Chris-Craft Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 16, 1951

94 N.L.R.B. 567 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

CHRIS-CRAFT CORPORATION - 567
Order
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed herein be, and it hereby
is, dismissed.
CHRIS-CRAFT CORPORATION and LODGE No. 1757, INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS , PETITIONER . Case No. 7-RCi-1188.
May 16,1951
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 Emil C. Farkas, 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, Murdock, and Styles].
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 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 Petitioner seeks a unit composed generally of all nonsuper-
visory production and maintenance employees at the Employer's
Cadillac, Michigan, plant. The Employer, Local 2392 of the United
Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL, hereinafter
called the Carpenters, and Local 1484 of the Brotherhood of Painters,
Decorators and Paperhangers of America, AFL, hereinafter called
the Painters, contend that the unit sought is inappropriate and that,
in effect, representation should be on a craft basis. In this connection,
the Carpenters would establish a separate unit of all woodworking
1 At the beginning of the hearing , the hearing officer , over the Employer ' s objection,
granted the Petitioner's motion to amend the unit description by including firemen-
watchmen in the requested unit. As the Employer fully presented its position with regard
to the unit issue raised by the amendment and has not demonstrated any prejudice, the
hearing officer ' s ruling is hereby affirmed Memphis Cold Storage Warehouse Company,
91 NLRB 1404.
The Employer moved to dismiss the petition , in substance , on the grounds that (1)
the Petitioner ' s showing of interest is inadequate , and (2 ) the unit sought is inappropriate.
As to (1), the Petitioner ' s showing is a matter for administrative determination and is
not litigable by the parties Indiana Oxygen Company, 93 NLRB No . 130. As to (2),
for the reasons indicated in paragraph numbered 4, infi a, this contention is without merit
Accordingly , the Employer ' s motion is hereby denied
94 NLRB No. 82.
568 DECISIONS Or NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOAR.:
employees and helpers, including the stock chasers, and the painters
i equests a unit of the paint and varnish room employees.
The Employer is engaged in the manufacture of approximately
eight different types of wooden motorboats and pleasure cruisers at
its Cadillac plant. The plant is housed in a two-story building and
is administratively divided into the following production depart-
ments : The woodworking mill or mill machine shop, stock chaser
department, mill assembly department, hull room, joiner department,
paint and varnish room, motor installation department, trim depart-
ment, and upholstery department. In addition to these departments
are the machine shop, electrical room, stockroom, blacksmith shop,
and shipping department.2
There are a total of approximately 184 employees in the plant. Of
these, about 106, referred to as woodworkers or carpenters and their
helpers, comprise the personnel in the woodworking mill, stock chaser
department, mill assembly department, hull room and joiner depart-
ment, requested by the Carpenters. The paint and varnish room,
requested by the Painters, consists of 17 employees.
In operation, lumber is first processed through a kiln and then sent
to the woodworking mill, where it is planed, laid out on patterns, band
sawed, and shaped into planks. Stock chasers next classify, rack up,
and deliver the planks to the mill assembly department, in which the
lumber is shaped and framed into seats, decks, dinettes, and small
parts, and to the hull room, where the hulls are framed, keels laid,
and the bottoms and sides of the boats assembled. A spray painter
assigned from the paint and varnish room paints the hulls immedi-
ately after construction to prevent shrinkage. Completed hulls are
then taken to the joiner department, where the motors 3 are initially
placed in the hulls, and the decks or cabins are also assembled and
added. The boats are next removed to the paint and varnish room
for final painting operations. Thereafter, in the motor installation
department, the motors, castings, and controls are connected to the
boats. Finally, in the trim department, the windshields, seats, and
other small parts are installed, and in the upholstery department, the
seats are upholstered.
The entire production operations, from the unloading of the lumber
to the completion of the particular boat, require from 6 to 8 weeks.
Each boat requires from 41/2 to 61/2 weeks' work in the woodworking
mill, mill assembly department, hull room, and joiner department,
2 The hull room , joiner department , paint and varnish room, motor installation and
trim departments , and the stockroom are located on the second floor of the plant The
remaining departments are situated on the first floor
3 As the Employer receives completed motors in the plant, no direct work on them
is required prior to their actual installation in the boats.
CHRIS-CRAFT CORPORATION 569
while the painters consume from 4 days to a week of the production
schedule.
The woodworkers, in general, are required to supply their own tools,
which appear to be those ordinarily used in the carpentry trade? The
approximately 46 employees in the joiner department are required to
work to close tolerances, and those in other woodworking departments,
particularly the approximately 37 employees in the hull room, are also
required to utilize carpentry skills. For its more difficult operations,
which are performed in the hull room and the joiner department, the
Employer currently hires mainly journeymen carpenters, most of
whom commence work at the starter rates, but are advanced within 2
months to "journeymen" wages. Although there is no formal appren-
ticeship program, unskilled personnel are promoted, as their aptitudes
and experience warrant, from the helper classifications to the more
skilled positions.
The painters appear to perform the usual duties of their trade.
Although they use ready-mixed paints, are not required to own their
own brushes, and need not be experienced when hired, they are re-
quired to become skilled in staining, bleaching, and other painting
operations, and substantially all the painters in the plant are now
considered the equivalent of journeymen painters.
Each department works under separate immediate supervision.
Transfers between departments are infrequent and, except in emer-
gencies or to avoid layoffs, there is little interchange of personnel. In
general, the woodworkers and painters perform only duties relating
to their respective trades 5 and work entirely within their own depart-
ments.6
In 1942, the American Federation of Labor was certified as the bar-
gaining representative of all the Employer's production and mainte-
nance employees 7 Subsequently, negotiations were conducted with
the Employer by the Petitioner, the Carpenters, and the Painters,
jointly," and single contracts were executed covering all the plant em-
ployees. Under the most recent contract, which became effective on
4 Although the employees of the woodworking mill and mill assembly department are
required to supply only squares and hammers, the employees in the hull room and joiner
department must in addition supply their own planes, cabine scrappers, saws, and chisels.
5 The carpenters in the joiner department may be required to paint planks in the hull,
which replace boards found defective after initial construction and painting of the hulls.
They may also be required to do other minor painting jobs However, such occurrences
are infrequent.
6 About two painters spend a substantial amount of time performing painting operations
outside their own department. However, they remain under the supervision of the
paint and varnish room foreman.
T 7-R-1172.
8 The International Brotherhood of Electrical workers of America, AFL, originally
participated in the negotiations between the Employer and the above three unions, but
has not represented any employees in the plant since 1948
570 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOanD
January 3, 1950, and expired on December 31, 1950, all employees were
classified, for wage purposes, as "skill craftsman with above average
ability, production worker with all-around experience, production
worker whose limited experience or ability confines him to limited
operations," first- and second-class helpers, starting rate employees,"
stock chasers, laborers, shipping employees, janitors, and crew lead-
ers." Of the woodworkers, about 20, whom the Employer charac-
terizes as boat builders qualified to read blueprints and make drawings,
are designated as "skill craftsman," and about 40 are "production
workers with all-around experience." Of the painters about 3 are
designated as "skill craftsman" and a majority of the remainder are
within one of the 2 production worker categories.
Under the contract, employees similarly classified received the same
pay and all employees were subject to substantially the same condi-
tions of employment. However, grievances, as well as other repre-
sentation matters, of the woodworkers were handled by the representa-
tives of the Carpenters, while the Painters similarly represented the
painters in the plant. Also, according to the agreement, seniority was
determined "within crafts in established departments." The contract
further contained a maintenance-of-membership provision, pursuant
to separate union-security authorizations 11
It is clear from the foregoing that the production and maintenance
unit requested by the Petitioner may be appropriate.12 However, it
is also apparent that the woodworkers and the painters, requested by
the Carpenters and the Painters, respectively, comprise craft groups
analogous to those customarily accorded separate representation 13
9 These workers receive the "journeymen's rate" in the plant
10 There are 5 to 10 workers serving as helpers and starting rate employees.
"In 1948, upon separate petitions for union -security authorizations filed by the Peti-
tioner, the Carpenters , and the Painters , the Employer entered into separate consent
election agreements with these organizations covering all production and maintenance
machinists and helpers employed in any branch of the machinists trade, all production
and maintenance carpenters , and all painters , respectively Following elections held pur-
suant to these agreements , separate union -security authorizations were issued for the
above labor organizations 7-UA-115 ; 7-UA-116 ; 7-UA-461.
12 We find without merit the contentions of the Carpenters and the Painters that the
petition should be dismissed because the Petitioner cannot "properly" represent the wood-
workers and the painters and is not actuated by a desire to improve the conditions of
the employees concerned . Cf Consolidated Western Steel Corporation , 93 NLRB No. 210;
Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company, 86 NLRB 437. We likewise find without merit
the Employer 's contention that its past bargaining on a joint craft basis should not be
disturbed because it might unsettle labor conditions. Cf Mueller Brass Company, 88 NLRB
431, 434; Calumet and Hecla Consolidated Copper Company, 86 NLRB 126 , 127, B. F.
Goodrich Chemical Company, 84 NLRB 429, 431
ii See W. K. Mcllyar, d/b/a W. K. Mcilyar Construction Company , 90 NLRB No. 274
(carpenters ) ; Merck of Co., Inc, 88 NLRB 975 (carpenters and painters ) ; Mueller Brass
Company, supra , at 433 (carpenters) , Owens-Corucnq Fiberglass Corporation, 84 NLRB 298
(painters).
CHRIS-CRAFT CORPORATION , 571
in an industry where craft units have been established.'' Although
these employees work on the Employer's finished products, the Em-
ployer's operations are not mass production in nature and the craft
groups in question are readily identifiable and homogeneous. Accord-
ingly, we are of the opinion that, despite the prior Board certification
and the history of bargaining to some extent on a plant-wide basis, the
woodworkers and the painters comprise craft groups who may, if they
so desire, constitute separate units for collective bargaining purposes''
However, we shall make no final determination at this time, but shall
first ascertain the desires of the employees as expressed in the elections
directed herein. We shall direct that separate elections be held
among the employees of the Employer at its Cadillac, Michigan,
plant, within the voting groups described below :
(a) All woodworkers and woodworkers' helpers, including stock
chasers,'" but excluding all other employees and supervisors as defined
in the Act.
(b) All painters and painters' helpers, excluding all other employees
and supervisors as defined in the Act.
(c) All remaining production and maintenance employees, exclud-
ing office and clerical employees, professional employees, salaried em-
ployees, superintendents, guards," foremen, assistant foremen, and
all other supervisors as defined in the Act 18
If a majority of the employees in voting groups (a) or (b) vote for
the respective unions seeking to represent these groups in separate
units, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute
separate bargaining units.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this
volume.]
14 Chris-Craft Corporation , 65 NLRB 1063
16 See The Baldwin Locomotive Works, Eddystone Division , 89 NLRB 403 ; Plomb Tool
Company, ( J. P. Danielson Division ), 87 NLRB 134; General Electric Company, 86 NLRB
327, 330
16 The Employer considers the three stock chasers to be carpenters ' helpers and pays
them the same rate of wages which first -class helpers receive . The stock chasers work
only on wood and are physically located between the woodworking departments. As
their interests appear to be closely related,to those of the woodworkers, we shall include
them in the voting group of woodworkers . Cf. Great Lakes Spring Division of Standard
Steel Spring Company, 91 NLRB 97 ; Western Die Casting Company , 90 NLRB No 264.
17 The Employer engages firemen-watchmen who divide their time between guard and
nonguard duties. We are unable to determine , from the present record , the exact pro-
portion of time devoted to each type of duty If the firemen -watchmen devote more than
60 percenf of their time to guard duties , they shall be excluded from the voting group ;
otherwise , they will be included Lenoir Chair Company, 93 NLRB No 196; Wiley Mfg,
Inc., 92 NLRB 40
"While this residual production and maintenance group is less comprehensive than that
requested by the Petitioner , the Petitioner indicated its willingness to represent the
employees in such a unit and we shall therefore , conduct an election therein. Cf The
Dodeker Drug Company, Incorporated, 93 NLRB No 84, and cases cited.