Kennecott Copper Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 18, 1943

47 N.L.R.B. 732 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter=of KENNEC07T' COPPER`CORPORATION' and AMERICAN
FEDERATION OF LABOR
Case No. R-4.832.=Decided February 18, 1943
Jurisdiction : copper mining and milling industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : re-
fusal to accord petitioner recognition; election necessary.'
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em-
ployees at one of Company's mills, excluding supervisors. clerical and technical
employees, and deputized watchmen ; agreement as to
Messrs. Richard Fennemore, of Phoenix, Ariz., and Robert W.
Thomas, of Ray, Ariz., for the Company.
Messrs. Paul M. Peterson and E. C. DeBaca, both of Miami, Ariz., for
the AFL.
Mr. David V. Easton; of couulseko'the'Board,.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon an amended petition duly filed by the American Federation
of Labor,' herein called the AFL, alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Kennecott Copper Corporation, Ray Mines Division, Hayden, Arizona,
herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board pro-
vided for an appropriate hearing upon due notide"before Elmer S:
Hunt, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Hayden, Arizona,
on February 3, 1943. The Company and the AFL 2 appeared, par-
ticipated, 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.
I The original petition was filed by Mill & Smelter Workers Union # 23280 affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor. The name of the petitioner was amended during the
hearin .
2 International Union of'Mine , Mill andiSmeltcr>workers; C. I. O.,'although duly notified,
made no appearance in this proceeding
47 N. L. R. B., No. 95
732
KENNECO'i`T COPPER CORPORATION . r 733
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Kennecott Copper Corporation is a New York corporation, licensed
to do business in Arizona, and engaged in the mining, milling, ' and
production of copper. The Company has a concentrator or mill
located at Hayden, Arizona, which receives ore from the mines of the
Company located.at.Ray, Arizona. , The,mill and the mines constitute
the Ray Mines Division of the Company. We are concerned herein
only with the operations of the Company at the Hayden, Arizona,
mill.
At the present time in excess of 75,000,000 pounds of copper is pro-
duced annually at the,Company's mining property at Ray, Arizona.
The ore is shipped from the mines to the mill, and is, after treatment,
transported by the Southern Pacific Railroad to a smelter owned and
operated by the American Smelting and Refining Company. From
there the blister concentrate (a form of copper) is shipped via the
Southern Pacific Railroad and its connecting lines to Baltimore, Mary-
land. Approximately 100 percent of the products of the Company
produced by the Ray Mines Division goes into the war effort. Natural
gas is used by the Company in its power plant connected With the
Ray Mines Division, which is purchased from a gas field in New
Mexico, at an average cost of $14,000 to $16,000 per month.
We find that-the Company is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The American Federation of Labor is a labor organization which
admits to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION. CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On December 28, 1942, and on January 7, 1943, the Company refused
to recognize the AFL as the bargaining representative for the produc-
tion and maintenance employees of the Company at its mill in Hayden,
Arizona.
A statement of the ,Acting Regional Director, introduced into evi-
dence' at the hearing, indicates that the AFL represents a substantial
number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate,'
8 The Acting Regional , Director reported that , the AFL submitted 48' designation cards
bearing apparently genuine original signatures of persons whose names appear 'on the
Company's payrroll ' of January 7, 1943. The _unit,contains approximately 147 employees.
734 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We find that a , question affecting conihierce 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'_U NIT'
In accordance with the-agreement of the parties, we find that all pro-
duction and- maintenance employees-of the Company at its Hayden,
Arizona, mill, excluding supervisors, clerical and technical employees,
anddeputized watchmen, constitute-a unit appropriate for the. purposes
of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 91 (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 em-
ployees 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 Direc-
tion. -
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 Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor
Relations 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 Kennecott Copper
Corporation, Ray Mines Division, Hayden, Arizona, 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 Twenty-second
Region, acting in, this matter as agent for the National Labor Rela-
tions 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 any such
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 dis-
charged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be repre-
sented by American Federation of Labor for the purposes of collective
bargaining.