Detroit Michigan Stove Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 15, 1943

51 N.L.R.B. 347 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

e
In the Matter of DETROIT MICHIGAN STOVE COMPANY and INTERNA-
TIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT AND AGRICULTURAL
IMPLEMENT WORx its or AMERICA, UAW-CIO, LOCAL 771
Cases Nos. R-5309 and B-53,30.-Decided July 15, 19.43
Mr. Max Rotenberg, for the Board.
Hill, Hambler, Essery & Lewis, by Mr. Richard A. Forsyth, of
Detroit, Mich., and Mr. John H. Fry, of Detroit, Mich., for the
Company.
Messrs. Maurice Sugar and N. L. Smokler, of Detroit, Mich., for
the C. I. O. '
Mr. N. D. Smith, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Mr. Lester Campbell,
of Detroit, Mich., for the A. F. of L.
Mr. A. Sumner Lawrence, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petitions duly filed by International Union, United Auto-
mobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America,
UAW-CIO, Local 771, herein called the C. I. 0., alleging that ques-
tions affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of
-employees of Detroit Michigan Stove Company, Detroit, Michigan,
herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board pro-
vided for an appropriate consolidated hearing upon due notice before
Bernard Cushman, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Detroit,
Michigan, on May 11, 1943. The Company, the C. I. 0., and Interna-
tional Molders and Foundry Workers Union of North America
(AFL), herein called the A. F. of L. appeared, participated, and 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 opportunity for
filing briefs with the Board.
51 N. L. R. B., No. 72.
347
.348 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
O
Upon the entire record in the case , the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY O
Detroit Michigan Stove Company, a Michigan corporation, has its
principal office-and place of business in Detroit, Michigan, where it
operates two plants, the only plants involved in these proceedings.
In one of these plants the Company manufactures automobile fenders
and stoves for the United States Government. , In the other plant it
is engaged in the heat treating and fabricating of armor, plate, also
for the United States Government.
During the fiscal year ending July 1942, the Company used at its
plant No. 1, raw materials valued at approximately $2,284,000, of
which approximately 90 percent was obtained from sources outside
the State of Michigan. During the same period, the Company Manu-
factured at its No. 1 plant finished products of the value of approxi-
mately $5,637,000, of which 82 percent was sold and shipped to points
in States other than the State of Michigan.
During the period from September 1, 1942, to February 1, 1943,
the Company used at its No.-2 plant raw materials valued at approxi-
mately $930,000, of which approximately 90 percent was obtained
from sources outside the State of Michigan. During the same period,
the Company manufactured at its No. 2 plant finished products of
the value of approximately $1,723,000, all of which were sold and
shipped to points in States other than the State of Michigan.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Union, - United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricul-
tural Implement Workers of America, UAW-CIO, Local 771, is a
labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organi-
zations, admitting to membership employees of the Company.
International Molders and Foundry Workers Union of North
America is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federa-
tion of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE ALLEGED QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On February 1, 1943, the C. I. O. advised the Company by letter
that it represented a majority of the production and maintenance
employees of the Company's No. 2 plant and requested recognition as
their exclusive bargaining representative. Prior thereto the Com-
pany and the A. F. of L. had entered into an exclusive bargaining
agreement covering the employees of both plants of the Company.
The Company replied to the C. I. O.'s request for recognition that
it would not recognize the latter's claim to represent the employees
DETROIT MICHIGAN STOVE COMPANY 349
of plant No. 2, and at the hearing stated that it also refused to
recognize the C. I. O. for employees at Plant No. 1, unless and until
,,the C. I. O. had been certified by the Board.
The A. F. of L. urges its contract with the Company as a bar to
the present proceedings. The contract is for the period of 1 year
from December 23, 1942, and thereafter from year to year unless
terminated by written notice given 30 days prior to the expiration
date in any specified year. At the hearing, the C. I. O. contended that
the contract was invalid and should not operate as a bar in the present
instance upon the ground that it did not appear that, at the time the
contract was entered into, the A. F. of L. represented a majority
of employees of the Company in the unit agreed upon by the Company
and the A. F. of L. However, there was introduced at the hearing
no competent evidence 1 tending to establish that the A. F. of L.
lacked majority representation among the employees of the Company
upon the date of the execution of the contract in question. While
we do not at the present time decide what would have been the result
had such evidence clearly appeared in the record, we are of the opinion
that the customary presumption of regularity and validity of con-
tracts is controlling in the present instance.
Since it does not appear that the C. I. O. made any claim of repre-
sentation to the Company or that the latter was otherwise put on
notice of the interest of the C. I. O. with respect to the Company's
employees prior to the execution of the contract with the A. F. of L.,
we find that the contract constitutes a bar to the present proceedings.
We shall, accordingly, dismiss the petitions filed by the C. I. O. This
dismissal, however, shall not prejudice the right of the C. I. O. to file
a new petition at a reasonable time before the expiration of the
existing contract.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders
that the petitions for investigation and certification of representatives
of employees of Detroit Michigan Stove Company, Detroit, Michigan,
filed by International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agri-
cultural Implement Workers of America, UAW-CIO, be, and they
hereby are, dismissed.
I The C. I. O. offered in evidence certain petitions alleged to have been signed by em-
ployees of the Company and stating that the signers had never authorized the A . F. of L.
to represent them in the negotiation of its contract with the Company. The petitions were,
however, unaccompanied by any evidence tending to establish the authenticity of the signa-
tures thereon. Nor is there any evidence, assuming the signatures to be authentic, that
they constitute a majority of the employees in the unit covered by the contract , as of the
time it was made. Under such circumstances , it is clear that the proffered evidence was
clearly incompetent and was rightly rejected by the Trial Examiner.