Heyden Chemical Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 7, 1949

85 N.L.R.B. 1181 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter Of HEYDEN CHEMICAL CORPORATION , EMPLOYER and
UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS & JOINERS OF AMERICA,
A. F. L., PETITIONER
Cases Nos. 6-RC-314, 6-RC-340 through 6 RC-348.-Decided
September 7,1949
DECISION
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
AND
ORDER
Upon separate petitions duly filed, a hearing in these consolidated
cases 1 was held before Eugene K. Kennedy, hearing officer. The
hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju-
dicial error and are hereby affirmed .2
The Intervenor offered to introduce into evidence documents
purporting to prove that many employees had withdrawn authori-
zations previously given to the Petitioner designating the latter as
bargaining representative for such employees. Such evidence is
probative only of the Petitioner's showing of interest. However,
the extent of Petitioner's interest is a matter for administrative de-
termination and may not be litigated at the hearing. Accordingly,
i The above -numbered cases were consolidated by order of the Regional Director, dated
June 29, 1949.
2 The hearing officer granted a motion made by District No. 50, United Mine Workers
of America , Local 13,200, to intervene in these proceedings . The Petitioner opposed the
motion on the ground that the intervening union having failed to comply with the filing
requirements of Section 9 (f), (g), and (h) of the Act does not have a recognizable
interest in these proceedings because it is not party to a current contract with the
Employer . However, the record shows that on June IT, 1947, the Employer and the
Intervenor entered into a collective bargaining agreement which was effective until April
30, 1949. Subsequently , the agreement was extended until June 30, 1949 , and before the
latter date, it was further extended until August 31, 1949. The original agreement
required the approval of the War Department before it became effective , but the second
extension of the agreement was not approved by the War Department . The Petitioner
contends that the second extension is therefore ineffective , and consequently the Intervenor
is not a party to a current contract with the Employer . Without determining the validity
of the Petitioner 's contention , we find that the Intervenor has a colorable claim to a
contractual interest and therefore was entitled to participate in the hearing . Matter of
The Liquid Carbonic Corporation, Medical Gas Division, 85 N. L. R. B. 284.
85 N. L. R. B., No. 198.
1181
1 1-82 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
we affirm the hearing officer's ruling excluding such evidence.
Matter of Tampa Transit Lines, Inc., 83 N. L. R. B. 1017; Matter
of Hughes Aircraft Company, 81 N. L. R. B. 867.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Members Reynolds, Murdock, and
Gray].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent employees
of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The, appropriate units :
The Petitioner has filed with the Board 10 separate petitions request-
ing in each, severance of an alleged craft group of employees froln the
over-all, plant-wide bargaining unit currently represented by the
Intervenor. The individual bargaining units sought by the Petitioner
are: carpenters and millwrights, riggers, truck drivers and automo-
tive mechanics, crane operators, laggers, machinists, material fabri-
cators, bench mechanics, blacksmiths, and machinery operators. The
Employer takes no position with respect to the appropriateness of
the proposed bargaining units. The Intervenor contends that the
established bargaining unit, which includes all the production and
maintenance employees in the Employer's plant, excluding pipe fitters,
plumbers, steam fitters, welders, electricians, clerical employees, su-
pervisors, and Government employees, is the only appropriate bar-
gaining unit. However, the Intervenor does not specifically contest
the craft character of any of the separate groups petitioned for.
In a prior representation proceeding relating to the Employer's
Morgantown, West Virginia, plant, which plant is involved in these
proceedings, the Board found that the nature of the Employer's oper-
ations did not prevent the establishment of craft bargaining units for
its employees.3 As a result of that proceeding separate labor organi-
zations were certified as the bargaining representatives of (1) the
Employer's pipe fitters, plumbers, steam fitters, welders, and their
helpers, (2) the Employer's electricians and their helpers; and (3) the
Intervenor herein was certified as the bargaining representative of all
remaining production and maintenance employees, excluding clerical
3 Matter of Heyden Chemical corporation, 72 N. L. R. B. 1240.
HEYDEN CHEMICAL CORPORATION 1183
and Government employees and supervisors. The Employer has en-
tered into collective bargaining agreements with each of the certified
labor organizations. The contract covering. the production and main-
tenance employees was executed by the Employer and the Intervenor
on June 17, 1947. The expiration date of the contract was April 30',..
1949, but it has been extended until August 31, 1949. All the em-
ployees in the units proposed by the Petitioner are included in the
Employer's maintenance division and have been represented by the
Intervenor since June 17, 1947, under the terms of the aforesaid
agreement.
The organization and operation of the Employer's plant at the.
present time is substantially the same as described in our earlier de-
cision.4 The employees in the maintenance division are separated
according to their skills and functions into occupational groups, each
subject to the supervision and direction of foremen of the same classifi-
cation. In most of these occupational groups there are three or four
gradations between helper and first class journeyman, who are the most
skilled workers within each classification. Although the Employer
has no apprenticeship program for any of its maintenance workers,.
the record shows that in most cases it requires from 4 to 6 years' train-
ing for an employee to obtain full skill in any occupational classifica-
tion. While it also appears that the maintenance employees fre-
quently work in composite crews under the direction of a general crew
foreman they, nevertheless, always remain subject to the ultimate con-
trol of their respective foremen. Thus, the various occupational
groups among the maintenance employees at all times retain their
separate identity and homogeneity. In view of the foregoing and the
fact that we heretofore have found craft units of employees appro-
priate at the Employer's Morgantown plant, we see no reason why
self-determination elections should not be directed among the em-
ployees in such of the units proposed by the Petitioner as constitute:
recognized craft groupings.
Instead of the separate groups requested in the petitions filed ill
these proceedings, the Petitioner proposes an alternative bargaining
unit composed of all the employees in the Employer's maintenance di-
vision with exception of painters, electricians, pipe fitters, and labor-
ers. This alternative unit, however, constitutes a multi-craft group-
ing of employees such as we have held may not .be severed from a
broader unit for which collective bargaining has been successfully con-
ducted.5 We find that the alternative unit proposed by the Petitioner
4Ibid.
,Matter of Armour t Company, Si N. L. R. B. 302; Cf. Matter of Armstrong Cork
Company, 80 N. L. R. B. 1328.
1184 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
is inappropriate for purposes of collective bargaining . Accordingly,
we shall consider the appropriateness of the separate units proposed
by the Petitioner.
The Proposed Units
The Petitioner, in Case No. 6-RC-314, requests severance of a group
of carpenters and millwrights. These employees perform the normal
duties and functions of such crafts and apparently possess the usual
skills of such craftsmen. Therefore, in accordance with our customary
practice, we shall direct a self-determination election for these
employees."
In cases numbered 6-RC-344 and 6-RC-346, the Petitioner seeks
to establish separate bargaining units for machinists and bench me-
chanics. . Although the. employees in these two groups are separately
supervised and the machinists are somewhat more skilled than the
bench mechanics, the record indicates that the employees in both
classifications fall within the general category of machinists and exer-
cise the usual skills of such craftsmen. In the absence of other factors
distinguishing the interests of these two groups, we find no adequate
reasons which would justify separate bargaining units for the ma-
chinists and the bench mechanics.' We shall, therefore, direct an
election for the machinists and bench mechanics as a single group.
At the hearing, the Petitioner moved to dismiss its petition in Case
No. 6-RC-348, which requested a separate unit for operators of heavy
machinery, such as bulldozers, graders, and scrapers, and to amend
its petition in Case No. 6-RC-341 by adding the machinery operators
to the proposed unit of truck drivers and automotive mechanics. At
the Employer's plant, the truck drivers, machinery operators, and
automotive mechanics compose a single occupational group under the
supervision and direction of the transportation foreman. We have
held that truck drivers and allied classifications have interests suf-
ficiently separate and distinguishable from those of production and
maintenance employees to entitle the former separate bargaining rep-
resentation 8 if they so desire; and we have also held that the interests
of automotive mechanics are more closely allied to those of truck
drivers and machinery operators than to production and maintenance
BMatter of International Harvester Company, 73 N. L. R. B. 971; Matter of Carbide
and Carbon Chemicals Corporation, 73 N. L. R. B. 881: Matter of Remington Arms Com-
pany, Inc., 54 N. L. R. B. 338.
7 Matter of Tin Processing Corporation, 80 N. L. R. B. 1369. Cf. Matter of Aluminum
Company of America, 83 N. L. R. B. 398.
8 Matter of Standard Oil Company (Indiana), 81 N. L. R. B. 1381 ; Matter of National
Automotive Fibres, Inc., Findlay Division, 81 N. L. R. B. 1232; Matter of Swift & Company,
81 N. L. R. B. 1197.
HEYDEN CHEMICAL CORPORATION 1185
employees.9 In view of the fact that we customarily permit truck
drivers and allied classifications self-determination elections and no
adequate reasons were advanced to impel us to depart from such prac-
tice in this case, we shall direct an election among the truck drivers
and machinery operators and shall also include the automotive me-
chanics in the voting group rather than separate them from the em-
ployees with whom their interests are more closely allied. Accord-
ingly, the Petitioner's motions to dismiss the petition in Case No.
6-RC-348 and to amend the petition in Case No. 6-RC-341 are hereby
granted.
At the hearing, the Petitioner made a motion to dismiss its petition
in Case No. 6-RC-347, which requested a unit of blacksmiths, and to
amend its petition in Case No. 6-RC-345 by enlarging the proposed
trait of material fabricators to.include the blacksmiths. Although the
employees in both groups are supervised by the same foreman, their
functions are dissimilar. The material fabricators do sheet metal
and coppersmith work, whereas the blacksmiths fashion and forge
iron and steel. We have not generally found that combined groups
of material fabricators and blacksmiths constitute an appropriate
bargaining unit, but on the other hand, we have frequently found
that they constitute separate appropriate craft groupings.1° Ac-
cordingly, we shall deny the Petitioner's motion to consolidate the
material fabricators and blacksmiths into a single voting group, and
we shall direct separate self-determination elections for each craft
group.
In the remaining cases the Petitioner seeks certification as bargain-
ing representative of groups of riggers, crane operators, and laggers,
who are sometimes identified in Board decisions as pipe coverers. We
have previously held that employees in these categories are not crafts-
men 11 Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petitions in these cases.
9 Matter of May Department Stores Company, 85 N. L. R. B. 550; Matter of Vancouver
Plywood & Veneer Company, 79 N. L. R. B. 708; Matter of Ferguson-Steere Motor
Co., 76 N. L. R. B . 1122 ; Matter of Blue Diamond Corporation , at al ., 81 N. L. R. B. 484 ;
Matter of Radio Corporation of America , RCA Victor Division, 66 N. L. R. B. 1014.
10 Matter of Southland Paper Mills , Inc., 81 N. L. R. B. 330 (blacksmiths) ; Matter of
Potash Company of America , 80 N. L. R. B. 1035 ( blacksmiths ) ; Matter of Standard Oil
Company of California , 79 N. L. R. B. 1466 ( material fabricators) ; Matter of Ansco, A
Division of General Aniline & Film Corporation , 79 N. L. R. B. 79 ( material fabricators) ;
Matter of Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation, 84 N. L. R. B. 298 ( sheet metal
workers).
11 In the following cases the Board held that riggers and crane operators were not
craftsmen : Matter of Welding Shipyards , Inc., 81 N. L. It. B. 936; Matter of Southern
Paperboard Corporation , 80 N. L. R. B. 1456; Matter of Electric Boat Company, 80
N. L. R. B. 16; Matter of Douglas Aircraft Company, Inc., 54 N. L. It. B. 67 . In Matter
of Sylvania Division, American Viscose Corporation, 84 N. L. R. B. 202 and in Matter
of Todd Shipyards Corporation, 63 N. L. R. B. 526, the Board held that pipe coverers were
not craftsmen.
1186 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
.
We find, in accordance with the foregoing , that the following groups
of employees at the Employer 's plant in Morgantown , West Virginia,
including in each group all helpers , but excluding all Government
employees, watchmen, guards , professional employees , and supervisors
as defined in the Act , may constitute separate units appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the Act:
(1) Carpenters and millwrights ; ( 2) truckdrivers , machinery
operators , and automotive mechanics ; ( 3) machinists and bench
mechanics ; ( 4) blacksmiths ; and (5) material fabricators . 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 of the employees in any group
vote for the Petitioner , they will be taken to have indicated their
desire to constitute a separate bargaining unit represented by the
Petitioner.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS 12
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, separate elec-
tions by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not
later than 30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction
and supervision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this
case was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees
in the units described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Elections, including employees who did not work
during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or
temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the elections, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bar-
gaining, by United Brotherhood of Carpenters R Joiners of America,
A. F. L.
ORDER
IT IS ITI;REBY ORDERED that the petitions in cases numbered 6-RC-340,
6-RC-342, 6-RC-343, and 6-RC-348 be, and the same are, dismissed.
12 Because District No. 50, United Aline workers of America, Local 13 ,200, has failed
to comply with the filing and registration requirements of Section 9 (f), (g), and (h) of
the Act, its name will be omitted' from the ballots in the elections directed herein.