Whiting Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 22, 1943

49 N.L.R.B. 1068 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter Of WHITING CORPORATION and UNITED MINE WORKERS
OF AMERICA, DISTRICT 50
Case No. R-565. Decided 'May ^22, 1943
Fyffe cC Clarke, by Mr. John Harrington, of Chicago, Ill., for the
Company.
Mr. Vernon Ford, of Chicago, Ill., for District 50.
Mr. William R. Cameron, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition,duly filed by United Mine Workers of America,
District 50, herein called District 50, alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Whiting Corporation, Harvey, Illinois, herein called the Company,
the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice before Russell Packard, Trial Examiner.
Said hearing was held at Chicago, Illinois on April 29, 1943. The
Company and District 50 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 Ex-
aminer'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
Whiting Corporation, an Illinois corporation, has its principal
office and place of business at Harvey, Illinois, where it is engaged
'in the manufacture of cranes and foundry equipment for defense
purposes. During the year 1942 the Company purchased raw mate-
rials, consisting principally of steel and electrical machinery and
49N L. R. B., No. 153.
1068
WHITING CORPORATION 1069
equipment, amounting in value to approximately $6;500,000, of which
80 percent was obtained from points outside the State of Illinois.
During the year 1942 the Company's finished products amounted in
value to approximately $15,000,000, of which 85 percent was shipped
to places outside the State.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Mine Workers of America, District 50, is a labor organiza-
tion admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On or about March 23, 1943, District 50 requested the Company to
recognize it as the exclusive bargaining representative of the em-
ployees at the plant at Harvey, Illinois. The Company replied that
it could not do so because District 50 was not the authorized
bargaining agent.
A statement of the Regional Director, introduced in evidence at the
hearing, indicates that District 50 represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate 1
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
A question has arisen concerning the inclusion, in a unit consisting
of production and maintenance employees, of the following: guards,
a laboratory technician, two truck drivers, two assistant foremen, and
seven group leaders. Although all of these were sought to be ex-
cluded by District 50 at the time of filing its petition, at the hearing
District 50 stated that it desired to include the truck drivers. The
Company has taken no position as to the guards, laboratory tech-
nician and assistant foremen, but agrees that the truck drivers should
be included. The Company also desires the inclusion of the group
leaders.
All guards at the Company's plant are armed and militarized. In
accordance with our usual policy of excluding specialized plant-
protection employees from a production and maintenance unit, we
shall exclude them.
1 The Regional Director reported that District 50 had submitted 443 application and
authorization cards, of which 365 appear to bear the genuine original signatures of persons
whose names appear on the Company 's pay roll dated April 13, 1943 , containing the names
of 835 persons within the unit claimed appropriate . Of the cards appearing to bear genuine
original signatures , 97 were undated , 72 were dated in February and March , no year date
being given , 15 were dated in February and March of 1942, and 241 were dated from
January through April of 1943.
1070 DECISIONS OF -NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The chemist and laboratory technician runs routine analyses for
the foundry. He is in charge of the mixture of scrap, gray iron, and
special material that goes into the melting unit and has authority to
vary it according to his findings. He is paid on a salary basis. It
does not appear that his interests are similar to those of tl e„produc-
tion and maintenance employees . We shall exclude him from the
unit.
Only two truck 'drivers are employed, by the Company, normal
delivery service being handled by outside trucking companies. These.
drivers work interchangeably, one truck being used largely for yard
work and the other for making emergency deliveries and pick-ups.
Inasmuch as their work is closely related to that of the production
employees, and since they spend a substantial portion of their time
within the plant, we shall include them in the unit.
The two men classified by the Company as assistant foremen,
Singer and McComb, concerning whom question arose, are paid on
a salary basis and each supervises. a few hourly paid assistants.
Inasmuch as both have authority to recommend hire or discharge -of
employees under them , we shall exclude them as' supervisory em-
ployees. - '
Of the seven group leaders, all direct a few other employees with
whom they work , and are paid at a 10- to 20-percent higher rate
than the others. Some have authority to recommend discipline or
recognition , and others , during the absence of the foremen in their
respective departments, substitute for them. We find that these
are employees having duties sufficiently supervisory in nature that
their interests are different from those of other production and main-
tenance employees , and we shall therefore exclude group leaders from
the unit.
We find that all employees of the Company at its Harvey , Illinois,
plant, excluding supervisory , office and clerical employees , group
leaders, laboratory technicians , and guards , constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes 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
Direction.-
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WHITING CORPORATION 1071
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 Relations Act,
and -pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby
Dim cT,n that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Whiting Corpora-
tion, Harvey, Illinois, 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 Thirteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for
the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sec-
tion 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 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 by United Mine Workers of America,
District 50, for the purposes of collective bargaining.