The Armstrong Rubber Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsOct 16, 1963

144 N.L.R.B. 1115 (N.L.R.B. 1963)

THE ARMSTRONG RUBBER CO., PACIFIC COAST DIVISION 1115 Moreover, the manufacture of missiles is so complex as to make comparison with ordinary manufacturing plants and processes mis- leading. Each missile is in a sense handcrafted, in that each compo- nent, subassembly, and larger assembly must be worked on, repaired, tested, and inspected alone and in combination with other items. Thus, the testing and inspection which are among the major duties of the employees sought are not separate steps in the production process as in other types of manufacture, but the production process itself. In refusing to exclude certain technical employees from a produc- tion and maintenance unit, the Board recently said in Airesearch Manufacturing Company of Arizona, 137 NLRB 632, 635: In the case before us the entire operation of the Employer is es- sentially technological, the testing function and the instrumenta- tion utilized therein is an integral part of, and inextricably related to, the total production process. A product which has not been tested, or could not meet test specifications, would be as unfinished a product as one whose parts had not been fully assembled. What- ever conclusion might be arrived at with respect to "experi- mental," "developmental," and laboratory testing employees in other industries, development is a distinguishing feature if not the raison d'etre of the employer's business in the instant case. For the foregoing reasons, we find that the interests and functions of the electronic technicians are sufficiently close to those of the other production and maintenance employees to warrant denial of their sep- arate representation. Accordingly, the petition will be dismissed. [The Board dismissed the petition.] MEMBER JENKINS took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Order. The Armstrong Rubber Company , Pacific Coast Division and General Teamsters , Warehousemen , Cannery Workers & Help- ers, Local 94, International Brotherhood of Teamsters , Chauf- feurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America ( Ind.), Petitioner. Case No. 00-RC-5471. October 16, 1963 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Hearing Officer Elizabeth M. Bianchi. The Hearing Officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. 144 NLRB No. 104. 1116 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 [Members Leedom, Fanning, and Brown]. 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.2 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tion of the employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c) (1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Employer, a Connecticut corporation, is engaged in the manufacture and sale of rubber tires at its Hanford, California, plant. Its production and maintenance employees and its powerhouse em- ployees are currently represented by the Intervenor and the Oper- ating Engineers, respectively. The Petitioner seeks to represent a single unit of the Employer's office and plant clericals and technical employees, contending they constitute a residual unit of all unrepre- sented employees at the Employer's plant. The Intervenor, on the same theory, also seeks to represent this unit. The Employer objects to the single unit, contending that three separate units of office clerical, plant clerical, and technical employees, respectively, are alone appro- priate. Accordingly, it requests that the petition be dismissed or, alternatively, that the Board find the three separate units appropriate. While the principal issue is the composition of the unit or units, the Petitioner and the Employer also disagree on the exclusion of certain individuals alleged to be supervisory or professional employees, as noted hereafter. The record shows that the Employer's operations are located in three adjacent buildings, the factory, the administration, and the powerhouse building,3 and consist of three major divisions, sales, production, and financial. Within each division, other than sales, there are nine departments.4 Production departments are located in both the factory and administration buildings. It is not clear whether all financial departments are located in the administration building. i The Employer's request for oral argument is hereby denied, as , in our opinion, the record and briefs adequately present the positions of the parties. 2 United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum and Plastic Workers of America, AFL-CIO, was per- mitted to intervene at the hearing on the basis of an adequate showing of interest. a Employees in the classifications involved herein work in both the factory and admin- istration buildings, but not in the powerhouse. 4 The departments within the production division are as follows : statistical quality con- trol, production planning , production, technical services , industrial engineering, plant engineering , industrial relations , warehouse and shipping , and final finish. Under the financial division , the departments are as follows , customer services , purchas- ing, traffic , office services , internal auditor, general auditor , general accounting, cost accounting, data processing , and credit. THE ARMSTRONG RUBBER CO., PACIFIC COAST DIVISION 1117 The plant clericals all work in the maintenance department 5 which is located in the factory building. There are no office clericals or technicals in this department. There are office clericals attached to most departments of the Employer's three divisions; they are all located, however, in the administration building, where the three divisions have departmental offices.' The technical employees are employed in only four of the nine production division departments, these being statistical quality control and final finish, located in the factory building, plant engineering, located in the administration building, and technical services, located in both buildings. The Board has previously concluded that technical employees will not be excluded automatically from units of other employees when- ever their unit placement is in issue, but that it will determine their unit placement on the basis of their community of interests.' There are 35 employees in classifications which the Employer con- tends are technical, and which the Petitioner and Intervenor were willing to agree are neither plant nor office clerical.8 There are four classifications in the statistical quality control department: statistical quality control technicians who check production progress throughout the factory building with the use of various measuring devices and who may authorize shutting down equipment producing defective goods; senior statistical quality control technicians who coordinate the statistical quality control technicians' data reports; batch control technicians who work in a laboratory testing, with various devices such as flexometers and Mooney viscometers, each batch of rubber for proper blending, mixing, and hardness; and X-ray technicians who operate X-ray equipment and read plates to check for defects not apparent to the naked eye. These employees are all under the immediate supervision of the statistical quality control supervisor who is in turn supervised by the department manager. They are required to have at least 2 years of college education in mathematics and science. There are two classifications in the final finish department: final finish inspectors who inspect finished tires for visual defects and classify defective tires; and classifiers who review the classifications and determine, by detailed study, whether the classifications are correct. Employees in these classifications are immediately super- vised by a final finish shift foreman who is in turn responsible to 5 The maintenance department is a subdivision of the production division's production department "Except for the production division's final finish department, where there are no office clericals, it appears that all major departments have departmental offices in the administration building. 4 Meramec Musing Company, 134 NLRB 1675. 8 Statistical quality control technicians, batch control technicians, X-ray technicians, laboratory technicians, laboratory compounding technicians, raw materials technicians, fabric laboratory technicians , test wheel technicians, returned goods technicians, tuber-die makers , final finish inspectors , classifiers , senior draftsmen , and junior draftsmen. 1118 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the department superintendent. They are required to have 2 years of college and on-the-job training. There are two classifications in the engineering department : senior and junior draftsmen. Both are supervised by a professional em- ployee, the senior project engineer, who in turn is responsible to the plant engineering manager. The duties of the draftsmen consist of drafting machine designs, steam and electrical layouts, and equip- ment placing. They are required to have had 2 years of college courses in drafting and/or mechanical drawing, and related courses in the engineering field. There are seven classifications in technical services: laboratory technicians who run physical laboratory tests on raw materials and products in the process of manufacture; laboratory compounding technicians who run experimental batches; raw material technicians who test incoming raw material; and fabric laboratory technicians who test fabric. In the technical services department, located in the factory building, there are : the test wheel technician who runs laboratory tests on tires under simulated road conditions; return goods technicians who analyze returned tires and determine what adjustments should be made; and the tuber-die maker who designs and test runs dies through which rubber is fed to form a proper tread. In the performance of their duties, these employees use various types of laboratory testing equipment and work with and under the immediate supervision of professional employees who are either graduate chemists or engineers. All technical services employees are re- quired,to have at least 2 years of college courses in chemistry, physics, or mathematics. On the basis of their educational background, training require- ments, and the nature of their duties, we find the employees in the technical classifications hereinabove considered are technical employees.9 Because of the nature of their work, most technical employees, un- like the clerical employees, are supervised by professional personnel. Common to most of the employees in the technical group is their close association with the professional employees. There is no contact with plant clericals and only slight contact with the six office clericals who work in the departmental offices of statistical quality control, plant engineering, and technical services.10 None of the technical employees interchange with plant or office clericals, and there has been only one incidence of a transfer of a plant clerical to a technical position and that on a permanent basis. Although, like the clericals, the technical employees are salaried, work the same hours, and have the same benefits, they differ from the clericals in that they receive higher pay, 9 The Sheffield Corporation , 134 NLRB 1101, 1103. 10 There are no office clericals located in any of the laboratories of these departments. THE ARMSTRONG RUBBER CO., PACIFIC COAST DIVISION 1119 and, unlike the clericals, are required to have 2 years of college edu- cation and to pass certain employment tests before they are hired. We therefore conclude that the technical employees share an iden- tifiable community of interest in employment conditions only with one another, distinct from the interest of the other employees sought." Accordingly, we find a separate unit of technical employees appropriate.'a With respect to the nine plant clericals," the record shows that they work in the maintenance department which is located in the factory building. Their work in this area brings them in frequent contact with production and maintenance employees; they have little, if any, con- tact with office clerical employees who work exclusively in the admin- istration building. There are no interchanges or transfers 'between plant clericals and office clericals and plant clericals are subject to different supervision. With respect to the office clericals, the parties stipulated, and we find, that certain job classifications are properly included in an office clerical group.'' Their duties are typical of the duties performed by clericals in their respective classifications. Office clerical employees, like plant clericals, are salaried, receive the same benefits, and are re- quired to have a high school education. However, the 65 office cleri- cals employed by the Employer are all attached to the various depart- mental offices located, as indicated, in the administration building, and are generally directly supervised by their department managers. Absent 'agreement of the parties, the Board has consistently refused to join office and plant clerical employees in a single unit.15 More- over, the differing work conditions and interests of the two clerical groups presents a valid reason for adhering to this rule in the instant case, and, hence, we will not find here that a unit containing both plant and office clericals is appropriate. As to the plant clericals, since the Intervenor at present represents the production and maintenance em- ployees, we shall direct an election among the plant clericals, and, if the majority of these employees vote for the Intervenor, they shall be n The parties stipulated that at least 16 named classifications of employees, who are presently unrepresented, are professionals and should be excluded from the unit or units found appropriate herein Apart from other considerations, in view of the fact that the unit sought does not contain all of the unrepresented employees at the Employer's plant, we find that the requested unit is not a true residual unit See Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Co., 116 NLRB 1324. See also S D. Warren Company, 114 NLRB 410. '-'Robbins & Myers, Inc., 144 NLRB 295; Meramec Mining Company, supra i3 The parties stipulated, and we find, that the following classifications of employees are plant clericals* material receiver, storeroom clerk, receiving clerk, and tele-control clerk 74 The classifications comprising the office clerical group are: key punch operators, clerk typists, stenographers, junior accountants, PBX operator-receptionist, schedule expediters, order clerks, junior machine operators, stores accountants, clerks, secretaries, file clerk- messenger , control clerks , executive secretaries , senior clerks, machine operators, TWX operators, and traffic clerks i5 Robbins & Myers, Inc., supra; Vulcanized Rubber and Plastics Company, Inc., 129 NLRB 1256, 1257; Plankinton Packing Company, 116 NLRB 1225, 1226. 1120 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD deemed to constitute a part of the existing production and maintenance unit." However, if a majority of the plant clericals vote for the Peti- tioner, the Petitioner may represent the plant clericals as a separate unit. We shall also order elections in the office clerical unit and technical unit herein found appropriate. The Employer and the Petitioner disagree as to the status of three employees employed as accountants and an employee classified as a programmer. The Employer contends that they are either supervisors or professional employees, and seeks their exclusion from units found appropriate. The Petitioner also disagrees with the Employer's con- tention that the tele-control coordinators are supervisors. The Inter- venor took no position on this issue." The three accountants, Ulrich, Drosdoff, and McCrady, are engaged in preparing accounting records and statements. The record does not reveal the educational background of McCrady, and, although it shows that Ulrich and Drosdoff have had education beyond the high stool level and that, at the time of the hearing, Ulrich had just completed his CPA examination, we find that neither the work nor the training of the three accountants satisfies the definition of professional employees within the meaning of Section 2 (12) of the Act. Accordingly, we shall include them in the office clerical unit herein found appropriate.18 The programer is located in the data processing department. He creates programs or formats through the use of highly complex charts, diagrams, and symbols, which are fed into an IBM computing, or data processing machine. The programer is required to have attended a special IBM school and to exercise a great deal of independent judg- ment and discretion in his work. In view thereof, we find the pro- gramer to be within the category of engineering data processors which the Board has found to be technical employees.'9 Accordingly, we shall include the programer in the technical unit herein found appropriate. The record shows that the tele-control coordinators responsibly di- rect the work and have the authority to effectively recommend the hir- ing and discharge of the tele-control clerks who, we have found, are plant clericals. Accordingly, we find the tele-control coordinators are supervisors within the meaning of the Act and shall exclude them from the units. In accordance with our previously expressed views, we find that the following employees of the Employer constitute units appropriate 10 Robbins & Myers, Inc , supra; Vulcanized Rubber and Plastics Company , Inc, supra, at 1262 17 The parties stipulated , and we find , that Mr Clement , the senior accountant, is a supervisor within the meaning of the Act >e Westinghouse Air Brake Company , 119 NLRB 1391, 1393. 1D Robbins & Myers, Inc, supra. THE ARMSTRONG RUBBER CO., PACIFIC COAST DIVISION 1121 for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. (a) All technical employees employed at the Employer's Hanford, California, plant, including the programer,but excluding plant clerical employees, office clerical employees, professional employees, 20 man- ageria121 and confidential employees,22 guards, and supervisors 23 as defined in the Act and employees covered by existing collective- bargaining agreements. (b) All office clerical employees employed at the Employer's Han- ford, California, plant, including accountants but excluding technical employees, plant clerical employees, professional employees, man- agerial and confidential employees, guards, and supervisors as de- fined in the Act and employees covered by existing collective- bargaining agreements. (c) All plant clerical employees employed at the Employer's Han- ford, California, plant, excluding technical employees, office clerical employees, managerial and confidential employees, professional em- ployees, guards, and supervisors within the meaning of the Act and employees covered by existing collective-bargaining agreements. If a majority of the employees in voting group (c) vote for the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to con- stitute a separate appropriate unit, and the Regional Director is instructed to issue a certification of representatives to the Petitioner for such unit, which the Board under the circumstances finds to be appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. If a majority of such employees vote for the Intervenor, they will be taken to have expressed their desire to become a part of the Intervenor's present production and maintenance unit, and the Regional Director is in- structed to issue a certification of representatives to the Intervenor covering the voting group, which shall thereafter be deemed as added to the certified unit currently represented by the Intervenor. If a majority in the voting group vote for neither, they will be deemed to have expressed their desire to remain unrepresented.24 [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.] 20 The parties stipulated the following should be excluded as professional employees: engineering trainees, compounder trainees, and all other trainees for professional classifica- tions , safety engineer , registered nurse, chemist , divisional chemist , compounder , senior compounder , tire construction engineer , technical field services engineer , industrial en- gineer , and electrical engineer. 21 The parties stipulated personnel assistants should be excluded as managerial employees 22 The parties stipulated the secretaries to the industrial relations manager, plant man- ager , and controller should be excluded as confidential employees 23 The parties stipulated the following should be excluded as supervisors: division man- agers , assistant division managers , department managers , assistant department managers, managers of subdepartments , manager of technical department , compounding manager, tire construction manager, quality control supervisor , data processing supervisor, schedule supervisor, stores supervisor , office services section chief , the senior accountant in the ,cost accounting department , Mr. Clement , planning supervisor and mold supervisor. 2' See The Yale and Towne Manufacturing Company, 112 NLRB 1268, 1273.