Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 13, 1943

48 N.L.R.B. 1198 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY
and EMPLOYEES FEDERATION OF THE WESTINGHOUSE. ELECTRIO &
MANUFACTURING COMPANY
Case No. R-5037.-Decided April 13, 19.43
Jurisdiction : electrical apparatus manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : refusal'
to accord petitioner recognition until certified by the Board; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees at one of the com-
pany's plants, excluding supervisory employees and confidential secretaries of
supervisory employees.
Mr. Robert D. Blaisier, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the Company.
Mr. Harry A. Gillis, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Federation.
Mr. Henry Fiering, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the United.
Mr. A. Sumner Lawrence, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
I
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon an amended petition duly filed by Employees Federation of
the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, Cleveland,
Ohio, herein called the Federation, alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, Cleveland, Ohio,
herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board pro-
vided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Louis Plost,
Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Cleveland, Ohio, on March
19, 1943. The Company, the Federation, and United Electrical, Radio
& Machine Workers of America (CIO), herein called the United, ap-
peared, 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 Examiner's rulings made at the hear-
ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. On April
5, 1943, a stipulation signed by counsel for the Company, representa-
tives of the respective unions, and the Trial Examiner, was docketed
with the Board, providing for the correction of certain errors in the
transcript of testimony. The Board hereby orders that the stipulation
48 N. L. R. B., No. 144.
'1198
I
WE'STLNGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY 1199
be made a part of the rec'ord and that the transcript be corrected in
accordance with the stipulation.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company is ,,t Pennsylvania
corporation engaged in the manufacture and sale of electrical appa-
ratus: In connection with its business the Company operates numer-
ous plants and sales branches throughout the United States and foreign
countries. Only the manufacturing and repair plant on Breakwater
Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, is involved in tune present proceedings. Dur-
ing the year 1942, the Company purchased for use at its Breakwater
Avenue plant, raw materials and finished products valued at approxi-
mately $250,000, of which practically all of the finished products
amounting to approximately $200,000, and 80 percent of the raw mate-
rials amounting to approximately $40,000, were obtained from points
outside the State of Ohio. During the sane period, the Company's
products produced at its Breakwater Avenue plant amounted in value
to approximately $925,000, of which approximately 45 percent was
shipped to points outside the State of Ohio. The Company admits
that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National
Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Employees Federation of the Westinghouse Electric & ManuFactur-
ing Company is an unaffiliated labor organization, admitting to
membership employees of the Company.
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
On or about October 20, 1942, the Federation notified the Company
that it represented a majority of its employees at its Breakwater
Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, plant and requested recognition for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining. The Company refused to grant the
request until the Federation was certified by the Board. -
A statement of the Field Examiner, introduced in evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Federation and the United each represents
a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found
appropriate.'
1 The Regional Director reported that the, Federation had submitted 98 authorization
cards, all dated between August 1942 and February 15, 1943 ; that of the 98 cards, 83
1200] DECISIONS OF NATIONAL -LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 Federation and the Company urge that the appropriate unit
should consist of all employees in the Company's plant located at 5901
Breakwater Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, but excluding supervisory em-
ployees and confidential secretaries of supervisory employees. The
United contends for a unit restricted to a group of employees normally
engaged in manufacturing control equipment, one of the several items
produced at this plant.
While the operations of the control manufacturing group are largely
limited to one section of the plant and are also under the supervision
of a separate foreman, the control manufacturing group does not con-
stitute a department as such since the only department maintained by
,the Company is the manufacturing and repair department. In ad-
dition, the Company maintains numerous common facilities for the
benefit of all employees, including those in the control manufacturing
group. All employees are subject to the same general supervision, are
listed on the same pay roll, wear the same badges, have the same
seniority rights and are rated on the basis of the same efficiency rating
chart. Employees of the control manufacturing group have wage
rates comparable to the average wage rates among the service and
repair employees in the remaining sections of the plant. Employees
are shifted from one type of work to another depending upon the
requirements of the Company and the amount of work available in
the several lines of plant activity. Of the 25 or 30 employees doing
control manufacturing work, not more than 10 have always done this
type of work, the remainder having at times done other kinds of work
in the plant. The Board has, in numerous cases relating to other plants
of the Company doing substantially the same kind of work, certified
bargaining representatives- for its manufacturing and repair depart-
ments in units similar to the plant-wide unit which is sought under the
present petition.'
bore the apparently original signatures of employees on the Company ' s pay roll of Febru-
ary 27 , 1943, containing 111 names of employees in the appropriate unit. The United relies
upon evidence furnished in connection with Case 8-R-914, in which the United was the
petitioner with respect to the same plant. In connection with that case, the United pre-
sented 23 authorization cards dated August 1942 , all of which bore the names of persons
on the Company's pay roll for October 10, 1942.
7 Matter 'of Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company ( Cincinnati Service Shop)
and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union B-212 (aljlltiated `with
the American Federation of Labor ), 31 N L. R. B. 574 , 32 N. L. R. B. 243 ; Matter of West-
inghouse Electric it Manufacturing Company and United Electrical, Radio and Machine
Workers of America, affiliated with the C. I O , 35 N. L R. B. 151; Matter of Westinghouse
Electric and Manufacturing Company (South Boston Plant ) and International Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers , Local B-1027 (A. F. L ), 36 N. L . R. B. 219 ; Matter of Westinghouse
Electric it Manufacturing Company and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers;
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY 1201
In view of the interrelationship and interchange between employees
engaged in manufacturing control equipment and the other employees,,
we are of the opinion that a separate unit for the control manufactur-
ing employees would be inappropriate. Accordingly we find that all
employees in the Company's plant located at 5901 Breakwater Avenue,
Cleveland, Ohio, but excluding supervisory employees and confidential
secretaries of supervisory employees, 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 Election
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 Relations 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 represent-
atives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Westinghouse
Electric & Manufacturing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, 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 of Election, under
the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Eighth
Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations
Board and subject to Article III, Section 10, of said Rules and Regula-
tions, 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 such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca-
tion 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 employees who have since quit or been dis-
charged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented
by Employees Federation of the Westinghouse Electric & Manufac-
turing Company or by United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers
of'America (CIO), for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by
neither.
Local ##1, A. F. L., 38 N. L. R. B. 1079; Matter of Westinghouse t Electric Manufacturing
Company (Buffalo Manufacturers and Repair Division) and United Electrical, Radio and Ma.
chine Workers of America, Local 815, C. I. 0., 42 N. L. R.•B. 1341.