General Electric Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 7, 1945

60 N.L.R.B. 1110 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY and UNITED BROTHER-
HOOD OF CARPENTERS & JOINERS OF AMERICA, A. F. OF L.
Case No. 11-R=720.-Decided March 7, 1945
Messrs. John H. Gividen and Alfred H. Zeidler, of Wabash, Ind.,
for the Company.
Mr. C. A. Shuey, of Indianapolis, Ind., and Mr. Don McDowell, of.
Wabash, Ind., for the Brotherhood.
Mr. Robert Kirkwood, of Indianapolis, Ind., and Mr. Robert J. Rice,
of Fort Wayne, Ind., for the U. E.
Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by United Brotherhood of Carpenters &
Joiners of America, A. F. of L., herein called the Brotherhood, alleg-
ing that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the rep-
resentation of employees of General Electric Company, Wabash, Indi-
ana, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board
provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Clifford
L. Hardy, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Wabash, Indi-
ana, on February 7, 1945. At the commencement of the hearing, the
Trial Examiner granted a motion of United Electrical, Radio &
Machine Workers of America, C. I. 0., herein called the U. E., to
intervene. The Company, the Brotherhood, and the U. E., appeared,
participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to exam-
ine and cross-examine witnesses , and to introduce evidence bearing on
the issues . During the course of the hearing the U. E. moved to dismiss
the petition. The Trial Examiner reserved ruling thereon. The mo-
tion is hereby denied. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hear-
ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties
were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
- 60 N. L R B., No. 184.
1110
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
General Electric Company is a New York corporation with its
principal office at Schenectady, New York. We are here concerned
with its plant at Wabash, Indiana, where it is engaged in the manu-
facture of wooden containers. During the 6-month period ending
December 31, 1944, the Company used raw materials at its Wabash
plant valued in excess of $5,000, 85 percent of which was shipped to it
from points outside the State of Indiana. During the same period it
manufactured products at its Wabash plant valued in excess of $10,000,
95 percent of which was shipped to points outside the State of Indiana.
We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America is a labor
organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admit-
ting to membership employees of the Company.
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America is a labor
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On November 9, 1944, the Brotherhood requested the Company to
recognize it as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of
the employees at the Wabash plant. The Company refused this
request.
A statement of a Field Examiner of the Board, introduced into
evidence at the hearing, indicates that the Brotherhood represents a
substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be
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.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Brotherhood urges that all production and maintenance em-
ployees at the Wabash plant of the Company, including watchmen,
i The Field Examiner reported that the Brotherhood presented 20 application cards.
There are approximately 32 employees in the appropriate unit. The Field Examiner
further reported that the U . E. presented 8 application cards.
1112 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
firemen, the shipping and receiving clerk, and the draftsman, but
excluding general office and clerical employees and supervisory em-
ployees, constitute an appropriate bargaining unit. The only con-
troversy with'respect to the unit concerns the shipping and receiving
clerk and the draftsman.
The Company would exclude the shipping and receiving clerk from
the unit, while the Brotherhood 'and the U. E. would include him.
The shipping and receiving clerk works in the factory , and the record
indicates that he does not exercise any supervisory powers. We shall
include him in the unit.
'
The Brotherhood would include the draftsman , while the U. E.
and the Company would exclude him. The draftsman is a salaried
employee, and he does not come in contact with any of the produc-
tion and maintenance employees . His work is purely technical in
nature. We shall exclude him from the unit.'
We find that all production and maintenance employees at the
Wabash plant of the Company, including watchmen , firemen, and
the shipping and receiving clerk, but excluding the draftsman, gen-
eral office and clerical employees , and all supervisory employees with
authority to hire, promote , discharge , discipline , or otherwise effect
changes in the status of employees , or effectively recommend such
action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining , within the meaning of Section 9 ( b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen
can best be resolved by means of an election by secret ballot.
The U. E. contends that no election should be held in the immediate
future because the Company expects its personnel to increase six-fold.
The record indicates that at the time of the hearing there was approx-
imately 37 employees in the appropriate unit. A representative of the
Company testified that the Company expected eventually to employ
about 200 persons at its Wabash plant. However, the record indi-
cates that there is considerable uncertainty as to when any appreciable
expansion of personnel will take place. We shall, accordingly, pro-
ceed with an immediate determination of representatives.
In one respect, however, we shall , in view of the circumstances herein
presented , modify our usual practice. Generally, we consider, for ad-
ministrative reasons, a certification as presumptive evidence of ma-
jority representation for a period of at least 1 year following issuance
of the certification , and accordingly we have ordinarily refused to en-
tertain a petition for an investigation and certification of representa-
tives where substantially less than a year has elapsed. In expanding
industries , however, we have made an exception . Since there is some
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 1113
possibility of an expansion of the Company's operations at its Wabash,
Indiana, plant which will4thnost sextuple the number of employees, we
shall not, in the event a collective bargaining representative is certi-
fied as a result of this proceeding, adhere to our usual rule. We shall,
instead, entertain a new petition for an investigation and certification
of representatives within less than 1 year, but not before the expiration
of 6 months, from the date of any certification we may issue, upon
proof (1) that the number of employees in the apropriate unit is more
than double the number eligible to vote in the election hereinafter
directed; and (2) that the petitioner represents a substantial number
of employees in the expanded unit.,
We shall direct that the employees eligible to vote in the election
shall be those within 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 General Electric
Company, Wabash, Indiana, an election by secret ballot shall be con-
ducted as early as possible, but not later than sixty (60) days from the
date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the
Regional Director for the Eleventh 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
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 and have not been
rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election to determine
whether they desire to be represented by the United Brotherhood of
Carpenters & Joiners of America, A. F. of L., or by United Electrical,
Radio & Machine Workers of America, C. I. 0., for the purposes of
collective bargaining, or by neither. . .
1
',See Matter of Aluminum Company of America, 52 N. L. R. B. 1040.