Kennecott Copper Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 31, 1951

92 N.L.R.B. 1786 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

In the Matter Of KENNECOTT COPPER CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and
UNITED STEEL WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO and INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, AFL and NON-FERROUS
CLERICAL AND TECHNICAL WORKERS, PETITIONERS
Cases Nos . 20-RC-1136,20-RC-1148, and 20-RC-1157 .-Decided
January 31, 1951
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before
David Karasick, 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, Reynolds, 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. United Steel Workers of America, CIO, the Petitioner in Case
No. 20-RC-1136, herein called the Steel Workers; International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL, the Petitioner in Case No.
20-RC-1148, herein called the Electrical Workers; Non-Ferrous
Clerical and Technical Workers, the Petitioner in Case No. 20-RC-
1157, herein called the Technical Workers; and the Intervenor, Inter-
national Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, herein called the
Smelter Workers, are labor organizations claiming to represent 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 Employer and the Steel Workers agree that a unit of all
employees at the Employer's Garfield, Utah, refinery, including .em-
ployees in the electrical department, but excluding clerical and tech-
nical employees, professional employees, guards, anode inspectors,
1 The petition and other formal papers were amended at the hearing to show the correct
name of the Employer.
92 NLRB No. 266.
1786
KENNECOTT COPPER CORPORATION 1787
confidential. employees, and supervisors is appropriate. The Smelter
Workers agrees that this is an appropriate unit, but they also wish
to include warehousemen, watchmen, and anode inspectors.. The
Electrical Workers seeks a craft unit of all employees in the Employ-
er's electrical department, excluding supervisors. The Technical
Workers seeks a unit of all technical and clerical employees, including
the swamper in the laboratory, who is listed on the metallurgical de-
partment payroll, and the anode inspectors,2 but excluding all other
employees and supervisors. The Steel Workers and the Smelter
Workers contend that the unit sought by the Electrical Workers is
inappropriate, asserting that the Employer's plant constitutes a
highly integrated functional unit. They urge that we find this plant
comparable to those in other industries, in which we have concluded
that units which embrace less than all production and maintenance
employees are inappropriate for collective bargaining purposes.3
There is no history of collective bargaining for any of the employees
involved herein.
The Employer's Operations
The Employer is engaged in the business of mining and reduction
of copper, molybdenum, gold, and silver. This proceeding is solely
concerned with the electrolytic copper refinery, which is part of the
Employer's Utah copper division. Mining,' milling, and refining fa-
cilities are located in Bingham Canyon, Magna, and Garfield, Utah.
The Employer's plant at Garfield, Utah, is one of approximately
eight electrolytic copper refineries in the United States.' In sub-
stance, the electrolytic process consists of submerging 700-pound semi-
refined copper bars or anodes in lead-lined concrete cells containing
an electrolytic solution through which an electric charge is run.5
Starting sheets, which are the beginning of the cathode, are placed
between each-anode. When the tanks are filled with the anodes and
starting sheets, the electric current is turned on and impure copper
goes into the solution depleting the anode, and in turn-plates out on
2
The Smelter Workers urges that the anode inspectors are properly part of the produc-
tion and maintenance unit . If, however , the Board does not so find, the Smelter Workers
takes the position that they should be included in the unit of technical and clerical workers
sought by the Independent.
3 E. g., National Tube Company, 76 NLRB 1199 ; The Permanente Metals Corporation,
89 NLRB 804.
i The Garfield plant consists of approximately 28 acres. Included , are the tank house,
covering about 5 acres , where the anodes are placed in the electrolytic tanks'; the casting
building ; a silver refinery and byproduct building ; an electrolytic purification building ; a
powerhouse ; pump houses ; a boiler plant ; a machine shop ; a carpentry shop ; laboratory
and offices ; storage yards ; overhead cranes ; and warehouse buildings.
s The copper anodes are purchased by the Employer from the American Smelting and
Refining Company , which is located about a mile from the Employer ' s plant. They are
delivered to the Employer ' s refinery in railroad cars.
1788 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL-LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the starting sheets and forms pure copper cathodes. The precious
metals and impurities which are not soluble in the electrolyte either
fall to the bottom of the tanks and form a sludge, or remain as a sludge
on that part of the anode which still remains after the plating process
is terminated. This sludge is later washed into collecting tanks and
pumped over to the precious metals refinery, .where the precious metals
are reclaimed. Under ordinary circumstances it takes approximately
a month to decompose an anode.6 After the anodes have dissolved and
have deposited the copper on the cathodes, the cathodes are removed
and are either stored in the Employer's storage yard, or cut into vari-
ous shapes and sizes as required, or placed in electric arc furnaces for
remelting and casting into such shapes as the' Employer's orders
require.
The Electrical Department Unit
The electrical department is composed of 12 electricians, 4 motor
generator operators, and 6 helpers, all of whom work under the super-
vision of an electrical foreman, who in turn is responsible to the plant
electrician. The electricians do part of their work in the electrical
shop. Their duties take them all over the plant, including work in the
tank house, the casting department, and the silver refinery, because all
motors for making and refining the copper are electrically driven.7
The duties of the electricians are to maintain the electrical equipment
in the plant, to repair burned out motors or lines, to do maintenance
work on switch gears, and to replace electric light bulbs. The electri-
cians are required to have 4 years' experience to be classified as a
journeyman electrician.8 The electricians do nothing but electrical
work, and no other classifications do such work. It is not contem-
plated that there will be any transfer or interchange between electri-
cians or other classifications of employees.. The helpers assist the
electricians in jobs about the plant, and they are expected to progress
to apprentices.
The motor generator operators' duties are to watch the motor gen-
erators, and if anything is wrong to report the matter to the day elec-.
trician or the shift electrician. Their work primarily is watching
switchboards. They do not do any repair work of electrical equip-
ment. Motor generator operators do not necessarily require electrical
experience and can be trained for their jobs without such experience.
B The length of the process varies with the amount of current introduced into the cells
originally.
,q No particular percentage of the electrician ' s time can be assigned to work that is done
in the electrical shop rather than in the plant itself.
The Employer does not now have any apprentices . If in the future it establishes an
apprenticeship program , it will require 4 years ' experience before the apprentices are
classified as electricians.
KENNECOTT COPPER CORPORATION 1789
Although these employees are under the supervision of the electrical
foreman, they work in the powerhouse.
We find that the electricians are a skilled craft group which may
constitute a separate bargaining unit .9 We shall include the helpers
because they are permanently assigned to work with the electricians
and are expected to progress to apprentices.- We shall, however,
exclude the motor generator operators from this unit because they do
not exercise the skills of the electricians' craft 11
We reject the contention that the nature of the industry precludes
the establishment of a craft unit in the Employer's plant.12 Nor do we
believe that the work of these employees is so integrated with the
Employer's manufacturing process as to require a denial of the request
for separate representation for this group 13
There remains for consideration the unit placement of the following
employees :
Watchmen: There are six watchmen, two of whom work on each of
the three shifts. They work under the supervision of a head watchman
who is deputized and armed, although the watchmen themselves are
not. One of the watchmen is on guard at the main gate at all times to
see that only employees or authorized persons enter the plant property.
They are also under a duty to see that nothing is taken from the refinery
without a permit, to stop fighting among employees, to report employ-
ees who violate plant regulations such pilfering, abuse of the Employ-
er's property, drunkenness, or disorderly conduct. One of the watch-
men is present at all changes of shift in the silver refinery building to.,
inspect all lunch buckets or other packages taken into or out of that
building. They do not do any janitorial work. Their sole duties are
those of watchmen.
We find, contrary to the contention of the Smelter Workers, that all
six watchmen are guards within the meaning of Section 9 (b) (3) of
the Act. Accordingly, we shall exclude them from the unit 14
Warehousemen: There are two warehousemen who work in the ware-
house under the immediate supervision of a warehouse foreman, who
also is in charge of the warehouse receiving clerk.15 These employees
D International Harvester Company, Canton Works, 91 NLRB 487; Carthage Hydroeol,
Inc., 91 NLRB No. 67; The National Supply Company , 90 NLRB No. 65.
1O Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining and Concentrating Company, 89 NLRB 243; Mer-
genthaler Linotype Company, 80 NLRB 132.
11 Cf. United States Rubber Company, 91 NLRB No. 213; The National Supply Company,
90 NLRB No. 65.
12 Inspiration Consolidated Copper Company , 44 NLRB 1160.
13 Oregon Portland Cement Company , 92 NLRB 695 ; The Atlantic Refining Company
(Atreco Refinery ), 92 NLRB 651 ; United States Rubber Company , 91 NLRB No. 213;
A. C. Spark Plug Division, General Motors Corporation ( Milwaukee Plant ), 88 NLRB 1214;
American Hoist & Derrick Company , 88 NLRB 219.
14 Locke, Incorporated, 92 NLRB 864.
11 The warehousemen and the receiving clerk are the only employees , other than
laborers , who work in the warehouse.
1790 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
work under the over-all supervision of the accounting department, and
are carried on the accounting department's payroll. The warehouse-
men issue supplies upon requisition and load and unload stock items in
the warehouse. More than 50 percent of their time is spent on keeping
records and doing other paper work. Generally, they are not inter-
changeable with employees in the operating departments.
We find that the warehousemen and the receiving clerk are plant
clericals and should, therefore, be included in the unit of production
and maintenance employees.16
Anode Inspectors: The Steel Workers and the Technical Workers
agree that the Employer's three anode inspectors properly belong in a
unit of technical workers. The Smelter Workers takes the position
that they should be part of the production and maintenance unit, but if
the Board does not so find, then they should be put in the unit of
technical and clerical employees. The Employer contends that they
do not belong in any unit because they are the Employer's representa-
tives at the American Smelting and Refining Company plant, and have
full authority to accept or reject the anodes which are to be delivered
to the Employer's refinery.
These employees do not work in the Employer's plant, but work in
the anode casting plant at the Garfield smelter of the American
Smelting and Refining Company, about a mile away." They are
under the immediate supervision of the chief inspector and sampler
of the Employer's metallurgical department 18 They are not required
to have any specialized or technical training, and can be trained for
their jobs in approximately 2 or 3 months.
The primary duty of the anode inspector is to ascertain that all
anodes shipped to the tank house of the refinery from the American
Smelting and Refining Company are the proper size, shape, and form,
so that the tank house will be able to maintain maximum efficiency.
If any anodes fail to meet the specifications required by the Company,
the duty of the anode inspector is to refuse to accept them for ship-
ment to the refinery. If anodes are defective beyond reclaiming by
chipping, the anode inspector's decision is final with respect to re-
jection. The anode inspectors are present at, and make a record-of'
all weighings of anode cars being shipped to the refinery. They ob-
serve and call to the attention of the weigher any deviations from
standard practice. They are present when anode samples are made
1e Weterous Company, 92 NLRB 76 ; Gastonia Weaving Company , 91 NLRB 899 Radionic
Products Division , Radionic Controls , Inc., 91 NLRB 595; Public Service Company of
Indiana, Inc ., 89 NLRB 1253. '
17 This is the plant at which the semirefined copper anodes are made for the Employer
by the American Smelting and Refining Company.
18 The chief inspector spends most of his time in the Employer 's refinery , but occasionally
goes to the anode casting building at the smelter to check on the anode castings and the
anode inspector.
KENNECOTT COPPER CORPORATION 1791
up, and it is their duty to observe the procedures with respect to the
sampling, cutting, drilling, and shaping of anodes for samples. Both
records of the weighings of anode cars and brief records of anodes
inspected are submitted by the anode inspectors to the refinery.
Contrary to the Employer's contention, we find no persuasive reason
for excluding the anode inspectors from any unit. They possess no
indicia of managerial employees. Nor does it appear that their duties
are so, diverse from those of the other, employees to warrant their ex-
clusion.1° We believe that the interests of the anode inspectors are
more closely allied with those of the production and maintenance
workers than with those of the technical and clerical employees. We
shall, therefore, include them in the production and maintenance unit.
L. S. Brown: The Technical Workers seeks to include in its unit this
employee who is classified as one of a number of "advanced laborers"
in the metallurgical department, but whose duties are actually those
of a swamper in the laboratory.20 He, works under the supervision of
the chief chemist. He fills reagent bottles and burettes, keeps labora-
tory tables clear of equipment not in use, unpacks and stores in-
coming supplies, and makes cupels which are used to collect gold and
silver in fire assay tests.21 Brown's work does not require, any pro-
fessional education or technical training. After he has had sufficient
experience in the laboratory and has watched others doing the jobs,
he might be able to run fire assays for gold and silver, or do other
simple tests which require merely practice and care.
As he works under different supervision, and has no contact with
the production and maintenance employees, we believe that Brown's
general work interests are more closely related to those of the em-
ployees in the technical and clerical unit. Accordingly, we shall in-
clude him in the unit of technical and clerical employees
We shall direct separate elections among employees of the Employer
in its Garfield, Utah, plant, in the following voting groups, excluding
from each group all confidential and professional employees,23 guards,
watchmen, and supervisors :
1e A difference in the situs of employment is not sufficient ground for excluding employees
from a unit if their inclusion is otherwise appropriate . Cf. Earl McMillian, Inc., 90 NLRB
250; Comwell Company; 88 NLRB 810.
20 The laboratory comes under the supervision of the metallurgical engineer , who heads
the metallurgical department.
21 The cupels are cylindrical containers about three-quarters of an inch in diameter and
1 inch high , made of bone ash.
22 Inasmuch as the Technical workers does not seek to include any of the other advanced
laborers in its unit , and the record does not show what their duties are , we shall include
the other advanced laborers In the production and maintenance unit.
23 Testimony was taken at the hearing with respect to the following employees : spectro-
scopist, research engineer in the casting department , research engineer in the metallurgical
department , and first-aid operator . The record shows that they are not professional
employees within the meaning of the Act. We shall therefore include them in the technical
and clerical unit.
1792 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Group 1: All production and maintenance employees including the
receiving clerks, warehousemen, and anode inspectors, but excluding
employees in voting groups (2) and (3) ;
Group 9: All employees in the Employer's electrical department,
including the helpers, but excluding the motor generator operators ;
and
Group 3: All technical and clerical employees including the swamper
in the laboratory, but excluding anode inspectors.
We shall, however, make no final unit determination for group (2)
at this time, but shall first ascertain the desires of these employees as
expressed in the election hereinafter directed. If a majority of the
employees in voting group (2) vote for the Electrical Workers, they
will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate
bargaining unit.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this
volume.]