Florence Stove Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 22, 1951

94 N.L.R.B. 1434 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

1434 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
FLORENCE STOVE COMPANY and UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA,
CIO, PETITIONER. Case No. 1-RC-1960. June 22, 1951
Decision and Direction of Election
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Robert E. Greene, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
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 organization involved claims 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 appropriate unit :
The parties agree generally that the appropriate. unit should con-
sist of all office clerical employees employed at the Employer's Gard-
ner, Massachusetts, plant, excluding the personnel department and
the college training section. However, the Employer .would include
and the Petitioner would. exclude the employees of the janitorial de-
partment, merchandise development department, general accounting
department, auditing department, time-study department, and the
nurses. The Petitioner would also exclude Gertrude Dwyer, Victor
Lesneski, and Anne Holland as supervisors, and Justina Comotois as
a confidential employee. The Employer contends that the former
are not supervisors and that Comotois is not a confidential employee.
1. Janitorial department
There are two janitor-custodians, two janitors, and one janitor-
group leader 1 in this department. These employees are supervised
by the section leader of the utility department, a department included
in the unit by agreement. They perform the customary janitorial
duties in and around the offices. Some work during office hours and,
in addition to performing the regular duties, adjust and make minor
repairs to furniture; others perform their duties after office hours.
These employees are carried on the office payroll and are entitled to
the same office benefits and vacations as are office employees. No other
union presently seeks to represent them. We are of the opinion that.
a sufficient community of interest exists among the employees of this
department and the office clerical employees to warrant the inclusion.
There is no contention that the group leader is a supervisor as defined in the Act.
94 NLRB No. 213.
FLORENCE STOVE COMPANY 1435
of the janitorial department in the office clerical unit. Accordingly,
we shall include them 2
2. Nurses
The two nurses employed at the Employer's plant are graduate
nurses. Their duties include administering emergency treatment, de-
termining the extent of injuries, and assisting the doctor ih the
dispensary. As they perform the usual duties associated with their
positions we find these employees to be professional employees. The
Petitioner does not seek to represent them either separately or as part
of the clerical unit. We shall therefore exclude them .3
3. Merchandise development department
This category comprises 10 employees classified as follows : Chief
clerks, detail draftsmen, layout draftsmen, designers, and secretary
to the chief engineer.
There are two chief clerks who are required to read and interpret
drawings, wiring diagrams, schematics, and specifications. In addi-
tion, they perform regular clerical duties.
There are two detail draftsmen who must possess knowledge of
mechanical drawing and the equivalent of high school plus 2 years of
engineering. They trace old drawings, prepare new drawings of
ordinary parts, and maintain the list book and blueprint file.
There are two layout draftsmen who prepare layout drawings, make
necessary drawings and prepare rough cost estimates. The educa-
tional requirements of these employees are the same as those of the
detail draftsmen.
There are three product designers who duties involve some original
thought in the design and development of products; however, they are
not required to have an engineering degree. They deal with and con-
tact the sales department, shop supervisors, production, and other
departments.
There is one secretary to,the chief engineer who performs usual
secretarial duties.
These employees perform their work in a building near the-main
office; they are carried on the office payroll, and are entitled to ,all
office benefits. Their supervisor, the chief engineer, reports to the
vice president in charge of manufacturing. The work performed by
the employees in the merchandise development department does not
require any substantial amount of knowledge of an advanced type in a
field of science customarily acquired by prolonged courses of special-
ized study in institutions of higher learning. The record reveals that
9 Phelps Dodge Merchantile Company, 78 NLRB 179.
8 Cf. The Ohio Steel Foundry Company, 92 NLRB 683. American Locomotive Company,
Alco Products Division, 92 NLRB 115.
1436 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the employees in this department perform technical work substantially
similar to that performed by employees in the production engineering
and methods engineering departments, whom the parties agree to.
include. We shall therefore include them in the unit .4
4. General accounting department; auditing department
These two departments are concerned with the financial affairs of
all the plants of the Employer. The employees deal with cost esti-
mating, timekeeping, payrolls, and other accounting problems. The
auditor has charge of both these departments and reports directly to
the treasurer. The employees in the sales accounting department, an
agreed inclusion, perform the same compilation of data for the sales
department. None of .the employees in the above departments are
required to be certified public accountants, and none of them are.
Academic training in accounting is not required, although employees
must have the equivalent of 2 years of college. All of these employees
are carried on the office payroll, enjoy the same office benefits, and
working conditions as other office personnel. Since these employees
do not meet the recognized requirements of professional employees
and perform duties similar to those of other employees in other ac-
counting departments included by agreement of the parties, we shall
include them.'
5. Time-study department
There are five employees in this department, which is located on
the first floor of the main building adjacent to the cost estimating
department and near the production department. The three time-
study men and the time-study engineer make time studies to determine
the performance standards of individual jobs and to determine the
basic data for charts and tables to be used in establishing wage rates
according to a prescribed formula. They are required to be familiar
with technical engineering language and to be able to read and ana-
lyze engineering drawings and designs. Time-study men may be
called as witnesses during the discussion of grievances for the pur-
pose of developing facts involved in setting up the piece-rate scale.
They originate suggestions for cost' eduction and compile estimates
of labor costs on new and revised parts. They are required to have
2 years of college or the equivalent. These employees do not meet
the prerequisites to professional classification contained in Section 2
(12) of the amended Act and therefore are not professional employees
within the meaning of that sections Nevertheless, the time-study
4 See E. W. Bliss Company, 81 NLRB 428.
r, See Union Electric Power Company , 83 NLRB 872.
6 Some time -study employees by reason of their specialized, duties and advanced
scientific knowledge , generally acquired in the field . of engineering , may properly be
FLORENCE STOVE COMPANY 1437
employees are highly specialized technicians whose interests and
duties are substantially dissimilar to those of the other employees in
the unit requested. We shall therefore exclude them. However, the
.stenographer-clerk performs only ordinary clerical duties in the time-
study department. We shall, therefore, include her in the unit.7
Gertrude Dwyer is a clerk in the billing department and a section
leader. She assigns and checks the work of other employees and per-
forms the same type of clerical work herself. She has no authority
to maintain discipline or to recommend such action. As she usually
performs routine duties, we find that she is not a supervisor and shall
include her in the unit.8
Victor Lesneski is a purchasing assistant and expediter in the pur-
chasing department. He assigns work and checks the work of the
employees in the department; he has no authority to discipline em-
ployees or to recommend such action. He acts as an understudy to
the purchasing agent, and because of this fact is one grade higher than
the other employees in this department. We find that he is not a
supervisor and we shall include him in the unit.'
Anne F. Holland is assistant to the supervisor in the order and bill-
ing department. She is rated higher than the other employees in this
department because of the judgment required in answering correspond-
ence and composing letters dealing with cancellations, refunds, and
similar data, and has contacts with the sales and shipping departments
as well as dealers. She does not have the authority to exercise super-
visory power except during the absence of her supervisor. Since there
is nothing in the record to indicate that she would possess supervisory
powers more than infrequently, we shall include her in the unit 10
Justina Comotois is secretary to the vice president in charge of sales.
She maintains files including all personal and confidential correspond-
ence, financial statements, and reports on all phases of company ac-
tivity. She works in the open general office with other secretarial em-
ployees. Because of her correspondence duties she is familiar with the
compensation, promotions, and discharge of salesmen. The record
shows that the vice president in charge of sales does not participate in
regarded as professional employees where they meet the several criteria set forth in
Section 2 ( 12) of the Act . To the extent, however, that the following cases may be
interpreted to mean that time-study employees by occupation are necessarily professional
employees within the meaning of Section 2 ( 12) they are hereby overruled : Worthington
Pump and Machinery Corporation , 75 NLRB 678 ; Detroit Harvester Company, 79 NLRB
1316; The Timken Detroit Axle Company, 80 NLRB 1075 ; F. W. Sickles Company, 81
NLRB 390 ; Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 89 NLRB 8; General Electric Company,
89 NLRB 726.
v Detroit Harvester Company, supra.
e Republic Steel Corporation, 91 NLRB 904; H and H Manufacturing Company, Inc.,
76 NLRB 459.
The Peal Manufacturing Company, 80 NLRB 827; Barmac, Inc., 89 NLRB 139.
10 Phillips Oil Company, 91 NLRB 534.
1438 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
labor relations. We find, therefore, that Comotois is not a confidential
employee, and we shall include her in the unit.-'
We find that all office clerical employees of the Employer at its
Gardner, Massachusetts, plant, including the departments which both
parties have agreed to include'12 the janitorial department, the mer-
chandise development department, the general accounting department,
the auditing department, the section leader in the billing department,13
the purchasing assistant and expediter in the purchasing department,14
the secretary to the vice president in charge of sales,15 the assistant to
the supervisor in the order and billing department,16 and the secretary
in the time-study department, but excluding time-study employees, the
nurses, all other employees, plant guards, professional employees,17 and
all supervisors as defined in the Act constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
11 Phillips Oil Company, supra.
12 The parties agree to include the cashier 's department , adjustment department , credit
department , addressograph department , switchboard department , cost estimating depart-
ment, accounting reports department, timekeeping department , traffic department, advertis-
ing department , production department, salvage department , engineering department,
treasurer ' s department , methods engineering department , sales accounting department,
filing department, utility department , material accounting department , payroll department,
labor analysis department , purchasing department, billing department , stenographic
department , accounts receivable department , and sales department.
is Gertrude Dwyer.
14 Victor Lesneski.
11 Justina Comotois.
16 Anne F. Holland.
17 The record does not reveal whether certain employees , included by agreement of the
parties, are professional employees within the meaning of the amended Act. The titles
of these employees ( e. g., oil burner specialist ; engineer , tool and die ; engineer , bill of
material ; engineer , equipment and building ; engineer , jr. tool and die) indicate that they
may be professional employees not properly included in the office clerical unit. If they are
professional employees , they are excluded from the unit.
PHILLIPS OIL COMPANY and OIL WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION7
CIO , PETITIONER . Case NO . 39-RC-294. June 105, 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 Charles Y. Latimer, 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 [Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Murdock].
94 NLRB No. 208.