Buffalo Weaving and Belting Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 7, 1949

85 N.L.R.B. 1178 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of BUFFALO WEAVING AND BELTING CODIPANY, EMPLOYER
and INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS, LOCAL UNION
No. 907, A. F. L., PETITIONER
Case No. 3-RC-95.Decided September 7,1919
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before John C. McRee,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.,,
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Murdock].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Petitioner and the Intervenor, United Rubber, Cork, Lino-
leum and Plastic Workers of America, Local 246, CIO, are labor
organizations claiming to represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner seeks to sever from the existing unit of produc-
tion and maintenance employees, at present represented by the Inter-
venor,2 a unit composed of all stationary engineers at the Employer's
plant. The Intervenor contends that the only appropriate unit is the
production and maintenance unit which it currently represents. The
Employer took no position with regard to the unit question, but points
1 The Intervenor ' s motion to dismiss on the ground that the unit sought by the Petitioner
is inappropriate , is denied for reasons hereinafter discussed.
2 The Intervenor was certified by the Board following an election in 1.943 as the bargaining
agent for all production and maintenance employees , and has executed yearly contracts
since then . The most recent contract was executed on August 2, 1948, effective for 1 year
and automatically renewable thereafter . The parties to this contract do not allege it to
be a bar to this proceeding.
85 N. L. R. B., No. 197.
1178
BUFFALO WEAVING AND BELTING COMPANY 1179
out that the Petitioner's proposed unit omits several employees in the
boiler department.
There were three licensed engineers employed in the boiler room
under the direction of the chief engineer. Also under his supervision
are two coal-passers, who work in the boiler room, and two steam
fitters. During the winter months, when heat is maintained 7 days
per week, there is one extra engineer who spends about one-half
his time in the boiler room and the remainder working with the steam
fitters, and another coal-passer in the boiler room. There is one
engineer on duty on each of the Employer's three shifts. He is re-
sponsible for keeping the steam up, keeping water in the boiler, and
taking care of the pumps. Municipal ordinances require that he be
licensed as a first-class engineer. Ordinances also require 3 years'
experience firing a boiler to become a second class engineer, and 3 more
years as a prerequisite to taking the examination for first class engi-
neer. One coal-passer works on each shift, with the engineer, and,
in the past, coal-passers have been promoted to engineers when
qualified. The steam fitters work out of a shop which is adjacent to
the boiler room. They do maintenance work throughout the plant
and occasionally are called on to make repairs in the boiler room.
The Intervenor contends that in view of the successful history of
collective bargaining in the Employer's plant on an industrial basis,
and of the fact that the steam produced by the boiler department is
used in the industrial processes of the plant, a separate unit of boiler
room employees is inappropriate. However, the Board has frequently
held that powerhouse employees who are separately supervised and
perform the usual duties relating to powerhouse operations constitute
a homogeneous and clearly identifiable departmental group.3 As the
work of the coal-passers is related to that of the engineers, and as
together they comprise the boiler department supervised by the chief
engineer, we believe that coal-passers and the engineers constitute
such a group feasible for collective bargaining purposes. As the steam
fitters do not regularly work in the boiler room, are not traditional
members of the boiler room unit, and as their duties are separate
and distinct from those of the boiler room employees, we shall exclude
them from the boiler room grouping.
Accordingly we find that all stationary engineers and coal-passers
at the Employer's Buffalo, New York, plant, excluding the chief
engineer, steam fitters, all other employees, office and clerical em-
ployees, guards, and supervisors may constitute an appropriate unit
for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of See-
3 Matter of Beaunit Mills, Inc., 85 N. L. It. B. 316 ; Matter of Mallinckrodt Chemical
Works, 84 N. L. R: B. 291.
1180 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tion 9 ( b) of the Act. They may , however, also function as part of
the existing production and maintenance unit.
In these circumstances , we shall make no final unit determination at
this time , but shall be guided in part by the desires of these employees
as expressed in the election herein directed . If a majority of them
vote for the Petitioner , they will be taken to have indicated their
desire to constitute a separate appropriate unit.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer , an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible , but not later
than 30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and
supervision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this
case was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations , among the employees
in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4 , above, who
were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the
date of this Direction of Election , including employees who did not
work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca-
tion or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have
since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired
or reinstated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding
employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement , to deter-
mine whether they desire to be represented , for purposes of collective
bargaining, by International Union of Operating Engineers, Local
Union No. 907, A. F. L., or by United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum and
Plastic Workers of America, Local 246, CIO , or by neither.