National Lead Company, Titanium Division And Employees' Independent Union, Inc., Of Tie National Lead Company, Titanium Division, Sayreville, New Jersey, 903 (1945)

In the Matter of NATIONAL LEAD COMPANY, TITANIUM DivISION and EMPLOYEES' INDEPENDENT UNION, INC., OF TIE NATIONAL LEAD COMPANY, TITANIUM DIVIsION, SAYREVILLE, NEW JERSEY In the Matter of NATIONAL LEAD COMPANY, TITANIUM DIVISION and LEAD BURNERS' LOCAL UNION No. 596 OF NEW JERSEY & VICINITY,

UNITED ASSOCIATION, A. F. OF L.

Cases Nos. 4-R-1720 and 4-R-1725, respectively.-Decided September 14, 1945 Messrs. L. R. Strole and Eugene V. Francy, of South Amboy,

N. J., for the Company.

Mr. George L. Burton, of South River, N. J., for the Independent.

Mr. John M. Catterson, of Park Ridge, N. J., and Mr. James A.

Carney, of South Amboy, N. J., for the A. F. L.

Messrs. David Mandel and David Brown, of Perth Amboy, N. J., and Mr. Willard Y. Morris, of Washington, D. C., for the C. I. O.

Mrs. Catherine TV. Goldman, of counsel to the Board.

DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petitions duly filed by Employees' Independent Union, Inc., of the National Lead Company, Titanium Division, Sayreville, New Jersey, herein called the Independent, and by Lead Burners' Local Union No. 596 of New Jersey & Vicinity, United Association, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein called the A. F. L., alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of National Lead Company, Titanium Division, Sayreville, New Jersey, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate consolidated hearing upon due notice before Herman Lazarus, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Perth Amboy, New Jersey, on June 7, 1945. At the hearing the Trial Examiner granted a motion to intervene made by International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers, Local 594, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Or ganizations, herein called the C. I. 0. The Company, the Independent, the A. F. L., and the C. I. O. appeared and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The C. I. O. moved to dismiss the petitions on the grounds that the Independent had not made a substantial showing and the A. F. L. had not made a proper demand for recognition. The Trial Examiner reserved rulings on the motions for the Board. For reasons hereinafter stated, the motions are hereby denied. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an 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 National Lead Company, Titanium Division, a New Jersey corporation with its principal place of business at Sayreville, New Jersey, is engaged in the manufacture of titanium pigments and oleum.

The Company annually purchases in excess of $1,000,000 worth of raw materials, including ilmenite, pyrites, and sulphur, over 90 percent of which is shipped to the Company's plant at Sayreville, New Jersey, from points outside the State of New Jersey. The Company annually sells over $1,000,000 worth of its products, over 90 percent of which is shipped to points outside the State of New Jersey.

The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.

  1. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Employees' Independent Union, Inc., of the National Lead Company, Titanium Division, Sayreville, New Jersey, is an unaffiliated labor brganization admitting to membership employees of the Company.

    Lead Burners' Local Union No. 596 of New Jersey & Vicinity,

    United Association, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to membership.employees of the Company.

    International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers, Local 594, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company.

  2. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION During December 1944 and January 1945, the Independent orally advised the Company that it represented a majority of the Company's 905 employees. The Company refused to recognize the Independent, stating that the C. I. 0. was the representative of its employees.' In a letter to the Company, dated February 7, 1945, the A. F. L. requested the Company to meet and discuss the matter of wages for lead burners employed by the Company. Replying on February 13, 1945, the Company declined to meet with the A. F. L., informing that organization, as it had the Independent, that the C. I. 0. was the representative of its employees.2 A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicates that the Independent, the A. F. L., and the C. I. 0. each represents a substantial number of employees in the unit it alleges to be appropriate.3 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.

    1 In a consent election, conducted by the Board on February 29, 1944, the C. I. 0. was selected as the representative of the Company's hourly paid production and maintenance employees. On April 3, 1944, the Company and the C. I. 0. executed an exclusive bargaining contract, effective until June 30, 1945, and automatically renewable from year to year thereafter in the absence of written notice prior to June 30 of any year. The contract is not asserted as a bar to this proceeding.

    2 The C. I. O. contends that the A. F. L. has not made a proper demand for recognition. We find the demand of the A. F. L. adequate to raise a question concerning representation. See Matter of Lennox Furnace Company,.

    Blow Pipe and Sheet Metal Works, 1 The Field Examiner reported that the Independent submitted 260 authorization cards, dated as follows: 163 in June 1944, 53 in July 1944, 1 in August 1944, 2 in October 1944, 23 in February 1945, and 18 in March 1945. There are 500 employees in the unit alleged to be appropriate by the Independent.

    The C. I. 0. contends that the authorization cards submitted by the Independent are stale, since the majority of them were signed in June 1944. We note, however, that all the cards are dated subsequent to the consent election at which the C. I. 0. was selected as representative of the Company's employees, and subsequent to the execution by the Company and the C. I. 0. of a bargaining contract, which provided for maintenance of membership after a 15-day escape period. We...

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