Clinton Corn Processing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsAug 27, 1980

251 N.L.R.B. 954 (N.L.R.B. 1980)

DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Clinton Corn Processing Company, a Division of Standard Brands, Inc. and International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 71-71A-71B, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case 3-RC-7748 August 27, 1980 DECISION ON REVIEW AND ORDER BY CHAIRMAN FANNING AND MEMBERS JENKINS AND TRUESDALE On April 10, 1980, the Regional Director for Region 3 issued a Decision and Direction of Elec- tion in the above-entitled proceeding in which he found appropriate Petitioner's requested unit of utility operators employed at the Employer's Mon- tezuma, New York, facility. Thereafter, in accord- ance with Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended, the Employer filed a timely request for review of the Regional Director's decision on the grounds that the limited petitioned-for unit is inap- propriate and should be expanded to cover all of its employees.By telegraphic order dated May 12, 1980, the Employer's request for review was grant- ed. Thereafter, the Employer filed a brief on review. ' Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na- tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au- thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. The Board has considered the entire record in this case and makes the following findings: Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all employ- ees in the utilities group, i.e., four boiler operators, four water treatment operators, and five waste water treatment operators, excluding all other em- ployees. The Employer is engaged in the production of corn syrup and byproducts through a round-the- clock, 7-day-week, corn wet milling manufacturing process. Its manufacturing facility is located on a 50-acre tract containing some 30 buildings and 30 additional smaller structures such as tanks. The manufacturing process is carried out through 10 operating process centers by the unit employees sought and 77 other process control technicians, 10 quality control employees, and 35 service and maintenance employees. It begins when corn is re- ceived at the unloading center when it is processed and conveyed to the steep building, where it is soaked in warm water which is treated and heated by utility employees. The corn is then pumped into the main process building and cracked apart by a milling operation. It then is washed and steam I I11 10,,, herTei ", a l C .ul ,o M.,>: 16. IN N)(, Mid file , 1, llo.lS l c' t' bCn Illliiolllcd 251 NLRB No. 133 dried, and the gluten is washed free of corn fiber with treated water. Starch is refined into syrup through various processing centers and through various steps, including heat drying. Waste water generated through the manufacturing process is collected and pumped into the waste treatment center, or building, where it is treated for further processing or else discharged. Each processing step is performed by a different group of process control technicians working in physically separated process locations performing work which differs in nature, but not necessarily in kind, from the work performed by the employees sought in the unit. Each of the three shifts is staffed by one utility operator from each of the utility classifications, who is supervised by the utility superintendent during the day shift, and by the shift superinten- dents during the other two shifts. All such opera- tors have been given on-the-job training. The water treatment operators, who require 3 to 4 weeks of such training, are responsible for the washing oper- ations required in the manufacturing process. They are housed in the water treatment building where they monitor control panels; operate valves, con- trols, and levers; take lab tests and samples; operate water pumps; treat the water by using chemical fil- tration, chlorination, and water softeners; and per- form water sampling tests, including tests to deter- mine turbidity. All of the waste water used in the manufacturing process is collected in the waste water treatment building where the waste water treatment opera- tors, after 2 to 3 weeks of training on the job, are capable of preparing the waste water for reuse or discharge by operating pump controls and filters, monitoring control panels, operating various valves and switches, and by sampling and testing influent water. The principal function of the boilerroom opera- tors is to read gauges on control panels and man- ually operate switches and valves and thereby maintain the high pressure boilers which generate the steam and heat used in the manufacturing proc- ess, 90 percent of which is used solely in that proc- ess, the remaining 10 percent being used to heat the buildings. These operators also perform some boi- lerhouse repair and maintenance work in conjunc- tion with maintenance and lubrication employees. These employees are given 2 to 4 months of on- the-job training and, although all of the boilerroom operators are licensed by the State, the Employer requires neither licenses nor prior experience. The training, work schedules, and functions of the control process technicians sought to be includ- ed do not differ substantially or materially from the (54 CL.INTON CN PROCFESSIN C. .55 training, functions, and schedules of many of the process control technicians Petitioner seeks to ex- clude from the unit. Process control centers aside from utility, such as feed finishing, oil expelling. milling and syrup refining, are operated by techni- cians who work schedules comparable to that of the utility operators and who monitor control panels; operate valves, levers, and switches; and perform tests and sampling work similar to that performed by the utility employees after compara- ble on-the-job training periods. In addition, some of these functions are performed by service mainte- nance technicians at the unloading building. Al- though it is true, and the Regional Director found, that maintenance employees work only one shift vis-a-vis the utility employees who work three shifts, that factor is of little weight in determining community of interest since all of the remaining employees sought to be excluded have the same work schedule as the utility employees. Similarly, we accord no weight to the Regional Director's conclusion that the geographical separation of the utility employees from the other employees is a factor warranting a separate unit for such employ- ees because all functional groups of employees work in geographically separate buildings. The record further shows that, in addition to the on-the-job training given them within their respec- tive classifications, utility employees may acquire similar training in either or both of the other utility classifications by working 4 hours' overtime weekly in said classification. In addition, the Em- ployer permits all employees to work outside their respective classifications on their days off or on an overtime basis. Presently, the Employer is cross- training all three utility classifications and is con- ducting classroom training in refinery and milling operations which is open to all employees on an overtime basis. It also has ongoing plans to con- duct training programs in other phases of the oper- ation in which all employees may participate. The educational interchange has been accompa- nied by a substantial amount of functional inter- change across all operating lines, including the util- ities group. During the year in which the Employ- er has been in operation, there have been five transfers into or out of the utility group, a water treatment technician is scheduled to transfer to the quality control laboratory, and a maintenance em- ployee is to be transferred into the utilities group. In addition, all employees are subject to a seven- step incremental wage schedule. As an economic incentive, however, the Employer has made availa- ble to all employees a maintenance supplemental progam designed both to develop skills which will enable them to perform certain additional mainte- nance work within their classifications and to de- crease the time between wage increases. All employees also enjoy the same seniority system, the same working conditions, and the same fringe benefits, personnel policies, reporting re- quirements, transfer opportunities and procedures, and training opportunities. It is clear, and we find, that the three utility functions are critical to the entire manufacturing process, and that, as noted by the Employer, if any one of those functions becomes inoperable, "The process must stop; goes down." It also is clear that such differences as may exist between the employ- ees sought and the other employees are primarily of a functional nature, and that all employees share a high degree of commonality of interests. We find, contrary to the Regional Director, that the Employer's corn milling operation is a highly integrated production process in which there exists substantial functional and operational integration among employees who share communities of inter- est of such magnitude as to preclude the placing of the utility operators in a separate bargaining unit. We find, instead, for the reasons stated above. that an overall unit is appropriate, and that the follow- ing employees of the Employer constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain- ing within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act: All full-time and regular part-time employ- ees employed at the Employer's Montezuma, New York, facility; excluding office clerical employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. Because the unit herein found appropriate differs from that found appropriate by the Regional Direc- tor for Region 3, and in view of Petitioner's will- ingness to participate in an election in such broader unit as may be found appropriate, we shall remand this case to the Regional Director for further proc- essing of the representation petition in a manner consistent with our conclusions herein. ORDER It is hereby ordered that the petition be, and it hereby is, remanded to the Regional Director for Region 3 for further processing in a manner con- sistent with this Decision on Review and Order. C l I N T O N C O R N P R O C F S S IN C , U ). s~~~~~~~~~~~~,