Electric Auto-Lite Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 3, 1943

50 N.L.R.B. 68 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of ELECTRIC AUTO-LITE COMPANY and MECHANICS.
EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY OF`AMERICA, LOCAL No. 4,'C. U. A:
Case No. R-5310.-Decided June 3),194-3
Mr. Jawws P. Falvey, of Toledo, Ohio, for the.•Companv.-
Mr. Tor Cedervall, of Toledo, Ohio, for the:Unibn: _-
Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE -
Upon ' petition duly filed • by Mechanics Educational Society of
America, Local No. 4, C. U. A., herein called the Union , alleging that
a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa-
tion of employees of Electric Auto-Lite Company , Toledo, Ohio,
herein called the Company , the National Labor Relations Board pro-
vided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Louis Plost,
Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Toledo, Ohio, - on May 7,
1943. The Company and the Union appeared and 'participated in
the hearing .' 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.' Oil
May 18, 1943 , the Company filed a brief which • the,Board has,
considered.
Upon the entire record in th'e case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Electric Auto-Lite Company is an Ohio corporation operating four
,plants at Toledo, Ohio, where it is engaged in the manufacture of
i Although the American Federation of Labor and International Union, United Automo-
bile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America , Local No 12, were served
with notice of hearing , they did not appear.
50 N. L. R. B., No. 14.
68
ELECTRIC AUTO-LITE COMPANY 69
various type's ,of war material. During 1942 the Company purchased
raw material for use at its Toledo plants valued in' excess of
$1,000,000, 50 percent of which was shipped to it from points outside
the State of Ohio. During the same period the Company manufac-
tured products at its Toledo plants valued in excess of $5,000,000,
over 50 percei t of which was shipped to points outside the State of
Ohio. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within
the .meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Y
'Mechanics Educational -Society of America, Local No.-4, is a labor
organization affiliated with the Confederated Unions of America,
admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION -
On April 4, 1943, the Union, claiming to represent a majority of
the 'nurses employed by the Company, asked the Company for a col-
lective bargaining conference. The Company refused this request
until such time as the Union was certified by the Board. ,
The statement of a Field Examiner of the Board, introduced into
evidence at the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a sub-
stantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be
appropriate 2
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen conceriiing
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 Union urges that all nurses employed at Plant No. 2, Plant
No: 15, Plant No.,20, and Plant No. 25 of the Company, constitute a
single unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.
The Company contennds that because of the nature of the duties of
the- nurses, they are not employees within the meaning of the Act and
that, therefore, they cannot constitute an appropriate unit. The Com-
pany contends further, that in the event the Board finds that nurses
are employees within the meaning of the Act, the nurses at Plant No.
2, No. 15, and No. 20, should constitute one unit while the nurses' at
Plant No. 25 should constitute a separate unit.
The nurses employed by the Company at the 4 plants involved
herein are all licensed professional nurses and constitute a well-de-
'The Field Examiner reported that the Union presented 9 authorization cards bearing
apparently genuine signatures of persons whose names appear on the Company's pay roll
of April 19, 1943. There are 16 employees in the appropriate unit.
536105-44-vol. 50-6
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The nurses administer first aid to employees and operate the Com-
pany's infirmaries. They are 'un'der the .supervision of medical doc-
tors who are full-time employees of the Company. We find the position
of the Company that nurses are not employees within the meaning,
of the Act untenable. Clearly, the relationship between the Company
and the nurses is that of employer and employee. We find nothing
in the duties of the nurses "set forth above to warrant depriving them
of the rights to self-organization, and collective bargaining guaranteed
employees under the Act. We find that the nurses are employees -
within the meaning of Section 2 (3) of the Act and are entitled,.to -
the benefits of the Act.
The nurses at all four plants of the Company involved herein per-
form the same type of duties and are all paid on the same basis. Some
70 DECISIONS, OF NA'TION'AL LABOR RELATIONS' BOARD
fined professional group. As stated above" a substantial number of
them have designated the Union as their bargaining representative.
of the nurses at Plant No. 25 were-transferred there from the other
three plants' of the Company. The nurses have plant-wide seniority.
We find that'a four-plant unit of nurses is appropriate.
We find that all nurses 'at Plants -No., 2, No. 15, No. 20, and No. 25
of the Company, excluding nurses who have the authority to lure
and discharge, constitute a single unit appropriate for the purposes
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 means of an election by secret ballot among
the employees 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 iii 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 2, as amended, it is, hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Electric Autos
Lite Company, Toledo, Ohio, an election 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 Eighth Region, acting in this matter as
e
ELECTRIC AUTO-LITE COMPANY 71
agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article
III, Section 10, 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 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 any who
have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or
not they desire to be represented by Mechanics Educational Society of
America, Local No. 4, C. ' U. A., for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
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