Hillenbrand Industries

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 8, 1939

13 N.L.R.B. 167 (N.L.R.B. 1939)

In the Matter Of HILLENBRAND INDUSTRIES and UNITED FuRNrruR*
WORKERS OF AMERICA, No. 305, AFFILIATED WITH THE C. I. O.
Case No. R-1163.-Decided June 8, 1939
Hospital , Institutional , and Funeral Supplies Manufacturing Industry-In-
vestigation of Representatives : controversy concerning representation of em-
ployees: rival organizations : refusal by employer to recognize petitioning union
as bargaining agency of employees-Strike-Unit Appropriate for Collective
Bargaining : production and maintenance employees , excluding truck drivers,
clerical , and supervisory employees; no controversy as to; single unit em-
bracing two companies-Election Ordered
Mr. Walter B. Chel f, for the Board.
Mr. Lynn W. Beman, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company.
Mr. Hubert E. Wickins, of Greensburg, Ind., for the intervenor.
Mr. Joseph D. Persily and Mr. Sidney R. Roland, of Indianapolis,
Ind., for the United Furniture Workers of America.
Mr. William P. Wysong, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On October 18 and December 16, 1938, United Furniture Workers
of America, No. 305, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organ-
izations , herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director
for the Eleventh Region (Indianapolis, Indiana) a petition and
amended petition respectively, alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of The
Batesville Casket Company, Incorporated, and The Hill-Rom Com-
pany, Incorporated, Batesville, Indiana, known as Hillenbrand In-
dustries,) and herein called the Companies, and requesting an inves-
tigation of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On Decem-
ber 16, 1938, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the
Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III,
% "Hillenbrand Industries" is a trade name used to designate the combined plant and
business of two Indiana corporations, The Batesville Casket Company, Incorporated, and
The Hill-Rom Company, Incorporated.
13 N. L. R. B., No. 22.
167
168 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Section 3, of National- Labor, Relations Board Rules and Regula-
tions-Series 1, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized
the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate
hearing- upon due notice.
On December 16,,19$8, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing, a copy of which was duly served upon the Companies and
upon the Union. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on December
22, 1938, at Batesville, Indiana, before William R. Ringer, the Trial
Examiner duly designated by the Board. At the opening of the hear-
ing, the United Workers of Hillenbrand Industries, herein called the
-United, a labor organization claiming to represent employees of the
Companies, filed a written motion for leave to intervene in the pro-
ceedings. The motion was granted by the Trial Examiner. The
Board, the Companies, and the United were represented by counsel,
and the Union by its representatives.2 All parties participated in the
hearing. - Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine
witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was.
afforded-all parties. During the course of the hearing the Trial
Examiner made several rulings on motions and objections to the
admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the
Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed.
The rulings are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following::
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANIES a
The Batesville Casket Company, Incorporated, and The Hill-Rom,
-Company, Incorporated, Indiana corporations, owned by the Hillen-
brand family and having their principal office and place of business-
at Batesville, Indiana, are engaged in the manufacture and sale of
hospital and institutional' furniture and funeral supplies and equip-
ment. During the year 1938 the Companies spent $350,000 for raw
materials consisting of metal, lumber, silks, and related materials,
50 per cent of which were received from points outside the State-
of Indiana. During the same period the value of their finished prod-
ucts was $800,000, of which 90 per cent was shipped outside the State-
of Indiana.
2 A representative of the Internatiopal Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stable--
men, and Helpers, of Ame,ica; , L'ocal.,No. 135,- appeared but did not participate in the.
hearing.
s These findings are based on stipulated facts.
HILLENBRAND INDUSTRIES
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
16.9
United Furniture Workers of America, No. 305, affiliated with the
'Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admit-
ting to membership employees of the Companies, excluding super-'
visory and clerical employees.
United Workers of Hillenbrand Industries is an unaffiliated labor
organization admitting to membership employees of the Companies,
-excluding supervisory and clerical employees.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Members of the Union were formerly affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor as Local No. 1716, United, Brotherhood of Car-.
penters and Joiners of America, herein called Local 1716. Local
1716 attempted in December 1937, and January, and'February, 1938,
to bargain with the Companies for a collective agreement. These
attempts were unsuccessful. In September 1938, Local 1716 sur-
rendered its charter to its parent organization. Shortly thereafter
the former members of Local 1716 received a charter from the Con-
gress of Industrial Organizations as No. 305, United Furniture
Workers of America.4
On October 17, 1938, the Union wrote the Companies claiming to
represent a majority of their employees for the purposes of collective
bargaining and requesting that an appointment be arranged for the
purpose of discussing a collective bargaining agreement. A meeting
between the Companies and the representatives of the Union was held
on the same day, at which time the Union claimed to represent a
majority of the employees in an appropriate unit and submitted a
proposed bargaining agreement to the Companies. An offer was also
made by the Union to present a petition containing the names of
production and maintenance employees who had designated it as
their collective bargaining agency for comparison with the Com-
panies' pay roll. The Companies took the position that an election
should be held before they would bargain with the Union. On Oc-
tober 18, 1938, the Union filed with the Board its petition for an
investigation and certification of representatives, hereinbefore
mentioned.
The employees went on strike on December 8, 1938 . Efforts by the
Union to confer with the Companies relative to a settlement of the
strike failed. During the strike on December 12, 1938, a group of
' The Companies were notified of this change in affiliation by letter on October 24, 1938,
and had been informed orally of the change prior to that date.
170 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the Companies' employees met and the, United was formed. At this
meeting, a committee, of five was appointed to prepare a petition for
submission to the employees for the purpose of determining whether
or not the employees desired an independent union. The petition was
prepared and circulated among the employees and 84 of them signed
it. Subsequently, 101 of the employees signed membership cards
and 90 signed a petition 5 designating the United as their representa-
tive for the purposes of collective bargaining.
About December 16, 1938, a committee of the Union and the Re-
gional Director agreed upon a strike settlement,6 as a result of which
the employees returned to work.
We find that a question has arisen concerning representation of
employees of the Companies.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Companies
described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial
relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States, and
tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce
and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
In both the Union's petition, as amended, and the United's petition
for intervention the appropriate unit is alleged to be all production
and maintenance employees of both companies, excluding truck
drivers, clerical and supervisory employees. The Companies offered
no objection to the proposed unit. For the purpose of this pro-
ceeding, the two Companies constitute a single employer unit 7
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the
Companies, excluding truck drivers, clerical and supervisory em-
ployees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining and that said unit will insure to the employees of the Com-
panies the full benefit of their right to self-organization and to col-,
lective bargaining, and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act.,
° Intervenor Exhibit Nos. 2-A and 2-B.
° The record does not disclose whether the Companies participated in the settlement.
7Matter of C . A. Lund Company and Novelty Wovl , r^rs Union , Local 1866 (A. F. of L.),
successor, Matter of Christian A. Lund, doing business as C. A. Lund Company and North-
land Ski Manufacturing Company, a corporation, and Woodenware Workers Union, Local
20481, Matter of C. A . Lund Company and Northland Ski Manufacturing Company and
Woodenware Workers Union, Local 20481, 6 N. L. R B 423 , affirmed, as modified ( modifi-
cation did not affect this portion of the Board 's decision ), in National Labor Relations
Board v. Christian A Lund, doing business as C. A . Lund Company and Northland Ski
Manufacturing Company , 103 F. (2d) 1939.
HILLENBRAND , INDUSTRIES
VI. TIIE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
171
Two lists of the Companies' employees, one prepared from the pay
roll' for the week ending' October 15, 1938', and the other from the
pay roll for the week ending December 24, 1938, were introduced in
evidence. On October 15, 1938, there were 171 employees in the ap-
propriate unit, while the pay roll of December 24, 1938, shows that
there were 172 employees in the appropriate unit on that date.
The Union introduced into evidence a petition signed prior to
October 18, 19383 by 91 employees in the appropriate unit, designating
the Union as their representative for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining. The Union also introduced 76 membership application cards
,of employees in the appropriate unit signed in early December before
the United was organized. The authenticity of the signatures on the
petition and cards was not questioned.
At the hearing the United introduced into evidence its membership
cards and petition signed by 101 and 84 employees, respectively, within
tihe appropriate unit. The signatures to both the cards and the peti-
tion had been secured between December 13 and 20, 1938. In addition
to the membership cards and the petition the United introduced into
evidence a second petition signed by 20 employees in the appropriate
unit revoking their former designation of the Union and designating
the United as their representative for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining., The authenticity of the signatures to these cards and peti-
tions was not disputed.
Under these circumstances, we find that an election by secret ballot is
necessary to resolve the question concerning representation.,,
Since the December 24, 1938, pay roll is the more recent one in evi-
dence, we find that the employees eligible to vote in the election shall
be those within the appropriate unit on the December 24, 1938, pay
roll, including employees who did not work during such pay-roll
period because they were ill or on vacation, and excluding those em-
ployees who have since quit or been discharged for cause.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of The Batesville Casket Company, Incor-
porated, and The Hill-Rom Company, Incorporated, Batesville, In-
8 Matter of Fort Schuyler Knitting Company and Textile Workers Organizing Committee
of the C. I. 0., 8 N. L R. B. 1.156; Matter of American Radiator Company ( Bond Plant
and Terminal Plant ) and Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers,
Lodges 1199 and 1Gf9, 7 N. L R . B. 452; Matter of Hunter Packing Company and Industrial
Butchers' and Laborers ' Union, Local No. 305, 3 N. L. R. B. 103.
172 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
diana, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7)
of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All production and maintenance employees of the Companies,
excluding truck drivers, clerical and, supervisory employees, consti-
tute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations
Act.
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, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended,"
it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as a part of the investigation authorized by the
Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective
bargaining with The Batesville Casket Company, Incorporated,'
and The Hill-Rom Company, Incorporated, Batesville, Indiana, an
election by secret ballot shall be conducted within twenty (20) days
from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Eleventh Region, acting in this mat-
ter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board and subject to
Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all pro-
duction and maintenance employees whose names appear on the Com-
panies' pay roll for the week ending December 24, 1938, including
employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they
were ill or on vacation and excluding truck drivers, clerical and super-
visory employees, and excluding those employees who have since quit
or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire
to be represented by United Furniture Workers of America, No. 305,
affiliated with the C. I. 0., or by United Workers of Hillenbrand" In-
dustries, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
MR. WILLIAM M. LEISERSON took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Direction of Election.
[SAME TITLE
AMENDMENT TO DIRECTION OF ELECTION
June 23, 1939
On June 8, 1939, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called
the Board, issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-,
entitled proceeding, the election to be held within twenty (20) days
from the date of the Direction, under the direction and supervision
HILLENBRAND INDUSTRIES 173
of the Regional Director for the Eleventh Region (Indianapolis,
Indiana). On June 17, 1939, a written request. for the postponement
ofilie election until July 12, 1939, signed by all the parties, was filed
with the Board. The Regional Director has recommended that this
request be granted. Accordingly, the Board hereby amends the
Direction of Election issued on June 8, 1939, by striking therefrom
the words "within twenty (20) days from the date of this direction"
and substituting therefor the words "within forty five (45) days
from the date of this direction."
13 N. L. R. B., No. 22a.