Electric Auto-Lite Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 17, 1949

84 N.L.R.B. 334 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of DIE CASTING DIVISION OF ELECTRIC AUTo-LITE
COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BLACK-
SMITHS, DROP FORGERS AND HELPERS , AMERICAN FEDERATION OF
LABOR, PETITIONER
Case No. 9-RC-380.-Decided June 17, 1949
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Alan A. Bruck-
ner, hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hear-
ing 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-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Reynolds].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers' and
Helpers, American Federation of Labor, herein called the Petitioner;
International Association of Machinists, herein called the I. A. M.;
International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural
Implement Workers of America, C. I. 0., herein.called the U. A. W.;
Lamp Workers Collective Bargaining Association, herein called the
Lamp Workers; and Kings Mills Workers Collective Bargaining Asso-
ciation, herein called the Kings Mills Union, are labor organizations
claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
3. The alleged appropriate unit; the alleged question concerning
representation:)
1 We find no merit in the Lamp workers ' contention that its contract with the Employer
covering a residual production and maintenance unit at the Spring Grove plant is a bar to
this proceeding. This contract was to remain in effect from May 5, 1947 , until May 5,
1949, and provided for automatic renewal from year to year thereafter In 1948 . pursuant
to a wage reopening clause, negotiations were held and a supplement was executed extend-
ing the contract 's termination date to May 5, 1950 . As the supplement prematurely ex-
tended the contract , it cannot operate as a bar to the petition herein , which as filed
before the "Mill B" date of the 1947 contract Matter of Ame,tcan Can Company, 82
N L It. B 257 ; Matter of Indiana Desk Company , Inc, 82 N L R B 103
84 N. L . R B., No. 39.
334
DIE CASTING DIVISION OF ELECTRIC AUTO-LITE COMPANY 335
No question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation
of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1)
and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act, for the following reasons:
The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit of employees engaged in
the production of die castings at the Employer's Lockland, Ohio;
plant, including smelters, die casting machine operators, die setters,
trim press operators, trim die setters, and inspectors. The U. A. W.,
the Lanip' Workers, and the Kings Mills Union contend that the unit
petitioned for is not appropriate. They assert that these employees
should not be severed from the existing plant-wide unit,2 as the Em-
ployer's die casting production is an integral part of its production
operations, and the employees engaged in die casting work are not
skilled craftsmen. The Employer and the I. A. M. take no position
as to the appropriateness of the requested unit.
The Employer is engaged, at its plant in Lockland, Ohio, in the
manufacture of headlights, taillights, parking lights, and other auto-
mobile,lamps. All the operations involved in producing these lamps,
including, the production, machining, and finishing of die castings,
the forming of sheet metal into various other lamp parts by means of
punch press, blanking and draw press operations, the assembly and
wiring of these parts into the finished products, and the painting,
packing, and shipping of the lamps, are carried on at this plant, in a.
single, one-floor building. Although each operation is performed
in a separate department, there are no walls or partitions separating
the various departments.
A general manager is in charge of all operations at the plant:
His immediate ,subordinate is the plant manager; who also exercises
over-all supervision at the plant. There are three production assist-
ants directly under the plant manager, who supervise the foremen
of the various production departments. A chief inspector is in charge
of all inspection at the plant. He, too, reports to the plant manager
and has authority equivalent to that of the production assistants.
2 The Employer ' s Lockland plant is the successor to the two other plants which it has
operated an this. area , one in Cincinnati , Ohio , known as the Spring Grove plant, and the
other in Kings Mills, Ohio , known as the Kings , Mills plant. Only the Spring Grove plant
has been engaged in the production of die castings The Lamp Workers has represented
a residual production and maintenance unit - at Spring , Grove for approximately 7 years
When, in 1946, the Employer started die casting operations at this plant , employees hired
for this work were included within the scope of the Lamp Workers' contract and these
employees have since been represented by the Lamp Workers as part of its production and
maintenance unit.
After purchasing the Lockland plant , in October 1948 , the Employer started to transfer
its operations from Spring Grove and Kings Mills Although the entire die casting divi-
sion has now been transferred to Lockland , the transfer' of the remaining employees , equip-
ment , and machinery will probably not be completed until July 1949, at which time opera-
tions at Spring Grove and Kings Mills will be discontinued
336 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The so-called die casting division 3 is composed of 3 separate depart-
ments, each of which is supervised by separate foremen : 4 the smelting
department, in which smelters are employed, the die casting depart-
ment, in which die casting machine operators and die setters are
employed, and the trimming department, in which trim press operators
and trim die setters work. Die castings are made by forcing molten
metal into water-cooled dies under high pressure and maintaining the
pressure until the metal has solidified and the castings have been
formed. There are 9 smelting furnaces at the Employer's Lockland
plant, in which smelters melt the metal used for the castings. The
smelters then siphon the molten metal out of the furnaces into a pot on
a special fork lift truck, bring it to the die casting machines and, with
the die casting machine operators, pour the metal into these machines.
There are 36 die casting machines at the plant, set up in 2 rows, with a
trimming press located directly behind each of these machines. As
soon as the castings have been made, they are inspected and given to
the trim press operators, who place them in the machines to trim off the
flash or excess metal. After trimming, the castings are again inspected
and, if satisfactory, are either stored for future machining and finish-
ing work or, in the case-of rush jobs,,hauled in hand trucks to the filing
and machining department and later sent to the polishing, buffing,
and plating departments. The Employer is presently attempting to
set up a straight-line operation at the plant and is installing a mono-
rail conveyor which will convey the castings from the trimming presses
to the filing and machining department, then successively to the buffing,
plating, assembly, and shipping departments.
The: Petitioner admits that employees classified as smelters, trim
press operators, trim die setters, and inspectors do not possess any
particular skills, but contends that their work is closely integrated
with that of the die casting machine operators and die setters, who, it
asserts, are highly skilled employees constituting the craft nucleus of
its requested unit.5 In. the alternative, the Petitioner argues that its
unit is based on functional and integrational considerations, and
3 Although the smelting , die casting , and trimming departments together are commonly
referred to as the "die casting division " or "die casting section," there is actually no sep-
arate die casting division at the Employer ' s plant.
4 The inspectors working in these departments are supervised by their own foreman, who
reports to the plant's chief inspector.
5 There are 122 employees in the unit requested by the Petitioner, of whom 64 are em-
ployed as die casting machine operators and 4 as die setters
DIE' CASTING DIVISION OF ELECTRIC AUTO-LITE COMPANY 337
constitutes an appropriate departmental unit because the production
of castings is a single, integrated operation, separate and distinct from
the Employer's 'other operations.
The die casting machine operators and die setters 6 are more highly
skilled than the other employees whom the Petitioner seeks to repre-
sent, as they must be able to operate the complicated machines used
for making die castings. Although all except 3 of these machines are
push button operated, they are automatic only in that the die is auto-
matically closed after the molten metal has been forced into it and is.
automatically opened after the correct time interval. Pursuant to a
training program recently established at the plant,' there are 4 grades
of die casting machine operators. A Grade "A" operator must be able
to set his own dies and to adjust the tensions on the machines. He must
be able to regulate the pressure under which the molten metal is forced
into the die, to regulate as many as 22 different valves which control the
cooling of the die, and must be able to judge and make the proper
cooling adjustments so as to avoid cold shots on the casting. He must
also know the proper size gooseneck and nozzle to use to force the metal
into the die, and must have some mechanical knowledge of the machine,
itself so as to know whether or not it is operating properly.
It appears, however, that although the die casting operators are
skilled in the operation of these machines, they are, at the most, skilled
machine operators rather than skilled craftsmen. Operators are
hired without having had any previous experience and are trained by
the Employer in the operation of these machines." Pursuant to the
training program now in effect, an "apprentice" die casting machine
operator may become a Grade "C" operator after serving a 1-month
apprenticeship, and he may reach the top or "A" rating after only 2
years.
G Die setters are Grade "A" die casting machine operators who specialize in setting the
dies on the die casting machines and also help in instructing newly hired die casting
machine operators . They must know how to set the dies , change goosenecks and nozzles,
and set the tensions on the machines . It is expected that, when a sufficient number of
operators has reached the "A" rating , it will no longer be necessary to employ die setters.
x This program was established at the plant at about the time that the petition herein
was filed.
B When the Employer started its die casting operations at Spring Grove , it brought down
an engineer and a foreman from its die casting plant at Woodstock, l11mois, to supervise
these operations and to train new employees They were the only persons engaged in this
work who had had any previous experience or any particular skill in die casting operations.
Die casting operators were either transferred from other departments of the plant or were
newly employed without having had any previous experience.
338 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
On the basis of all the facts, including the integration of the Em-
ployer's operations and the fact that none of the employees whom the
Petitioner seeks to represent possesses craft skills, we find that there
is no ground for severing these employees from the existing production
and maintenance unit, either on a craft or departmental basis.9 As the
unit requested is inappropriate, we shall dismiss the petition.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed herein be, and it hereby
is, dismissed.
' See Matter of General Motors Corporation , Chevrolet Forge, Spring and Bumper Davi-
sion, Detroit, Michigan , 80 N L. R. B 145.