The Columbus Bolt Works Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 28, 1945

62 N.L.R.B. 978 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of THE COLUMBUS BOLT WORKS COMPANY and INTER-
NATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE , AIRCRAFT & AGRICULTURAL
IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO
Case No. 9-R-1739.-Decided June 28, 1945
Messrs. J. M. Rankin, Webb I. Vorys,'and W. Ray Speer, of Columbus.
Ohio, for the Company.
Mr. Max W. Johnstone, of Akron, Ohio, and Messrs. Waldo Snearv
and James Desmond, of Columbus, Ohio, for the UAW.
Messrs. Daniel E. Bevis and Perry Williams, of Columbus, Ohio, for
the Independent.
Messrs. J. G. Meiner and W. T. Lynch, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Die
Sinkers. -
Miss Christine Walker, of Columbus, Ohio, for the Office Workers
Mr. A. Sumner Lawrence, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Union, United Automobile,
Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America, CIO, herein
called the UAW, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen
concerning the representation of employees of The Columbus Bolt Works
Company, Columbus, Ohio, herein called the Company, the National Labor
Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before James A. Shaw, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Colum-
bus, Ohio, on April 20 and 21, 1945. The Company, the UAW, The
American Bolt Workers of Columbus, Independent Union, herein called
the Independent, United Office and Professional Workers of America,
CIO, herein called the Office Workers,' and The Columbus Die Sinkers
1 The Office Workers' representative stated at the hearing that it did not desire to participate in
an election and that its only purpose in intervening was to put the Company on notice that it was
beginning to organize the Company's clerical employees both in the main office and in the produc-
tion department.
62 N L R B, No. 125.
978
THE COLUMBUS BOLT WORKS COMPANY 979
Lodge No. 290 of the International Die Sinkers Conference, herein called
the Die Sinkers, appeared and participated. All parties 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
Subsequent to the hearing, the parties executed two successive stipulations
for the correction of certain errors in the transcript of testimony taken at
the hearing. The stipulations are hereby approved and made a part of the
record in the present proceeding. All parties were afforded 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
The Columbus Bolt Works Company, an Ohio corporation, having its
principal place of business in Columbus, Ohio, is engaged in the manufac-
ture of bolts, nuts, rods and drop forging. During the year 1944, the Com-
pany purchased raw materials valued in excess of $1,500,000, of which
approximately 75 percent was shipped from points outside the State of
Ohio. During the same period, the Company produced and sold finished
products valued in excess of $7,500,000, of which approximately 75 per-
cent was shipped to points outside the State of Ohio
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning
of the National Labor Relations Act.
IT. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Imple-
ment Workers of America, and United Office and Professional Workers of
America, both affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, are
labor organizations admitting to membership employees of the Company
The Columbus Die Sinkers Lodge No. 290 of the International Die
Sinkers Conference is a labor organization admitting to membership em-
ployees of the Company.
The American Bolt Workers of Columbus, Independent Union, unaffili-
ated, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of thr
Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On February 8 and 13, 1945, respectively, the UAW addressed letters
to the Company claiming majority representation and requesting recogni-
tion as the bargaining representative of the Company's employees The
Company refused to grant the UAW's requests for recognition.
980 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Independent contends that the present proceeding is barred by
reason of an existing contract between the Independent and the Company
covering the employees herein concerned, which was automatically re-
newed as of April 1, 1945. However, since it appears that the petition in
the instant case was filed prior to the automatic renewal date of the contract,
we find that the contract is not a bar to a present determination of rep-
resentatives!
The statement of a Field Examiner, introduced in evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the UAW and the Die Sinkers each represents a sub-
stantial number of employees in the unit which each claims to be appro-
priate.'
We find that questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning the
representation of employees of the Company within the meaning of Section
9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the'Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT; THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The UAW seeks a unit of production and maintenance employees, ex-
cluding, among others," the craft die sinking employees in Department 15,
known as the die sinking department. The Die Sinkers, in harmony with
the UAW, seeks a craft unit coextensive with the die sinking department.
The Company and the Independent, which is the certified bargaining rep-
resentative for a production and maintenance unit including employees of
the die sinking department, oppose the creation of a separate unit for die
sinkers upon the ground that the history of collective bargaining, together
with a prior Board determination involving the employees herein con-
cerned,' has established the inappropriateness of a die sinkers' unit apart
from the production and maintenance employees. In addition to the issue
concerning the appropriateness of a die sinkers' unit, the UAW, in opposi-
tion to the Independent, would exclude plant clerks and shop production
time clerks from the production and maintenance group.
With respect to the issue regarding a separate unit for die sinkers as
See Matter of Aa-,Uac Products Coi p , 60 N L R B 1463
:'The Field Examiner reported that the UAW had submitted 390 authorization cards dafed
between February 1942 and February 1945, including 18 of unknown date, of which 321 bore
Dames which were found on the pay roll of April 19, 1945, containing the names of 972 employees
in the unit claimed appropriate by the UAW; and that the Die Sinkers had submitted 27 applica-
tions for membership dated, with the excepteon of 1 card bearing the date of February 18, 1940,
between April 26, 1943 and March 1945 , including three dated in 1945 , of which 26 bore names
which were found on the said pay roll containing the names of 40 employees within the unit claimed
appropriate by the Die Sinkers
The Field Examiner further reported that the Independent presented no cards but stands on its
contract hereinabove mentioned as proof of its interest in the present proceeding
4 The UAW would also exclude supeivisory employees, plant protection employees, office clerical
employees , and plant clerks.
5 See Matter of The Colum bus Bolt Works Company, 56 N L. R. B 1517, wheiem the Board
on June 17, 1944, dismissed an earlier petition of the Die Sinkers who sought a separate unit of
the sinking employees.
THE COLUMBUS BOLT \VORKS COMPANY . 981
affected by the Company's history of collective bargaining, the record
reveals that in 1939, prior to the advent of the Independent among the
Company's employees, and before the establishment in 1942 of the pro-
duction and maintenance unit as the result of a consent election agreement
between the UAW, the Independent and the Company, a representative of
the Die Sinkers' International engaged in organizational activity, acquired
members among the die sinking employees, and thereafter sought recogni-
tion from the Company on their behalf as a separate unit. Moreover, it is
evident that, while prior to 1943 some of the die sinking employees became
members of and cooperated with the Independent in the absence of a labor
organization of their own craft among the Company's employees, the die
sinking employees earnestly attempted during this period to maintain their
identity as a group e The record also discloses that, since 1943, upon the
-organization of the Die Sinkers, the die sinking employees have, to a large
extent, become its members. Furthermore, despite the 1944 Decision of the
Board dismissing the Die Sinkers' petition,' this organization has remained
active at the Company's plant and has apparently retained the loyalty of the
die sinkers' group. Since it appears that the die sinkers have in numerous
instances not only displayed evidence of group consciousness, but have also
sought separate representation both prior and subsequent to the advent
of the Independent and the establishment of the broader unit,8 we are of
the opinion that the die sinkers have not so far acquiesced in the plant-wide
collective bargaining conducted by he Company and the Independent as
to lose their identity as a craft group apart from the production and main-
tenance employees. In addition, the record reveals that the Independent
has for the past year made no'effort to provide representation for die
6 The record indicates that, although the die sinking employees at certain times during this period
largely withdrew as formal members of the Die Sinkers ' International due to the necessity of
accepting the Independent as their bargaining representative under the agreement between the
Company and the Independent , the die sinking employees nevertheless retained their interest in the
Die Sinkers ' International and subsequently requested that the latter reorganve them for the
purpose of obtaining separate representation . In furtherance of this object , it appears from the
record in the former proceeding that in October 1943, a majority of the employees in the die
sinking department signed a letter addressed to the Independent requesting that they be released
from membership , which request was refused by the Independent.-
T The Board found as the basis for its dismissal of the Die Sinkers ' petition for a separate unit
in the prior proceeding that "the die sinkers have acquiesced and participated in 3 years of collec.
tive bargaining conducted by the Independent on a plant-wide basis ." The Board on such occasion
did not have before it for consideration the fact, as shown by the present record , that the Die
Sinkers' International had acquired members among the die sinking employees in -1939 and had
during the same year requested recognition from the Company as their bargaining representative
8 Aside from the attempts to secure representation in 1939, 1943 , and 1944, the Die Sinkers has,
as recently as March 2, 1945, requested that the Company recognize it as the exclusive bargaining
representative for the die sinking employees of the Company . In addition thereto , it appears that
die sinking employees in the classification of die sinkers have, unlike other employees of the
Company, been separately represented by the Independent with respect to wage negotiations, and
were, as the result of a separate wage increase secured in March of 1943, excluded from the general
wage increase effective under the job evaluation plan negotiated by the Independent and approved
by the National War Labor Board in May of 1944 subsequent to the hearing in the prior proceeding
982 . 1GCISD)Ns ON NATIONAL LABO-R RELATIONS BOARD
sinkers' and apparently has few, if any, members among them at the present
time." -
In view of the foregoing, we are of the opinion that our prior finding of
inappropriateness with respect to a separate unit for die sinkers, is no
longer warranted." Accordingly, we find that the die sinking craft employ-
ees may constitute a separate bargaining unit, orbe merged in a single unit
of production and maintenance employees We shall, therefore, make no
present determination of the appropriate unit or units as affecting the die
sinking craft employees hereinabove referred to, but shall reserve such
finding pending the result of the separate elections which we shall herein-
after direct among the die sinking employees and the remaining production
and maintenance employees. Upon the results of the elections will depend
in part the scope of the bargaining unit or units.
There remains for consideration the question as to the inclusion or
exclusion of plant clerks' and shop production time clerks from the pro-
duction and maintenance group. The UAW seeks to exclude the foregoing
plant clerical employees since they are now being organized by the Office
Workers, an affiliate of the CIO 13 Such plant clericals have been included
under the contracts of collective bargaining between the Company and the
Independent. While we have excluded plant clerical employees from a
company-wide unit where such clerical employees were in process of organ-
ization by an office workers' union having the same affiliation as the peti-
tioner," in such instances the plant clerical employees had not, as here,
been included in a broader production and maintenance unit under prior
collective bargaining agreements. In situations similar to the one disclosed
in the present proceeding, it has been our 'usual practice not to disturb the
contract unit established as the result of collective bargaining, in the
absence of any compelling circumstances warranting a departure there-
from.1' Accordingly, we shall adhere to the contract unit and include plant
clerks together with the shop production time clerks in the residual group
of production and maintenance employees.
O The president of the Independent testified that the Independent has no shop steward or com-
mitteeman in the die sinking department to handle grievances, aithough such facilities for repre-
sentation are maintained in all other departments of the plant
10 In addition to the cards hereinabove referred to, a witness for the Die Sinkers testified that
the Die Sinkers represented 27 out of 31 craft employees presently employed, in the die sinking
department. The Independent presented no evidence , other than its contract , that it has any present
representation among the die sinking employees
11 See Matter of General Electric Company, Lynn River Works and Everett Plant, 58 N L. R. B
57, see also Matte, of Moore Drop Foigisig Company, 60 N. L R B 494; Matter of Revere Copper
and Brass, Incorpoiated, 61 N L R B 392
12 Plant pay-roll employees, who constitute a separate classification apart from plant clerks and
who were excluded under the contracts between the Company and the Independent, are concerned
with preparing the preliminary plant pay roll for subsequent revision and completion at the main
office in the accounting division
11 See footnote 1.
14 See Matter of P L. Brandeis & Sons Co , 50 N. L R B. 325 at 328
15 See Matter of Petersen & Lytle, 60 N L R. B. 1070
THE COLUMBUS BOLT WORKS COMPANY 983
As previously indicated , we shall, at this time, make no final determina-
tion with respect to the appropriate unit or units pending the outcome of
elections among employees of the Company in each of the voting groups
set forth below :
1. All employees of the Company working on dies or parts of dies used
in the manufacture or completion of drop forgings , including both die
sinkers and apprentice die sinkers, but excluding all laborers, truckers,
janitors, machinery repairmen , millwrights, jig and fixture repairmen, and
all employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recom-
mend such action ;
2. All remaining production and maintenance employees of the Com-
pany including plant clerks, shop production time clerks, stock chasers,
order clerks, and shipping department employees, but excluding personnel
department employees, main office employees, time-study employees, plant
pay-roll employees, foremen, assistant foremen, plant guards, and all em-
ployees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise
effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such
action.
We shall direct that the questions concerning representation which have
arisen be resolved by elections among the employees in the two groups
who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the
date of the Direction of Elections herein, subject to the limitations set forth
in the Direction.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Laboi
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act,
and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board
Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representatives
for the purposes of collective bargaining with The Columbus Bolt Works
Company, Columbus, Ohio, elections by secret ballot shall be conducted as
early as possible but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this
Direction under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for
the Ninth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor
Relations Board and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said
Rules and Regulations among the following groups of employees of the
Company who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately pre-
ceding the (late of this Direction, including employees who did not work
during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tem-
porarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United
984 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
States who present themselves in person at the polls, but excluding any
who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired
or reinstated prior to the date of the elections :
1. All employees in 'the die sinkers' group described in Section IV,
above, to determine whether they desire to be represented by The Colum-
bus Die Sinkers Lodge No. 290 of the International Die Sinkers Confer-
ence, or by The American Bolt Workers of Columbus, Independent Union,
for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither;
2. All remaining production and maintenance employees of the Com-
pany in the residual production and maintenance group described in
Section IV, above, to determine whether they desire to be represented by
International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Imple-
ment Workers of America, CIO, or by The American Bolt Workers of
Columbus, Independent Union, for the purposes of, collective bargaining,
or by neither.