Celanese Corp. of America

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 17, 1948

78 N.L.R.B. 1047 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter Of CELANESE CORPORATION OF AMERICA, EMPLOYER and
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF FIREMEN , OILERS, HELPERS, AND
MAINTENANCE MEN OF NEWARK AND VICINITY, LOCAL UNION No. 55,
A. F. L., PETITIONER
Case No.2-RC-17-5.-Decided August 17, 19/8
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. 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 National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members. *
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organization named below claims to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate unit :
The Petitioner seeks a unit of stationary engineers, experimental
mechanics, maintenance mechanics, and maintenance helpers, includ-
ing the chief engineer, employed at the Employer's Central Research
Laboratory in Summit, New Jersey. Alternatively, it requests two
separate units, one limited to stationary engineers and the other to the
mechanics and the helpers. The Employer contends that, of the three
units suggested by the Petitioner, only the one limited to stationary
engineers is appropriate. It also argues that the chief engineer is a
* Cbairman Herzog and Members Murdock and Gray.
78 N. L. R. B, No. 143.
1047
1048 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
supervisor and should be excluded from any unit which the Board
may find appropriate.
The Central Research Laboratory is devoted entirely to experimental
and research work in chemistry and physics . The professional re-
search employees and their assistants are supervised by the research
director. The remaining employees, consisting of clerical, custodial,
and maintenance employees, are supervised by the plant manager.
The employees whom the Petitioner seeks to represent , 4 stationary
engineers and 9 mechanics and helpers , are among the maintenance
workers, a general grouping which also includes 15 janitors and 2
gardeners.
The stationary engineers , located in the power section in the base-
ment of the building , operate the power plant for heating, air condi-
tioning, and water purification . They also check the operations of
minor air conditioning and water demineralization units in various
locations throughout the building.
The experimental mechanics and the maintenance mechanics con-
struct and install laboratory equipment and maintain and repair
plumbing, heating , and ventilating equipment . Their work includes
tool making , wood and metal fabrication , carpentry , pipe fitting, elec-
trical maintenance , and machine work generally . The maintenance
helpers assist both categories of mechanics . These three groups do
part of their work in the basement and part in the laboratories through-
out the building. The janitors do the usual cleaning work associated
with their classification , and the gardeners maintain the grounds about
the building and remove snow from the premises.
All these employees-engineers , mechanics , janitors, and gardeners-
perform work entirely different from that of the remaining employees,
all of whom are either professional or clerical workers. We do not
believe, however , as the Petitioner asserts, that the engineers and the
mechanics constitute a homogeneous group exercising common skills,
such as may constitute a separate unit apart from the remaining main-
tenance employees. Furthermore, the employees in the mechanical
group are charged with work requiring various types of specialized
skill, and each mechanic performs work in more than pne craft. Under
these circumstances , we believe that neither a unit combining station-
ary engineers and mechanics and helpers , nor one limited to mechanics
and helpers, is appropriate for collective bargaining purposes.' How-
ever, the Board has frequently found appropriate a unit of boilerhouse
or powerhouse employees such as the Employer 's stationary engineers.
I Matter of Raybestos -Manhattan Company , Inc., 74 N. L R B. 1321 and Matter of Kim-
berly-Clark Corporattton, 78 N L R . B. 478.
CELANESE CORPORATION OF AMERICA 1049
We shall, therefore, establish a unit composed of the stationary
engineers.
Chief engineer: The chief engineer, who is on duty only in the day-
time, is in charge of the power section and directs the work of the
three stationary engineers. He assigns work, and his recommenda-
tions have been accepted in the adjustment of grievances concerning
working conditions in the section. Although he has never had occasion
to discipline or discharge any employee, he has the power to recommend
disciplinary action, has interviewed applicants for employment, and
has made recommendations as to hiring and merit raises. We believe
that the chief engineer is a supervisor within the meaning of the Act
and shall therefore exclude him from the unit.
We find, in accord with the Employer's agreement with part of
the Petitioner's alternative request, that all stationary engineers em-
ployed in the Employer's Central Research Laboratory, Summit, New
Jersey, excluding the chief engineer and all other supervisors as de-
fined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with the Employer an election by secret
ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than 30 days
from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of
the Regional Director for the Second Region, and subject to Sections
203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regu-
lations-Series 5, among the employees in the unit found appropriate
in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Elec-
tion, including employees who did not work during said pay-roll
period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off,
but excluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged
for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of
the election, and also excluding employees on strike who are not en-
titled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be
represented, for the purposes of collective bargaining, by International
Brotherhood of Firemen, Oilers, Helpers and Maintenance Men of
Newark and Vicinity, Local Union No. 55, A. F. L.