Kline Iron and Metal Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 28, 1951

94 N.L.R.B. 1727 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

KLINE IRON AND METAL COMPANY . -1727
the Committee since it commenced operations at its plant in January
1949, and it has executed the current contract negotiated by the Com-
mittee and the Intervenor. Under all the circumstances, we find the
single-employer unit requested by the Petitioner inappropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining.3 Accordingly, we shall dis-
miss the petition.
Order
'IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition herein be, and it hereby
is, dismissed.
3 Coca-Cola Bottling Works, Company, 93 NLRB 371; W. S. Ponton, of N. J. Inc., 93
NLRB 924.
MORRIS A. KLINE, PHILIP KLINE, MYER KLINE, AND B. H. KLINE,
D/B/A KLINE IRON AND METAL COMPANY and SHOPMEN'S LOCAL
UNION No. 738, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BRIDGE, STRUCTURAL
AND ORNAMENTAL IRON WORKERS, AFL, PETITIONER. Case No.
10-RC-1303. June 28,1951
Decision and Direction of Election
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National La-
bor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Jerold B. Sindler, hear-
ing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudical 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 [Members Houston, Murdock, 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 organization involved claims to represent certain
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 a unit limited to. all production and main-
tenance employees actually engaged in the fabrication of structural,
ornamental, and reinforcing steel, and allied products, at the Em-
ployer's Columbia, South Carolina, plant.' The Employer disagrees
.' In its petition, the Petitioner sought a comprehensive unit of all plant employees.
However, at the hearing, the Petitioner, without explanation, stated its unit request as
set forth above.
94 NLRB No. 245>
1728 DECISIONS OF NATIONAI: LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
with the scope of the requested unit, contending in effect that the unit
should be composed of all production and maintenance employees at
the plant. A further question is presented as to the supervisory:
status of certain individuals discussed below.
The Employer is engaged principally in the fabrication and sale
of structural steel. In addition, it handles windows, doors, fences;
and scrap steel, and maintains a wholesale plumbing supply business.
All these operations are performed on the same site. Physically,
the plant includes four fabricating sheds, in which steel beams and
parts are fabricated; a warehouse or warehouses, where windows,.
doors, plumbing supplies, and other products are stored; and a scrap
yard 2... .
The employees sought by the Petitioner consist of approximately
70 workers assigned to the structural steel department and engaged
in steel fabricating activities. While it appears that certain workers
in this department can read blueprints and that the department in-
cludes a number of individuals classified as layout men and welders,
there is no further evidence as to the number of. skilled employees,
or the nature or extent of the skills possessed by employees, in the
department.
The Petitioner apparently would exclude the approximately three
employees working in the window and door section, four to five
laborers in the scrap yard, the plant janitress, and six regular truck
drivers. The record indicates that the window and door section em-
ployees, who are situated in a separate warehouse, serve under the same
supervision as the fabricating department personnel, and, although
the windows and doors are usually complete when received by the
Employer, some construction and alteration of these items are oc-
casionally performed in the plant. The products handled in the
window and door section are customarily shipped along with the
fabricated steel. The scrap yard employees, who unload raw
materials and load the Employer's finished products, occasionally
work within the confines of the fabricating department. The
janitress performs the usual maintenance duties in the plant after
it is closed. And, while the truck drivers spend approximately 80
percent of their time driving trucks, they work during the remainder
of their time as laborers in the plant .3 There is no indication in the
record that the fabricating department employees are subject to
substantially diverse conditions of employment from those of the
other plant employees. There has been no history of collective bar-
gaining in the plant.
2 There is also a building on the plant property , which lhbuses the office eleiical employees,
the, sales section personnel , and the draftsmen in the engineering and drafting department.
3 It further appears that shop employees occasionally assist in the fence . department,
to which the assistant plant manager is alone regularly assigned , and that laborers help
in the wholesale plumbing and supply warehouse.
KLINE IRON AND METAL COMPANY 1729
Under all the circumstances, including the intermingling of em-
ployees, the fact that the fabricating workers constitute almost the
entire complement of production and maintenance employees at the
plant, and the virtual lack of evidence of distinct craft skills or
interests, we are persuaded that a unit limited to the fabrication em-
ployees is inappropriate .4 We further find that all production and
maintenance employees, including the window and door section em-
ployees, scrap yard employees, janitress, and truck drivers, constitute
an appropriate unit.5
There, remains for consideration the supervisory status of the fol-
lowing personnel:
Shipping clerk in the window and door section: This individual
is engaged mainly in keeping an inventory of supplies in his section,
seeing that supplies are properly unloaded and loaded, and preparing
shipments of windows and doors. He also occasionally does some
selling. He serves along with two employees whose work he routinely
assigns and directs. He has no authority to change the status of any
employee or effectively to recommend such action. We find that the
shipping clerk in the window and door section is not a supervisor and
shall include him in the unit.
Crew chief of the scrap yard: The crew chief is in charge of three
to four employees who perform all loading and unloading operations.
He performs manual labor like his subordinates and, while he routine-
ly assigns and directs their work, he receives the same rate of pay.
He does not appear to possess or exercise any indicia of supervisory
authority. We find that the crew chief of the scrap yard is not a
supervisor and shall include him in the unit.
Layout men: In the steel fabricating department, there are 3 super-
visors, B. H. Kline, one of the partners, the production manager, and
the shop manager. Under them are 6 layout men, who are in charge of
fabricating. shed crews of 2 to 15 men. The layout men receive blue-
prints from the shop manager or the head shipping clerk for their
respective crews ; lay out plans for, and work together with, their
crews; 6 and check to see that the work is properly performed. They
have been employed by the Employer from 3 to 15 years and are gen-
erally the most experienced workers in the fabricating shed crews.
They are hourly paid like the other crew members and, although the
wage rates and bonuses of some layout men are higher than those of
'See Breman Steel Company and Breman Iron and Metal Company, 93 NLRB 720;
Pointer Willamette Company, Inc., 93 NLRB 673; Spack Shoe Company, 86 NLRB 701.
5 Bushnell Steel Company, 93 NLRB 669; Glazer Steel Corporation , 81 NLRB 530.
While. such unit ip more comprehensive than that sought by the Petitioner at the. hear-
ing, the Petitioner has an adequate showing of interest in the larger unit. Southland
Manufacturing Company, 91 NLRB No. 38.
'. Other crew members, like the layout men, read and interpret blueprints.
953841-52-vol. 94-110
1730 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the crew members,' none of the layout men has authority to alter the
employment status of employees or effectively to recommend such
action. Upon the entire record, we are of the opinion, contrary to the
Petitioner's contention, that any authority vested in the layout men
is of a routine and limited nature and that they are not supervisors .$
Accordingly, we shall include the layout men in the unit.,
Head shipping clerk of steel fabrication department: This indi-
.vidual, also called the chief clerk of the shipping department, trans-
mits work assignments from the chief draftsman to the layout men;
checks to see that orders are completed on time; and schedules trucks
for deliveries to customers. In addition, he prepares compensation
reports and various other items for. the Employer. The record indi-
cates that two shipping clerks serve under him, whose work he rou-
tinely assigns and directs. He has no authority to hire or discharge
any employee, or effectively to recommend such action. We find that
he is not a supervisor and, as he appears to be essentially a plant
,clerical, we shall include him in the unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Em-
ployer at its Columbia, South Carolina, plant, including the window
.and door section employees, scrap yard employees, janitress, truck
drivers, shipping -clerk in the window and door section, crew chief
of the scrap yard, layout men, and head shipping clerk of steel fabri-
cation department, but excluding office clerical employees, profes-
sional employees, 10 salesmen, 11 guards, 12 and 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 18
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
7 The 'layout men receive from $1 to $1.35 per hour and bonuses from $50 to $750.
The rates of the crew members range from $.75 to $1.171, per hour and some have received
'bonuses up to $200.
, 8 Cf. Owen Steel Company, Inc., 92 NLRB 1334; Stremel Bros. Manufacturing Company,
89 NLRB 1404; General Steel Tank Company, 81 NLRB 1345.
9 At the hearing, the Employer sought to introduce in evidence the Regional Director's
report on challenged ballots in a prior consent election case involving the same Employer
(10-RC-740), in which the Regional Director made certain determinations with respect
to layout men and other personnel . The hearing officer properly rejected such evidence,
as the Board takes judicial notice of its own proceedings . Cf. J. S. Abercrombie Company,
83 NLRB 524; Shell Chemical Company; 81 NLRB 965 . In any event , the determinations
of the Regional Director in the prior case are clearly not controlling herein. Cf. R. J.
Reynolds Tobacco Company, 88 NLRB 600, 604.
10 In accord with the agreement of the parties, we shall exclude as professional employees
the draftsmen in the engineering and drafting department.
11 Excluded as salesmen are the employees in the sales section , who handle the sale of
-fabricated steel , and those in the wholesale plumbing supply warehouse , who are principally
concerned with the sale of plumbing supplies.
As the two watchmen in the plant spend all their time protecting the Employer's
-property, they are excluded as guards . Calavo Growers of California and Calavo, Inc.,
90 NLRB No. 171.
13 We find, substantially as agreed by the parties, that construction employees who are
'hired for specific construction tasks on the premises are not entitled to vote.