International Harvester Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 2, 1952

100 N.L.R.B. 1349 (N.L.R.B. 1952)

INTERNATIONAL HAsRVE'STRR -COMPANY (LOUISVILLE WORKS)1349
INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY (LomsviLLE WORKS) and
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERITOOD OF BLACKSMITHS, DROP FORGERS AND
HELPERS, A. F. L., PETITIONER. Case No. 9-RC-1567. October 2,
1952
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 Lloyd R. Fraker, 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 organizations involved claim to represent employees 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 to sever from the existing production
and maintenance unit the employees iii the 'imployer's forge shop and
shear room, department 53. Included in this department are
employees in such classifications as blacksmith,2 forge press opera-
tor, bulldozer operators, upsetter operator, and helper. Both the
Employer and the Intervenors contend' that the proposed- unit is
inappropriate. Since its inception in 1947, this department has been
represented as part of the production and maintenance unit by the
Intervenor, United Farm Equipment Workers and Metal Workers,
Louisville, Local 236 (U. E.). In 1949, the Petitioner sought to
sever in a single unit the employees in both department 53 and depart-
ment 52, the gas heat treatment department. At that time the Board
dismissed the petition upon the ground, among others, that the forgers
were not shown to be true craftsmen, and therefore did not constitute
the necessary nucleus for severance.of the requested unit on a depart-
mental basis.3 In reaching its conclusion that the forge press opera-
tors were not craftsmen, the Board found that these employees op-
erated but one machine on routine jobs and that they lacked the
At the hearing the United Electrical , Radio and Machine Workers of Ameri"a (U. E ),
and the United Farm Equipment and 11etal Workers, Louisville , Local 236 kU. E ), were
permitted to intervene on the basis of a contract then in effect covering the employees
in the proposed unit . It was not contended at the hearing that the contract is a bar
to the petition.
2 There is only one blacksmith , who all parties agree is a craftsman , in the Employer's
forge shop
International Harvester Company ( Louisville Works ), 87 NLRB 317 , 319-320.
100 NLRB No. 207.
:1350 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
versatility normally associated with craft jobs. The Board further
relied upon the fact that none of the forge press operators was required
to undergo an apprenticeship or other training program. At the
hearing in the present case new evidence was introduced concerning
the skills of the employees involved which warrants a finding here that
the unit sought is appropriate.
There are now in the Employer's forge shop 10 forgers whose work,
we find, requires the exercise of craft skills. These employees can
produce all of the 130 types of forgings turned out in the shop, and
must be able to operate all the various forging machines and work to
close tolerances. Although these 10 forgers have not participated
in a formal apprenticeship or training program, they have undergone
the equivalent of such training. Their present skill is the product
of at least 3 years' varying experience in forge shop work. On this
record we find that the 10 forgers in question exercise craft skills and
that they constitute the necessary nucleus for severance of the
requested unit on a departmental basis .4
Accordingly, we find that the following employees may constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within
the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act: All employees, including
probationary employees,5 in the Employer's department 53. (forge
shop) in Louisville, Kentucky, but excluding all clerical employees
and supervisors as defined in the Act.
If a majority vote for the Petitioner they will be taken to have
indicated their desire to constitute a separate appropriate unit, and
the Regional Director conducting the election directed herein is
instructed to issue a certificate of representatives to the Petitioner for
the unit described above, which the Board, under such circumstances,
finds to be appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining. In the
event a majority vote for the Intervenor, the Board finds the existing
unit to be appropriate and the Regional Director will issue a certifica-
tion of results of election to such effect.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this,
volume.]
4 Plomb Tool Company, 87 NLRB 134; Green Bay Drop Forge Company, 95 NLRB 1122.
5 The parties declined to take any position regarding the inclusion or exclusion of these
employees . As they perform the same kind of duties as regular employees, under the same
working conditions , and as approximately 95 percent of them become regular forge shop.
workers, they are included in the unit and entitled to vote in the election. See R . L. Polk
& Co., 91 NLRB 443.