Preco, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 27, 1945

63 N.L.R.B. 568 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of PRECO, INCORPORATED and UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF
WELDERS, CUTTERS AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 37, INDE-
PENDENT
,Case No. 21-R-2803.-Decided August l7, 1945
Mr. Arthur Freston, of Los Angeles , Calif., for the Company.
Messrs. Earl J. Behling, and George D. Felzien , for the Union.
Mr. Isadore Engle , of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF TILE CASE
Upon an amended petition duly filed by United Brotherhood of
Welders, Cutters and Helpers of America, Local 37, Independent,
herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce
had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Preco, In-
corporated, Los Angeles, California, herein called the Company, the
National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing
upon due notice before David Aaron, Trial Examiner. Said hearing
was held at Los Angeles, California, on May 15, 1945. The Company
and the Union appeared and participated. All parties were afforded
full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses,
and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an 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
Preco, Incorporated, a California corporation, is engaged at its plant
in Los Angeles, California, in the manufacture and sale of parts used
63 N. L. R. B, No. 88.
568
PRECO, INCORPORATED 569
in the manufacture of aircraft and railway equipment. Raw materials
purchased by the Company during the past year amounted to approxi-
mately $590,000, of which about 25 percent was shipped from points
outside the State of California. During the same period, the Com-
pany manufactured finished products valued at approximately $1,500,-
000, of which about $375,000 in value represented shipments to points
outside the State.
The Company admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Brotherhood of Welders, Cutters and Helpers of America,
Local 37, Independent, is a labor organization admitting to niember-
ship employees of the Company.
III. TlIE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of certain of its employees until
the Union has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Field Examiner, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found 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 UNIT
The Union seeks a unit of welders and welders' helpers, excluding
spot welders and spot welders' helpers. The Company contends, how-
ever, that only a production and maintenance unit is appropriate.
The Company employs in excess of 100 employees, including 4 are
welders, 2 gas welders, and 13 spot welders. Although the Com-
pany's operations are set up functionally in departments, employees
in one department are not physically segregated from the employees
in other departments. The hours, working conditions, and other con-
ditions of employment are substantially similar for all the Com-
pany's production and maintenance employees.
There has been no collective bargaining history at the plant. As
indicated above, the Union seeks to represent only the are welders and
1 The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted authorization cards for seven
persons in the alleged appropriate unit ; that all seven cards bore names of persons listed
on the Company ' s pay roll for the period ending March 25, 1945 ; that six of the cards were
dated February 1945, and one was dated March 1945; and that there were seven employees
in the alleged appropriate unit.
570 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
gas welders and their helpers. These employees, some of whom are
combination are and gas welders, are under the common supervision
of a different: leadman from that of the spot welders. The work of gas
and arc welders requires a high degree of skill and proficiency and
involves special hazards; the work of spot welders, on the other hand,
consists of manual labor, coupled with a specialized knowledge of ad-
justing the spot welding machine to accommodate the metals to be
welded. The period of training for the work of gas or are welding
is considerably longer than that required for spot welding, and experi-
ence as a spot welder does not qualify an employee to substitute for
a gas welder or are welder on any phase of the latter's work. More-
over, the rates of pay of gas and are welders are substantially higher
than those of spot welders. In addition, it appears that the Union
does not admit spot welders to membership. Accordingly, since the
are and gas welders form a well defined homogeneous group whose
work requires a high degree of skill and considerable specialized train'
ing, since they have separate supervision from that of 'the spot welders,
and in view of the absence of a history of collective bargaining on a
broader basis, we are of the opinion that are and gas welders may
properly function together for collective bargaining purposes.2
We find that all welders and welders' helpers, but excluding spot
welders and spot welders' helpers, and all supervisory employees with
authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect
changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such ac-
tion, constitute a -unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION 'OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec-
tion herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act,
and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining. with Preco, Incorpo-
See Matter of Solar Aircraft Company, 51 N L R B 964.
0
PRECO, INCORPORATED 571
rated, Los Angeles, California, an election by secret ballot shall be
conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days
from the date of this Direction, tinder the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Twenty-first Region, acting in this
matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject
to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations,
among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV,
above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately
preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did
not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca-
tion 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 any who have since quit or been discharged for
cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the
election, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by
United Brotherhood of Welders, Cutters and Helpers of'America,
Local 37, Independent, for the purposes of collective bargaining.
MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.