48 N.L.R.B. 916 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

Bakewell Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsMar 31, 1943

48 N.L.R.B. 916 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the'Matter of.BAKEWELL MANUFACTURIS7G Co. and 'INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, LODGE No. 311, AFL Case No. R-497I.-Decided,March 31, 1943 Jurisdiction : aircraft parts manufacturing industry. Practice and Procedure : petition dismissed when there was no appropriate unit within its scope ; proposed unit confined to two of three plants of 'the company found inappropriate. Mr. E. L. Searle, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Company. Mr. Roscoe V. Ickes, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Union. Mr. A. Sumner Lawrence, of counsel to the Board. ., DECISION AND, ORDER_ STATEMENT OF-THE CASE Upon a second amended petition duly filed by International Asso- ciation of Machinists, Local No. 311, AFL, herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of 'Bakewell Manufacturing Co., Los Angeles, California, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing before Charles M. Ryan, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Los Angeles, California, on February 26, 1943. The Company and the Unions ap- peared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be JZeard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evi fence 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 Company filed a motion to reopen the hearing. The motion is hereby denied for reasons hereinafter stated. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE, COMPANY Bakewell Manufacturing Co., a 'copartnership, has a principal place of business in Los Angeles, California, where it has three plants, the 48 N L. R. B.. No. 104. 916 -.BAKE^WELL 'MANUFACTURING' ^CO. - __ - : 917 only ones involved in-this proceeding, and-where it is engaged in the manufacture of, aircraft parts, machine tools, and machine tool parts. During the calendar year ending December 31, 1942, .the, Company purchased for use at its Los Angeles plants, raw,material valued -ap- proximately at $750,000, of which more than 10 percent was obtained from points outside the State of California. During the,same period, the Company's sales of finished products from its Los Angeles plants amounted in value to approximately $3,000,000, of which about one- half represented aircraft parts sold to aircraft corporations located in Los Angeles and engaged in the production of water materials, the remaining half consisting of machine tools and parts, 75 percent of which was shipped to. points outside the State of California.' The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED International Association of Machinists, Lodge No. 311, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admit- ting to membership employees of the Company: III. THE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE.UNIT The Union contends that the appropriate unit should consist of all machinists, production and maintenance employees, stockroom.. em- ployees,, inspectors, and truck drivers working at two, plants of the Company located on 14th Street in the city of Los Angeles and exclud- ing office, clerical, and supervisory employees with the right to hire and discharge, plant guards and all employees working at the Com- pany's third plant located on_ Santa Fe Avenue.. Although the Com- pany is in agreement with the classification's of employees sought' to be included and excluded by the Union, it urges that the employees of the Santa Fe Avenue plant should be included within the appropri- ate unit. - 1 ' . - - The business of the Company was -formerly conducted under one roof, but was divided into 3 separate plants due to necessary expansion and lack of space at the original location. The 3 pl"ant"s ate situated close together, the 2 on 14th Street-.being on opposite sides;0,the -street. and a block and a half distant from the plant on- Santa Fe 'Avenue. " While the products manufactured at the 14th Street plants can at present be completed without the aid of the Santa` Fe Avenue plant, a change in the Company's business, contemplated-in- further- ance`,of warâ€ž production, would. require'the.use of -the heavier machinery located'at"the-Santa Fe Avenue plant in conjunction with-that now egis'ting',at the 14th Street plants. There is substantially no difference in the type of work done at the various -plants of the Company, the 918 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD work in all cases being machine work. Undisputed evidence was introduced by the Company to the effect that the same wage rate exists for each classification of employees without regard to the plant in which they are working and that all are paid on an hourly basis. The employees in all 3 plants are equally eligible to membership in the Union, which, though it has effectively organized only the 14th 'Street plants, has also attempted to organize the Santa Fe Avenue -plant and has obtained therein a present membership of some 35 - employees in a total of 119 employees at this plant within the classifica- tions agreed upon as the appropriate unit. In addition, it appears not only that there is a single personnel office covering employment at a ll of the Company's plants, but also that there is but 1 pay roll and 1 accounting department to service all departments of the Company: Moreover, in its first amended petition for certification, the Union expressly requested an appropriate unit covering the same employees in all plants of the Company. Because of the similarity of operations and employee functions at the Santa Fe Avenue plant to those of the other plants, its inter- dependence as to personnel and management, and the fact that the Union has not only partly organized the Santa Fe Avenue plant, but at one time admittedly sought to include the employees in this plant within the appropriate unit, we find that the unit requested by the Union is inappropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.' in view of this finding, the Company's motion to reopen the hearing is denied, since the evidence which would be adduced pursuant thereto is immaterial to the present decision. IV. THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION Since the bargaining unit sought to be established by the petition is inappropriate, as stated in Section III, above, Â«,e find that no ques- tion has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company in an appropriate bargaining unit. ORDER Upon the basis of the above-findings of fact,-and the entire record in the case, the Board hereby orders that the petition for investigation and certification of representatives of employees of Bakewell Manu- facturing Co., Los Angeles, California, filed by International Associa- tion of Machinists, Lodge No. 311, AFL, be, and it hereby is, dismissed. 1 See Matter of Sears Roebuck it Co . and United Wholesale it Warehouse Employees of New York Local 65, 010, 35 N. L R B 1036 Matter of The Lima Kenton Grocery Coin-' piny and Local Union No 308, International Brotherhood of Teamsters , Chauffeurs, Stable- men it Helpers (AFL), 29 N L R B 85, see also Matter of Sears Roebuck it Company and Local Union 18, United Retail , Wholesale it Department Store Employees of America, CIO, 45 N. L. R. B. 961. .