The Babcock & Wilcox Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 29, 1945

65 N.L.R.B. 83 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of THE BABCOCK & WILCOX Co. and UNITED STONE AND
ALLIED PRODUCTS WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. O.
Case No. 10-B-103.-Decided December 29, 19115
Messrs. Throp, Boswick, Reed d Armstrong, by Mr. D. W. Ebbert,
of Pittsburgh, Pa., Messrs. Hull, Barrett, Willingham & Towill, by
Mr. J. J. Willingham, of Augusta, Ga., for the Company.
Mr. Sam H. Scott, of Winston-Salem, N. C., and Mr. Ben L. Widen-
house, of Augusta, Ga., for the Union.
Mr. Donald B. Brady, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by United Stone and Allied Products
Workers of America, C. I. 0., herein called the Union, alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of The Babcock & Wilcox Co., Augusta, Georgia, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for
an appropriate hearing upon due notice before William V. George,
Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Augusta, Georgia, on Au-
gust 16,1945. 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 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
The Babcock & Wilcox Co. is a New Jersey corporation engaged at
its plant in Augusta, Georgia, in the manufacture, sale, and distribu-
tion of refractory materials. During the year ending July 1945, the
Company purchased raw materials, consisting principally of clay,
65 N. L. R. B, No. 20
93
84 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
valued at more than $500,000, of which 66 percent was shipped to it
from points outside the State of Georgia. During the same period, the
Company sold finished products valued at more than $1,000,000, of
which approximately 90 percent was shipped to points outside the
State of Georgia.
The Company admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Stone and Allied Products Workers of America is a labor
organization, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. TIIE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of its employees until the Union
has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of em-
ployees 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) itnd (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Company's manufacturing operations are conducted through
11 departments and a technical service division, in about 15 or 16
buildings. At the head of the plant supervisory hierarchy is the plant
superintendent; under him are department heads, foremen, and night
superintendents. The foremen, about 10 in number, are each in charge
of a department during the day shift. About 300 hourly paid pro-
duction and maintenance workers are regularly employed on the day
shift in all departments; about 75 employees are off duty every day;
about 75 and 50 employees, respectively, work on the second and third
shifts, each of which is in charge of a night superintendent.
The parties substantially agree that the appropriate unit should
consist of all the Company's plant employees, excluding office and
shop clerical employees,2 ceramic engineers, watchmen, brick masons,
and supervisory employees. They likewise agree that the plant super-
'The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 214 application cards and that
there are approximately 529 persons in the appropriate unit
8 Excluded under this category are shipping clerks and clerks in the repair and mold shop
and kiln department.
THE BABCOCK & WILCOX CO. 85
intendent, foremen, and others mentioned above are supervisors and
excluded from the unit as such. The Company would include a num-
ber of hourly paid assistant foremen and others whom the Union
would exclude as supervisory employees. The parties also disagree
as to the proper classification of weighers, whom the Union would
exclude as clerical.
Assistant foremen and gang bosses: The Company desires the in-
clusion of 13 employees classified as assistant foremen who are lo-
cated in the manufacturing, kiln, grinding, and repair and mold de-
partments, and 8 additional employees classified as gang bosses who
are employed in the crushing and cement, shipping, and grinding
departments. The Union contends that the assistant foremen and
gang bosses are supervisory personnel. The assistant foremen op-
erate and make adjustments to equipment in their respective depart-
ments. Gang bosses secure an adequate supply of raw materials and
also operate and maintain the machinery in their departments.
These two groups have substantially similar functions and authority.
Both devote a substantial amount of working time to manual labor.
Both report directly to the departmental foremen. Unlike the ordi-
nary production and maintenance employees the assistant foremen
and gang bosses rotate on various shifts. The assistant foremen are
paid 85 cents to $1.07 per hour and the gang bosses receive 65 cents
to 95 cents per hour, whereas the employees with whom they work
receive 50 cents to 65 cents per hour. The record does not definitely
establish the number of employees who work with each assistant fore-
man or gang boss; the only testimony directly on the point is that
their crews vary in size from 2 to 20. However, the evidence indi-
cates that the four departments in which the assistant foremen are
employed are large ones utilizing the services of about 370 employees
on all three shifts, out of the plant's total complement of 500. Ap-
parently only one foreman is present in each department on the day
shift, when the great majority of employees are at work. Although
the Company contends, despite this fact, that the assistant foremen
and gang bosses are only non-supervisory production workers or ma-
chine operators possessed of superior skill and experience, it concedes
that they have the authority to make recommendations concerning
the status of the employees working with them.8 The record shows,
also, that the departmental foremen solici^the concurrence of assist-
ant foremen and gang bosses when initiating pay increases for other
employees. Considering all these factors, we are of the opinion that
the assistant foremen are, as their title implies, vested with sub-
a The Company's works superintendent, the only witness who testified concerning the
jobs of assistant foremen and gang bosses , insisted that these recommendations are adopted
only if the foreman concurs in them on the basis of independent investigation.
86 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
stantial supervisory authority. In view of the comparable pay dif-
ferential enjoyed by the gang bosses and assistant foremen and the
agreement of all parties that these two classifications are equivalent
in rank, we shall exclude both assistant foremen and gang bosses
from the unit.
Leaders: The Union desires the exclusion of about 16 employees
in this classification. These employees, who have shown exceptional
ability in the work in which they are engaged, are used to lead and
instruct "green hands" or small groups of employees in their duties.
The leaders in the kiln train the new employees and actually set
brick with their crews. The leaders and their crews are both paid
the same hourly wage of 50 cents to 65 cents per hour. We find that
these employees are not supervisors, and we shall include them.
Firemen: The Union wishes to exclude from the unit 12 firemen
who are responsible for all operations of their kilns. There is no
evidence indicating that these employees are vested with supervisory
authority. We shall include them in the unit.
. Inspectors: The Company has three classes of inspectors located
in the grinding, shipping and kiln departments. They inspect brick
which is brought to their stations of work by other employees. They
have authority to reject work within the limits prescribed by the
Chief Inspector. Although they report rejected work to the Chief
Inspector, who may report the -defective' work to foremen of the
department, they have no authority to recommend any disciplinary
action for any employee' who produces inferior products. In ac-
cordance with our general practice as to inspectors, we shall include
them.
Weighers: The Company desires the inclusion of a number of
employees who are classified as weighers, Class A and B. These
workers weigh raw materials which are brought to and removed
from the ;scales by helpers, who assist them in batch mixing opera-,
tions. The weighers spend 90 percent of their time in manual labor
and 10 percent in clerical work, making a tally of the weights. We
do not agree with the Union's contention that the weighers are
clerical employees. We shall include them in the unit.
We find that all of the Company's employees at the plant in Augusta,
Georgia, including leaders weighers, inspectors, and firemen, but ex-
cluding office and shop c1 fical employees, watchmen, ceramic engi-
neers, brick masons, gang bosses, assistant foremen, 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, constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the Act.
THE BABCOCK & WILCOX CO.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
87
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among employees
in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period
immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election 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
tact, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Re-
lations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain represen-
tatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with The Babcock
& Wilcox Co., Augusta, Georgia, an election by secret ballot shall
be conducted as early as possible, but not later than sixty (60) days
from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Tenth 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
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 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
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 deter-
mine whether or not they desire to be represented by United Stone and
Allied Products Workers of America, C. I. 0., for the purposes of
collective bargaining.