E. I. du Pont

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 11, 1946

65 N.L.R.B. 390 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of E. 1. DU PONT (GRAssELLI DIVISION) and, LEAD
BURNERS L. U. No. 596, UNITED ASSOCIATION, A. F. OF L.
Case No. 2-R-56446.-Decided January 11, 19%16
Mfr. Peter B. Collins, of Wilmington, Del., for the Company.
Mr. Joseph P. Dunn, of Newark, N. J., and Mr. John M. Catterson,
of Park Ridge, N. J., for the Lead Burners.
Mr. Henry Mayer, by Mr. Irwin Panken, of New York City, for
the Independent.
Mrs. Augusta Spaulding, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF TIIE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by Lead Burners, L. U. No. 596, United
Association, A. F. of L., herein called the Lead Burners, alleging
that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of E. I. du Pont (Grasselli Division), Grasselli,
New Jersey, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations
Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before
Henry J. Kent, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at New York
City, on July 12 and 26 and August 3, 1945. The Company, the Lead
Burners, and Grasselli Employees' Association, an unaffiliated labor
organization, herein called the Independent, appeared and partici-
pated. At the commencement of the hearing, the Lead Burners moved
to amend its petition, and the motion was granted by the Trial Ex-
aminer. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to
examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bear-
ing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing
are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties
were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
65 N. L . R. B., No. 71.
390
E. I. DU PONT ( GRASSELLI DIVISION) 391
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
E. I. du Pont is a corporation engaged in the manufacture of chemi-
cals. Its main office is at Wilmington, Delaware. Its plant at Gras-
selli, New Jersey, is the only plant involved in the proceeding.
During 1944, the Company used at its Grasselli plant raw materials
valued at approximately $4,000,000, of which 80 percent represents
shipments made to the plant from points outside New Jersey. Dur-
ing the same period, the Company manufactured at the Grasselli plant
products valued at approximately $15,000,000, of which 75 percent
represents shipments to points outside New Jersey.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Lead Burners L. U. No. 596 is a labor organization, affiliated with
the United Association of Plumbers and Steam Fitters of the United
States and Canada and with the American Federation of Labor, ad-
mitting to membership employees of the Company.
Grasselli Employees' Association is an unaffiliated labor organiza-
tion, admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On May 15, 1945, the Lead Burners filedthe petition in this proceed-
ing. At a conference subsequently held between the Company and the
Lead Burners, it became apparent that these parties disagreed as to
the appropriate bargaining unit for employees at the Grasselli plant.
On May 22, 1944, the Company and the Independent entered into a
bargaining agreement covering production and maintenance em-
ployees at the Grasselli plant. The contract provides that it may be
determined by either party upon 30 days' written notice. We find
that the contract is of indefinite duration and that it constitutes no
bar to a determination of representatives at this time.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the Lead Burners represents a substantial number
of employees in the unit proposed as appropriate.'
1 The Field Examiner reported that the Lead Burners submitted 15 cards, which the
Company concedes bear the names of lead burners at the Grasselli plant.
There are approximately 16 employees in the unit proposed by the Lead Burners.
The Independent relies on its contract covering lead burners and other plant employees
to indicate its interest among these employees.
392 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT; TILE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Lead Burners contends that lead burners and lead burners'
apprentices at the Company's Grasselli plant constitute a separate
appropriate unit. The Company and the Independent, conceding that
lead burners are skilled craftsmen, nevertheless contend that the pro-
posed craft unit is not appropriate on the grounds (1) that all skilled
and unskilled maintenance employees at the p]ai t work together to the
common end that production processes may be carried on without inter-
ruption and are, therefore, bound by a common interest that requires
their inclusion in a single unit for bargaining purposes; and (2) that
the history of bargaining on a plant basis at the Grasselli plant over a
period of years and bargaining on a plant, basis at other plants of the
Company demonstrate that the plant unit is the only appropriate unit
for the Company's employees and preclude separate bargaining on a
craft basis at this time.
In addition to production employees at the plant, who are chiefly
concerned in the operations directly involved in the handling of raw
materials and the processing and shipment of chemical products, the
Company employs maintenance workers, whose primary charge and
concern, under the general supervision of the master mechanic, is the
construction, maintenance, and repair of the Company's processing
properties in order that the production flow may proceed smoothly
without interruption. These maintenance employees include riggers,
carpenters, electricians, and lead burners, who possess skills peculiar
to their respective craft work; apprentices in the several crafts, who
are embarked on defined special training programs; and helpers, who,
as unskilled laborers, do whatever may be necessary to prepare a loca-
tion for the work of craftsmen, give help in lifting and such other aid
as may be required while a repair or construction job is in process, and
clean up the location when the work has been completed.
At the time of the hearing, the Company employed at its Grasselli
chemical plant 15 lead burners. The Company's lead burners, like
others of their craft, fabricate, install, maintain, and repair lead
equipment. No other employees at the Company's Grasselli plant per-
form like work. For efficiency in operation, the Company distributes
its lead burners among the several departments at the plant where lead
work is usually required. Six lead burners regularly work in and
out of the lead shop, situated in the maintenance area of the plant
under the direct supervision of the lead foreman; 6 others work under
the supervision of an area mechanics foreman in the so-called System
E. I. DU PONT ( GRASSELLI DIVISION) 393
unit; and 3 others have substantially permanent assignments in 3
other operational units under the respective foremen of those units,
and all under the general supervision of the master mechanic. With
the exception of some lead work which may be performed by a lead
burner working alone, lead burners are required , by the nature of the
medium on which they work, to depend upon the supports erected,
maintained , and constructed by riggers and carpenters for their use.
Lead workers are subject to special hazards, such as toxic fumes
from lead and acid, and in the absence of adequate precautions, lead
work is likely to result in some form of lead poisoning. New Jersey,
wherein the Company's plant is located, and other States require that
lead workers be provided with adequate washing facilities and that
certain equipment and time be allotted by their employer for precau-
tionary measures against occupational diseases.
Taking into consideration the allotment of lead burners among the
separate locations about the plant, the common plant conditions which
lead burners and all other employees on the Company's pay roll share
through common unemployment with the Company, and the coopera-
tion of other skilled and unskilled workers that lead burners may ef-
fectively perform their work, we find, nevertheless, that the Company's
lead burners constitute a clearly identifiable and homogeneous group
of employees with employment interests perculiar to their craft and
that, absent other considerations, they may properly constitute a sep-
arate bargaining group.'
With respect to the bargaining history at the plant, which the Com-
pany and the Independent urge as a bar to the proposed bargaining
unit based along craft lines, the record reveals the following:
Employees at the Company's plant organized the Independent in
1937, and a majority of employees , including clerical employees, lead
burners, and other skilled and unskilled employees, became members,
and some lead burners held office within that labor organization. The
Company, thereafter, recognized the Independent as the exclusive bar-
gaining representative of its plant employees. Committees of the
Independent from time to time negotiated with the Company for wage
increases and improved working conditions at the plant . The Com-
pany posted notices of such changes. Grievances which were not
settled by employees and their respective foremen were settled through
conferences between representatives of the Company and the Inde-
pendent. Between 1937 and March 1944, the Company and the Inde-
pendent, however, entered into no written collective bargaining con-
tract covering employees at the plant.
The Lead Burners organized the lead burners working at the Com-
pany's plant in 1938 and 1939 and, for a time, these employees main-
2 See Matter of National Lead Company, Titanium Division , 63 N. L. R B. 903.
394 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tamed a dual union membership in the Lead Burners, as craftsmen,
and in the Independent , as plant employees of the Company . In 1941,
however, the Company's lead burners , as directed by the Lead Burners,
gave up their membership in the Independent and thereafter devoted
their attention to their craft organization and the furtherance of their
craft development . The withdrawal of the lead burners from the
Independent was well known to the general plant employees who re-
tained their membership in the Independent , and reports of the with-
drawal of the lead burners from the Independent and their adherence
to their craft organization came to the attention of the Company.
Under these circumstances annd without any formal determination
of the appropriate unit or units for employees at the plant , the Com-
pany and the Independent , in March 1944, entered into their first
written bargaining agreement, which, as noted in Section III, above,
is a contract of indefinite duration . The contract recites the recogni-
tion of the Independent by the Company as the bargaining repre-
sentative of the plant employees and covers non-supervisory employees
at the plant, including lead burners and other craft groups. The con-
tract provides against discrimination for membership or nonmember-
ship in the Independent and recites that craft lines will be observed
"in accordance with practices established in the past ." Grievances,
by practice and in accordance with the provisions of the contract, are
negotiated and, in many cases, settled by the immediate foreman con-
cerned. The foreman of the lead shop, himself a lead burner, in his
capacity as foreman , settles grievances for employees under him, and
he and other foremen under whom lead burners are working present
grievances which they cannot settle to their superior , the master
mechanic , for consideration . The Independent , as recognized bar-
gaining representative , continues to function for all plant employees
in formal meetings with representatives of managment . Contrary to
the contentions of the Company and the Independent , we find that the
bargaining relations between the Company and the Independent have
not established a history of collective bargaining which precludes the
appropriateness of a separate bargaining unit for the Company's lead
burners at this time . That employees at other plants of the Company
bargain on a plant basis is not alone conclusive of the scope of the bar-
gaining unit for employees at the Grasselli plant.
We find that the Company's lead burners may properly constitute
either a separate bargaining unit or part of the larger production and
maintenance group at the plant. We will hold an election among the
Company's lead burners to determine whether they desire to be repre-
sented by the Lead Burners or by the Independent , and we shall make
no determination of the unit issue until the results of the election shall
have been disclosed.
E. I. DU PONT (GRASSELLI DIVISION) 395
The Lead Burners would include lead burners' apprentices in the
proposed craft unit, and would exclude the unskilled helpers. The
Company and the Independent question the appropriateness of the
scope of the proposed unit if helpers are excluded. Helpers are
laborers, drawn from a pool of some 25 laborers assigned to assist
maintenance workers. Approximately 12 laborers are regularly as-
signed to assist lead burners, and other laborers may be assigned to
them if required. As laborers, helpers are not specifically skilled,
but by regular assignment to lead burners as lead burner's helpers,
they acquire some facility and experience for working with such crafts-
men. Helpers who show an aptitude and liking for lead work some-
times become apprentices in the craft. The Lead Burners has craft
jurisdiction to accept lead burners' helpers into membership, and some
helpers at the plant may be members of the Lead Burners. The record
does not disclose, however, that the Lead Burners has organized lead
burners' helpers as a group at the Company's plant. Under these
circumstances, we shall exclude helpers from the voting group. We
will further exclude foremen, who are supervisory employees, and
other supervisory employees, in accordance with our usual practice.
Those eligible to vote in the election will be all lead burners and
lead burners' apprentices, excluding lead burners' helpers, foremen,
and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote,
discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em-
ployees, or effectively recommend such action, who were employed
during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the
Direction of Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions
Set forth in the Direction.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with E. I. du Pont,
Grasselli, New Jersey, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted
as early as possible, but not later than sixty (60) days from the date
of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the Second Region, acting in this matter as agent for the
National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections
10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among lead burners and lead
burners' apprentices in the group described in Section IV, above, who
were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the
date of this Direction, including employees who did not work during
396 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily
laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United
States who present themselves in person at the polls, 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,
to determine whether they desire to be represented by Lead Burners
L. U. No. 596, United Association, A. F. of L., or by Grasselli Em-
ployees' Association, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by
neither.
PAUL Al. HERZOG, CHAIRMAN, dissenting in part :
I agree with my colleagues' resolution of the issues in this case, except
that I would not exclude the lead burners' helpers from the unit. It
appears that the same helpers work, day in and day out, with the lead
burners, with the result that they acquire a modicum of skill. At
least that must be the assumption of the Lead Burners Union itself,
because that craft organization admits helpers to membership. Its
unwillingness to include them in this particular unit would therefore
appear to have little objective support.