Kennametal, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsJul 17, 1961

132 N.L.R.B. 194 (N.L.R.B. 1961)

194 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Kennametal , Inc. and International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW-AFL-CIO), Petitioner. Case No. 6-RC-1931. July 17, 1961 SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND ORDER CLAR- IFYING CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES On January 3, 1958, after an election conducted pursuant to a De- cision and Direction of Election, the Board issued a Supplemental Decision and Certification of Representatives 1 in which it certified the Petitioner as the collective-bargaining representative for a unit of the following employees of the Employer : "All hourly rated pro- duction and maintenance employees employed at the Employer's Latrobe, Kingston Station, and Chestnut Bridge, Pennsylvania, plants, excluding all office clerical employees, technical employees, laboratory employees and guards, professional employees, and super- visors as defined in the Act." On February 1, 1961, the Petitioner filed a motion for clarification of certification of representatives alleging that the Employer has in its employ certain employees, working in its laboratory at the Latrobe plant, who are engaged in production work and requesting that such employees be included in the production and maintenance unit. On February 13, 1961, the Employer filed an answer, asserting that the employees involved are salaried laboratory employees not engaged in production work, and hence not properly a part of the bargaining unit. On March 29, 1961, the Board remanded this matter to the Regional Director and directed that a hearing be held to determine whether or not the employees in question are an accretion to the exist- ing production and maintenance unit. A hearing was held on August 21, 1961, before Edward A. Grupp, hearing officer. The hearing offi- cer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board 2 finds : The Employer, at its Latrobe plant, manufacturers carbide blanks and brazed tools. The cutting portion of the brazed tool is the car- bide blank. The carbide blanks are manufactured from a powdered metal, called Kennametal. The powder is put into a pill press and compressed into a specified carbide blank form. After the blank is compressed in the pill, it is put into a furnace and given a heat treat- ment process called "sintering." The employees who produce these 1119 NLRB 1236. 2 Pursuant to the provisions of Section 8(b) of the Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three -member panel [ Members Rodgers, Leedom, and Fanning]. 132 NLRB No. 16. KENNAMETAL, INC. 195 products are admittedly production employees in the certified unit. All such production employees are under the ultimate supervision of the Employer's general superintendent, F. J. Lennon, who reports directly to the Employer's executive vice president. The Employer's Latrobe plant consists of approximately 33 buildings. One of these buildings houses the Employer's chemical and metallurgical research laboratory, which has approximately 74 employees. The laboratory is under the direction of the technical director, E. N. Smith, who re- ports directly to the Employer's executive vice president. The gen- eral superintendent has no authority over the technical director. One of the sections of the laboratory is described by the Employer as "Development of : capacitor type tantalum powder; pressing, sinter- ing, electrical testing of anodes; development of niobium metal." It is in this section that the Employer in late 1956 began manufacturing tantalum anodes. The Petitioner contends that the employees so en- gaged in the laboratory in the manufacturer of tantalum anodes are not the laboratory employees excluded from the certified unit but are, instead, production employees who constitute an accretion to the certified unit. A chief chemist, Charles W. Hanna, supervises all employees pro- ducing these anodes. Among them are approximately 13 girls, be- tween the ages of 18 and 21, who operate pill presses, performing routine repetitive work. In addition to operating the pill presses, these girls check the anodes for proper weight and size with weighing scales and measuring scales. All these pill-press operators have been in the employ of the Employer less than 11/2 years; they can be trained in 2 to 3 weeks, but it takes 3 to 6 months for them to become proficient. As these girls are required to insert a metal wire into the anode from the underside, working through the use of mirrors, they are hired on the basis of their manual dexterity but no specific formal training is required. Each pill-pressing machine produces approxi- mately 500 to 2,000 anodes in an 8-hour day. After being pressed in the pill presses, the anodes are put into a furnace for sintering. There are three furnace operators in the laboratory who place the anodes into the furnace, close the furnace, and evacuate the furnace by means of a vacuum pump. After the anodes are heated to a specified temperature, they are cooled while in the furnace, and then taken out by the furnace operators. W. Hood, A. Tosh, and G. McCloskey are known as furnace op- erator group leaders. They assign and direct the work of the pill- press operators in the laboratory. Working alongside the three furnace operators, they control the furnace and see that the anodes are properly sintered. The record does not establish that they exer- cise independent judgment in assigning work or that their direction 614913-62-vol. 182-14 196 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD of the work of the pill-press and furnace operators is other than routine. Five women, varying in age between 18 and 20, are employed in the laboratory as physical inspectors of the anodes. Their work consists of inspecting the sintered anodes for various physical properties by measuring the anode against certain specifications to see whether the anode meets the required specifications. In this work, they use mag- nifying glasses, micrometers, tweezers, and gauges. They are re- quired to have a high school education, a high intelligence quotient, and manual dexterity. These girls are given on-the-job training. They can be trained in a matter of weeks, but it takes them 3 to 6 months to become proficient. Three other girls in the laboratory perform electrical inspection of the anodes, working under Group Leader E. Beam? They spot check a representative sample of the sintered anodes to determine whether or not the anodes meet certain electrical requirements. These girls use voltameters and ammeters. They have had no formal electrical training and can be trained in a matter of weeks but it takes 3 to 6 months for them to become proficient. Also under the direction of the chief chemist are R. Keefe, W. Werner, and R. Duffner, who "work on tantalum and niobium in solid shapes and with some powder processing involved in tantalum and niobium work." They screen, crush, and package it, and they con- duct sampling tests to analyze the metal to see whether it meets cer- tain chemical requirements. Thereafter, the metal powders are pressed into bars by production and maintenance employees in the production area of the plant. Keefe, a high school graduate, has been employed in the laboratory approximately 10 years. Werner has worked in the laboratory 6 to 8 years and has 1 or 2 years of college chemistry. Duffner's work is more routine than that of Keefe and Werner. He has worked in the laboratory less than a year. His work can be learned in 2 or 3 months, but it takes a year to become proficient. Betty Tedrow mainly does clerical work. Working in the produc- tion area of the laboratory and under the direction of Group Leader Hood, hereinbefore referred to, she makes out data sheets, listing the results of electrical inspections. In addition, she spends about 30 percent of her time in assisting the inspectors in packing anodes. As indicated, the Petitioner contends that all the employees in the laboratory engaged in the production of tantalum anodes constitute an accretion to the existing certified production and maintenance unit and are not embraced in the classification of laboratory employees The parties stipulated that Beam is a -technical employee and should not be included in the production and maintenance unit . The record discloses that Beam "went through" the Marine Corps Electronics School and that he is engaged in technical work Accord- ingly, we shall exclude him from the unit. KENNAMETAL, INC. 197 excluded from the established unit. Thus, the Petitioner would in- clude the following employees : The pill-press operators, the furnace group leaders, the furnace operators, the physical inspectors, the elec- trical inspectors, Betty Tedrow, R. Keefe, W. Werner, and R. Duffner. The Employer contends that its tantalum anode operation is still in the research and development stage, and that the employees engaged in these operations are laboratory employees, a category specifically excluded from the certified unit. In contrast to other sections of the laboratory where employees are engaged in professional or technical work, the pill-press operators and the furnace operators perform functions similar to those per- formed by employees outside the laboratory who admittedly are en- gaged in production work. With minor differences in the mode of operation, similar pill presses are used in the production areas, and the anode sintering furnace is similar to the carbide blank sintering furnace. The process of making anodes is not unlike that followed in making the carbide blanks in the production areas of the plant. There is no substantial difference in the job qualifications required of employees producing anodes and those producing carbide blanks. The Employer admits that it produces several thousand anodes a day, that the anodes are being sold to about 12 customers, and that it has been manufacturing them for sale to customers since the latter part of 1956. In view of these facts, we are unable to conclude that the production of these anodes is still in an experimental stage, as the Employer contends. At any rate, the Employer is definitely engaged in the manufacture of tantalum anodes, in large volume, for com- mercial sale, using a method of production similar to that used for its production of carbide blanks. Accordingly, we find that the em- ployees working on tantalum anodes in the Employer's laboratory at Latrobe are performing production rather than laboratory work and constitute an accretion to the existing Unit .4 Thus, the pill-press oper- ators and the furnace operators working in the laboratory belong in the certified production and maintenance unit. The physical inspec- tors and the electrical inspectors are neither confidential, technical, rl , The fact that all employees working in the laboratory are salaried and the certification included in the unit only "hourly " paid employees does not preclude the Board from adding the production employees in the laboratory to that unit. We have held that salaried employees who perform the same duties and functions as hourly paid employees should be included with hourly paid employees in the same unit. Temco Aircraft Corpo- ration, 121 NLRB 1085, 1089. At the hearing, the Petitioner 's International representative refused to answer the Employer's attorney' s questions as to whether Petitioner represented a majority or 30 percent of the anode employees . The Employer 's attorney moved for dismissal on the ground that the witness refused to answer these questions . We hereby deny that motion. A showing of interest is not required where employees are sought to be added to an exist- ing certified unit as an accretion . We also deny the Employer' s motion for dismissal on the ground that the petition for clarification is vague. Representation hearings are in- vestigatory in nature , and not adversary It is established Board policy to determine the proper unit upon the record as a whole. 198 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD nor professional employees. As they are engaged in routine repetitive work closely related to the functions of the anode pill-press and fur- nace operators, the physical inspectors and the electrical inspectors also belong in the certified unit .5 The work of Keefe, Werner, and Dufner appears to be more directly related to laboratory work than to the production of tantalum anodes. They work on niobium in addition to tantalum. They screen, crush, and conduct sampling tests, some of which are not routine, and pack- age these metal powders. The powders are further processed by other employees in another part of the plant, other than the employees working on tantalum anodes. Accordingly, we shall not include them in the unit. As Betty Tedrow spends over half of her time in clerical work di- rectly related to the production of anodes and in packing the anodes, we will include her as a plant clerical in the existing production and maintenance unit." The parties stipulated that Group Leaders Hood and Tosh are not supervisors.' However, the Employer contends that they and Mc- Closkey are technicians and therefore should be excluded from the production and maintenance unit. Except for McCloskey, the record does not disclose that any of them have had any special or formal training, and the record does not spell out exactly what kind of formal training McCloskey has had, other than a statement of the technical director that he had some formal training. Since no specific formal training is required, and there is nothing in the record to indicate that they exercise any independent judgment, the record fails to es- tablish that they are technical employees. As their work is essen- tially the same as that of the furnace operators whom we have included in the unit, we shall include Hood, Tosh, and McCloskey in the pro- duction and maintenance unit .8 Accordingly, we grant the Petitioner's motion for clarification of certification of Representatives and shall amend the unit certified in 5Jeferson Mills, Division of Kahn and Feldman, Inc., 120 NLRB 385, 386 ( production control laboratory employees). 6 Denver-Colorado Springs-Pueblo Motor Way, 129 NLRB 1184; Thiokol Chemical Corpo- ration, Redstone Division , 123 NLRB 888, 890. 7 General rules for assigning work and which size anodes are to be worked on by the pill-press operators are set up by the technical director and the chief chemist. The only discretion the group leaders exercise is to determine which operator will work on a par- ticular press and what size anode an operator will work on, matters dependent upon manual dexterity required None of the three group leaders, including McCloskey, have any authority to take any disciplinary action or to recommend disciplinary action as to pill-press operators or furnace operators . We find that Hood, Tosh, and McCloskey are not supervisors The parties also stipulated that the following employees who work under the chief chemist are either professional or supervisory employees and are to be excluded from the production and maintenance unit : W. Petrosky, chemist ; It. Haluska, chemical engineer ; H. Moyer, who works directly under W. Petrosky ; and E . Curran, chemical engineer . Accordingly, they are excluded from the unit. See J. R. Simplot Food Processing Division, 128 NLRB 1391 ; Jet Research Center, Inc , 128 NLRB 730; Electro -Mechanical Research, Inc, 128 NLRB 111. WICHITA FALLS FOUNDRY & MACHINE CO. 199 this matter to include all employees working in the Employer's labora- tory at Latrobe who are engaged in the production of tantalum anodes, including pill-press operators, furnace operator group leaders, fur- nace operators, employees preforming physical and electrical inspec- tion, and plant clericals. [The Board clarified the certification by specifically including in the description of the appropriate unit of production and maintenance em- ployees all employees in the laboratory at the Employer's Latrobe, Pennsylvania, plant who are engaged in the production of tantalum anodes, including pill-press operators, furnace operator group leaders, furnace operators, employees performing physical and electrical in- spection, and plant clericals.] Wichita Falls Foundry & Machine Co. and Lodge 1476, Inter- national Association of Machinists, Petitioner . Case No. 16-]?- 1685. July 17, 1961 DECISION AND ORDER ON MOTION TO AMEND CERTIFICATION On August 23, 1946, following a Board-directed election,' Lodge 1476, International Association of Machinists, was certified as the collective-bargaining representative of all production and maintenance employees, including the shipping clerk and pattern clerk, at the plant of the Wichita Falls Foundry & Machine Co., Wichita Falls, Texas. On October 11, 1960, the Petitioner filed a motion to amend the certification to include employees in the appropriate unit employed not only by the Employer named in the certification, but also by Wich- ita Clutch Company, Inc. The Petitioner contended, generally, that the two companies-Wichita Falls Foundry & Machine Co. and Wichita Clutch Company, Inc.-should be considered a single em- ployer for purposes of collective bargaining, and that certain em- ployees of Wichita Clutch Company, Inc., should be included in the certified unit. In response thereto, the companies contended that they should not be treated as a single employer, and controverted the al- leged facts of interrelationship either of corporate organization or operation asserted by the Petitioner. On March 13, 1961, the Board issued an order referring the matter to the Regional Director for the Sixteenth Region, and directing that a hearing be held for the purpose of taking evidence on the issues raised by the motion to amend. Pursuant to said order, a hearing was held before Paul F. Cleveland, hearing officer, on April 3, 1961. The 1 69 NLRB 458. 132 NLRB No. 25.