Rockwood & Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsAug 28, 1953

106 N.L.R.B. 1075 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

ROCKWOOD & COMPANY 1075 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. We find that all production , maintenance , warehousing, and shipping employees at the Employer's Pomona , California, plant , including truckdrivers , but excluding office clerical, confidential , and professional employees , watchmen , guards, and supervisors , constitute a unit appropriate for the pur- poses of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 5. The hearing officer referred to the Boardthe Employer's motion to dismiss the petition on the ground that it is pre- mature because of a contemplated expansion in the size of the unit . At the time of the hearing on July 21, 1953, the Em- ployer was engaged in the assembling and painting of bicycles at its Pomona plant. The Employer started its Pomona opera- tions in March 1953 with 7 employees . At the time of the hearing, it had 25 employees . The Employer expects to hire about 75 more employees by December 1953 . The record does not show that any new work classifications will be hired different from those now working at the plant. We shall provide for an election to be held by December 15, 1953, or on such earlier date, to be selected by the Regional Director , as it shall appear that a substantial and representa- tive number of employees are then employed .3 We believe that the working force which will be employed when the elec- tion directed herein is held , will be a substantial and repre- sentative segment of the employees to be employed in the voting group for a reasonable time in the future . Accordingly, the Employer ' s motion to dismiss is hereby denied." [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.] 3Eligibility shall be determined by the payroll period immediately preceding the issuance of a notice of election 4Pershing Avenue Corporation , 98 NLRB 148 ; Oliver Iron and Steel Corporation, Berry Division, 98 NLRB 1110; Chrysler Corporation , Michaud Ordnance Plant, 98 NLRB 1105. ROCKWOOD & COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL BROTHER- HOOD OF FIREMEN, OILERS AND MAINTENANCE ME- CHANICS, LOCAL UNION NO. 56, AFL, Petitioner. Case No. 2-RC-5768. August 28, 1953 DECISION AND ORDER Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 ( c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Max Dauber, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. 106 NLRB No. 160. 32Z615 0 - 54 - 69 1076 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 [Chairman Farmer and Members Styles and Peterson]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds: 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the mean- ing of the Act. 2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act for the following reasons: At the Employer's Brooklyn, New York, plant, the Employer manufactures chocolate and cocoa products, employing at full complement approximately 1,200 persons, of whom 72 are maintenance employees, including powerhouse employees and electricians. At the time of the hearing, at seasonal layoff, there were approximately 43 maintenance employees at work. Absent the Board's approval of its preferred combined unit embracing employees in the maintenance department, designated for payroll purposes as pipefitters, machinists, millwrights, painters, carpenters, pumpmen, masons, welders, and oilers, in a single maintenance unit, t the Petitioner seeks to sever and represent these maintenance employees either in separate classification groups or in such proposed combinations of these employees as the Board may find proper. The Employer and Candy and Confectionery Workers' Union, Local No. 452 of Greater New York, affiliated with Bakery and Confectionery Workers' International Union of America, the Intervenor herein, urge that the existing produc- tion and maintenance unit, represented by the Intervenor since 1937, is the only unit appropriate for these employees at the Employer's plant. The Employer's maintenance department is under the overall charge of a maintenance manager . He supervises directly employees engaged in pipefitting work and those classified as millwrights. Under a subordinate maintenance supervisor work the so-called mechanical employees, includ- ing wrapping machine mechanics, carpenters, masons, belt- men, mold repairmen, helpers, and oilers. Another subordinate supervisor, also known as the plant sanitarian, is in charge of porters and the utility crew, currently composed of a painter, a carpenter, masons, helpers, and miscellaneous factory workers. Small groups of miscellaneous workers are under routine charge of working foremen. A pipe shop t As the Petitioner concedes, where there is a substantial bargaining history on a more inclusive basis, the Board does not sever a miscellaneous maintenance department unit. W. C. Hamilton and Sons, 104 NLRB 627. ROCKWOOD & COMPANY 1077 and a machine shop contain facilities used by any employee whose work so demands. Pipefitters , of whom there are 4 , cut and thread pipe, apply fittings , hang pipe, and blow out and unblock clogged chocolate lines . They occasionally use blueprints and make sketches in the course of their work. No pipefitters have been hired for the last 5 years . Previous to that time, the Employer hired for pipefitting work persons with undisclosed, or no , pipefitting experience , and transferred production employees to pipefitting jobs. Mechanics , of whom there are 4, copy small wornout parts of production machinery, for which replacements are not on hand and not immediately available from the suppliers . Mechanics use shapers , milling machines, lathes, the power saw, and drills , also used by other employees . With 1 or Z exceptions, mechanics have no general background of machine tool knowledge ; the 1 or 2 who may possess craft skills have no opportunity to apply such skills at their work on any comprehensive scale. Me- chanics work on replacements and do minor repair work on special machines with which they are familiar . Millwrights, of whom there are approximately 15, repair chain brakes, clean out nozzles, remove and replace motors, and unload truckloads of duct work and machinery . Outside help is required for handling heavy and delicate machinery. The 2 painters currently employed perform routine interior work about the plant , painting walls, ceilings , partitions , machines, fixtures , and pipelines . Their outside work is done at ground level . Painters generally use standard white and grey colors throughout the plant . Outside contractors generally perform outside painting and certain interior work . On the utility crew , with painters , work a carpenter , welder , and mason. The carpenter makes minor repairs on furniture and the building . The welder does various types of welding, and otherwise works with the millwrights . The mason builds foundations for equipment , makes openings in walls and floors, and performs general masonry work with the assistance of a helper . Pumpmen, of whom there are 4 , service the steam pumps throughout the plant , replacing packing and damaged parts . Pumps are of simple construction , and the Employer maintains a complete line of pump parts . Oilers, of whom there are 8 , lubricate the production equipment. Their work requires a few hours ' training and no skills. Other oilers work in the powerhouse and are represented in a powerhouse unit by another labor organization not a party to this proceed- ing. The record does not disclose the work of electricians, whom the Petitioner does not seek to represent in any unit. In view of the 16 -year history of collective bargaining in the broad production and maintenance unit at the plant, and in the absence of the usual factors persuasive of severance from this unit , such as clearly identified craft training and 1078 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD skills and clear opportunities to use the same on any com- prehensive scale, we find that the small units proposed by the Petitioner are inappropriate at this time.' We therefore dis- miss the petition. 8 [The Board dismissed the petition.] 2 Hyster Company, 106 NLRB No. 60. 3 In view of our dismissal of the petition, we find it unnecessary to pass upon the contract- bar issue. Because the record and the briefs clearly set forth the positions of the parties, the request for oral argument is denied. REGAL SHOE COMPANY and RETAIL CLERKS INTERNA- TIONAL ASSOCIATION, AFL, Petitioner. Case No. 1-RC- 3148. August 28, 1953 DECISION AND ORDER Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, hearings were held before Leo J. Halloran, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearings are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds: 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act, for the following reasons: Local 173, New England Joint Board, CIO-R.W.D.S.U., herein called the Intervenor, contends that its current con- tract with the Employer constitutes a bar to this proceeding. Without pointing to any defect in the contract, the Petitioner opposes the bar contention. The Employer takes no position. The Employer and the Intervenor have maintained successive collective-bargaining agreements since 1937. Their last con- tract, now in effect, was executed on April 27, 1951. It has been continued since in accordance with its automatic annual renewal clause. As written, the contract contains a union- security clause reading as follows: Paragraph 2. The Company agrees that all present employees affected by the terms of the agreement shall, as a condition of employment, be members of the Union in good standing. Any new employee shall join the Union upon the expiration of his 30-day trial period. 106 NLRB No. 165.