The Cleveland Container Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 4, 1943

47 N.L.R.B. 1309 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Mattes' of THE CLEVELAND CONTAINER COMPANY and WARE-
HOUSE AND DISTRIBUTION WORKF:IiS UNION, LocAI 209 (CIO)
Case No. R-1.863.-Decided illarch 4,19113'
Jurisdiction : paper products manufacturing industry
Practice and Procedure : petition dismissed when rival union requested recogni-
tion after contract automatically renewed itself and renewed contract was
held a bar.
Mr. L. N. DeTette, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Company.
Mr. E. C. Greenfield, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the C. I. O. -
Mr. Martin L. Sweeney and Mr. Lambert J. Louy, of Cleveland,
Ohio, for the A. F. L.
Mr. William C. Baisinger, Jr., of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER.
STATEMENT OF 'THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Warehouse and Distribution Workers
-union, Local 209 ( CIO), herein called the C. I. 0., alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa-
tion of employees of The Cleveland Container Company, Cleveland,
Ohio, herein called the Company , the National Labor Relations Board
I)rovicled for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Louis
Plost, Trial Examiner . Said hearing was held at Cleveland, Ohio,
on February 11, 1943. The Company, the C. I. 0., and International
Brotherhood of Pulp, Siilllhite ,' an,d Pqpei, Mill Workers . ( A. F. L.),
herein called the A. F. L., appeared , participated, and were afforded
full opportunity to be heard, to examilie and cross -examine witnesses,
and to introduce evidence bearing upon the issues . At the hearing
the Trial Exaniiiier reserved ruling upon the motion of the A. F. L.
-to dismiss the petition. on the ground that it had a valid and ' subsist-
ing contract with the Company covering the employees for which the
petition was filed and that said contract constitutes mbar to this pro-
,ceeding. For reasons hereinafter stated the motion of the A. F. L. is
hereby granted. The Trial Examiner 's rulings made at the hearing
are' free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
47N L R B , No. 165
1309
1310 DECISION'S OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Cleveland Container Company is an Ohio corporation, engaged
in the manufacture of paper products. The Company o«ns and
operates plants at Cleveland, Ohio; Plymouth, Wisconsin; Chicago,
Illinois ; Detroit, Michigan; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Middleton,
New Jersey; New York City; Long Island City, New York; and Three
Rivers , Massachusetts. Of the Company's two plants located at Cleve-
land, Ohio, only the plant designated as Plant No. 2, is involved in
this proceeding., 'Annually the Coiiij any's two Cleveland plants use
raw materials, consisting of chip board, craft piper, tin, glue, asphalt
and paraffin, valued at approximately $100,000, of which 60 percent
is transported to the Company's Cleveland plants from points outside
the State of Ohio. At its two Cleveland plants, the Company manu-
factures annually paper products valued in excess of $100,000, of which
approximately 60 percent is sold and delivered to purchasers outside
the State of Ohio. The Company' admits that it is engaged in com-
merce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations'Act.
II. TILE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Warehouse and Distribution Workers Union, Local 209, is a labor
organization , affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
admitting, to membership employees of the Company.
International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Work-
ers is a labor organization , affiliated with the American Federation
of Labor, admitting .to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On February 12,1942, the Company and the A. F. L. entered into a.
collective • bargaining contract covering "all the employees, with the
exception of office and clerical force, nonworking supervision, and
watchmen" employed at the Company's two Cleveland plants., In
addition, the contract contains the following provision-,
The. Company and the Union agree, one with the other, that they
will abide by. the articles of this Agreement for the -one, year period
beginning February 12, 1942, and ending February 11, 1943. If either
party desires. to terminate, 'modify or, amend the agreement, at any
'Prior thereto on February 5, 1942 , the Board certified the A F of L as the exclusive
bargaining agent of the employees of the Company, at both plants . 'See Matter of The'
Cleveland Container Company and International Brotherhood, Pulp, Sulphite d Paper Mill:
Woikers of United States d Canada (A F. L.), 38 N. L. R. B. 931. 1
THE CLEVELAND CONTAINER COMPANY- 1311
yearly expiration date, such party shall give the other party written
notice of such intent thirty (30) days before such date. Otherwise this
agreement shall remain in full force and effect for further yearly
periods. ,
Neither the Company nor the A. F.- L. gave notice of a desire to ter-
minate, modify, or amend the contract prior to its anniversary on Feb-
ruary 11, 1943. . •
On January 13, 1943, the C. I. O. mailed a letter to the Company,
which was received by the Company on January 14, stating that the
C. I. O. represented a majority of the employees at the Company's
Cleveland Plant No. 2; and further stating that it was filing a petition
with the Board for certification as the exclusive bargaining representa-
tive of the employees. On January 13, 1943, the C. I. O. filed its
petition in this proceeding. The, Company did not answer the
C. I. O.'s letter.
The A. F, L. contends that the petition should be dismissed since' the
C. I. O. did not give notice of its claim to representation until after
the agreement had been renewed automatically. We find merit in this
contention. Accordingly, for the reasons stated in the 'Mill B case,2
we find that the contract between the A. F. L. and the Company con-
stitutes a bar to a determination of representatives at this time, and,
accordingly, the petition of the C. I. O. shall be dismissed.' This dis-
missal, however, ,shall not prejudice the right of the C. I. O. to file a
new petition at a reasonable time before the automatic renewal clause
next becomes operative.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the-case, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders
that the petition for investigation and certification of representatives
of employees of The Cleveland Container Company at its Plant No. 2,
Cleveland, Ohio, filed by Warehouse and Distribution Workers Union,
Local 209 (C. 1.O.), be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
2 See Matter of Mill B, Inc, Division of Irwin d Injohs, partners doing business under the
assumed name of Irwin d Lyons and International Woodworkers of America, Local 116,
C. I 0, 40 N L. R. B. 346.
'Moreover , as stated above, the Board has previously found a ' two-plant unit appropriate
and has certified the A. P. of L as the bargaining representative of the employees in said
unit , pursuant to which the A P. of L and the Company entered into , a collective bargaining
agreement covering the employees in said unit.