Remington Arms Company, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 27, 1943

49 N.L.R.B. 1189 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, INC. and LOCAL No.
92, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS , AFFILIATED WITH
THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR
Case No. R-5246.-Decided May 27, 19.43
Mr. C. M. Spargo, of Bridgeport, Conn., and Mr. T. C. Ne7nzek, of
Lake City, Mo., for the Company.
Messrs. John G. Campbell, William E. Craddick, - and- Patrick
Ryan, of Kansas City, Mo., for the I. A. M.
Mr. R. M. Flanagan, of Kansas City, Mo.,-for the Munitions
Workers.
Miss Viola James, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon an amended petition filed by Local 92, International,-
Asso-ciation of Machinists, affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, herein called the I. A. M., alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Remington Arms Company, Inc., Independence, Missouri, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided
for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Eugene R. Melson,
Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Kansas City, Missouri,
on April 27, 1943. The 'Company, the I. A. M., and Lake City
Munitions Workers, herein called the Munitions Workers, appeared
and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be
heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evi-
dence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at
the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
`" FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Remington Arms Company, Inc., is a Delaware corporation en-
gaged in the manufacture of firearms and the manufacture and load-
49 N. L. R. B., No. 173.
1189
1190 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATTONTS BOARD
ing of,, shells. The Company operates plants in several parts of the
United States, including the Lake City Ordnance Plant at Inde-
pendence, Missouri, which is the plant involved herein. - All of the
plants are owned by the United States Government. Over 80 per-
cent of the raw materials used at the Lake City Ordnance Plant is
transported from points outside the State of Missouri; all the products
of the plant are distributed into and through States other than the
State of Missouri. We find that the Company is engaged -in com-
merce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
'Local No. 92,,International Association of Machinists, affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor, and Lake City Munitions
Workers are labor organizations, each admitting to membership em-
ployees-of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On or about.October 17, 1942, the I. A. M:.notified the Company
that it represented a majority of the maintenance machinists and
routine area mechanics in buildings Nos. 1, 2,• 3, and 4, exclusive of
supervisory personnel, and requested recognition as the exclusive rep-
resentative of such employees. On or about October 31, 1942, the
Company notified the I. A. M. that its position remained unchanged
from that expressed in an earlier letter to -the Regional Director in
which the Company took the position that the appropriate unit is 'a
plant-wide unit. The I. A. M.'s amended petition is for a unit of
machinists and their helpers.,
The Field' Examiner's report, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the I. A. M. represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found to be`appropriate.i
I The Field Examiner reported that the I A Al submitted (1) an affidavit of its business
manager listing by name 251 duc,s paying members, (2) 231 application-for-membership
cards, 6 of which were undated, the remainder being dated between January and November
19-12, and (3) 78 authorization cards, 7 of which were undated, the remainder being dated
in August and October 1942 , that all the signatures on the application and authorization
cards bore apparently genuine original signatures ; that of the 560 'names in all, 190,
elunuiating all duplications, were the names of persons on the Company's pay loll of
November 26 1942, and in the unit originally alleged appropriate by the I A M in which
there were approximately 367 employees. The Trial Examiner also reported that, since
the filing of the amended petition, the I A. DI has submitted 57 additional cards which
were not checked against a pay roll At the hearing, the plant manager testified that the
I A. M 's amended unit, as he understood it, would embrace approximately 800 employees,
but that the number of actual machinists would be "a lot less."
The Trial Examiner -repotted that the Munitions workers submitted a total of 151
cards, 12 of which were duplicates ; of the 139 unduplicated cards, 82 bearing apparently'
genuine signatures, were the names of persons on the Company's pay roll of April 22,
1943, in the unit claimed by the Munitions Workers ; 20 were definitely determined to be
within the unit sought by the' I A 111 Counsel for the Munitions Workers stated that
the Munitions workers had many more cards which they could produce at a later date.
REMIN GT"ON ARMS COMPAiNYY, INC. 1191
We find that a' question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company within the meaning
df Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The I. A. M., in its amended petition, seeks to establish a unit of
all machinists'and their-helpers in buildings Nos. 1, 2, 3, 3A, 4, 8, 10,
and 35, excluding supervisory employees. The Munitions Workers
contends that the appropriate unit consists of the employees in the
works engineering section of the Company, which is the maintenance
department, and the tool and gauge division, on the ground that such
employees are engaged in duties which are functionally related. This
,unit would include the craft unit sought by the I. A. M. The Company
urges a plant-wide unit on the ground that all the operations of the
plant are of a mechanical nature, and are therefore closely related.
In the conduct of its business, the Company employs in excess of
7,000 persons hnd utilizes a number of production buildings which are
scattered over an area of about a square mile. The works engineering
section includes not only the maintenance employees who maintain
and repair the production machinery in buildings Nos. 1, 2, 3,'3N, 4,
and 35, but also the general or outside maintenance employees. The
former group includes machinists and their' Helpers, as well as other
craft groups, such as carpenters, steam fitters, electricians, millwrights,
welders, and others. The general or outside maintenance group con-
sists largely of garage employees, locomotive engineers and section
crews, common laborers, and road scraper and tractor drivers. Build-
ing No. 8 is the ballistics building. Dies are made in building No. 10.
Supervision by the works engineering section does not extend to
either of these buildings, although apparently some machinists are
employed in both.
The I. A. M., with few exceptions, made little effort to clarify its
unit description. Nor was there introduced into evidence a pay-roll
list which might have been helpful in determining the scope of the
unit either numerically or by job classification. Although this type
of evidence is lacking in the record, we have consistently recognized
that machinists and their helpers are an identifiable craft, and we
find in the present case that they constitute an appropriate unit.
There is a group of employees classified by the Company as crafts
helpers. The same helper may be assigned to help various craftsmen,
but normally a helper is assigned to assist in-the craft for which he is
best qualified . We shall include in the unit the crafts helpers who
are regularly employed to assist machinists.
Experimental mechanics, whom all the parties agreed to include,
are machinists of special ability. They work in the machine shops
1192 iD'ECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONSt BOARD
in various of the production buildings . - We shall include the experi-
mental mechanics.
In building No. 8, which is the ballistics building , is a number of
machinists who are referred to in the record as gunsmiths. We shall
include the gunsmiths in the unit.
Tools, dies , and gauges are made in building No. 10 for use in the
production buildings . As a , great many dies are used, substantially
all the employees in this building are working with machines, the
nature of their work varying from semi-skilled to highly skilled.
There is one group of highly skilled machinist referred to as tool and
gauge makers , whom the parties agreed to include . We shall include
the tool and gauge makers.
There are tool, die, and gauge makers in building No. 35, as well
as machinists . Their duties are comparable to those of the machinists
in the production buildings . We shall include the tool , die, and gauge
makers.
The garage mechanics are located in the Company's garage where
they are engaged in making major repairs on all automotive equip-
ment of the plant. The I. A. M. would exclude these employees.- How-
ever, as their duties are generally those of machinists , we shall include
the garage mechanics.
Apparently the parties would include machinists' leaders. ' Each
craft, including the machinists , has one or two group leaders who are
under the machine shop and area routine foremen, and whose duties
are to give employees instruction in the use of their tools and equip-
ment. Although they have no authority to hire and discharge, they
do have the power to recommend such action . Hence, we shall exclude
the machinists leaders.
We find that all machinists of A he Company at the Lake City
Ordnance Plant, including crafts helpers who are regularly employed
to assist machinists , experimental mechanics , gunsmiths in"building
No. 8, tool and gauge makers in building No. 10, tool , die, and gauge
makers in building No. 35, and auto mechanics, but excluding super-
visory employees who have the power to' hire and discharge°or the
authority to recommend the hiring and discharging of employees,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. 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.
d
REM.INGIPON ARMS COMPANY, INC. 1199
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 Remington Arms
Company, Inc., Independence, Missouri, 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 super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Seventeenth Region, acting in
this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations 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 employees who did
not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca-
.tion 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, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Local
92, International Association of Machinists, affiliated with the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor, or by Lake City, Munitions Workers. for
the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
CHAIRMAN MILLIS took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.