General Motors Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 20, 1944

56 N.L.R.B. 1547 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, CHEVROLET GEAR AND
AxLE DIvIsION' ,and INDUSTRIAL OFFICE WORKERS AMALGAMATED
LOCAL 889, INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT &
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA (U. A. W.-C.' I. 0. )
Case No. 7-R-1690.-Decided June 00, 1944
Mr. Henry M. Hogan, by Mr.,Harry S. Benjamin, of Detroit, Mich.,
for the Company.
Mr. Forest C. Fair, of Detroit, Mich., and Messrs. Maurice C. Sugar
and Jack N. Tucker, by Mr. Jack N. Tucker, of Detroit, Mich., for
the Union.
Mrs. Platonic P. Kaldes, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
. Upon a petition duly filed by Industrial Office Workers Amalga-
mated Local 889 , International Union, United Automobile , Aircraft
& Agricultural Implement Workers of America (U. A. W.-C. I. 0.),
herein called the Union ; alleging ,that a question affecting commerce
had. arisen' concerning the representation of employees of General
Motors Corporation, Chevrolet Gear and Axle Division, Detroit,
Michigan , herein called the Company , the National Labor Relations
Board provided for" an appropriate hearing upon due `notice before
Robert J. Wiener, Trial Examiner .' Said hearing was held at Detroit,
Michigan, on April 28 ' May 6, and 10 , 1944. 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 . During the course- of
the hearing, the.Company moved to dismiss the petition on the grounds
that: ( 1) the unit petitioned for was inappropriate ; and (2)- that
there was no evidence introduced to support the allegations of the'
petition . The motion was referred to the Board. For the reasons
hereinafter set forth , we find no substantial merit to the Company's
contention 'with respect to the unit. The second contention respecting
the lack of evidentiary , support for the allegations of the petition was
56 N L . R B., No. 279.
1547
1548 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
made at the outset of the hearing; subsequently, substantial evidence
was adduced. Accordingly, we shall deny the motion. The Trial
Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are, free from prejudicial
error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an oppor-
tunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
General Motors Corporation, a Delaware corporation with its prin-
cipal business offices at New York City, and Detroit, Michigan, func-
tions, for business reasons, through several unincorporated divisions.
One of these divisions, the Chevrolet Gear and Axle Division, is solely
involved in this proceeding. The Chevrolet Gear and Axle Division
processes and manufactures goods and materials for sale and for
delivery to the United States Government for use by the armed forces
of the United Nations. More than'50 percent of the value of the
goods and materials used in the processing and manufacturing opera-
tions at the Chevrolet Gear and Axle Division comes from sources out-
side the State of Michigan, and more than 50 percent of the value of
the finished products there processed or manufactured is destined
for points outside the State of Michigan. '
The Company admits that, at its Chevrolet Gear and'Axle Division,
"it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor
Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Industrial Office Workers Amalgamated Local 889 , International
Union, United Automobile , Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Work-
ers of America, (U. A. W.-C. I. 0.), affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations , is a labor " organization admitting to mem-
bership employees of the Company.
M. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of certain of its employees until
the Union has been certified by the Board in an'appropriate unit.
A statement of the Trial Examiner, made at the hearing, indicates
that the Union represents a substantial number of employees in the
unit hereinafter found appropriate.'
The Trial Examiner stated that the Union submitted to him 94 application cards, 60
'of which bore names of persons appearing on the Company's pay roll of January 24, 1944;
that the said pay - roll contained the names of 114 employees in the alleged appropriate
unit ; and that the 60 cards were dated as follows : 42 in December 1943 , 6 in January
1944, and 12 were undated.
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 1549,
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. TILE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The principal unit issue here presented is whether a group of office
employees whom the Union seeks to represent, occupy a confidential
relationship to management or perform work of a confidential nature,
of such'a type that, as the Company claims, they- should be denied the
right to bargain collectively. If this issue is decided against the Com-
pany, the Company agrees that, with the exception of the employees
in the cashiers section, comptometer section, and office service, section,
whom the Company would exclude and the Union, would include, all
office employees of the accounting department 2 of the Company's
Chevrolet Gear and Axle Division at Detroit, Michigan, excluding
timekeepers, secretaries to persons with the job classification of "super-
visor" or job classification higher than "supervisor," the defense
coordinator and the group leader and clerk, under his supervision; and
all supervisory employees ,3 constitute an appropriate bargaining unit.
The record establishes that, with certain exceptions noted below,
the employees the Union seeks to represent perform, in the Company's
offices, work of a routine,clerical nature in connection with cost, pay
roll, and production figures. While, as the Company argues, many
of them, including the comptometer section employees,, have access
to confidential management information and secret data with respect
2 The petition alleges that all office employees in the pay-roll department , tabulation
department, production cost department , non-productive cost department , accounts pay-
able department , invoice audit department , audit department , general ledger department,
cashiers ' department , timekeepers ' department , and/ office service department , including
comptometer operators , and excluding supervisory employees , constitutes an appropriate
'unit The foregoing enumerated "departments" are all carried on the Company's records
as sections of the accounting department , and for the sake of clarity 'are herein referred t
to as "sections " -
During the course of the hearing , the parties entered into a stipulation for certification
upon the holding of a consent election for a unit confined to timekeepers , whereupon the
Union withdrew its contention that timekeepers should be included in the unit . In addi-
tion , the parties stipulated that all office employees in the accounting department whose
exclusion or inclusion was not specifically disputed , should be included in the unit.
3
The parties specifically stipulated for the exclusion of the following supervisory em-
ployees, presumably so that no future dispute would arise as to whether or not any of
them falls within the definition of supervisory employees : the supervisor of the productive
cost , and non -production cost section ; the head stenographer ; four employees in the pay-
roll section • the 'supervisor , department head, paymaster and assistant paymaster ( it being
stipulated further that one Grabowski was not an assistant paymaster ) ; two employees
of the tabulation section the department head and the head of the key punch section ; two
employees of the non -productive cost section • the department head and a group leader ;
four employees of the productive cost section the department head and three group lead-
ers ; two employees of the accounts payable section : the supervisor and a department'
head ; four employees of the audit section : the department head and three supervisors ;
three employees of the general ledger section : a department head, supervisor and a group
leader ; the supervisor of the cashiers section ; and two employees of the comptometer
section ; the department head and a supervisor.
587784-45-vol 56-99
1550 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
to the fulfillment of war contracts such information' does not relate
directly to the problems of labor, relations. In view of the foregoing
facts, we are of the opinion thatlthe accounting department employees
generally, and the comptometer section employees specifically, should
not be denied the right to collective bargain I ing.4 In connection with
the latter group of employees, all of whom operate comptometer ma-
chines and do related clerical work, the Company's contention that
they be, excluded from the unit in any event appears to be'based on
the claim that-the production or other figures to which they have
access are of a more secret nature than those to which other accounting
department' employees generally, have access. There is no evidence,
however, that the type, of information to which _comptometer section
employees have access differs from that available to other accounting
department employees generally. The difference in _the degree of se-
crecy is not of itself sufficient to warrant their exclusion. Accordingly,
we shall include them in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.
With respect to the office service section employees,- the Company
alleges 'that the nature of the work they perform, the functions they
serve and the conditions under which they work are so dissimilar to
those of the'other employees here involved that they should, not, in
any event, be included in the unit of accounting department employees.
The evidence shows that the office service section employees, approxi-
mately eight in number, are, like the bulk of their fellow employees
in the accounting department, engaged primarily in the performance
of routine clerical work,,' that they are paid on a salary basis, and work
'-the same number of hours as do the others. The record establishes
also that the office "service section employees seek to be represented by
the Union,' and that no labor organization other than the Union seeks
to represent them.. Although, as the Company points out, the office
service section employees work on the first floor of the building in
which the accounting department is housed, and the other accounting
department employees work on the second floor of the building,' we
do not consider this physical separation to be controlling under the
circumstances here presented. it is clear that the interests, skills,
-and working conditions of -the office 'service section employees are
similar to those of the other accounting department employees here
involved.' Nor is it material, in the view 'we take of. this case, that,
.as the Company stresses, the office service section' employees do not
work primarily with figures as the others in the accounting depart-
See e . g, Matter o f Poultryenen 's,Service Corporation , 41 N. L. R. ' B. 444, enforced
138 F (2d) 204 (C. C A 3) ; Matter of Chiysler Corporation (Marysville Division), 36
N. L R. B 157, 161, Matter of Murray Corporation, 45 N. L; R. B. 854, 857.
G More specifically, their duties consist of opening and delivering office mail , maintaining
and dehvermg office stationery stocks, maintaining the storage of plant records which are
no longer current , and doing mimeograph and duplicating work. •
U Of the cards submitted by the Union to the Trial Examiner , seven were for office service
section employees. There are eight employees in this section and one supervisor.
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 1551
ment do, that there is no interchange of employees between this and
other sections of the department, and that the ^ office service section
performs services for all departments of the plant directly,. while,
the other sections of the accounting department perform services for
all departments of the plant indirectly.. In view , of the foregoing,,
and also the fact that the office service section is part of the account-
ing department, we perceive no reason why the office service section
employees should be excluded from the appropriate unit. '
We agree with the Company's contention, however, that the
cashiers section employees should be excluded from the unit. The
record establishes that the five employees in this section spend .a con-
siderable part of their working time taking stenographic dictation,
from Company officials,' and that such dictation may, and sometimes
does, pertain to confidential matters involving the Company's labor
relations. Accordingly, we shall exclude them from the unit.s
We find that all office employees of the accounting department of
the Company's Chevrolet Gear and Axle Division at Detroit, Mich-
igan, including comptometer section employees and office service sec-
tion employees, but excluding timekeepers, secretaries to persons with
the job classification of "supervisor" or job classification higher than
"supervisor," the defense coordinator and the group leader and clerk
under his supervision, the cashiers section 'employees, and all super-
visory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, disci-
pline, 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 shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by 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 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, it -is hereby
' Two of the five employees spend about 25 percent of their time acting as secretaries to
two top executives of the accounting department; the other three spend about 16%
percent of their time taking dictation from these same executives
8 Cf. Matter of Chrysler Corporation, 36 N. L. R B 157, 160-161 ; Matter' of Creamery
Package Mfg Co., 34 N. L. R. B. 108, 110.
1552 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain represent-
atives for the purposes of collective bargaining with General Motors
Corporation, Chevrolet Gear and Axle Division, Detroit, Michigan,
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
Seventh 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 appro-
priate 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 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 them-
selves in person at the polls, but excluding those employees 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 or not
they desire to be represented by Industrial Office Workers Amal-
gamated Local 889, International Union, United Automobile, Air-
craft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (U. 'A. W.-
C. I. 0.), affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for
'the purposes of collective bargaining.