Worthington Pump and Machinery Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 7, 1937

4 N.L.R.B. 448 (N.L.R.B. 1937)

In the Matter Of WORTHINGTON PUMP AND MACHINERY CORP. and
PATTERN MAKERS ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK AND VICINITY, PATTERN
MAKERS LEAGUE
Case No. B-303.-Decided December 7, 1937
Steel Products Manufacturing Industry-Investigation of Representatives:
controversy concerning representation of employees: dispute between craft and
industrial unions as to appropriate unit-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bar-
gaining: craft-wood pattern makers and apprentices ; occupational and wage
differences ; established labor organization in plant; history of collective bar-
gaining relations with employer ; desire of employees-Representatives : proof of
choice : signed authorizations ; stipulation as to majority in appropriate unit-
Certifiication of Representatives : upon proof of majority representation.
Mr. Charles A. Graham, for the Board.
Mr. Charles M. Barney, of Harrison, N. J., for the Company.
Mr. Harold Ware, of New York City, for the Association.
Mr. Ernest Umpleby, of Schenectady, N. Y., for the League.
Mr. E. J. Lever, of Philadelphia, Pa., for the S. W. O. C.
Mr. Lewis M. Gill, of counsel to the Board. '
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On July 19, 1937, Pattern Makers Association of New York and
Vicinity," herein called the Association, filed with the Regional Di-
rector for the Second Region (New York City) a petition alleging
that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Worthington Pump and Machinery Cor-
poration, Harrison, New Jersey, herein called the Company, and
requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pur-
suant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat.
449, herein called the Act. On August 6, 1937, the National Labor
Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Sec-
tion 9 (c) of the Act, and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, or-
'The signature appearing on the petition was "Pattern Makers Assn . of N. Y. & Vie.
Pattern Makers League".
448
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 449
dered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to con-
duct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
On September 14, 1937, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing, copies of which were duly served upon'the Company, upon
the Association, and upon the Steel Workers Organizing Committee,
herein called the S. W. O. C., a labor organization purporting to
represent employees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant
to the notice, a hearing was held on September 23, 1937, at New York
City, before H. R. Korey, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the
Board. The Board was represented by counsel, the Company by
its secretary, and the Association and the S. W. O. C. by officers of
their respective organizations. The Pattern Makers League of North
America, herein called the League, the parent body of the Associa-
tion, was also represented by an officer. All participated in the
hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and to cross-
examine witnesses , and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues
was afforded all parties. No motions or objections to the admission
of any evidence were made at the hearing.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Company is a corporation, organized in 1937 under the laws
of Delaware , as successor to a corporation of the same name and
business which was organized in 1916 under the laws of Virginia.
Its executive offices are at Harrison , New Jersey , and its principal
manufacturing plants are located in Harrison, New Jersey; New-
ark, New Jersey; Buffalo, New York; and Holyoke, Massachusetts.
The Company is engaged in the manufacture of pumps, condensers,
refrigeration machinery , feed water heaters , gas engines , Diesel en-
gines, and other products . Raw materials used by the Company in-
clude iron, steel, copper, coke, and sand . Of the raw materials used
at the Harrison plant, which is the only plant concerned in this
proceeding, about 90 per cent are ordinarily obtained from outside
the State of New Jersey . Of the finished products of the Harrison
plant, about 80 per cent are ordinarily shipped by rail, truck, and
water into states other than the State of New Jersey and into foreign
countries.
The Company has about twenty branch sales offices throughout the
United States and employs about 150 salesmen who solicit orders
throughout the United States. It advertises in trade journals and
has numerous trade marks and foreign patents.
The Harrison plant employs approximately 1,800 men.
450 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
IT. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Pattern Makers Association of New York and Vicinity is a labor
organization affiliated with the Pattern Makers League of North
America, which in turn is affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor. The Association admits to membership wood pattern makers
and apprentices employed by the Company.
Steel Workers Organizing Committee is a labor organization
affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization, admitting
to membership all hourly paid employees of the Company. It has a
local, the Harrison Machinery Lodge, for employees at the Harrison
plant of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company is unwilling to deal separately with the Association
unless the wood pattern makers are found by the Board to be an
appropriate unit for collective bargaining. There was placed in
evidence at the hearing a copy of a contract entered into between the
S. W. O. C. and' the Company, effective as of May 15, 1937, recog-
nizing the Harrison Machinery Lodge of the S. W. O. C. as the sole
collective bargaining agency for all hourly paid employees of the
Company with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment,
and other conditions of employment.2 However, the contract con-
tained the following provision :
It is understood that the Wood Pattern Makers are excluded
from this agreement, pending the settlement of their status by
the National Labor Relations Board.
The representation of the wood pattern makers is accordingly
unsettled until this Board determines whether or not they constitute
an appropriate bargaining unit.
We, therefore, find that a question has arisen concerning repre-
sentation of employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company
described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial
relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States, and
tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce
and the free flow of commerce.
2 Harrison Machinery Lodge Exhibit No. 1.
DECISIONS AND, ORDERS
• V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
451
The Association contends that the wood pattern makers and wood
pattern maker apprentices at the Harrison plant constitute a unit
appropriate for collective bargaining. There are 72 employees in
this proposed unit. The S. W. 0. C. contends that all employees in
the plant paid upon an hourly basis should be considered one unit.
The work at the plant consists of engineering and drafting, pro-
duction of patterns in either wood or metal, molding the patterns in
the foundry, and finally the machining and finishing of the final
products. The wood pattern makers are skilled craftsmen, each of
whom customarily performs a complete operation, consisting of draw-
ing and constructing the pattern or part of a pattern which is as-
signed to him. The metal pattern makers work on a separate floor
in the same building with the wood pattern makers, but there is
normally no interchange between these two groups. It was testified
that metal pattern makers are more closely akin to the skilled ma-
chinists than to the wood pattern makers. ' The wage scale for the
wood pattern makers is different from that applicable to other em-
ployees in the plant. The S. W. 0. C. membership includes. metal
pattern makers in the plant, but no wood pattern makers. The
president of the Harrison Machinery Lodge of the S. W. 0. C. testi-
fied that when his organization became active in the plant, no attempt
was made to organize the wood pattern makers, some of whom had
been organized for many years by the Association.' The same wit-
ness testified that the S. W. 0. C. drive inspired the Association to
increase its membership anlong the wood pattern makers from, about
20 per cent to an almost complete enrollment by the time of the
hearing. At the time,the contract between the S. W. 0. C. and the
Company was consummated, the S. W. 0. C. had secured as members
about 95 per cent of the hourly paid employees of the Company.
A witness for the League testified that in a number of recent
controversies over representation in various 'other plants, the
S. W. O. C. has agreed that the wood pattern makers should con-
stitute separate bargaining units, despite the organization of the
remainder of the employees in the plants into industrial unions.
The League, it was,testified, has represented wood pattern makers
,in many plants for the past fifty years,, having a membership of
between seven and eight thousand. It appears that wood pattern
making constitutes a well recognized and clearly defined craft.
In this case, the history of collective bargaining in the plant is
not particularly illuminating. The record does not show to what
extent the Association has capitalized on its organization in the
plant by engaging in collective bargaining with the management in
the past. There is some testimony as to certain recent negotiations
452 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
between the Company and the two unions here involved. While the
S. W. O. C. and the company were engaged in negotiations which
resulted in the recent signed agreement, the Association was present-
ing demands to the Company for a wage increase for the wood pat-
tern makers who had in fact voted to strike unless the increases were
forthcoming. The Company requested the two unions to come to
some understanding on the demands since it was reluctant to en-
counter S. W. O. C. opposition to separate bargaining between the
Company and the Association. An Association committee then met
with a S. W. O. C. committee. The testimony is conflicting as to
-whether the, Association sought the assistance of the S. W. O. C.
in securing the wage increase or merely requested the S. W. O. C.
to withhold opposition while the Association bargained with the
Company. The result, in any event, was that the wood pattern
makers did receive a separate wage increase. Previous to this oc-
currence, the wood pattern makers shared in a general increase se-
cured by the S. W. O. C. for all the employees in the plant.
On' one relevant point there was no dispute. It was agreed by all
parties that the majority of the wood pattern makers preferred to
be represented by the Association.
The contention of the S. W. O. C. rests primarily upon the broad
ground that the simultaneous existence of craft and industrial unions
in the same plant is not conducive to effective collective bargaining.
We find no great preponderance of evidence in this record in favor
of one contention over the other. The industrial form of organiza-
tion has apparently been successfully applied to this plant, or at
least has made an auspicious beginning as indicated by the contract
recently entered into. On the other hand, the Association has been
in the plant for many years, representing employees of a well-defined
craft. In other plants, the industrial unions have seen fit to recog-
nize the separate status of the wood pattern makers, and while this
is by no means conclusive, it does indicate that such separate repre-
sentation has not universally been regarded, even by the industrial
unions, as an intolerable arrangement. The recent negotiations
prove little one way or the other.
The Board has held that the desire of the employees in the dis-
puted group is to be given considerable weights In this case it is
conceded by the S. W. O. C. that the wood pattern makers prefer
separate representation. Furthermore, the S. W. O. C. admittedly
has no membership among them. In the light of all the circum-
stances of this case, we believe that the separate representation
desired by the wood pattern makers should be permitted.
8Matter of the Globe Machine and Stamping Co and Metal Polishers Union. Local
No 3, International Association of Machinists District No 54, Federal Labor Union. 1888,
and United Automobile Woikers of America, 3 N. L R B. 294
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 453
We find that the wood pattern makers and wood pattern maker
apprentices employed by the Company constitute a unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that such unit will
insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of their right
to self-organization and to collective bargaining, and otherwise effec-
tuate the policies oi; the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
At the hearing 'the Company submitted , a sworn list of the wood
pattern makers and apprentices employed in the Harrison plant on
July 2 , 1937 .4 It was agreed by both unions that this list was to
be determinative of the employees in question . The list contained
72 names. The Association submitted a statement signed by 69 of
these 72 men, designating the Association as their collective bar-
gaining agency .5 This statement was dated June 17, 1937, and was
duly sworn and subscribed . No evidence tending to discredit this
list of signatures was submitted . In addition , it was agreed by all
parties that , if polled, the majority of the wood pattern makers
would select the Association as their representative.
Under the circumstances , no secret ballot is necessary. We find
that the Association has been designated and selected by a majority
of the employees by the appropriate unit as their representative for
the purposes of collective bargaining . It is, therefore, the exclusive
representative of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of
collective bargaining , and we will so certify.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case , the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Worthington Pump and Machinery Corpo-
ration, Harrison , New Jersey , within the meaning of Section 9 (c)
and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The wood pattern makers and wood pattern maker apprentices
employed by the Company constitute a unit appropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining , within the meaning of Section 9 (b)
of the National Labor Relations Act.
3. Pattern Makers Association of gew York and Vicinity is the
exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the
purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9
( a) of the National Labor Relations Act.
Board's Exhibit No. 5.
Board s Exhibit No. 7
454. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
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 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended,
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Pattern Makers Association of New
York and Vicinity has been designated and selected by a majority of
the wood pattern makers and wood pattern maker apprentices
employed by Worthington Pump and Machinery Corporation, Harri-
son, New Jersey, as their representative for the purposes of collective,
bargaining and that, pursuant to the provisions of Section 9 (a) of
the Act, Pattern Makers Association of New York. and Vicinity is
the exclusive representative, of all such employees for the purposes
of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of
employment, and other conditions of employment.
EDWIN, S. SMITH, dissenting :
In this plant of 1,800 employees, there was up until the coming
of the S. W. O. C. no effective labor organization. The Association
had succeeded in organizing about 20 per cent of the wood pattern
makers, but the record is silent as to any effective bargaining between
the Company and this minority group. With the advent of the
industrial union, labor organization gathered headway rapidly in
the plant; at the time the S. W. O. C. made its agreement with the
Company in May about 95 per cent of the employees had affiliated
with it. The union of pattern makers, which had'remained for many
years on an ineffective basis, now achieved a sudden spurt as a result
of the general enthusiasm for organization created by'the S. W. O. C.
On the basis of the number of wood pattern makers now enrolled
in its ranks, the Association would be entitled to certification. The
question is whether its history in the plant entitles the craft, on whose
behalf it functions, to'be set aside as a separate bargaining unit, in
view of the considerations which indicate the appropriateness of an
industrial unit. These considerations, as set forth by me in other
dissenting statements,(' are convincingly present in this case. There
seems no special warrant in the claims put forward by the Association
for weakening collective bargaining in an industrial unit by depriv-
ing the unit of the strength of this group of skilled workers. I think
the decision should; deny the petition of the Association.
6Matter of Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company and International Union, United'
Automobile Workers of America, Local 218, 4 •N L R B 159, and Matter of Schack Dry
Shaver Company and Lodge No 1557, International Asscr,ation of Machinists, 4 N L R B_
246.