Bethlehem Steel Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 25, 1945

60 N.L.R.B. 203 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of BETHLEHEM STEEL COMPANY, SHIPBUILDING DIVISION
(BOSTON YARDS) and INDUSTRIAL UNION OF MARINE & SHIPBUILDING
WORKERS OF AMERICA (C. I. 0.), LOCAL 25
Case No. 1-R-208.-Decided January ^05, 1945
Mr. Gerald J. Reilly, of Bethlehem, Pa., for the Company.
Mr. Ernest Tuberosa, of Boston, Mass ., for the Union.
Mr. Herbert C. Kane, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon an amended petition duly filed by Industrial Union of
Marine & Shipbuilding Workers of America (C. I. 0.), Local 25,
herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce
had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Bethlehem
Steel Company, Shipbuilding Division (Boston. Yards), Boston,
Massachusetts, herein called the Company, the National Labor Rela-
tions Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice be-
lore Leo J. Halloran, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at
Boston, Massachusetts, on January 4, 1945. The Company and the
Union 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. At the hearing, the Com-
pany made two motions to dismiss the petition for the reasons that
the proposed unit is inappropriate and that the Board has no juris-
diction in this case. The Trial Examiner reserved ruling on these
motions for the Board. For the reasons appearing in Section IV,
below, the motions are hereby denied. The Trial Examiner's rulings
made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed. All parties were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with
the Board.
60 N. L. R. B., No. 41.
203
204 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Bethlehem Steel Corporation is a corporation organized and exist-
ing under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Ship-
building Division of the Company operates two yards, the Atlantic
Yard and the Simpson Yard, at Boston, Massachusetts, engaged in the
conversion and repair of vessels, most of such work being done for
the United States Government under contract with the United States
Army, United States Navy, and United States War Shipping Admin-
istration. During the calendar year 1944, the aggregate value of all
materials used by the Company in the conversion of, and repair of
vessels at these yards was in excess of $1,000,000, of which over 60 per-
cent was delivered to the yards from points outside the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts, and more than 75 percent was used in the conversion
and repair of vessels for the United States Government.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Industrial Union of Marine & Shipbuilding Workers of America,
Local.25, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is
a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the
Company.
III. TIIE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of its employees until the Union
has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of em-
ployees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.
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.
' The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 18 membership applications ;
that there were approximately 30 employees in the unit petitioned for ; and that the cards
were dated 10 in November 1944 , 1 in December 1944 , and that 7 were undated.
BETHLEHEM STEEL COMPANY 205
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT -
The Union requests a unit comprising all timekeepers in the pro-
duction and maintenance departments of the Company's Boston Yards,
excluding the chief timekeeper and the assistant chief timekeeper.
The Company contends that timekeepers are an essential part of man-
agement and do not constitute employees within the meaning of the
Act.
The duties of the timekeepers are concerned with the compiling
of information relating to the attendance and hours of employment
of the production and maintenance employees. Upon the information
given by the timekeepers, other departments of the Company are
enabled to prepare pay rolls and to allocate labor costs of the various
contracts. The record does not disclose that they are charged with
any administrative discretion nor that they have been entrusted with
any degree of managerial authority. Accordingly, we find that a unit
consisting of timekeepers is appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining.2
We find that all timekeepers in the production and maintenance
department of the Company's Boston Yards, excluding the chief time-
keeper and the assistant chief timekeeper, and all or any other super-
visory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline,
or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively
recommended such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b)
of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election
herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
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 Relations
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 Bethlehem Steel
2 See Matter of Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard , Incorporated, 59 N. L. R.,B. 602, and cases
cited therein. °
206 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Company, Shipbuilding Division (Boston Yards), Boston, Massa-
chusetts, an election by secret ballot shall be- conducted as early as
possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Di-
rection, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director
for the First 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 employees in the unit found
appropriate 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 the saiU pay-roll period because
they were ill or,on yacation or temporarily laid off, and including
employees in the armed forces of the United States who present them-
selves in person at the polls, but excluding those employees who have
since quit or been discharged f_or cause and have not been rehired or
reinstated prior to the date of the election, to ,determine whether or
not they desire to be represented by Industrial Union of Marine &
Shipbuilding Workers of America (C. I. 0.), Local 25, for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining.
CHAIRMAN MILLIS took no part in the consideration of the above De-
cision and Direction of Election.