Mascot Stove Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 9, 1947

75 N.L.R.B. 427 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter Of MASCOT STOVE COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTERNA-
TIONAL MOLDERS AND FOUNDRY WORKERS OF NORTH AMERICA, AFL,
PETITIONER
Case No. 10-R-2711.-Decided December 9 , 1947
Mr. Legare Davis and Miss Mildred McClelland, both of Atlanta,
Ga,, for the Employer.
Mr. IV. G. Kissinger, of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Mr. Isaac C. Chap-
man, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for the Petitioner.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case Was held at Chatta-
nooga, Tennessee, on July 24, 1947, before William Pate, hearing
officer. The Employer's request for oral argument is hereby denied,
inasmuch as the record and brief, in our opinion, adequately present
the issues and the position of the parties. The hearing officer's rulings
made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed.,
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Mascot Stove Company, a Tennessee corporation with its principal
office at Chattanooga, Tennessee, is engaged at its Chattanooga plant
in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of domestic cooking and
heating stoves. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1947, the
IThe Employer contends, inter alga, that Section 9 (c) (1) (A) of the Act, as amended
by the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, permits inquiry by the Employer at the
hearing into the extent of the Petitioner ' s representation among employees in the unit it
seeks We find this contention to be without merit , and theiefore affirm the hearing
officer 's ruling refusing to allow the Employer ta-elicit -the information at the hearing, for we
can perceive nothing in the cited provision of the Act which permits such inquiry by the
Employer.
75 N. L. R. B., No. 53.
427
428 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Employer purchased raw materials valued in excess of $100,000, of
which more than 50 percent was received from points outside the State
of Tennessee. During the same period, the Employer manufactured
finished products valued in excess of $500,000, of which more than 50
percent was sold and shipped to customers located outside the State.
The Employer admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer contends that it cannot bargain with the Petitioner
in any unit because of a court decree entered on July 18, 1946, direct-
ing it to bargain with the United Steelworkers of America, C. I. 0.,
herein called the Steelworkers.
The record reveals that, pursuant to the results of a consent elec-
tion held under the auspices of the Board on June 1, 1945, the Steel-
workers was duly designated the exclusive bargaining representative
of the employees in the unit which the Employer here alleges to be
appropriate. Negotiations between the Employer and the Steelwork-
ers were commenced, but no contract was executed. On July 18, 4946,
the U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit entered a con-
sent decree directing the Employer to bargain with the Steelworkers
as the exclusive representative of the employees among whom the elec-
tion was held.2 Negotiations between the parties were resumed, but
a contract was never executed. The last meeting between the Em-
ployer and the Steelworkers was held about January 1947, and the
Steelworkers has made no further effort to meet with the Employer
for the purpose of collective bargaining.3 Under these circumstances,
and since more than a year has elapsed from the date of the court's
decree without the consummation of a collective bargaining agree-
ment, we find that the court's decree does not preclude a current deter.
mination of representatives.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) (7) of the Act.
This decree enforces the Board ' s Order in Case No. 10-C-1809, which involved a stipu-
lation in settlement of the case , subject to approval of the Board , providing for the entry
of a consent order by the Board and a consent decree by the appropriate United States
Circuit Court of Appeals.
3 The Steelworkers was served with a copy of the Petition and Notice of Hearing in the
instant;case but failed to make an appearance.
MASCOT STOVE COMPANY 429
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
- The Petitioner seeks a unit comprised of all employees at the Em-
ployer's Foundry, excluding office and clerical employees, watchmen,'
foremen, and all supervisors. The Employer's sole objection relates,
to the scope of the unit. It would include in the unit all employees
at, both its Mounting plant and Foundry plant. In support of its
objection, the Employer contends that the history of bargaining re-
ferred to in Section III, above, militates against the establishment at
this time of a unit comprised solely of its Foundry workers.
The record reveals that the Employer maintains a Foundry plant
and a Mounting plant, both located in Chattanooga. These plants
are situated approximately four blocks from each other. The Em-
ployer also maintains two warehouses in proximity to each other and-
the two plants. All operations are under the general supervision of
a Works Manager. Under the Works Manager in the supervisory
hierarchy is a foundry foreman in the Foundry, and, in the Mounting
plant, which consists of two departments, a steel range mounting
foreman and a cast iron mounting foreman.
The Foundry employees consist principally of, molders, cupola
tenders, shake-out men, a core maker, pattern makers, cleaners and
laborers. The cupola tenders operate and maintain cupola furnaces
in which the metal is melted before being poured into the molds. - The
shake-out men remove the castings from the molds and shake off the,
loosely adhering sand. - The core maker molds the cores, and the
cleaners clean and smooth castings after the moulding and shaking-
out operations are completed. The laborers assist in these various
operations. The pattern makers are engaged in making steel pat-
terns. All of these employees operate as a-distinct department under
single supervision, physically separate from the Mounting plant:
Interchange of employees between the Foundry and the Mounting
plant takes place occasionally; however, employees normally remain
on the job and at the plant to which they are originally. assigned.
In view of the fact that the Foundry workers are a homogeneous
and functionally distinct group of employees, we are of the opinion
that these employees may appropriately form a separate bargaining
unit.4 Nor are we persuaded to the contrary by the Employer's con-
tention that the history of collective bargaining in its plant militates
against the establishment of the Foundry employees as a separate
bargaining unit. We have frequently held that we are not precluded
from redetermining the appropriateness of a previously established
* We have frequently found that foundry employees comprise an appropriate unit. See
Matter of Neptune Meter Company, 67 N. L. R. B. 949, and cases cited therein.
430 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
bargaining unit, where the certification of a bargaining representative
failed to result in-effective bargaining.' As noted above, more than a
year has elapsed since the entry of the Circuit Court decree in Case
No. 10-C-1809, without the consummation of a collective bargaining
agreement covering the Employer's employees, and without there be-
ing any indication in the record that this was because the Employer
has refused to bargain pursuant to the decree. Moreover, as previ-
ously stated, although the Steelworkers was duly notified of the hear-
ing in this case, it failed to appear or participate therein.
Accordingly, we find that all employees of the Mascot Stove Com-
pany's Foundry at Chattanooga, Tennessee, excluding office and
clerical employees, watchmen, professional employees, foremen, and
supervisors, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Mascot Stove Company, Chatta-
nooga, Tennessee, 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 Tenth Region, and subject to Sections 203.61 and
203.62, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 5, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Sec-
tion IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period im-
mediately 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, 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 International Molders
and Foundry Workers of North America, AFL, for the purposes of
collective bargaining.
5 See Matter of Bethlehem Steel Cornpani/, 64 N L R B 352. Matter of A L Mechleng
Barge Lines, 69 N L R B 838 -