C. F. Braun & Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 1, 1958

120 N.L.R.B. 282 (N.L.R.B. 1958)

282 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
C F Braun & Cot and National Union, United Welders
of America , Independent,, Petitioner. Case No. 21-RC-4947.
April 1, 1958
DECISION AND ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Karl W. Filter,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed .2
On January 2, 1958, the Board granted the request of the Em-
ployer, and of each of the Intevenors for oral argument. On Janu-
ary 16, 1958, the Board heard oral argument, by the Petitioner, the
Employer, and the Intervenors.
Upon its consideration of the entire record, the briefs of the parties,
and the oral argument in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. No question affecting commerce- exists concerning the represen-
tation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act, for the following
reasons:
The Employer's Operations
The Employer is engaged in the design, engineering, and construc-
tion of large scale projects such as catalytic cracker ' plants, oil
refineries, chemical plants, and other types of process plants. It
operates a manufacturing and fabricating shop at Alhambra, Cali-
fornia, where it manufactures heavy pressure vessels, including bubble
columns and fractionating towers,,as well as tubular heat exchangers,
fired heaters, and various structural items. Approximately half of
1 The Employer 's name appears as corrected at the hearing.
S The bearing officer properly permitted Metal Trades Council of Southern California ;
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers , Iron Ship Builders , Blacksmiths , Forgers and
-Helpers, Local 92, AFL-CIO ; and International Association of Machinists, District Lodge
No 94,'Local Lodge No. 311, AFL-CIO, to intervene on the basis of their contractual
interest in the employees designated in the petition as amended . In addition, the Board
permitted the following labor, organizations to intervene : Metal Trades Department,
AFL-CIO; International Brotherhood- of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO ; United Associa-
tion of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the
United States and Canada, AFL-CIO ; International Union of Operating Engineers,
AFL-CIO ; International Association of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers, AFL-CIO ;
International Association of Sheet Metal Workers , AFL-CIO ; International Association
of Machinists , AFL-CIO ; International Brotherhood of Boilermakers , Iron Ship Builders
and Helpers of America , AFL-CIO ; and United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of
America. AFL-CIO Permission to intervene was granted because of the, importance of the
issues involved herein, to each of the Intervenors generally, and because the intervening
Internationals ; through their locals, supply- employees who perform welding operations, to
the Employer for employment in other phases of the Employer 's operations.
120 NLRB No. 42.
C F BRAUN & CO 283
the production of the Alhambra plant is delivered to field crews of
the Employer for construction and erection in the field, and the
remainder is delivered directly to customers. As the Employer op-
erates a job shop, the manufactured items, though generally falling
within the above categories of products, vary from job to job de-
pending upon customer specifications.
Bargaining History
The employees of the Employer's manufacturing and fabricating
shop have been continuously represented for approximately 20 years
by Boilermaker Local 92 and Machinists Local Lodge 311 and the
Metal Trades Council of Southern California. The first of a series
of written contracts was executed in 1945 between the Employer and
the Metal Trades Council of Southern California, on behalf of Boil-
ermaker Local 92 and Machinists Local Lodge 3111 The latest con-
tract in the series was executed subsequent to the filing of the petition.
Under the terms of this contract each of the signatory local unions
is recognized as the sole collective-bargaining agent for all employees
in the manufacturing and fabricating shop over which the signatory
local has primary trade jurisdiction, such jurisdiction being defined
by the list of classifications set forth in the agreement. The agree-
ment contains two basic classifications, that of Boilermaker and that
of Machinist. Under Boilermaker are listed some 13 classifications,
including a welder classification, and under Machinist there are listed
some 9 classifications.
The Parties' Contentions
Petitioner seeks to sever "all employees of C F Braun & Co at its
Alhambra, California, plant, who devote 50 percent or more of their
time to welding or burning or a combination of both, and who are
within the unit covered by the Employer's agreement with the Metal
Trades Council of Southern California." Inasmuch as no welding
operations are performed by employees within the Machinist unit
represented by Local Lodge 311, the Petitioner's request is in effect a
request for severance of welders from Local 92's Boilermaker unit.
Petitioner contends that the employees it seeks are skilled craftsmen
eligible for severance in accordance with the Hughes Aircraft deci-
sion 4 wherein the Board held, on the basis of the record developed
' In addition to the contract covering the manufacturing and fabricating shop, the
Employer maintains contracts with approximately 10 building and construction crafts
unions, including the Internationals who have intervened herein, covering employees work-
ing in the "betterments section," employees of the Employer's field crews, and employees
engaged In the construction of a new powerhouse at the Alhambra plant. The "better-
ments section" Is engaged in plant repairs and new construction , and employees in the
section work throughout the Alhambra plant. These contracts cover inter alts employees
engaged In welding and burning operations.
4 Hughes Aircra ft Company, 117 NLRB 98.
284 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR -RELATIONS BOARD
therein, that welding as such is a separate and distinct craft within
the meaning of the definition set forth in American Potash.'
The Intervenors and the Employer contend, inter alia, that (1)
welding is not a separate and distinct craft, but is rather a process or
method of joining metals together which is indigenous to and is used
by all of the standard metal trades crafts, and that employees in the
metal trades who perform such welding operations, have traditionally
been represented by the particular metal trades craft union having
jurisdiction over the basic craft with which the welding is associated;
and. (2) that in any event the Employer's welders are not the type
of skilled welders the Board found to be craftsmen in the Hughes
Aircraft decision.
The record demonstrates that welding is utilized by employees in
many different metal trades as a method or process of joining metals
together. Historically, jurisdiction over welders who utilize the weld-
ing process in the performance of a basic craft function, has been given
by the AFL, to the craft union having jurisdiction over the basic craft,
which policy has been continued by the AFL-CIO, as is indicated
by a letter in evidence, from AFL-CIO President George Meany to
James Brownlow, president of Intervenor Metal Trades Department,
in which Mr. Meany stated that American Federation of Labor had
always regarded welding as a tool or method rather than a separate
trade or craft, and that there has been no change in this policy since
the merger of the AFL and CIO.6 Though such policy has served to
reduce jurisdictional disputes, the basis for the policy lies in the fact
that welding cuts across metal trades craft lines, with the welding
skill constituting an important skill of a metal trades craftsman.
Therefore the grant to each craft union of jurisdiction over welding
operations related to the performance of the basic craft functions,
serves to preserve the status and protect the interests, not only of the
craft employees but also of craft unions. In order to qualify as a jour-
neyman in any of the metal trades crafts, an employee must have ex-
perience and competency in welding techniques. All of the metal
trades craft unions include training and instructions in the welding
techniques related to the basic craft functions, in their apprenticeship
training programs, which are approved by the Bureau of Apprentice-
ship, United States Department of Labor, which does not. however,
regard welding, as such, as an apprenticeable trade or occupation.
The welding techniques and skills, and consequently the amount of
s American Potash & Chemical Corporation , 107 NLRB 1418
9 We note that this policy has been incorporated in the 10-point Craft Union Code
recently adopted by the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO
and the National Constructors Association Point 2 of the Code states "The welding
torch is a tool of the trade having jurisdiction over the work being welded . Craftsmen
using the welding torch shall perform any of the work of their trade, and shall work
under the supervision of the craft foremen." The New York Times , February 8, 1958.
C F BRAUN & CO 285
training and instruction in such techniques which is required, vary
from craft to craft, depending on the type of metal work involved.
In no case, however, does such training constitute more than a minor
portion of the total apprenticeship training program. Competency
to meet the welding requirements of one metal trades craft does not
necessarily qualify an employee to perform the welding operations
required in another craft. In no case does such training qualify an
employee as an all-around welder, skilled in the advanced techniques
in all three basic types of welding, gas are, electric are, and heliarc,
required to produce acceptable welds on all kinds of metals, including
extremely light metals and metal alloys.
As already noted, the employees whom the Petitioner seeks to sever
work within the Boilermaker unit represented by Boilermaker Local
92. Of the 308 employees within the unit, 119 are classified as weld-
ers. They work in five different departments along with other boiler-
maker classifications. They are supervised by the foreman and the
assistant foreman of the departments in which they work, who also
supervise all other classifications in the department. When not en-
gaged in welding operations, welders perform other functions of
the boilermaker craft.
The Employer maintains no training program for welders as such,
but it does maintain a boilermaker apprentice training program,
which requires 1,840 hours of apprenticeship training in welding.
Though the Employer tries to hire experienced welders, it requires no
particular amount of experience of the welders it hires. To be hired,
a welder must pass an appearance test, which can be passed with as
little as 30 to 40 hours of welding training. The test consists of a fil-
let weld at a 45-degree angle in the horizontal position, and is ob-
served by a welding specialist, who determines from his observation
of the welder during the test and a visual inspection of the finished
weld whether the welder is competent to be employed. If so judged,
the welder is sent to a foreman of one of the departments, who then
determines if he is to be employed. Within 90 days of employment,
the welder must qualify as a "code welder" of metallic are groove
welds on carbon and low alloy steel plate, utilizing either hand welding
equipment or automatic welding machines, in order to qualify for
welding operations on the pressure vessels which comprise a large
proportion of the Employer's production. The code test is a test de-
vised by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in which a
sample plate is welded and then subjected to bending and X-ray tests
in a laboratory. All welding on pressure vessels must be done by quali-
fied code welders. There are separate tests for hand welders and auto-
matic machine welders, as well as different tests for welding of
different metals, different thicknesses of metals and the different posi-
tions, such as horizontal, vertical, flat, or overhead, in which the weld-
286 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ing is done. A welder is qualified as a code welder only for the types of
welding in which he has taken and passed a code test. These tests must
be repeated, if the welder has been out of the employ of the Employer
for 90 days or has not engaged in a particular type of welding for a
period of 90 days. About three-fourths of the Employer's welders have
passed only the code tests for metallic are groove welds on carbon and
low alloy steel plate, which comprises the bulk of the welding done
in the Employer's shop. About a fourth of the welders have passed
other code tests as well, but only 6 or 7 have qualified for the gas are
or heliarc welding operations on thinner metals and metal alloys,
which comprise but 2 percent of all the Employer's welding operations.
The Employer has employed individuals with only the simplest of
welding skills, who were able to perform all the normally required
hand-welding operations on code work as well as noncode work, with-
in 2 months. Similarly, the Employer has taken employees from the
chipper classification, who had no welding experience, and converted
them into automatic machine welders within 6 weeks.
Inspection of code welding work in pressure vessels is done by
random X-rays, by visual inspection by employees of the Employer
and inspectors of the State of California, and by hydrostatic tests
of the pressure vessels which are viewed by State inspectors. The
hydrostatic tests are not solely for purposes of testing the welds, but
are also for the purpose of discovering defects in the structure and
design of the vessel. No 100 percent X-ray inspections are made un-
less requested by a customer.
In addition to welders, all of whom perform welding or burning
from 50 percent to 95 percent of the time, layerouts and fitters regu-
larly perform welding operations as part of their normal job duties,
though, with the exception of 2 fitters, the percentage of time spent
in such operations is less than 50 percent. Much of the welding done
by the fitters is tack welding to hold a metal plate in a cylindrical
shape until the seam can be finally welded. Tack welds are usually
removed by chippers, who back chip from the reverse side of the
seam while the permanent weld is being applied. Though tack weld-
ing is a comparatively simple type of welding it is more difficult than
some of the welding done by the Employer's welders. However,
fitters are capable of welding the entire seam and frequently do so.
Moreover, both layerouts and fitters in addition to cutting, laying out,
forming, and fitting the plate into position for welding, make the de-
termination as to the type of coated electrode to be used by the weld-
ers and the welding heat to be utilized. Similar determinations are
made for automatic machine welders by welding specialists and by
the Employer's engineering department. Layerouts and fitters have
been qualified as code welders. The welding specialist who gives the
C F BRAUN & CO 287
code tests testified he has given such tests to employees classified as
planer man, pressbrake operator, rollman and chippers, and helpers.
Pipefitter welders in the "betterments section" and those engaged in
the construction of the new boilerhouse are qualified code welders.
Welders transfer from code work to noncode work, from one de-
partment to another, from the shop to field work and back, and also
to work in the "betterments section" as the workload requires. When
transferred to the field they work under the provisions of the Em-
ployer's agreement with the International Boilermakers Union, but
they retain their seniority rights in the shop. Welders also transfer
into and out of fitter and layerout classifications, and employees in
the latter two classifications transfer into welder classifications.
It is apparent from the foregoing that the welding operations at
the Employer's plant are representative of welding operations in
the metal trades industries generally, wherein welding operations are
performed by welders working in close association with a particular
metal trades craft and/or by journeymen in the craft; the representa-
tion of the Employer's welders follows the traditional pattern of
representation by the particular craft union having jurisdiction over
the basic metal trades craft in conjunction with which the welding
operations are performed; and the normal welding operations at the
Employer's plant, and within the metal trades industry generally, do
not require the extensive training experience or skill in the use of
the three kinds of welding as was required of welders whom the
Board found to be craftsmen in the Hughes Aircraft decision.
It is reasonably clear that where a metal trades craftsman performs
the welding operations normally associated with his craft, as well as
the other operations falling within the craft, he is not a craftsman
as a welder, but rather as a boilermaker, pipefitter, machinist, iron-
worker, etc., as the case may be. Where an individual performs only
the welding operations normally associated with a particular craft,
such specialization in the welding aspects of the craft, cannot make
him a craftsman as a welder, when the total apprenticeship training
period or experience equivalent required for mastery of such welding
operations is normally less than a year. Accordingly, as the welders
whom the Petitioner seeks to sever, perform the welding operations
normally associated with a metal trades craft, and as they perform
other duties within the craft when not welding, we find that they
are not craftsman as welders within the contemplation of the Hughes
Aircraft decision' and are therefore ineligible for severance from the
existing boilermaker unit, in which they have been included for the
last 20 years.
7 Members Jenkins and Fanning did not participate in the Hughes Aircraft decision,
and their participation herein is not necessarily to be construed as an endorsement of
that decision.
288 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Any other result would be disruptive of the traditional patterns of
representation in the metal trades industries and destructive of craft
organizations for whom Congress indicated considerable concern less
their special capabilities as the representatives of craft employees
be impaired . Furthermore , the Board has, since the issuance of the
Hughes' Aircraft decision , recognized , in accord with the basic pre-,
mise` underlying its decision herein, that in the metal trades, welding
is normally a function of a particular craft,8 and that welders are
appropriately represented by the craft union having jurisdiction over
the 'basic craft.'
Accdrdingly, as the welders sought by the Petitioner do not consti-
tute' a 'separate and distinct craft group eligible for craft severance,
we shall dismiss the petition.10
[The Board dismissed the petition.]
8 Standard , Oil Company, 118 NLRB 1099 , Koppers Company, Inc., 117 NLRB 422;
cf Olin Mathteson Chemical Corporation , 117 NLRB 1441, 1445.
,Koppers Company , Inc, supra.
"In view of our decision herein , we find it unnecessary to pass upon other contentions
of the parties.
Alameda Tank Co.: American Pipe & Steel Corp .; Downey
Mfg. Co.; Graver Tank & Pump Co.; Lacy Mfg. Co.; L. W.
Lefort; 1 National Tank Co.; Orange County Machine Wks.;
Pelton " Water Wheel Co.; Southwest Welding & Mfg. Co.;
United Concrete Pipe Corp .; Vulcan Pipe Corp .; Willard
Concrete `Machine Co . and National Union , United Welders
of America,' Independent , Petitioner. Case No. 21-RC-4945:
April 1, 1958
DECISION AND ORDER
Upon a,petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Ben Grodsky, hear=
ing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
,Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer& are engaged in commerce within the meaning
of the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent employees
of the Employers?
' This Employer's name appears as set forth in the record
z International Brotherhood of Boilermakers , Iron Ship Builders , Blacksmiths , Forgers
and Helpers , AFL-CIO, Local 92, AFL-CIO, was permitted to intervene on the basis of
its contractual interest in the employees covered by the petition
120 NLRB No. 43.