a department represented by the Metal Polishers are not
given credit for any seniority they have acquired while working for
the Employer as Independent members. The Independent, however,
gives seniority credit for time worked while a member of the Metal
Polishers.
It appears from the foregoing that the rack and solution makers are
a fringe of the craft unit now represented by the Metal Polishers and
may appropriately be added to that unit. On the other hand, in view
of their long bargaining history as part of the production and main-
tenance unit and their common interests with employees in that group,
the rack u,nd solution makers may also appropriately continue to be
included in the production and maintenance unit. We shall, there-
fore, make no final unit determination at this time, but shall first
ascertain the desires of the employees herein involved as expressed
in the elections hereinafter directed.
Accordingly, we shall direct elections among the employees of
the Employer at its Connersville, Indiana, plant, in the following
voting groups, excluding from each group all guards, professional
employees , and supervisors :
1. All rack and solution makers.
2. All production and maintenance employees, excluding all office
and clerical employees, timekeepers, metal polishers, buffers, platers,
and helpers.
If a majority of the employees in voting group 1 vote for the Metal
Polishers, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to become
part of the unit now represented by the Metal Polishers. If they do
not elect the Metal Polishers as their collective bargaining agent, they
will be taken to have indicated a desire to remain part of the produc-
tion and maintenance unit, and their ballots will be counted together
with those cast by the employees in voting group 2 to determine which,
if any, of the unions seeking such unit shall represent them for the
purposes of collective bargaining.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this
volume.]
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Elections.
943732-51-97
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. 32-RC-309. April 17,1051
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 inailed 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.,,
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.