Flintkote Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 29, 1953

105 N.L.R.B. 816 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

816 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Petitioner for a unit of all steam engineers of the Employer,
excluding all other employees and all supervisors as defined in
the Act, which the Board, under such circumstances, finds to be
appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining. In the event
a majority vote for the Intervenor, the Boardfinds the existing
unit to be appropriate and the Regional Director will issue a
certification of results of election to such effect.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
Member Peterson, dissenting:
In view of the collective-bargaining history on a plantwide
basis since 1938, and in the absence of any other factors war-
ranting their severance from the established unit , I would not
accord the steam engineers separate representation.3
3See my dissenting opinion in W C. Hamilton and Sons, 104 NLRB 627
FLINTKOTE COMPANY, PIONEER DIVISION and INTERNA-
TIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS , AFL, LOCAL
501, Petitioner . Case No. 21 - RC-3057 . June 29, 1953
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Fred W. Davis,
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 Act, the
Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case
to a three-member panel [Members Houston, Styles, and
Peterson].
Upon the entire record 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 employees of the Employer.2
IThe name of the Employer appears in the caption as amended at the hearing.
I The Employer and the Intervenor, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 598,
AFL, refused to stipulate that the Petitioner is a labor organization within the meaning of the
Act. As the Petitioner exists in part, at least, for the purposes of representing employees
and negotiating in their behalf regarding wages, hours, and other conditions of employment,
we find that it is a labor organization within the meaning of the Act.
The Intervenor further objected to the amendment of the name of the Petitioner to substitute
Local 501 for Local 63 which was named in the original petition, and also questioned the
Petitioner's compliance status and showing of interest Local 63 was merged with another
local to form Local 501. We find that the hearing officer properly granted the motion to
amend the petition to reflect this change. See Carbide & Carbon Chemicals Corporation,
88 NLRB 437. The showing of interest and the fact of compliance by a labor organization
which is required to comply, are matters for administrative determination and are not
litigable by the parties Swift & Company, 94 NLRB 917. We are administratively satisfied
that the Petitioner has an adequate showing of interest and is in compliance.
105 NLRB No. 123.
FLINTKOTE COMPANY, PIONEER DIVISION 817
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner , in its amended petition , seeks to sever
a unit of boilerhouse firemen and assistant firemen at the
Employer's Vernon, California, operation.' The Employer and
the Intervenor contend that the unit is inappropriate because of
such factors as the limited scope of the requested unit which
would exclude other boilerhouse employees , the lack of separate
identifiable interests among the firemen, the past history of
bargaining on a more comprehensive basis, the intergration
of the Employer ' s operations , and the pattern of plantwide
bargaining at other plants of the Employer and in the paper-
mill and paper products industries in that area.
At Vernon, the Employer is engaged in the operation of a
papermill and in the production of paper products and building
materials.4 Since 1937 the Employer has had contracts
covering its Vernon employees, including the boilerhouse
employees , in a single unit . From 1937 to 1941 , the bargaining
representative was the Paper Makers Union , Local 337. Since
that time, the employees have been represented by the Inter-
venor. 5a
The firemen sought by the Petitioner operate the steam
plant , including firing the boilers, maintaining the proper
water level, checking the bearings, regulating pumps and valves,
and checking auxiliary boiler equipment. A maintenance
mechanic and a combination fireman and maintenance mechanic
perform the function of keeping the boilers in repair; the
combination mart also assists in tending the boilers, and the
mechanic helps prepare the boilers for fuel changeovers.
These employees -- the 4 firemen and 2 boiler maintenance men
--are the only personnel regularly performing the usual
boilerhouse duties and headquartered in the boilerhouse, 6 which
is a separate building located approximately in the center of
the Employer' s operations . In general , the steam generated
in the boilerhouse is used to power machines in the plant and
as a heating and drying agent.
,In its original petition the Petitioner sought all the employees in the boilerhouse,
41n addition to the papermill, the Employer at this location operates roofing, emulsion,
container, folding box and setup, and tile plants or departments, which utilize almost the
entire output of the papermill.
5 The current contract will expire on July 14, 1953. Neither the Employer nor the Intervenor
urges the contract as a bar to the petition.
6 The steam plant engineer, who supervises the boilerhouse employees and tile plant main-
tenance and is admittedly a supervisor, has an office in the boilerhouse He is assisted by a
general clerk who makes out and distributes daily organization reports covering the utilities
and steam and water consumption, takes readings relative to the reports, writes letters, and
files data in the steam and tile plants; the clerk does not assist as a boiler fireman The
plant fire chief also has an office in the boilerhouse. There is no contention that any of these
individuals should be included in a boilerhouse unit.
818 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The boilerhouse employees' duties are generally confined to
the steam plant7 and, although not required to be licensed by
the County of Los Angeles, it appears that 5 of them are licensed
engineers and have had 2 or more years' experience as engi-
neers. The boilerhouse employees generally have been subject
to conditions of employment similar to those of the other em-
ployees, and some of their duties are analogous to functions
performed by plant employees. 8 However, they have their own
lockers, receive a preferred wage differential, and work a
different shift schedule from other plant employees. Moreover,
although other employees occasionally perform certain duties
in the boilerhouse,9 there is no interchange between the plant
employees and boilerhouse employees, and there has been only
one instance of transfer of a boilerhouse employee to other
duties.
We are of the opinion that all the boilerhouse employees,
including the combination fireman and the maintenance me-
chanic, together constitute a functionally coherent group, who
have a separate community of interest and are of a type the
Board has generally held may, if they so desire, constitute a
unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. 10 The
history of bargaining on a more comprehensive basis, in which
the employees involved were represented and from which they
received benefits, does not preclude such severance." Nor is
the integration between the production process and the boiler-
house employees,12 and the alleged pattern of bargaining on
a broader basis in the industry in the area and at other plants
of the Employer,13 such as to render a separate unit inappro-
priate. While the boilerhouse unit is slightly larger than that
requested by the Petitioner, the Petitioner's interest showing
in such larger group is adequate and, therefore, we shall pro-
ceed to an election in this enlarged voting group. 14
7 The firemen's duties are confined to the boilerhouse, while the maintenance mechanic and
the combination fireman and maintenance mechanic spend less than 20 percent of their time
checking and repairing allied equipment in the papermill.
8Much of the repair work done in the boilerhouse is similar to machinery repair work done
by maintenance crews throughout the plant.
9Maintenance personnel consisting of carpenters, electricians, mechanics, welders,
painters, pipefitters, and riggers frequently are assigned to overhaul, or repair, jobs in the
boilerhouse. janitors and research workers regularly enter the boilerhouse for their specific
tasks, Also maintenance personnel and employees of the refinery frequently deliver salt to
the water softeners or fuel oil to the boiler storage tanks However, all these employees are
regularly assigned and stationed elsewhere, and work under different immediate supervision
from boilerhouse employees, and none of them does the work routinely done by the firemen.
10See e.g., Blatz Brewing Company, 94 NLRB 1277, 1280; Crocker, Burbank and Co ,
80 NLRB 774
"Anheuser-Busch, Inc., 103 NLRB 1020; W. C Hamilton and Sons, 104 NLRB 627.
"Certain-Teed Products Corporation, 101 NLRB 1110; American Box Board, 90 NLRB 122.
13 International Paper Company, Southern Kraft Division, 94 NLRB 483; Pacific Coast
Association of Pulp and Paper Manufacturers, 94 NLRB 477; Certain- Teed Products Cor-
poration, supra.
MSee Buckeye Oil Company, Chemical Pulp Division, 101 NLRB 30
CROWN CORK & SEAL COMPANY, INC. 819
Accordingly, we shall direct an election in the following
voting group: All boilerhouse employees at the Employer's
Vernon, California, operation, excluding office and clerical
employees, guards, all other employees, and all supervisors
as defined in the Act."
However, we shall make no final unit determination at this
time, but shall first ascertain the desires of these employees
as expressed in the election hereinafter directed. If a majority
vote for the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated
that they desire to constitute a separate appropriate unit, and
the Regional Director conducting the election directed herein
is instructed to issue a certification of representatives to
the Petitioner for the unit described above, which the Board,
under such circumstances, finds to be appropriate for pur-
poses of collective bargaining. In the event a majority vote
for the Intervenor, they may continue to be represented as
part of the existing production and maintenance unit and the
Regional Director will issue a certification of results of
election to such effect.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
Member Peterson , dissenting:
Other than their alleged craft status, there appears no other
cogent reason for granting the powerhouse employees sever-
ance from the production and maintenance unit established in
1937.
In view of the 16 years of collective-bargaining history on
a broader basis, and in accord with my dissenting opinion in
W. C. Hamilton and Sons, 104 NLRB 627, I would dismiss the
petition herein.
15 The Employer appears to contend in its brief that only a unit including employees at its
three Pacific Coast locations is appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. This
contention is rejected since each of the locations is separately represented and the degree of
integration among the three plants is not sufficient to bar an otherwise appropriate unit on a
smaller basis.
CROWN CORK & SEAL COMPANY, INC. and LOCAL 18,
AMALGAMATED LITHOGRAPHERS OF AMERICA, CIO,
Petitioner . Case No . 5-RC-1041. June 29, 1953
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION, ORDER AND DIRECTION OF
SECOND ELECTI6N
On August 21, 1952, pursuant to a Decision and Direction of
Election issued by the Board on July 31, 1952,1 an election by
secret ballot was held under the direction and supervision of
1 The Decision and Direction of Election does not appear in the published volumes of the
Board's Decisions and orders.
105 NLRB No. 112.