American Smelting and Refining Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 22, 1951

92 N.L.R.B. 1451 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

In the Matter of AMERICAN SMELTING AND REFINING COMPANY (COLO-
RADO PLATEAU URANIUM ORE PROJECT), EMPLOYER and INTERNA-
TIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN
ce HELPERS, LOCAL UNION No. 6, A. F. OF L., PETITIONER
Case No. 30-RC-354.-Decided January 02, 1951
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 Clyde F. Waers, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
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 Houston, Reynolds, and Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. Pursuant to a contract with the Atomic Energy Commission, the
Employer operates the Colorado Plateau Uranium Ore Project, the
primary purpose of which is the procurement of uranium-bearing
ores for the Commission. The employees involved in this case are
employed at the project compound near Grand Junction, Colorado,
where the ores are received, analyzed, and shipped. The Employer
contends that in operating this Project, it is acting as an agent of the
Commission, an agency of the Federal Government, and that it is,
therefore, not an employer within the meaning of Section 2 (2) of
the Act.
The Employer and the Commission entered into a contract in 1948
which provided that the Employer would act as the Commission' s agent
for the purchase of uranium-bearing ores. The contract provides
further that the Employer will submit to the Commission.-for its
approval, prior to the beginning of each quarterly period, a plan of
operations for the ensuing period, including an estimate of the cost
of such operations, together with a request for funds to finance the
proposed operations. All such funds received by the Employer are
required to be deposited in a special bank account. The title to all
property of the Project, including ores, is vested in the United States..
All salaries are paid out of Government funds, and the plant is lo-
cated on Government-owned land. The Employer receives a fee for
92 NLRB No. 214.
1451
1452 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
operating the plant. Employees are hired directly by the Employer,
subject to security checks by Federal agencies, and the Employer alone
conducts negotiations with the Project employees.' However, any in-
crease in wages must be approved by the Commission: While it ap-
pears that the Employer's authority in virtually all respects is subject
to the review and approval of the Federal Government, there clearly
remains with the Employer an area of effective control over labor
relations at the plant.
We find, upon this record, that the Employer's status is that of a
Government contractor and not that of an agent of the Government
so as to exclude it from the coverage of the Act. We are, moreover,.
of the opinion that there is sufficient evidence of A he existence of an
employer-employee relationship between the Employer and the em-
ployees involved herein 2 We therefore find that the Employer is an
employer within the meaning of the Act.3
We find further that the Employer is engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the Act.'
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent employees
of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of certain employees of the Employer within the meaning of Sec-
tion 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner seeks a unit of all samplers and chemists at the
Grand Junction, Colorado, plant, excluding office and clerical em-
ployees, plant guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
The samplers weigh the "concentrates" delivered to the Project, and
take samples of the concentrates to a fine grinding department, where
they are reduced to "pulps." The chemists weigh the pulps out into
beakers or flasks and carry them through the established analytical
method for the particular chemical element involved. All results
are reexamined by the chief chemist. At present there are four chem-
ists employed by the Employer at its Grand Junction, Colorado, plant.
Two of them are college graduates and two of them had very little
chemical training before being employed by the Employer. The
' The Atomic Energy Commission has advised the Employer of its intention not to
participate in any labor negotiations.
2 The Employer , with the approval of the Commission , makes the deductions from the
employees ' salaries required by the Federal Social Security law and with respect to these
employees pays the contributions required by State Unemployment Compensation laws. As
these State and Federal laws do not apply to Federal employees , it is presumed that, with
the approval of the Commission , the Employer is reporting the Project employees as its
employees.
See National Food Corporation, 88 NLRB 1500; Monsanto Chemical Company, 76
NLRB 767.,
4 The Employer agreed that the jurisdictional facts set forth in American Smelting &
Refining Company, 62 NLRB 1470 , are applicable here.
AMERICAN SMELTING AND REFINING COMPANY 1453
parties stipulated that these employees are professional employees.
However, it is not necessary under the circumstances of this case to
rule upon the professional status of the chemists. They are clearly
either professional or technical employees. As such, we find that a
separate unit of chemists would be appropriate for purposes of col-
lective bargaining., We also find that a unit of the samplers, who are
neither professional nor technical employees, is feasible for collective
bargaining purposes.
Under these circumstances, and upon the basis of the entire record,
we find the following units appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act :
(a) All chemists at the Employer's Grand Junction, Colorado,
plant, excluding samplers, office and clerical employees, plant guards,
and supervisors 5 as defined in the Act.
(b) All samplers 6 at the Employer's Grand Junction, Colorado,
plant; excludingchemists, office and clerical employees, plant guards,
and supervisors as defined in the Act.
We shall, accordingly, direct separate elections in the foregoing
units.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this
volume.]
The chief chemist and the sample foreman exercise supervisory powers, and , in accord-
ance with the agreement of the parties , we shall exclude them from the unit.
U As the working foreman does not exercise supervisory powers, we will , in accordance
with the agreement of the parties , include him in the unit.