Tennessee-Schuylkill Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 9, 1943

46 N.L.R.B. 923 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of TEN _NESSEE-SCHUYLKILL CORP. and UNITED MINE
WORKERS, DISTRICT 50
Case No. R-4699.-Decided January 9, 1943
Jurisdiction : mining industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question ; agree-
ment as to ; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all production, maintenance, and
construction employees, excluding clerical and supervisory employees with the
right to hire.
Mr. Carl G. Krook and Mr. Frank C. Cassidy, both of Kingman,
Ariz., for the Company.
Jlh% A. B. Sparks, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Union.
Mr. Arthur Leff, of counsel to the Board
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by United Mine Workers, District 50, here-
in called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce had
arisen concerning the representation of employees of Tennessee-
Schuylkill CoIp., Chloride, Arizona, herein called the Company, the
National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hear-
ing upon due notice before Robert C. Moore, Trial Examiner. Said
hearing was held at Kingman, Arizona, on December 22, 1942. The
Company and the Union appeared, participated, 'and were afforded
full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses,
and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Exam-
iner'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
Tennessee -Schuylkill Corp. is a Delaware corporation. It main-
tains offices in New York City and Chloride , Arizona. It owns and
46 N. L . R. B., No. 105.
923
924 - DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
operates a mine and mill at Chloride, Arizona, and is engaged in
mining ore from which it produces lead and zinc concentrates. All
of the concentrates produced by the Company are shipped to refineries
of the American Smelting and Refining Company, located in El Paso
and Amarillo, Texas. In the first 9 months of 1942 the Company
produced 5,757.43 tons of concentrates, having a gross valuation of
$433,312.69. The Company in its mining and milling operations uses
some materials, principally chemical reagents, lumber, and drill
steel, which originate outside Arizona. Purchases of these materials
in the first 9 months of 1942 totaled $29,604.31. In the same period the
Company used electric power generated at Boulder Dam, valued at
$21,505.78. We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the National Labor Relations 'Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Mine Workers, District 50, is a labor organization, admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The parties stipulated that representatives of that Union had re-
quested the Company to bargain with the Union as the representative
of the Company's employees , and that the Company had refused to
do so upon the ground that it did not know whether or not the Union
represented its employees.
Evidence of representation was presented by the Union to the Trial,
Examiner indicating that the Union represented a substantial number
of the employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.,
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. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union requested a unit consisting.of all production, mainte-
nance, construction, and transportation employees of the Company in
the vicinity of Chloride, Arizona, with the exception of clerical em-
ployees and supervisory employees having the right to hire and dis-
charge. The Company conceded this to be an appropriate unit, except
that it contended it had no transportation employees. The testimony
1 The Union presented a total of 153 executed applications for membership in the Union,
which were dated between August and December 1942. Of these , 64 bore apparently
genuine original signatures of employees appearing on the Company 's December 20, 1942,
pay roll The pay roll showed a total of 87 employees within the unit hereinafter found
appropriate.
TENNESSEE -SCHUYLKILL CORP. 925
showed that the Company had never employed transportation em-
ployees and did not contemplate doing so in the future. All of the
employees involved are employed in the Company's mine and mill at
Chloride, Arizona.
We, therefore, And that all production, maintenance, and construc-
tion employees of the Company at Chloride, Arizona, excluding cler-
ical employees and supervisory employees with the right to hire and
discharge, constitute a unit appropriate for the purpose 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 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 Di-
rection.
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 Tennessee-
Schuylkill Corp., Chloride, 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-first 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 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 discharged for cause, to
determine whether or not they desire to be represented for the purposes
of collective bargaining by United Mine Workers, District 50.