Hanovia Chemical and Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 29, 1950

90 N.L.R.B. 650 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of HANOVIA CHEMICAL AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY,
EMPLOYER and LOCAL 65, INTERNATIONAL CI1EMICAL WORKERS
UNION, AFL, PETITIONER.
Case No. 2-RC-2040.-Decided June 29,1950
DECISION AND ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Peritz Taub, hearing officer.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudi-
cial 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-mem-
ber panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston 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 employees of
the Employer.
3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the represen-
tation 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 a unit composed of all production and main-
tenance employees, including shipping clerks, in the Employer's Ce-
ramics Division, East Newark, New Jersey. The Intervenor, Hanovia
Employees Association, maintains that the unit it presently repre-
sents, which includes all production and maintenance employees at the
Employer's Ceramics and Electrical Divisions, is the only appropriate
unit. The Employer takes a neutral position in the matter.
The Ceramics Division and Electrical Division are separate plants,
located about 2 miles from each other. They produce different prod-
ucts. At its Ceramics Division the Employer is engaged in the manu-
facture of precious metal paints, finishes, and coatings. At its Elec-
trical Division, the Employer forms quartz into precision shapes and
fills the quartz shapes with conductive gases. Because of the different
products produced, the two plants use different skills. There is no
90 NLRB No. 104.
650
HANOVIA CHEMICAL AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY - 651
interchange of production employees , and seniority is on a division-
-wide basis . However, there is one maintenance department for both
divisions , a single wage schedule for all employees , one personnel
^ofrice which does the hiring for both plants , and a common labor policy.
Since 1941 the Intervenor has represented all production and mainte-
nalice employees of both divisions.'
On these facts , absent the 9-year bargaining history on a broader
basis, the employees of the Ceramics Division might well constitute
an appropriate unit: However, we have frequently held that where
there has been a long continued bargaining history among an employ-
er's employees on a multiplant basis, a unit limited to the employees
of one of such plants is not appropriate for purposes of collective
bargaining . 2 We find that the unit limited to the Employer 's Ceramics
Division is inappropriate , and we shall , therefore, dismiss the petition.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the entire record in this proceeding , the National
Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the petition in the instant
matter be, and hereby is , dismissed.
i Until June 1948 both divisions were located in the same building , but at that time the
Ceramics Division was moved to a separate location to permit a consolidation of electrical
operations in one area.
2 Oregon Portland Cement Co., 83 NLRB 675 ; Standard Brands, Incorporated .°75 NLRB
:394; Manhattan Sponging Worlds, 90 NLRB 13; Cf. Freuhauf Trailer Co., 87 NLRB 589.
In the cases relied upon by the Petitioner , the Board permitted the severance of craft
groups or of other homogeneous groups ( such as powerhouse and foundry departments)
which the Board has traditionally permitted to be separately represented despite a bar-
gaining history on a broader basis. These cases are not controlline on the question of
the severance of one plant from an existing multiplant unit.