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OFFICE OF THE UMPIRE No. E-178 NOVEMBER 13, 1947
Paragraph 7: Soliciting on Company Time
GRIEVANCE: Chevrolet-Muncie—Case E-50 "I was sent home Fri. 28-1947 because I was accused of soliciting a new member. The new member which I am supposed to get was kept on the job under the influence of liquor. Pay for all time lost."
Umpire’s Decision: The disciplinary layoff imposed upon Employee S. for violation of Paragraph 7 of the National Agreement shall be reduced to a reprimand. He shall be reimbursed for the time lost. (Entire decision should be read)
In the Matter of: United Automobile Workers of America—C.I.O.—Local 499 and General Motors Corporation—Chevrolet-Muncie—Case E-50
The evidence establishes that on the evening of Friday, March 28th, 1947, the complainant, S., an Alternate Committeeman in Department 24, accepted a membership application from Employee P. It appears that P. walked up to the complainant and handed him a membership application that had been previously made out and signed. Management imposed a three-day disciplinary layoff on the complainant for soliciting Union membership in the plant on Company time. The acceptance of a membership application constitutes solicitation in a technical sense. It is forbidden by the express terms of Paragraph 7 of the National Agreement. The complainant should have refused to accept the card and advised P. to return it outside of working hours. The complainant, however, never left his work station for the purpose of getting the card, nor did he engage in any conversation or extend any inducements of a nature that are generally understood as solicitation. His violation consisted in his failure to repudiate the act of another rather than in any calculated Union activity on his own part. His prior disciplinary record is unblemished. Under all the circumstances, the Umpire is of the opinion that a reprimand would have been sufficient discipline, and the layoff shall be reduced accordingly.
Decision: The disciplinary layoff imposed upon Employee S. for violation of Paragraph 7 of the National Agreement shall be reduced to a reprimand. He shall be reimbursed for the time lost. Signed, Ralph T. Seward UMPIRE November 13, 1947. |