The Holtzer-Cabot Electric Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 4, 1943

51 N.L.R.B. 1033 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of THE HOLTZER-CABOT ELECTRIC COMPANY and UNITED
ELECTRICAL, RADIO & MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, (C. I. 0.)
Case No. R--5632.-Decided August 4,1943
Mr. Allan Seserman, of Boston,'Mass., for the Company.
Messrs. Allan D. McNeil and Richard Linsley, of Boston, Mass.,
for the C. I.0. ,
Mr. William R. Cameron, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
'STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by United Electrical, Radio & Machine
Workers of America, (C. I. 0.), herein called the C. I. 0., alleging
that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre-
sentation, of employees of The Holtzer-Cabot Electric Company,
Boston, Massachusetts, herein called the Company, the National
Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon
due notice before Thomas H. Ramsey, Trial Examiner. Said hearing
was held at Boston, Massachusetts, on July 2, 3, and 7, 1943. The
Company and the C. I. 0. 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. All parties were afforded opportunity to
file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Holtzer-Cabot Electric Company is a Massachusetts corpora-
tion which operates two plants, one located on Amory Street and'
the other on Stuart Street, in the city of Boston, Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, `where it is engaged in the manufacture of fractional
horse power motors and generators, signalling, telephone, fire, and
51 N. L. H. 'B , No. 163.
1033
1034 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
watchman systems. The Company uses, during the course of a year,
raw materials consisting of metal castings, copper wire and insulation
amounting in value to approximately $2,000,000, of which 50 percent
is obtained from points outside the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The Company's finished products amount, during the course of a
year, to more than $5,000,000, of which approximately 50 percent is
shipped to points outside the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The
Company concedes that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning-
of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America is a labor
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
At some time subsequent to April 26, 1943, the Company and the
C. I. 0., in a prior representation proceeding then pending before
the Board, entered into an agreement for a consent election by em-
ployees of the Company, to be held on May 25, 1943. On May 24,
1943, the C. I. O. withdrew its petition and the election was not held.
On June,8, 1943, the C. I. O. requested recognition by the Company
as exclusive bargaining representative of the Company's employees.
The Company refused to grant such recognition in view of the with-
drawal of the C. I. O. from the consent election. On June 9, 1943,
the.C. I. O. filed its petition in the instant proceedings.
The Company contends that the C. I. 0., by virtue of the with-
drawal of its petition and non-participation in the consent election,
is in the position of a union which had lost such election. The Com-
pany further contends that the C. I. O. should be required to submit,
as evidence of representation of a substantial number of employees
within the appropriate unit, designations all of which bear signa-
ture dates subsequent to the date which had been agreed upon for the
consent election. With this latter contention we cannot agree. It
has been the practice of the Board to consider a petition for investi-
gation and certification of representatives, though filed within a short
period of time after dismissal of a prior petition for want of evi-
dence of substantial representation by the petitioner, or following
an election in which the petitioner had participated and lost, and no
union was certified, provided it was shown that the union had since
substantially increased its membership and then represented a sub-
stantial number of employees.,
I See Matter of Smith Cabinet Manu faciuring Company, 38 N L It. B . 957; Matter of
Chrysler Corporation, 37 N. L. It. B. 877 ; Matter of Automatic Products Company, 40
N. L. R. B . 941; Matter of Cambria Clay Products Company, 45 N. L. R. B. 1069.
THE HOLTZER-CABOT ELECTRIC COMPANY 1035
Furthermore, assuming, without deciding, that there is merit in the
Company's first contention, it nevertheless appears that the C. I. 0.
;.has i iib`stantia]ly increased its membership, since the date of the
consent election from which it withdrew 2
A statement of the Regional Director, introduced in evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the C. I. 0. represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriates
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 Company and the C. I. 0. agree that all hourly paid produc-
tion and maintenance employees at the Company's Amory Street and
Stuart Street plants, exclusive of office and office clerical workers,
executives, watchmen, guards, foremen, assistant foremen, draftsmen,
photographers, doctors and nurses in the hospital and first-aid depart-
ment, and experimental laboratory technicians, constitute a unit ap-
propriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. However, the
Company seeks to include, and the C. I. 0. to exclude, factory clerks,
timekeepers, expediters, and a class of employees known and listed
on the pay roll as supervisors.
The record discloses that the factory clerks keep production rec-
ords, answer the telephones, run errands and do typing. The time-
keepers maintain job records for piece work, attendance records, time
records, and check the time tickets against attendance records. The
work of these two classes of employees is admittedly clerical in nature.
The expediters, or stock chasers, carry instructions prepared by the
production department to the foremen of the various departments
relative to the jobs which should be pushed or given precedence over
other production. We do not find that the interests of the factory
clerks, timekeepers, and expediters are sufficiently identified with
that of the production and maintenance workers that they should be
included in the unit. We shall therefore exclude them.
7 See footnote 3, infra.
8 The Regional Director reported that the C. I. 0. submitted 602 membership cards, most
of which were dated from February through June 1943 . Twenty -one of these were dated
in June 1943 and 52 were dated in May Of the cards submitted , 555 appeared to bear the
genuine original signatures of persons whose names are on the Company's pay roll dated
May 8, 1943 , containing the names of 1481 persons within the unit claimed to be
appropriate.
The Regional Director further reported that the C . I. 0. submitted 38 membership cards,
most of which were dated in June 1943 , and of these 20 appeared to bear the genuine orig-
luab signatures , of',persons , whose, naives are on .tile above-mentioned pay roll. The C. I. 0.
also submitted a petition which had been circulated during the latter part of June 1943,
bearing 154 apparently genuine original signatures , of which 128 are the names of persons
whose names are on the above -mentioned pay roll Of the 128 signatures of persons whose
names are on the above -mentioned pay roll, 1 06 are the names of persons whose names
were among those on the cards first submitted and which are noted above.
1036 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Company employs certain employees whom it designates as
"supervisors." It was testified at the hearing that each Supervisor
has from 3 to 60 employees working under his direction, that the
supervisors keep certain time and production records, assign the
work to the employees, and route work to the proper stations. Those
having few employees under their supervision may also engage in
manual work. All the supervisors, however, have the right to rec-
ommend the disciplining or discharge 'of employees and have the
right to forward a requisition to the proper office requesting addi-
tional employees for the work over which they have supervision. We
find that they are supervisory employees, and, accordingly, we shall
exclude them from the unit.
We find that all hourly paid production and maintenance employees
of the Company in its Amory Street and Stuart Street plants, exclud-
ing office and, clerical employees, executives, watchmen, guards,
draftsmen, photographers, doctors and nurses in the hospital and
first-aid department, experimental laboratory technicians, factory
clerks, timekeepers, expediters, foremen, assistant foremen, super-
visors, and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire,
promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the
status of employees or effectively recommend such action, constitute
a unit appropriate 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 Elec-
tion herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
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 The Holtzer-'
Cabot Electric Company, Boston, Massachusetts, 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 First Region, acting in
THE HOLTZER-CABOT ELECTRIC COMPANY 1037
this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and sub-
ject 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 employees,who did not work dur-
ing said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tempo-
rarily laid off,. and including employees in the armed forces of the
United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but ex-
cluding any who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to
determine whether or not they desire to be represented by United
Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
CHAIRMAN Minis took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.