Westinghouse Elec. & Mfg. Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 14, 1942

44 N.L.R.B. 1182 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter Of WESTINGHOUSE ELEC. &.i FG. CO. and OFFICE EDt-
PLOYEES UNION #23107 (AFL)
Case No. R-41011-Decided October L /j, 1914 .
Jurisdiction : ordnance nnanufacturuig'industry
.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: stipu-
lation as to ; election necessary
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all office and clerical employees of
Company's Canton Ordnance Division, • including dispatchers, but excluding
time-study men, inspectors, executives and their individual stenographers, de-
partnient heads and their individual stenographers, supervisors with power to
hire or, discharge or to, recommend hire or discharge, and police officers, sepa-
rate unit of dispatchers held inappropuate when their duties and interests were
,such that they inight be included with other clerical employees.
Mr. John Robert Mild, for the Board.
Mr. Robert D. Blacsier, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the, Company.
Mr.' Douglas, J. Hanna; of Cleveland, Ohio, for the O. E. U.
Mr. Henry W. Fiering, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the U. E. R.
Mr. Robert E. Tillman, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by Office Employees Union #23107 (AFL),
'herein called the O. E. U., alleging that a question affecting commerce
had, arisen concerning the 'representation of employees of Westing-
house Electric & Manufacturing Company, Canton, Ohio, herein called
the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an
appropriate hearing upon due notice before Ed-% and Grandison Smith,
Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Canton, Ohio, on Septem-
ber 11 and 12, 1942. The Company,,the O. E. U., and United Elec-•
trical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, herein called the U. E. R.,
appeared, participated, and 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 hear-
ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby'affirmed. ,
44 N L R B., No. 225.
1182 ,
WESTINGHOUSE, ELEC. Sc MFG. CO'. 1183
Upon the entire. record in the case,,-the Board makes the following:,
FINDINGS ,OF FACT'
I. THE.BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Westinghouse Electric &, Manufacturing Company is a Pennsylvania
'corporation having several 'subsicli'axy corporations and a number of
distributors, dealers, and warehouses throughout the United States.
During the year 1941 the total volume of the Company's business
amounted to $369,094,124.71, said business being conducted in practi.
tally all of the States of the United States and in a number of foreign
countries. At the Canton, Ohio, plant,,-which alone is, involved in this
proceeding,: the Company is engaged in the manufacture of ordnance
for the United States Navy. More than 50 percent of the raw materials
used in the Canton"plant is obtained from points outside the State of
Ohio. All the finished products of the Canton plant are sold to the
Navy Department and shipped outside the State of, Ohio.
The Company admits that in its operations at the Canton plant it
is engaged' in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor
Relations-Act. -
11. THE ORGANI%A'IIONS INVOLVED
Office Employees ,Union #23107 is a labor organization affiliated
with the American Federatioli of Labor. It admits to membership
employees of the Company. -
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of 1 merica is a,labor
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial, Organizations.
It admits to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The parties stipulated, and we find, that,a question concerning rep-
resentation, has arisen in that the Company refuses to recognize the
O. E. U. unless it i's certified by the Board.
A statement of 'a Field Examiner of the Board, introduced in. evi-
dence at the hearing, indicates that the O. E. U. represents a substantial
number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.2
'The paities filed a stipulation for corrections in the recoid which is hereby approved
and made part of the record in-this proceeding - • '
2 The Field Examiner stated ( 1) that the O E. U submitted 141 application- for-membei-
ship cards, of which 111 bone apparently genuine original signatures, and 30 bore printed
signatures-O2 of the original sngnatunes .and 21 of the prin ted signatures were mimes of
employees whose names . appeaied on the Company ,'s pay loll' for August 6, 1042 ; *hich
listed 209 employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate ; and'(2 ) that the U E It.
submitted 27 authorization cards, of which 25 bole appaiently genuine oiiginal,signatures,'
and 2 bore panted signatures-21 of the ouguial signatures and'2 of the punted signatures
were names of employees whose names appeared on the aforementioned pay roll
1184 DECISIONS 'OF- NATIONAL' LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We find that a question affecting commerce . has,arisen concerning
fhe represeintation of employees 'of the-Colnpany , within the meaning.
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and ( 7) of the Act.
r
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The O. E.. U. and the Company agree that the appropriate unit
should include all office and clerical employees of the Company's Can-'
ton Ordnance Division but exclude tool-designing department em-
ployees represented by the U. E. R. and workers represented by the
International Association of Machinists - or by the International
Brotherhood of El'ectti,cal Workers pursuant to,existing,certifi tions-
of the Board,3 time-study men, inspectors, executives and their indi-
vidual stenographers, department heads and their individual stenog-
raphers, supervisors who have the power to hire or discharge or to
recommend hire or discharge, and.police officers.
The U. E. R. contends that the Company's dispatchers should con-
stitute a.unit separate and apart from the office and clerical unit.
The plant employs a total of 2,800 persons, including some 250 to
300, in training outside the plant. Of this total, approximately 2,000
are-Included in a production and maintenance unit having as its col-
lective bargaining representative the International Association of Ma-
chinists; 17 are included in a tool-designing department unit, having
as its representative the U. E. R.; and 5 are in an electrical powerhouse
employees unit having'as' its representative the International, Brother-
hood of Electrical Workers. The remaining employees are not yet rep-
resented for purposes of collective bargaining. The unit for ivhich the
the O. E. U. contends would include approximately 209 of the unrepre-,
sented employees. The unit may be broken down roughly into the fol-
lowing groups: 37 production clerks, 66 miscellaneous clerks, 31
typists, 20 stenographers, 15 office-machine operators, 15 miscellaneous
office employees, and the 25 dispatchers who the U. E. R. contends
should be in a separate unit.
The 209 office and clerical employees are employed in various de-
partments, including the production, stores, and shipping department;
alie, auditing department; the purchasing department,- the, inspection
department; the industrial-relations department; the tool-procurer de-
partment; and the tool-engineering department. The only department
involved in the dispute between the parties is the production, stores,
and shipping department to which the dispatchers are assigned. The
3Westtnghouce Electric E Manufacturing Company and International Association of
Maclnn,8ts Local80ry , (A F. of L ), 39 N L R B 553; Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing
Company and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No B-1308 (A F of, L
41 N L. R B 261, Westinghouse Electric d Manufacturing Company, Canton Ordnance
Division and United Electrical, Radio C Machine Workers of Anzeeca,, (0 1 0 ),
40 N L It B 1213
WESTINGHOUSE ELEC. & MFG. CO '. ` ^ 1185
dispatchers are located in "cribs" throughout the manufacturing
buildings , where they have access to files which contain blueprints for
the work to be done on the floor and which provide information as to
the flow of material from the time that it arrives in'that area until it
leaves. " Their work is not entirely desk work , but rather the trans-
lation of desk work into actual manufacturing . Their functions, in-
clude dispensing blueprints and information to the workmen , filling
out cards with manufacturing information concerning the work under
their observation , and routing and. occasionally requisitioning mate-
rials. They do not physically move materials.
The O. E. U. contends that the duties of dispatchers and 'production
clerks are so interwoven that the groups should not be placed in sepa-
rate units . There are several types of production- clerks. Some act
as receiving clerks , checking the quantity of materials received against
purchase orders ; more experienced production clerks expedite and
coordinate the work of all the various departments connected with
the task of getting out production on time. A production clerk, testi-
fying as a witness for the O . E. U., described dispatchers as a type of
production clerk whose functions have been localized in one particular
area or over one group of nien or one group of machines in the plant.
The work of both production clerks and dispatchers is ordinarily un-
der the general supervision of the chief production clerk in each build-
ing. The two types of employees are in frequent contact, and their
duties often overlap. Thus, both make similar reports on the status
of production , are on a constant lookout for production slow-up, and
requisition material . The chief difference between the two appears
to be that the dispatcher covers his particular area in greater detail
than the production clerk, who covers a much wider area. The dis-
patcher 'may also be regarded as serving in part as a production clerk
and in part as a relay man between the production clerks and the
workmen. According to the Company's supervisor of industrial rela-
tions, dispatchers and production clerks receive substantially the same
rate of pay.
In view of the clerical nature of the work performed by the dis-
patchers , and its similarity to the functions performed by the produc-
tion clerks , and in the absence of any evidence indicating that dis-
patchers comprise a highly skilled craft having interests apart from
those of other clerical employees , we find that the dispatchers do not
constitute a unit separate and apart from a unit of office and clerical
employees.
We find, further, that all office and clerical employees of the Com-
pany's Canton Ordnance Division, including dispatchers, but exclud-
ing tool-designing department employees represented by the U. E. R.
and workers represented by the International Association of Machin-
487498-42-vol 44--75
1186 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ists or by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers pur-
suant to existing certifications of the Board, time-study men, inspec-
tors, executives and their individual stenographers, department heads
and their individual stenographers, supervisors who have the power
to hire or discharge or to recommend hire or discharge, and police
officers, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining 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 our Direction of Elec-
tion, subject to the limitations and additions set forth therein.
Since the U. E. R. did not indicate whether it desired to have its
name appear on the ballot in any election conducted among the em-
ployees in the unit contended for by the O. E. U., we shall not include
its name on the ballot. We shall, however,- place its name on the
ballot if the U. E. R. notifies the Regional Director to that effect within
five (5) days from the date of our Direction of Election.
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 8, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes-of collective bargaining with Westinghouse
Electric & Manufacturing Company, Canton, Ohio, 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, under the direction
and supervision of the Regional Director for the Eighth Region, act-
ing in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board
and subject to Article III, Section. 9, of said Rules and Regulations,
among the employees of the Company 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 those em-
ployees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they
were ill or on vacation or in the active military service or training of
the United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding any who have
since quit or been. discharged for cause, to determine whether or not
they desire to be represented by Office Employees Union #23107
(AFL) for the purposes of collective bargaining.