General Electric Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 30, 1953

105 N.L.R.B. 921 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 921
tract was simply inartfully drawn and that no improper
discrimination was intended . Consequently , we find it unnec-
essary in this proceeding to pass upon whether the Board
would remove the contract as a bar upon sufficient evidence
that the discrimination alleged herein by the Petitioner was
in fact intended, or practiced.' Accordingly, we find that the
contract presently constitutes a bar to a Board determination
of representatives , and shall therefore dismiss the petition.
[The Board dismissed the petition.]
Chairman Herzog took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Order.
4Cf. Hughes Tool Company, 104 NLRB 318.
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, Petitioner and INTERNA-
TIONAL UNION OF ELECTRICAL, RADIO AND MACHINE
WORKERS, CIO AND INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
MACHINISTS, AFL, AND UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO AND
MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA ,
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL UNION
OF ELECTRICAL, RADIO AND MACHINE WORKERS, CIO,
Petitioner
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY and UTICA DRAFTING
ASSOCIATION, Petitioner . Cases Nos . 3-RM-75, 3-RC-1155,
and 3-RC-1186 . June 30, 1953
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held in these
cases before John W. Irving , hearing officer . At the hearing,
International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers,
CIO, herein called the IUE, moved to withdraw its petition
in Case No. 3-RC-1155. With the approval of the Regional
Director, the motion was granted by the 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 these cases to a three - member panel
[ Members Houston , Murdock, and Styles].
Upon the entire record in these cases , the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organizations involved herein claim to repre-
sent certain employees of the Employer.
105 NLRB No 126.
922 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the rep-
resentation of certain employees of the Employer within the
meaning of Section 9 ( c) and Section 2 (6) and ( 7) of the Act.
4. In Case No . 3-RM-75, the Employer's petition describes
an alleged appropriate unit, based upon the claim of Inter-
national Association of Machinists , AFL, herein called the
IAM, of all production and maintenance employees at the
Employer's French Read plant, Utica , New York, excluding
office clerical employees , expediters , guards, professional
employees , foremen, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
The following unions intervened in the case on behalf of
such a unit of employees : The IAM; the IUE; United Electri-
cal, Radio and Machine Workers of America, herein called
the UE; and Mechanics Educational Society of America,
herein called the MESA. Chauffeurs ; Teamsters , Warehouse-
men and Helpers of America, Local 182, AFL, herein called
the Teamsters , intervened specifically to seek a separate
unit of truckdrivers. Respecting the production and main-
tenance unit , the sole issues between the parties pertain to
the inclusion or exclusion of the categories of employees
discussed below.
There are 3 truckdrivers and 1 chauffeur sought by the
Teamsters. The truckdrivers devote 30 percent of their time,
on average , to the actual task of driving the Employer's
motor equipment , consisting of 2 "jeeps " and 2 stake body
trucks ( 1Z tons ). Their driving duties include snow plowing
and removal , dirt removal , and local pickups and delivery.
The balance of their time is spent on the plant premises in
miscellaneous duties under the maintenance department, which
includes cleaning up the docks and work areas , moving
machines for installation , and general labor tasks. They
also help load and unload their own trucks and perform
minor truck maintenance work. The chauffeur drives a station
wagon for more than 50 percent of his time in connection
with general errands and plant passenger service locally.
For the remainder of his time he is employed in the plant
as general handyman . The 4 employees.in question are super-
vised, together with about 55 other employees , by the material
and maintenance supervisor in the plant , and are accorded
the same working conditions as are the plant employees in
the unit. On the basis of this record , including the fact that
the truckdrivers spend more than 50 percent of their time
within the plant performing duties unrelated to truckdriving,
we shall deny the Teamsters' request for a separate unit,
and shall include these 4 drivers in the production and main-
tenance unit.'
There are about 25 clericals , classified as clerk typists,
employed throughout the plant in different production depart-
ments, whose duties relate to the computation of piecework
and hourly earnings of production employees . Each such
' See Astor Packing Company, 80 NLRB 302; cf. The Burrowes Corporation , 102NLRB1149.
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 923
clerical works on the records of 20 to 25 specified factory
workers, who are required to bring certain time and per-
formance data to their assigned clerical . These clericals,
among other things, verify quantities of work claimed to
have been produced by pieceworkers , type vouchers for
payment, and in connection with their general duties , perform
key punch , stenographic , and filing work. They are under
the immediate supervision of the payroll department located
in the plant . offices and , on occasion , are called upon to assist
with the work in the payroll office for a day or two . They are
interchanged with employees in the payroll department and
in other plant offices, and are promoted to higher office
jobs. They are salaried and have the same employment condi-
tions as do other salaried employees , except that their
working hours are like those of the factory help. We are of
the opinion that the clericals in question are essentially
time clerks whose duties in relation to the production workers
are similar to those of plant clericals , generally , notwith-
standing the facts that they are under the separate supervision
of the payroll department , and may be interchanged with
certain of the office clericals . Unlike the office clerical
staff, their working conditions associate them more closely
with the production employees . In accordance with established
policy, we shall include them in the unit as plant clericals.'
The expediters , of whom there are about 15, are employed
on the production floor to see that the correct quantities
and types of materials properly move .from one operation
to another . They sometimes physically move materials them-
selves to the operators or inspectors . There is evidence
of some interchange between expediters and production workers.
They are hourly paid and have the same working conditions
as do the production employees . However, their supervision
emanates from the production and material control depart-
ment located in the plant offices, and their line of promotion
is into the production control office . As we find that the
employment interests of the expediters are closely allied
with those of the production employees , we shall include them
in the unit.3
The laboratory assistants : The Employer operates 2 model
shops , 1 in the plant and 1 in the engineering department.
The employees in the plant model shop are included in the
unit by agreement of the parties . Those in the engineering
model shop, called laboratory assistants , of whom there
are about 22 in number , are in dispute . Their function, in
essence, is to design , develop, and construct test models
for new equipment from theories presented to them by the
engineers . Their time is equally distributed between designing
2See Northwest Engineering Company, 73 NLRB 40; Telechron, Inc., 90 NLRB 931; H & B
American Machine Co., 97 NLRB 9, Daystrom Furniture Division , 101 NLRB 343.
3See General Electric Company, 81 NLRB 654; Elastic Stop Nut Corporation of America,
87 NLRB 1532.
924 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and building the model, with the advice and assistance of
the sponsoring engineer . These employees are journeymen
machinists , with additional qualifications , e.g., specialized
academic training and education , and particular aptitude for
the job, which the Employer characterized as "purely crea-
tive." The laboratory assistants work on wood , plastics,
and metals , and utilize all the tools and machines of the
machinists craft as well as all the various equipment of
draftsmen and engineers . They are salaried , separately
supervised within the engineering department , are not inter-
changed with other plant employees , and are promoted to
positions of engineering and drafting supervisors . It appears
that the duties of the laboratory assistants are not merely
routine in nature but require judgment , initiative , and imagina-
tion. We find they are highly skilled technicians having
interests substantially apart from those of the employees
in the unit . Accordingly, we shall exclude them.4
In Case No . 3-RC-1186, the Petitioner , Utica Drafting
Association , seeks a separate unit of the Employer's drafts-
men. Although the IUE made - no specific showing of interest
as to the draftsmen , it moved to intervene in this case on
the ground of its substantial interest showing as to the
production and maintenance employees , contending that the
draftsmen should be considered part of the overall unit,
unless and until they are formally excluded by the Board.
The hearing officer denied the motion to intervene, and we
agree with this ruling. The draftsmen in question , as the record
shows, are technical employees , and are therefore, according
to Board policy , to be excluded from a production and main-
tenance unit where, as here, there -is a dispute concerning
their placement .5 In these circumstances , they are not essen-
tially a part of the production and maintenance unit. Conse-
quently, the IUE's interest showing for purposes of representing
only a unit of production and maintenance employees is not
sufficient to entitle it to a place on the ballot of the draftsmen
in an election for their separate representation.
The Employer does not contest the appropriateness of the
draftsmen unit. However, the contention was raised on the
record, by the IUE, that the unit sought by the Petitioner
here is inappropriate because it excludes tool designers em-
ployed elsewhere in the plant whose duties include drafting
work. The contention has no merit . Although it appears that
the tool designers draft designs for tools , they are not in
our opinion draftsmen as such, nor are their interests in
other respects such as would entitle them to be included
in the draftsmen unit. Under the circumstances present in
this case , we conclude that the draftsmen are sufficiently
distinct in their interests and employment conditions to be
4See Bell Aircraft Corporation, 98 NLRB 1277; Bulldog Electrical Products Company. 96
NLRB 642; F W. Sickles Company, 81 NLRB 390.
5See Swift & Company, 98 NLRB 746; The Ohio Steel Foundry Company, 92 NLRB 683.
THE DAVISON CHEMICAL CORPORATION 925
represented separately , if they so choose in the elections
hereinafter directed.'
Accordingly, we find the following units of employees of
the Employer at its French Road plant , Utica, New York,
are appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining within
the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act:
(1) All production and maintenance employees , including
the truckdrivers and chauffeur , the plant clericals classified
as clerk typists , the expediters , the plant model shop workers,
the working leaders ,' but excluding the laboratory assistants,
the draftsmen , the clerks in the superintendents ' offices,,'
office clerical employees , guards, professional employees,
foremen, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
(2) All drafting detailers , drafting designers , drafting
tracers, drafting calculators , but excluding the tool designers,
all other employees , and supervisors as defined in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from ,publication.
6 See Bethlehem Steel Company, 95 NLRB 1508.
7 By stipulation.
8 By stipulation.
THE DAVISON CHEMICAL CORPORATION, LAKE CHARLES
DIVISION' and LODGE 1317 OF DISTRICT 31, INTERNA-
TIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, AFL, Petitioner
THE DAVISON CHEMICAL CORPORATION, LAKE CHARLES
DIVISION and LAKE CHARLES METAL TRADES COUNCIL,
AFL, Petitioner. Cases Nos. 15-RC-936 and 15-RC-937.
June 30, 1953
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act,' a hearing was held before Clarence
L. Stephens, 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, Murdock, and
Peterson].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
1 The names of the Employer and the Petitioner in Case No , 15-RC- 936 appear as amended
at the hearing.
2 The petitions herein were consolidated by order of the Regional Director on May 4, 1953.
105 NLRB No. 94.