Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 8, 1938

9 N.L.R.B. 755 (N.L.R.B. 1938)

In the Matter of ALASKA JUNEAU GOLD MINING COMPANY and
JUNEAU MINE & MILL WORKERS UNION, LOCAL No. 203, OF INTER-
NATIONAL UNION OF MINE, MILL AND SMELTER WORKERS
Case No. R-1029.-Decided November 8, 1938
Gold Mining Industry-Investigation of Representatives : controversy con-
cerning representation of employees : employer unwilling to count any em-
ployees but members in good standing among those having designated labor
organization as representative for collective bargaining ; several labor organiza-
tions claim to represent employees-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargain-
ing: production and maintenance employees ; stipulation as to-Representatives:
proof of choice : where union bylaws provide that delinquent members are
dropped, delinquency of union members in paying dues raises some doubt as to
their continuing desire to be represented by union-Election Ordered
Mr. Thomas P. Graham, Jr., for the Board.
Mr. H. L. Faulkner, of Juneau, Alaska, for the Company.
Mr. W. A. Rasmussen, of Juneau, Alaska, for the Juneau Union.
Mr. Maurice T. Johnson, of Juneau, Alaska, for the Federal Union,
the Machinists, and the Brotherhood.
Mr. William Stix, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF TM-CASE
On June 7, 1938, the Juneau Mine & Mill Workers Union, Local
No. 203, of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter
Workers (herein called the Juneau Union) filed with the Regional
Director for the Nineteenth Region (Seattle, Washington) a peti-
tion alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concern-
ing the representation of employees of Alaska Juneau Gold Mining
Company, Juneau, Alaska (herein called the Company). The peti-
tion requested an investigation and certification of representatives
pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49
Stat. 449 (herein called the Act). On August 2, 1938, the National
Labor Relations Board (herein called the Board) acting pursuant
to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National
9 N. L. R. B., No. 69.
755
134068-39-vol ix-49
756 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended,
ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to con-
duct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
On September 2, 1938, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing which was duly served upon the Company and the Juneau
Union, and also upon International Association of Machinists, Local
No. 514 (herein called the Machinists), Federal Union No. 21001
(herein called the Federal Union), and International Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers, Local No. B-4621 (herein called the Brother-
hood), each of the latter three being a labor organization claiming
to represent employees directly, affected by the investigation. Pur-
suant to the notice, a hearing was held at Juneau, Alaska, on Sep-,
tember 15, 1938, before Martin Raphael, -the Trial Examiner duly
designated by the Board. The Company was represented at the
hearing by counsel, as were the Machinists, the Federal Union, and
the Brotherhood. The Juneau Union was represented by W. A.
Rasmussen, its president. All participated in the hearing. Full
opportunity to be heard, to examine and to cross-examine witnesses,
and to introduce evidence bearing upon the issues was afforded all
parties. During the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rul-
ings on motions and on objections to the admission of evidence.
The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds
that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings of the
Trial Examiner are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. TIIE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Company is and has been since February 17, 1897, a corpora-
tion organized and existing under the laws of the State of West
Virginia. It is engaged in the mining, milling, sale, and distribu-
tion of gold, and in development operations. It has its mines and
works in and near the vicinity of Juneau, Alaska, and its princi-
pal office in San Francisco, California. From 1893 to 1934, products,
principally gold, having a gross value of $42,000,000 were recovered
by the Company from its mines. Steel, lumber, powder, carbide,
machines, bolts, and nuts are purchased by the Company'in various
States of the United States, the purchases made in the eastern
part of the United States being shipped to Juneau through the
Panama Canal. Approximately 84 per cent of the gold contained
in the ore mined by the Company at Juneau is recovered at the
1 Notice was served on Local No. 462 . This union is variously referred to in the record
as Local No. 462 and as Local No B-.462 . The latter appears to be the correct designation.
- DECISIONS AND ORDERS 757
Company's mill there and is shipped in brick form to the Federal
Assay Office at Seattle, Washington. The concentrates containing
the remainder of the gold, together with silver and lead, are shipped
from Juneau to the American Smelting and Refining Company at
Selby, California. The Company is, with respect to tonnage of crude
ore, the largest gold mining enterprise in the United States.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Juneau Mine and Mill Workers Union, Local No. 203, is a labor
organization chartered by International Union of Mine, Mill, and
Smelter Workers, which is affiliated with 'the Committee for Indus-
trial Organization. It admits to membership persons working in
and around mines, mills, and smelters, including employees of the
Company.
Local No. 514 is a labor organization chartered by the Interna-
tional Association of Machinists, which is affiliated with the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor. It admits to membership machinists, me-
chanical repair men, and helpers, including those employed by the
Company.
Local No. B-462 is a labor organization chartered by the Inter-
national Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which is affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor. It admits to membership per-
sons who work in or with electricity, either in construction or op-
eration, including those in the employ, of the Company.
Federal Labor Union No. 21001 is a labor organization chartered
by the American Federation of Labor., It admits to membership
mine and mill employees of the Company.
None of these labor organizations allows supervisory employees
to be active members.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
In March 1938, the Juneau Union requested the Company to
recognize it as the exclusive collective bargaining agency for em-
ployees of the Company. The Company expressed its willingness to
grant such recognition to any organization which represented a
majority of its employees, but it refused to consider in the total of
employees who had designated the Juneau Union as their representa-
tive for purposes of collective bargaining anyone except members of
the Juneau Union in good standing. _Whether the Juneau Union
would have had a majority if all the employees whom it-claimed to
represent had been considered does not appear from-the record.
The Machinists, the Federal Union, and the Brotherhood claim to
represent some of the Company's employees.
We find that a question has arisen concerning representation of
employees of the Company.
758 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
W. 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 within the Territory of
Alaska and between it and the several States, and tends to lead to
labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free
flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
It was stipulated by the Company and by the four unions that the
production and maintenance employees of the Company, excluding
supervisory personnel, office employees, and technical engineers, but
including watchmen, would constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining. We see no reason to alter the
agreed unit.
We find that the production and maintenance employees of the
Company, excluding supervisory personnel, office employees, and
technical engineers, but including watchmen, constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining and that said unit
will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of their
right to self-organization and collective bargaining and otherwise
effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Juneau Union introduced the names of applicants for mem-
bership 2 and a list of members. Of the employees of the Company
who were listed as members, 72 were 2 or more months in arrears
in the payment of dues."
The constitution of the International Union of Mine, Mill and
Smelter Workers, which was introduced in evidence, sets forth by-
laws which govern local unions until amended by them. These
bylaws provide :
2 Some applicants had paid their initiation fee, others had not.
8 The following table shows the periods for which these members had been in arrears :
Number of months Number of members
2----------------------------------------------------- 21
3----------------------------------------------------- 12
4----------------------------------------------------- 15
5----------------------------------------------------- 3
6----------------------------------------------------- 3
7----------------------------------------------------- 5
8----------------------------------------------------- 3
9----------------------------------------------------- 2
10----------------------------------------------------- 4
11----------------------------------------------------- 4
DECISIONS AND ORDERS
ARTICLE VIII
759
SEC. 2. Dues of each member shall be due on the first day of
each month and past due on the first day of the following month.
SEC. 3. Any member being two or more months in arrears with
his dues shall not be allowed a voice or vote in the affairs of the
local, and shall be automatically dropped as a member of the
local and be reinstated only upon payment of the reinstatement
fee and such other penalties as the local may impose.
In March 1938, the Company objected and, at the hearing, the
three A. F. of L. unions objected to including in the count any per-
sons other than members of the Juneau Union in good standing.
Without the 72 members who are 2 or more months in arrears in
payment of dues, the Juneau Union does not have a majority, and
in no event would it have a majority of more than one or two per-
sons.4 The Board has consistently held that membership in a trade
union is not a necessary condition precedent to the designation of the
union as a bargaining representative.-' However, since the lapse in
the dues payments of the 72 employees raises some ground for doubt
as to their continuing desire to be represented by the Juneau Union,
and since, moreover, representatives of each of the four unions stated
at the hearing that they had no objection to the holding of an elec-
tion to determine the question of representation, we are of the opin-
ion, under all the circumstances of this case, that the doubt as to the
employees' designation of a bargaining representative should be re-
solved by the holding of an election by secret ballot.5
The three A. F. of L. unions requested that, in the event of an
election, they might appear'on the ballot as: "JOINT COMMITTEE
of Federal Labor Union #21001, International Association of Ma-
chinists Local #514, International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers Local #B 462, all affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor," and we shall so direct.
All parties agreed that, in the event of an election, the pay roll
used should be that immediately preceding the date of the election.
We find that those eligible to vote in the election shall be persons
in the appropriate unit who are on the pay roll of the Company im-
mediately preceding the date of the election as herein directed.
40n September 12, 1938, the Company had 982 employees of whom approximately 45
fell into categories excluded from the bargaining unit.
s Matter of The Serrick Corporation and International Union, United Automobile Workers
of America, Local No. 459, 8 N. L. R. B 621 and cases cited therein in note 9.
Matter of Eagle-Picher Mining and Smelting Company and International Union of
Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, Local 429, 8 N. L. R B. 1008.
760 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company,
Juneau, Alaska , within the meaning of Section 9 ( c) and Section
2 (6) and ( 7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The production and maintenance employees of the Company,
excluding supervisory personnel , office employees , and technical en-
gineers, but including watchmen , constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining , within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act.
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 Re-
lations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as a part of the investigation ordered by the
Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective
bargaining with Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company, Juneau,
Alaska, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted within thirty
(30) days from the date of this Direction , under the direction and
supervision of the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region,
acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations
Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Reg-
ulations , among the production and maintenance employees of Alaska
Juneau Gold Mining Company , Juneau, Alaska, who are on the pay
roll of the Company immediately preceding the date of the election,
excluding supervisory personnel , office employees , and technical en-
gineers, and those who have since quit or been discharged for cause,
but including watchmen , to determine whether they desire to be
represented by Juneau Mine & Mill Workers, Local 203, International
Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers ( affiliated with the Com-
mittee for Industrial Organization ) or by Joint Committee of Fed-
eral Labor Union #21001, International Association of Machinists,
Local #514, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local
No. 462 , all affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, for
the purposes of collective bargaining , or by neither.