National Labor Relations Bd. v. Sharples Chemicals

• Decision Date: 27 January 1954
• Docket Number: No. 11838.,11838.
• Citation: 209 F.2d 645
• Parties: NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD v. SHARPLES CHEMICALS, Inc.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

209 F.2d 645 (1954)

NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD v. SHARPLES CHEMICALS, Inc.

No. 11838.

United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.

January 27, 1954.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Fannie M. Boyls, Washington, D. C., George J. Bott, David P. Findling, A. Norman Somers, Franklin C. Milliken, Washington, D. C., on brief, for petitioner.

Frank E. Cooper, Detroit, Mich., Beaumont, Smith & Harris, Detroit, Mich., on brief, for respondent.

Before SIMONS, Chief Judge, and McALLISTER and MILLER, Circuit Judges.

MILLER, Circuit Judge.

The National Labor Relations Board seeks enforcement of its order issued July 8, 1952 against the respondent, Sharples Chemicals, Incorporated, pursuant to § 10(e) of the Labor Relations Act, §§ 141-168, Title 29 U.S.C.A.

The respondent, a Delaware corporation, manufactures various chemical products at its plant in Riverview, Michigan. It is conceded that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. The charge upon which the complaint was issued was filed October 18, 1950 by United Gas, Coke and Chemical Workers of America, CIO, a labor organization within the meaning of § 2(5) of the Act.

The complaint alleges that the respondent continuously since 1941 has dominated and interfered with the administration of a labor organization and has contributed financial and other support to said organization, thus engaging in unfair labor practices within the meaning of § 8(a) (2) of the Act, and has interfered with its employees' right of self-organization and collective bargaining through representatives of their own choosing, thus engaging in unfair labor practices within the meaning of § 8(a) (1) of the Act. The respondent by its answer denied the commission of any unfair labor practices, and also put in issue the question of the charging union's compliance with § 9(f) of the Act.

The Board's findings of fact can be summarized as follows: No outside labor organization has ever represented the respondent's employees. Instead there have been in existence several organizations, one known as the Employee Representative Group, hereinafter referred to as the Group, and five others, known as the Election Committee, the Grievance Committee, the Job Evaluation Committee, the Clothing Committee, and the Benefit Fund Committee, which functioned in the ways hereinafter described and which are the labor organizations referred to in the complaint whose administration has been dominated and interfered with by respondent.

Prior to 1942, respondent's plant manager customarily met with employees individually or in small groups to discuss matters affecting their working conditions. The rapid expansion of respondent's business resulting from World War 2 made it difficult to follow this custom, and, about the early part of 1942, the Employee Representative Group Plan was put into effect, by which representatives selected by employees would regularly meet with the Management. One object of the group meetings was to serve as "a two-way street for communication between Management and the people in the plant." The plant manager presided and the personnel manager acted as secretary. Foremen and other supervisory employees were excluded. The Group was made up of one representative for every fifteen employees in a designated unit, elected by the employees in their respective units for a term of one year. This totaled 34 representatives in the group. A wide variety of subjects were discussed at the meetings which were held usually once a month at the plant. The subjects included wages, vacation pay, work schedules, overtime, pension plans and hospitalization insurance. The plant manager or the personnel manager either disposed of these matters at the meeting at which they were raised or took them under advisement and announced their decision at a later meeting.

The Election Committee consisted of five members of the Group, appointed by the plant manager as Group chairman with the approval of the Group Representatives. The Committee conducted the elections of employee representatives of the Group and members of the standing committees. The elections were conducted on company premises with the respondent supplying the Committee with the necessary ballots, ballot boxes, and eligibility lists of candidates. The Committee has not conducted any elections since April 1950.

The Grievance Committee was composed of three employee members, each representing a different department. An employee was required to have at least three years' service to be eligible. In the 1950 election the procedure was for the employees in the department involved to elect their own committeemen. The Committee took up complaint or disagreements affecting the relations of the Company with its employees where the aggrieved employee was unable to settle his grievance with his foreman. After investigating the grievance, the Committee might attempt to adjust it with the personnel manager and if unsuccessful proceed with it to higher levels of management. Since April 1950 the Committee made recommendations to the personnel manager in three separate complaints, all three of which the personnel manager accepted.

The Job Evaluation Committee evaluated new jobs and revised old evaluations that were questioned by hourly-rated employees or management. It consisted of four employees, elected by the employees of different departments, and four representatives of Management. It was necessary for the employee to have at least six months of service with the Company in order to be eligible. Each member evaluated the job by assigning point values to five specified factors with the final determination being made by averaging the recommendations of all the members. Its decisions were final.

The Clothing Committee passed upon requests of hourly-rated, as well as of salaried and supervisory, employees for protective clothing. It consisted of four employee members elected by their respective departments for one year terms. An employee must have been in the respondent's employ for at least six months in order to be eligible. The respondent complied with the Committee's decision.

The Benefit Fund Committee administered the benefit fund which was established to furnish financial assistance to needy employees. It was composed of five members elected by employee representatives for one year terms. Membership was limited to employees with six months' service with the respondent. Membership in the fund was open to all employees upon application and payment of a fifty cent membership fee. The fund was maintained principally by the respondent's monthly contributions of $160 and by earnings from vending machines in the plant, averaging between $140 and $150 per month. Benefits were paid by check issued by the respondent's office supervisor upon written request of the Committee after the latter's approval of an application for benefits.

In all the organizations above referred to the representatives or committee members were paid for their time spent at the meetings, even when the meetings were held outside their regular hours, and membership in the group or of any committee depended upon the employee's continued employment by the Company.

The Board ruled that the effect of the Group and the Committees was that of a single employee representation plan whereby employees through their representatives were afforded a means of securing from the respondent satisfaction of their grievances and improvement of their working conditions, and as such the Group and the Committees were the type of labor organizations contemplated by the Act, and that the respondent had dominated and interfered with the administration of the Group and the Committees, and had interfered with the exercise by its employees of the right of collective bargaining, in violation of §§ 8(a) (2) and 8(a) (1) of the Act. By its order of July 8, 1952, it directed that the respondent cease and desist from such domination or interference, and from recognizing or dealing with the Group and the Committees, or any successors thereto, as the representative of any of its employees in its labor relations problems; that it completely disestablish said organizations as the representatives of any of its employees for the purpose of dealing with the respondent concerning conditions of employment; and that it post appropriate notices to that effect.

The respondent contends that the Board improperly received and considered incompetent evidence, that its findings are not supported by substantial evidence, that in making its findings it failed to comply with the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C.A. § 1001 et seq., that the Group and the Committees were not labor organizations within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act, and that, in any event, there was no domination or interference by the respondent with the administration of said organizations or with the right of the employees to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing.

A preliminary matter for decision is the issue, raised by the respondent's answer to the complaint, whether the charging Union was in compliance with the filing requirements of § 9(f) of the Act, which provides that no complaint shall be issued pursuant to a charge made by a labor organization unless such organization shall have filed with the Secretary of Labor a report giving certain information about the organization, including a financial statement. Respondent contends that the Board should be required to meet this issue and make a showing on the record as to whether or not the charging Union was in compliance before proceeding with the case. The trial examiner overruled the objection. The Board approved this ruling on the ground that the fact of compliance by a labor organization was a matter for administrative determination, was not litigable by the parties, and that "the Board is administratively satisfied that both the charging...