The Seagrave Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 19, 1946

69 N.L.R.B. 749 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of THE SEAGRAVE CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL
UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT, AND AGRICULTURAL IM-
PLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO
19, 1946Case No. 9-R-2134.-Decided Jul,
Mr. Allen Pretzman, of Columbus, Ohio, for the Company.
Mr. James Desmond, of Columbus, Ohio, for the CIO.
Mr. D. J. Omer, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for the YAM.
Mr. Bernard Dunau, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Union, United Automo-
bile, Aircraft, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, CIO,
herein called the CIO, alleging that a question affecting commerce
had arisen concerning the representation of employees of The Sea-
grave Corporation, Columbus, Ohio, herein called the Company, the
National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing
upon due notice before Martin Sacks, Trial Examiner. The hearing
was held at Columbus, Ohio, on May 21, 1946. The Company, the
CIO, and the International Association of Machinists, herein called
the IAM, appeared and participated. At the hearing the Trial Ex-
aminer granted the IAM's motion to intervene. 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. All parties were afforded oppor-
tunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Company, a Michigan corporation, is engaged in the business
of manufacturing motorized fire equipment at its sole plant in Colum-
bus, Ohio. The -principal raw materials used are steel and wood.
69 N. L. R. B., No. 89.
749
750 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Company purchases annually raw materials valued in excess of
$750,000, of which more than 50 percent is shipped to the plant from
points outside the State of Ohio. The sales of finished products
annually exceed $750,000 in value, of which more than 70 percent is
shipped from the plant to points outside the State.
The Company admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft, and Agricul-
tural Implement Workers of America is a labor organization, affil-
iated with the Congress of -Industrial Organizations, admitting to
membership employees of the Company.
International Association of Machinists is a labor organization ad-
mitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the CIO as the
exclusive bargaining representative of the Company 's employees un-
til the CIO has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit, as-
serting that the Company currently recognizes the IAM as the exclu-
sive bargaining representative of the Company 's employees.
In accordance with a Decision and Direction of Election issued
by the Board on April 2, 1942 ,1 an election was held among the em-
ployees of the Company which resulted in the certification of the IAM
as exclusive bargaining representative of the Company 's employees
on April 29, 1942. On April 2, 1946, the CIO's request for exclusive
recognition was refused by the Company , and on April 9, 1946, the
CIO's petition in the instant proceeding was docketed. A collective
agreement was entered into between the Company and the IAM on
May 9, 1944, and is currently in existence , but it is not contended by
any of the parties that this contract is a bar to the present proceeding.
We find that a question affecting commerce has 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 parties are in agreement that all the employees of the Com-
pany with the exception of executives, superintendents, plant man-
ager, foremen, assistant foremen, office and clerical employees, engi-
neering department employees, time-study department employees,
fire inspectors, and tool designers, constitute an appropriate unit. The
1 Matter of The Seagrave Corporation, 40 N. L. R. B. 76.
THE SEAGRAVE CORPORATION 751
parties are in disagreement concerning the inclusion of the following
employees whom the CIO and the IAM would include, but whom the
Company would exclude: timekeepers, inspectors, janitors-sweepers
(office-night), gatemen, and watchmen.
Timekeepers: The work of these individuals is the maintenance of
time records from which the wages of employees may be computed by
the pay-roll department to whom they submit their records. The
take-home pay of the employees is increasingly governed by a wage
incentive plan measured in terms of time standards applicable to a
particular operation. The timekeepers maintain the records neces-
sary for calculating the compensation under this plan. Errors by
them will consequently affect the pay of the employees. The time-
keepers are under the supervision of the department in which they
work although the Company expects shortly to transfer them to the
supervision of the pay-roll department. The timekeepers were in-
cluded in the unit previously found apropriate by the Board, and
the IAM has bargained on their behalf since that time without objec-
tion by the Company. They perform tasks, characterized by the
testimony of the plant manager as confidential, for the foremen, plant
manager, and cost department relating to the cost of various items,
presumably as they may be affected by the cost of labor. The precise
scope of this work is not clear, but it is apparently clerical in nature.
The work of these timekeepers is not confidential inasmuch as it is
merely routine in character.2 In view of the history of collective
bargaining in this Company we shall include them in the unit.3
Inspectors: These individuals inspect items as they flow through
the plant in the process of manufacture. Defective workmanship is
reported by them to the foreman in whose department the defect oc-
curred, and results in a decrease in the bonus payable to the affected
employee. The inspectors exercise no supervisory control over the
employees. They are included in the present unit represented by
the IAM. The sole difference between their present work and that
which they performed at the time the IMAM was certified is that they
are. now required to record their findings in a defective labor report.
We shall include them in the appropriate unit.'
Janitors, Sweepers (O fftce-Night) : These individuals clean the
offices of the executives of the Company and of the administrative staff
after the close of business at 4: 30 p. in. They also receive telegrams
2 See Matter of Gould and Eberhardt Co., 66 N . L. R. B. 1326 ; Matter of Chrysler Cor-
poration, 61 N. L . R. B. 949 : Matter of Chrysler Corporation, Plymouth Division, 56
N. L. R. B. 1302 ; Matter of Chrysler Corporation, New Castle Division, 55 N. L. R. B. 1215.
a See Matter of N. L. Koin and D. M. Koin, a partnership d/b/a The Ellis Canning Com-
pany , 67 N. L . R. B. 384 ; Matter of Scintilla Magneto Division , Bendix Aviation Corpora-
tion, 61 N. L. R. B. 520; Matter of Petersen & Lytle, 60 N. L. R. B. 1070.
4 Sc(, Matter of General Cigar Co., Inc.. 64 N. L. R. B. 300; Matter of Chrysler Corpora-
tion Airtemp Division, Indianapolis Plant, 61 N. L. R. B. 953 ; Matter of Ideal Roller
Manufacturing Company, Inc ., 60 N. L . R. B. 1105 ; Matter of Petersen & Lytle, supra.
752 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and telephone calls, transmit after-business hours orders to the serv-
ice department for handling , and receive late shipments . They are
under the immediate supervision of the foreman of the blacksmith
shop. He has little contact with them , and his supervision is a carry-
over from the time that an elderly employee of his department was
transferred to the lighter janitorial duties. The janitors are included
in the present unit on whose behalf the IAM bargains. The Company
contends that the access that these employees have to confidential
materials , sometimes relating to labor relations , which are available
in the offices , renders them confidential employees . The Company
further contends that the nature of their duties makes them more ap-
propriately part of the office force. We do not agree. These employ-
ees do not have access to confidential material relating to labor
relations as an authorized part of their employment. Such unau-
thorized resort as they may make to material still available to them
after ordinary safekeeping by the Company subjects them to appro-
priate disciplinary measures. Their work more nearly corresponds
to that of maintenance employees than office workers. In any event,
there is no persuasive reason to disturb the unit in which these em-
ployees have been represented. We shall include them in the
appropriate unit.'
Gatemen and Watchmen: The Company employs two gatemen and
three watchmen. During the war the Company employed stationary
gatemen, patrolling watchmen, and guards , all of whom were milita-
rized. By consent of the IAM and the Company "plant -protection
employees" were excluded from the unit found appropriate by the
Board. The contract between the IAM and the Company excludes
"guards and watchmen," but there is testimony by the plant manager
that this exclusion does not encompass the gatemen. At the present
time neither the gatemen nor the watchmen are militarized nor depu-
tized, nor do they bear arms. They are under the supervision of the
foreman of the blacksmith shop. The gatemen are posted at or near
the gate. From this vantage point they observe and report to their
immediate supervisor (foreman of the blacksmith shop) or to the
plant manager irregularities or disturbances which may occur in the
neighborhood of their post, including petty theft by employees which
they may detect. They do not, however, have the power to search
or to arrest. They are hourly paid. The watchmen make hourly
tours of the plant and punch the ADT clocks at regular intervals.
They report any untoward incidents to their immediate supervisor
(foreman of the blacksmith shop) or to the plant manager. They
also fire the furnaces in the plant. It is clear that neither the gate-
men nor the watchmen are monitorial in their relation to other em-
See Matter of Armour and Company Soap Works , 63 N. L . R. B. 1083.
THE SEAGRAVE CORPORATION 753
ployees.6 The Company states no reason for excluding these em-
ployees from the unit, and both unions would now include them. The
gatemen appear to have been included in the contract unit, and,
accordingly, we shall include them in the unit.' Since the watchmen
were not included in the unit established under the prior contract, we
shall conduct a separate election among these employees to determine
their desires with respect to the lnatter.8 We shall also conduct an
election among the remainder of the Company's employees subject to
the inclusions and exclusions hereinafter set forth. We shall make
no finding with respect to the appropriate unit or units for employees
of the Company, pending the outcome of the elections.
We shall accordingly direct that separate elections be conducted
among the employees in the separate voting groups described below,
who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding
the date of the Direction of Elections herein, subject to the limitations
and additions set forth in the Direction :
1. All employees of the Company, including timekeepers, inspectors,
janitors-sweepers (office-night), and gatemen, but excluding execu-
tives, superintendents, plant manager, foremen, assistant foremen,
office and clerical employees, engineering department employees, time-
study department employees," fire inspectors, tool designers, and
watchmen, and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire,
promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status
of employees, or effectively recommend such action; and
2. All watchmen, excluding supervisory employees with authority
to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in
the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations--Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives, for the purposes of collective bargaining with The Seagrave
Corporation, Columbus, Ohio, separate 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
See Matter of Kelsey-Hayes Wheel Company, 62 N. L. R. B. 421.
7 See Matter of Inman Mills, 63 N. L. R. B. 198.
9 See Matter of Pittsburgh Equitable Meter Company, 61 N. L. R. B. 880.
" We concur in the agreement of the parties to include in the unit one time-study
department employee, a Mr. Parks, as the union representative in that department.
701592-47--vol. 69--49
754 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article
III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among em-
ployees in the voting groups described in Section IV, above, who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction, including employees who did not work during said
pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid
off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United States
who present themselves in person at the polls, but excluding those
employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have
not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to de-
termine whether they desire to be represented by International Union,
United Automobile, Aircraft, and Agricultural Implement Workers of
America, CIO, or by International Association of Machinists, for the
purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Elections.