Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 14, 1944

57 N.L.R.B. 345 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of OWENS -CORNING FIBERGLAS CORP. and TEXTILE
WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA , C. I. O.
Case No. 8=R-1433.-Decided July 14, 1944
Marshall, ,Melhorn, Wall & Bloch , by Messrs . Henry R. Bloch ,Pich-
ard A. O'Neill , and John D. Black, of Toledo, Ohio, for the Company.
Mrs. Clara Kanwn ., of Newark , Ohio, Mr. Herbert W. Payne, of
New York City , and M.P. Charles Bubb, of Columbus , Ohio, for the
Textile Workers.
Mr. Wm . G. Muhlean , of Toledo , Ohio, Mr. Harvey H. Hars'lzmmn,
of Dunkirk , Ind., and Messrs. Frank H. Dunlap and Carl R. Fields,,
of Newark , Oh i°o, for the Glass 'Workers.
Mr. Edgar E. Baker, of Newark , Ohio, and Mr . D. D. Sharp, of
Cleveland , Ohio, for the I. B. E. W.
Messrs. Carl Cederquist and William A. Adams, of Cincinnati,
Ohio,, for the I. A. M.
Mr. Robert E. Tillman, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
.AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
STATEMENT OF TIIE, CASE
Upon petition duly filed' by Textile Workers Union of America,
C. I. 0., herein called the Textile Workers, alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., Newark, Ohio, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided
for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Louis Plost, Trial
Examiner. Said hearing was held at Newark, Ohio, on March 31,
1944. The Company, the Textile Workers, and American Flint Glass
Workers Union of North America, A. F. L., herein called the Glass
' Workers, and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
A. F. L., herein called the I. B. E. W., appeared, participated, and were
afforded, full opportunity to be heard, to' examine and cross-examine
57 N. L.R.B,No.64
345
346 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues.' On'May
27, 1944, the Board issued an Order granting the motion to intervene
filed by International Association of Machinists, Local No. 463, herein
called the I. A. M., and directing that the record be reopened. Pur-
suant to the Order, further hearing upon due notice was held in
Newark, Ohio, on June 8, 1944, before Frank L. Danello, Trial Exam-
iner. The parties heretofore mentioned and the I.A.M. appeared,
participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to exam-
ine and cross-examine witnesses, and to,introduce evidence bearing on
the issues. The rulings of the Trial Examiners made at the hearings
are free from prejudicial error and are,hereby affirmed. All parties
Mere afforded opportunity to file briefs'with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS, OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF. THE COMPANY
Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., a Delaware corporation, has its
principal office at Toledo, Ohio. 'It operates plants in the States of
Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Only its plant located in
Newark, Ohio, is involved in the present proceeding. At this plant,
the Company is engaged in the manufacture of fibrous glass products.
The principal raw materials used in the manufacture of such products
are sand, soda ash, lime, and oil, of which at least 50 percent is shipped
to the plant from points outside the State of Ohio. During;thc+year
1943, the Company manufactured at its Newark plant finished products
having a value in excess of $500,000, of which 90 percent was sold to
customers located outside the State of Ohio.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
- Textile `Yorkers Union of America is a labor organization affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to member=
ship employees of the Company.
American Flint Glass `Yorkers Union of North America is a labor
organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,, admit-
ting to membership employees of the Company.
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is a labor organi-
zation affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to
membership employees of the Company.
' Bricklayers , Masons and Plasterers International Umon entered an appearance at the
opening of the hearing , but subsequently withdrew when apprised that the other parties
were not seeking to represent employees whom it claimed to represent.
OWENS-CORNING FIBERGLAS -CORP. 347
International Association of Machinists, Local No. 463; is a labor
organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admit-
ting to membership employees of the Company. ' -
111. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On February 8, 1944, the Textile Workers notified the Company by
mail that it represented a majority of the latter's employees and
requested recognition ' as the exclusive bargaining representative of
such employees. On February 12, 1944, the Company advised the
Textile Workers to use the processes of the Board.
Statements of Field Examiners of the Board, introduced into evi-
dence at the hearing, and a statement' of the Trial Examiner made at
the hearing, have been compiled in a table below.2 These statements
indicate that each of the labor organizations represents a substantial
number of employees in the unit it-contends to be-appropriate.
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 UNITS
A., The contentions of the parties
The Company , the Textile Workers, and the Glass Workers stipu'-
lated that a single unit of production and' maintenance employees at
the Company 's Newark, Ohio, plant is appropriate for purposes of
collective bargaining.
The I . B. E. W. contends that all , electrical employees at the plant
constitute a separate unit.
The I . A. M. would separate from the proposed production and
maintenance unit all machinists , helpers, apprentices , tool and die.
makers,3 and Welders in the laboratory machine shop of the plant, ex-
I See the following table
Proposed units
Number
of em.
ployees
in units
Representation showing in units,
Textile
Workers
Prod and maint employees-----------------
Electrical employees ----____________________
Laboratory'machme shop- -----------------
3, 083
33
"110
923
Glass
Workers
142
I. B. E. W.
19
------------
I. A. M.
-------33
This figure represents the total number of machinists employed by the Company . The number
of machinists in the unit alleged to be appropriate by the I A M. is approximately 52 In addition,
there are 7 or 8 welders. _
Those engaged in tool and die making at the Newark plant are classified as machinists
by the Company. -
E
ti
-348 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
eluding clerical employees, laborers, sweepers, janitors, and super-
visory employees.
B. The proposed production and maintenance unit
The Company's plant consists of the following divisions, all located
within a single fenced-in 'area: the research laboratories, the wool'
division, the textile division, and the marble division. The record is
clear that there is a high degree of integration both in the )manage-
ment and in the operation of the four divisions. The Company has
no history of collective bargaining at its Newark plant. , These facts
would clearly support a finding that a single production and mainte-
nance unit is appropriate, as contended by the Company, the Textile -
Workers, and the Glass Workers. The Board, however, has' frequently
postponed its determination of the appropriate unit, pending a re-
flection of the desires of employees sought to be set off in separate craft
units, where counterbalancing considerations were present indicating
the appropriateness of such separate units. As noted hereinafter, the
instant case presents such-factors in favor of-two separate craft units.
Accordingly, no final determination as to the appropriateness of a
single production and maintenance unit will be made at this time.
The Company, the Textile Workers, and the Glass Workers are in
disagreement only'as to the supervisory status of group leaders, the
Company contending that they should be excluded from the unit, and
the Textile Workers and Glass Workers contending that they should
be included. The Company has 75 group leaders distributed'through-
out its several production and maintenance departments who are re-
sponsible to shift foremen and departmental foremen. They- each
direct the work of from 5 to 22 employees, devoting from 25 percent to
more than 50 percent of their time in work of a supervisory nature.
They receive more pay than the employees whom they supervise -and
have the power to recommend their promotion; discharge, discipline,
and demotion. We find that group leaders are supervisory employees
within the meaning of our customary definition, and we shall exclude
them from the voting groups hereinafter established.
C. The unit proposed by the I. B. E. W.
The unite proposed by the I. B. E. W. would comprise all electrical
employees, of the Company in its Newark plant. The Company has a
total of 32 such employees divided evenly between two central head-
quarters, one in the laboratory division, under the supervision of an
electrical foreman, the other as part of the maintenance department
where they are under the plant- engineer., All 32 employees are en-
gaged exclusively in electrical repair and maintenance work through-
- out the plant', working out of their central headquarters, where, they
M
OWENS-CORNING FIBERGLAS CORP. 349
report to' work daily and are given job assignments. The immediate
supervisors of the electrical employees are group leaders. The above
evidence indicates that the Company's electrical employees constitute
a clearly identifiable, skilled craft group. We are, therefore, of the
opinion, in the absence of any history of collective bargaining, that
the considerations in' favor of a separate unit of electrical employees
balance those tending to favor an industrial unit, so that the electrical
employees could function as a separate unit for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining or be included in a production and maintenance unit.
D: The unit proposed by the I. A. M:
The I.-A. M. seeks •a unit confined to the-laboratory machine shop of
the Company's Newark plant, consisting of machinists and welders.
The plant has 3 departments where machinists are employed, namely,
the'laboratory'machine shop,.the wool division machine shop, and the
textile division machine shop. Each of the shops has a separate loca-
tion and separate supervision. There are no machinists -in the main-
tenance department, although there are 4 or 5 welders, and no ma-
chinists are engaged in production. In all, there are 110 machinists,
of whom 52 are assigned to the laboratory. The machinists in the
laboratory machine shop are engaged primarily in the building of
new'machines, and incidentally in the maintenance of machines in the
laboratory building. The machinists in the other 2 machine shops, on
the other hand, are concerned almost entirely with maintenance work,
in their respective divisions, which requires their presence throughout
the production departments of their divisions. The Company's per-
sonnel director testified that there is a certain degree of specialization
in each of the 3 shops which would require' that employees inter-
changed, among the shops undergo additional training. It thus ap-
pears that the laboratory machinists are performing work distinctive
'from-that in which the remainder of the Company's machinists are
engaged.
'There is ordinarily no interchange of machinists among the three
machine shops. Occasionally, machinists from one shop will use ma-
chines in another shop in connection with their work. Accordingly,
there is little contact among the employees of the three shops.
There are seven or eight, welders in the laboratory machine shop
who work in conjunction with the machinists in building new equip-
ment and maintaining laboratory equipment. Consequently; they are
readily distinguishable from the welders in the maintenance depart-
ment who are engaged in construction work. Moreover, there is
seldom any interchange of welders.
In view of the distinctive character of-the work in which the ma-
.cliinists and welders of the laboratory machine shop are engaged, their
350 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
I
segregation and comparative isolation from other machinists and weld-
ers employed by the Company, the skills required of them, and, the
absence of any history of collective bargaining, we conclude that they
'could function as a separate unit apart from the other machinists and
welders, and apart from other production and maintenance employees.
On the "other hand, we are of the opinion that they could properly be
included in a unit of production and maintenance employees.
E. The jurisdictional disputes
The unit which the Glass Workers requests conflicts with those
sought by the I. B. E. W. and the I. A. M. Since all three unions are
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, it is evident .that
the Board is faced with the problem of jurisdictional disputes. While
we have, on occasion, dismissed proceedings involving jurisdictional
disputes between two or more unions on the theory that an issue was
raised which the parent organization was competent to decide, we
have never done so where-a union not a party to the-jurisdictional dis-
pute was also seeking to.represent the employees over whom the dispute
had arisen 4 Here, the Textile Workers is not a party to the jurisdic-
tional dispute and seeks to represent the employees involved in the
dispute. We shall, therefore, determine the question concerning repre-
sentation despite the jurisdictional disputes between the Glass Work-
ers, on the one hand, and the I. B. E. W. and the I. A. M., on the other.
The names of both the I. B. E. W. and the Glass workers shall be
placed on the ballot in the election hereinafter ordered among the
electrical employees, and the names of both the I. A. M. and the Glass
Workers shall be placed on the ballot in the election hereinafter di-
rected among the machinists and welders in the laboratory machine
shop.
F. Concluding findings
In view-of our findings with respect to the electrical employees
,and with respect to the machinists and welders in the laboratory ma-
chine shop, we shall make no final determination at this time of the
'appropriate unit, or units. Such determination will depend, in
-part, on the results of the elections hereinafter directed.
We shall direct that the question concerning representation -which
has arisen be resolved by separate elections by secret ballot among the
S See Matter of Long-Bell Lumber Company, 16 N L R B 892 , Matter of IVe,,erbaeuser
Timber Company, Klamath Falls Branch , 42 N. L R. B 499 ; and Matter of Buffalo Tank
Corporation , 56 N L R B 829.
,5If, as a result of the elections ordered in this proceeding , the Glass workers. or the
I. B. E W , or the I. A. M. is certified as the representative of employees of the Company,
our certification will not be a determination that such A F of L. affiliate is the union
authorized by the A F. of , L to assert jurisdiction over such employees . It will merely
be a holding that such A. F. of L. affiliate is the exclusive representative of employees of
:the Company in an appropriate unit for%the purposes of collective bargaining
OWENS-CORNING FIBERGLAS CORP. 351
'employees in the following voting groups who were employed during
the pay -roll period immediately preceding the date of our Direction
of Elections , subject to the limitations and additions set forth there-
in: (1) all electrical employees of the Company in its Newark plant,
excluding group leaders and all, other supervisory employees with
authority to hire, promote , discharge; discipline , or otherwise effect
changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such
action, to determine whether they desire to be represented by the I. B.
E.-W., the Textile Workers , the Glass Workers , or none; (2) all
machinists , helpers, apprentices , tool and die makers, and welders in
the, laboratory machine shop, excluding clerical employees , laborers,
sweepers , janitors, . group leaders , aid all other supervisory employees
with authority to hire, promote , discharge ; discipline , or otherwise
effect changes in the status of employees , or effectively recommend
such action, to determine whether they desire to be represented by
the I . A. M., the Textile Workers , the Glass Workers , or none; and
(3) all remaining production and maintenance employees of the New-
ark plant and its research laboratories, including section leaders (or
utility men and utility women ), but excluding office and clerical em-
ployees , salaried employees ( it being understood that the Company
will not deviate from its usual practice in placing people on the salaried
pay roll ), laboratory technicians and employees doing confidential
work in the research laboratories , temporary and part-time employees,
department heads, department foremen, shift foremen, chief shift
inspectors , group leaders ,. and all other supervisory employees with
authority to hire, promote , discharge, discipline , or otherwise effect
changes in ' the status of employees , or effectively recommend such
action, to determine whether they desire to be represented by the Tex-
tile Workers, the Glass,Workers, or neither.6
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
By virtue ' of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act , and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Owens-Corning
Fiberglas Corp., Newark , Ohio, separate elections by,secret ballot shall
be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty ( 30) clays
from the date of this Direction of Elections , under the direction and
supervision of the Regional Director for the Eighth Region, acting in
this matter as agent' for the National Labor Relations Board, and
The composition of Group (3) conforms substantially to a stipulation of the Company,
the Textile Workers, and the Glass Workers.
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352 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and, Regula-
tions ,' among the following employees who were employed by the
Company 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, 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 ;da'te of-the
elections :
1. All electrical -employees , excluding group leaders and all other
supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote , discharge, dis=
cipline, or otherwise effect changes - in the status of employees, or
effectively recommend such action , to determine whether they desire
to be represented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
A. F. L., or by Textile Workers Union of 'America, C. I: 01, or by
American Flint Glass Workers Union of North America, A. F. L.,
for the purposes of collective bargaining , or by none;
2. All machinists , helpers, apprentices , tool and - die makers, and
welders in the laboratory machine shop , excluding clerical employees,
laborers , sweepers , janitors, group leaders, and all other supervisory
employees with authority to hire, promote , discharge ,, discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees , or effectively rec-
ommend such action, to determine whether they desire to • be,,repre-
sented by International Association of Machinists , Local No. 463. or
by Textile Workers Union of America, C. I. 0., or by American, Flint
Glass Workers Union of North America, A. F. L., for the purposes of
collective bargaining , or by none; and
3. All production and maintenance employees of the Newark plant
and its research laboratories , including section leaders, ( or utility men
and utility women), but excluding all employees included.in Groups 1
and 2 above, office and clerical employees, salaried employees (it being
understood that the Company will not deviate from its usual practice
in placing people on the salaried pay roll ), laboratory technicians and
employees doing confidential work in the research laboratories, tem-
porary and part-time employees, department heads, department fore,
nien , shift foremen , chief shift inspectors , group leaders , and all,other
supervisory eniployees with authority . to hire, promote , discharge, dis-
cipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or
effectively recommend such action ,. to determine , whether-they desire
to be represented by Textile Workers Union of America , C. I. 0., or
by American Flint,Glass Workers Union'of North eAmerica, A.IF. L.,
for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
MR. JOHN M. HousTON took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision, and Direction of Elections.
1