Waterways Engineering Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 14, 1951

93 N.L.R.B. 794 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

794 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
WATERWAYS ENGINEERING CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL UNION
OF OPERATING ENGINEERS, LocAL 139, AFL, PETITIONER . Case No.
13-RC-1651. March 14, 1951
Decision and Direction of Election
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Edward T.
Maslanka, 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 National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Members Houston, Reynolds, and
Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in the construction and repair of docks
and bridges and the dredging of rivers and harbors, principally within
the State of Wisconsin. During the preceding 12 months, the Em-
ployer purchased steel, pilings, lumber, sand, gravel, and concrete
costing approximately $100,000, all of which was purchased within
the State of Wisconsin. During the same 12-month period, the Em-
ployer received a total income of approximately $175,000 of which
more than $50,000 was received for services rendered during this
period to concerns with a direct annual outflow of more than $25,000'
Accordingly, we find, contrary to the contention of the Employer, that
it is engaged in commerce and that it would effectuate the policies of
the Act to take jurisdiction in this case.2
2. The labor organization involved claims 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.s
I According to a stipulation of the parties , submitted after the hearing, the Employer
received $9,720 from the Texas Company, $26 ,680 from the Sinclair Refining Co ., Inc , and
$19,000 from the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company , Inc. These amounts represented compen-
sation for dredging work and the construction or repair of docks and bridges for the
foregoing employers.
2 Hollow Tree Lumber Company , 91 NLRB 635.
I In an election conducted on July 26 , 1950, by the Wisconsin Employment Relations
Board pursuant to a petition filed by the Employer , the employees involved herein voted 23
to 7 against the present Petitioner as their bargaining representative . The Employer con-
tends that under Section 9 (c) (3) of the Act the above election is a bar to the present
petition filed on November 1, 1950 . This contention is without merit The statutory
prohibition against more than one representation election in an appropriate unit per year
is directed against elections conducted by this Board only , and is not concerned with
elections conducted by other agencies or persons. Punch Press Repair Corporation, 89
NLRB 614. Nor do we find any merit in the Employer's contention that the results
certified by the Wisconsin Employment Relations Board demonstrate an insufficient show-
ing of interest to warrant further representation proceedings . We have adminis-
tratively determined that the Petitioner presently has a sufficient representative interest,
which was acquired after the date of the State Board election . Trueman Fertilizer
Company, 81 NLRB 72.
93 NLRB No. 128.
UNITED STATES METALS REFINING COMPANY 795
4. We find, in agreement with the parties, that all employees em-
ployed by the Employer in its dredging, construction, and repair work,
excluding executives, office employees, and supervisors as defined in
the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for 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.]
UNITED STATES METALS REFINING COMPANY and JAMES A. POTASH,
PETITIONER . Case No. 4-RD-54. March 14, 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 E. Don Wilson, hear-
ing 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, Reynolds, 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 Petitioner, an employee of the Employer, asserts that the
International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers Local 837,
herein called the Intervenor, is no longer the representative under
Section 9 (a) of the Act of the, employees in the Employer's chemi-
cal laboratory. The Intervenor, a labor organization, is the certified
and currently recognized bargaining representative of the employees
involved.
3. The present contract between the Employer and the Intervenor
was executed on November 1, 1950, and contains provisions applicable
to the employees in the chemical laboratory. The Intervenor con-
tends that the foregoing contract is a bar to an election at this time.
We find no merit in this contention. As the petition was filed before
the execution of the November 1, 1950, contract, we find that the con-
tract is not a bar to this proceeding.'
We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation 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 :
1 Stamford Wall Paper, Inc ., 92 NLRB 1173.
93 NLRB No. 127.