Sperry Rand Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 10, 1967

162 N.L.R.B. 857 (N.L.R.B. 1967)

SPERRY PIEDMONT COMPANY 857
collective-bargaining agreement covering the Sunnyvale employees
should apply to Mountain View, or that the Mountain View opera-
tions should be an accretion to Sunnyvale. Accordingly, we find that
the employees at Mountain View possess interests which are suffi-
ciently separate from Sunnyvale to warrant their establishment in a
separate unit if they so desire. We, therefore, find that such unit
may also be appropriate and employees therein entitled to a self-
determination election to ascertain whether they wish to be included in
a multiplant unit.' However, the Petitioner has made no showing of
interest among the Mountain View employees, nor has it requested
an election limited to the Sunnyvale employees. We shall, therefore,
dismiss the petition.4
[The Board dismissed the petition.]
8 Fruehauf Corporation, d/b/a Hobbs Trailer Division, Fruehauf Corp ., 157 NLRB 28.
Cf. Bell Bakeries of St. Petersburg of Ward Baking Company, 139 NLRB 1344 ; Straits
Aggregate & Equipment Corp., 133 NLRB 108 , 112; Essex Wire Corporation, 130 NLRB
450, 452-453 ; Research Craft Mfg . Corporation, 129 NLRB 723, 725.
4In view of our Decision here, it is unnecessary to pass on the parties ' contentions with
respect to the proper composition of a two-plant unit.
Sperry Piedmont Company, Division of Sperry Rand Corpora-
tion and International Union of Electrical , Radio and Machine
Workers, AFL-CIO, Petitioner . Case 5-RC-5641. January 10,
1967
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing was held before Hearing
Officer George B. Levasseur. The Hearing Officer's rulings made at
the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
The Employer and the Petitioner filed briefs.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the National
Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman McCulloch and Mein-
bers Brown and Zagoria].
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 Sections
9(c) (1) and 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
162 NLRB No. 78.
858 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
4. The Employer, Sperry Piedmont Company, is engaged at
Charlottesville, Virginia , in the manufacture of electronic and gyro-
scopic equipment , generally in the field of ship control and naviga-
tion , for both military and commercial customers . The Petitioner
requests an election in a unit of hourly paid production and mainte-
nance employees. The parties agree to the composition of the unit
except as discussed herein.
Included by agreement of the parties are approximately 600
employees classified as leadmen , assemblers, tool and cutter grinders,
machinists , toolmakers , painters and finishers , inspectors , testers,
maintenance men, electricians , porters, trainees , material handlers,
parts packagers , stockroom helpers , raw material stockroom helpers,
and chauffeurs . The Employer would include , also, but the Petitioner
would exclude , approximately 90 employees classified as planners,
expediters , coverage analysts, coverage clerks, traffic analysts, traffic
clerks, process engineers , and technicians . The Petitioner states, how-
ever, that it is willing to represent any unit found appropriate by the
Board. There is no bargaining history.
Plant operations are located in one building and operate on a
three-shift basis. Practically all the employees in the disputed classi-
fications work on the day shift , and, with the exception of process
engineers and technicians , are production control employees who are
under the supervision of the head of the production control depart-
ment. The head of the production control department is responsible
to the production manager, as are heads of the manufacturing engi-
neering, assembly, machining, and facilities (maintenance) depart-
ments. Process engineers are in the manufacturing engineering
department , while technicians are assigned to several departments as
described below.
The Employer administratively classifies its employees into three
categories : Class I are salaried employees whom the Respondent con-
siders exempt from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act,
and whom the parties agreed to exclude from the unit requested
herein. Class II are salaried, nonexempt employees. Although all
the disputed employees are class II and fill out their own timecards,
they are paid time and a half for overtime. Class III employees are
also considered nonexempt, are hourly paid and punch timeclocks,
and are included in the unit by agreement of the parties.
A. The production control categories
The production control department is charged with the responsi-
bility of ordering materials used in the manufacturing operation,
maintaining the flow of these materials into, and the flow of products
SPERRY PIEDMONT COMPANY 859
through, the manufacturing area, and shipping the completed prod-
uct to the customer.
The disputed production control employees have desks located in
partitioned areas on the plant floor, separate from the administrative
offices. There is no educational qualifications beyond high school
required for any of the disputed production control classifications.
Planners : The primary function of the nine planners is to schedule
production from the time the customer places the order -until the
product is shipped. The planner confers with marketing, engineering,
manufacturing, progress, quality control, methods, estimating, and
accounting personnel to obtain all pertinent information that applies
to specific orders assigned to him. He also works as part of a team
with the expediter in planning the obtaining of parts necessary to
fill the order, seeing that the material gets to the assembly floor to be
manufactured, and ascertaining that the production and shipping
schedule is met. The planner also works with coverage analysts and
coverage clerks in breaking down the order and determining which
parts are to be made and which ordered. All of the planners, except
one (discussed below), are under the immediate supervision of the
product planning supervisor. The usual job progression is from expe-
diter to planner.
Expediters : The 19 expediters are the "follow-up" men. After
working with a planner to set up the production schedules, the expe-
diter follows through to insure that delivery schedules are met. In
performing these functions, he continues to work closely with the
planner and is required to go to the plant floor daily to check on the
progress of the order, where he deals constantly with production
employees. Expediters are located in the assembly and the machining
areas of the plant, and are under the same immediate supervision as
planners. Job progression into this group generally is from the
stockroom and material handling groups, which are included in the
unit.
Coverage analysts: The principal function of the three coverage
analysts is to "explode" (i.e., enlarge) the drawing of the particular
products to be manufactured to determine and order the parts neces-
sary to assemble or manufacture the finished product. In performing
this function, the coverage analyst, working with the planner and
coverage clerks, using tabulating and manual methods, converts
material and parts requirements from blue prints, operation sheets,
and other specification data into weight, footage, material size, code,
and other control data. Coverage analysts are under the same imme-
diate supervision as one of the planners (inventory control super-
visor), are located in a plant area office adjacent to the stockroom,
860 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and come in frequent contact with included employees of the stock-
room. Job progression into this position generally is from coverage
clerk.
Coverage clerks : The three coverage clerks (two clerks A and one
clerk B), work with the coverage analysts and planners, but perform
simpler duties than these latter categories . Coverage clerks work
under the same supervision and in the same plant area as coverage
analysts, and do not interchange with office personnel.
Traffic analyst: The traffic analyst arranges the shipment of com-
pleted products and solves the various problems involved in delays,
damages, or losses in transit. He is required to have a thorough
knowledge of all phases of the traffic work and to know the rate
schedules of the various trucking companies . He also makes claims
against these companies on the Employer's behalf. He is supervised
by the assistant traffic supervisor, who is responsible to the material
handling supervisor who reports to the production control superin-
tendent. The traffic analyst works closely with shipping and receiving
employees who are included in the unit. Job progression into this
category generally is from traffic rate clerk.
Traffic clerks: The traffic rate clerk and the three traffic clerks
A and B perform clerical duties for the traffic analyst, and are under
the same supervision. The traffic rate clerk is responsible for routing
incoming and outgoing shipments, and he makes out bills of lading
and audits freight and express bills. The traffic clerks type the
shipping and other orders and perform other clerical duties, such as
filing. These clerks are located in the same plant area as the traffic
analyst, remote from the administrative offices, and, like him, work
closely with shipping and receiving employees.
The above evidence shows that the work performed by these
employees is production control work which brings them into close
contact with production, stockroom, and shipping and receiving
employees who are included in the unit. They are all located and
work in the plant production area . They do not have any specialized
schooling above the high school level which would qualify them as
technical employees or warrant their exclusion from the production
and maintenance unit. The parties agreed to include other production
control employees classified as stockkeepers, raw material stock-
keepers, material handlers, and parts packagers.
Contrary to the Petitioner's contention, moreover, neither the fact
that they are classified as salaried employees, nor the bargaining
pattern at other divisions of Sperry Rand Corporation warrants
their exclusion. In fact, aside from other considerations, the evi-
dence fails to show that employees in similar classifications at other
divisions perform the same duties under the same circumstances as
here.
SPERRY PIEDMONT COMPANY 861
In view of all the factors noted above and in the absence of any
bargaining history at the Employer's plant, we find that the interests
of the aforesaid disputed production control employees lie with those
of the production and maintenance employees; and we shall include
them in the unit.'
B. Process engineers and technicians
Process engineers: The 15 process engineers are divided into three
classes with progressively more responsible duties, class III being
the highest. Process engineers break down drawings of designs cre-
ated by the professional engineers to determine the most economical
and efficient method of manufacturing difficult parts or intricate
assemblies. They also develop new manufacturing techniques, and
recommend design changes to overcome manufacturing difficulties.
They work at desks or design boards in the separately located manu-
facturing engineering area of the plant, under the supervision of the
manufacturing engineering superintendent who also supervises an
excluded industrial engineer.
Process engineers have a high school education plus at least 2 years'
technical training in electronics, assembly, or machining, or the
equivalent. Thus, the machining process engineer must have machine
shop background, experience, and qualifications, and the electrical
process engineer should have assembly and technician experience and
must know electrical circuits. Process engineers spend 50 percent of
their time making up the manufacturing operation sheets as
described above, and approximately 25 percent of their time in tool
designing. The remaining 25 percent of their time is spent on the
floor when called by a production foreman to help solve problems
which arise. Of the 25 percent of the time spent on the floor, all but
5 percent is spent working with foremen rather than machine
operators.
Although some process engineers have been promoted from assem-
bly or machine shop positions which are in the unit, they had, prior
to being promoted, acquired the necessary technical training. In addi-
tion, many of the process engineers have been technicians, and some
process engineers have been promoted to products methods engineers,
which is an excluded category.
Technicians: There are 39 technicians in three progressive classi-
fications-3 junior technicians, 23 technicians, and 13 senior laboratory
technicians. They design and construct developmental, experimental,
and test equipment and instruments. They test and troubleshoot, set up
1 Century Electric Company, 146 NLRB 232 , 240. The evidence does not support the
contention of the Petitioner that the traffic analyst formulates and effectuates management
policy and has authority to pledge the Employer 's credit. Cf. Western Gear Corporation,
160 NLRB 272, footnote 8.
862 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
.and operate such equipment, and determine, through tests, the char-
acteristics of finished products. They also write up test procedures
and design fixtures. They are required to have a high school educa-
tion plus at least 2 years' technical training in electronics. They work
in laboratories and other enclosed areas separate from production
areas, such as the engineering support equipment area, the engineer-
ing laboratory, the submarine simulator area, the test and quality
assurance offices, the test department, meter calibration area, the as-
sembly dust control room, the SPQ5A area, the SPS-40 area, the
periscope tower, the clash area, the environmental test area, and the
noise room. When so assigned, they work with minimal supervision
under the general supervision of the area in which they perform their
duties. Their supervisors do not supervise production employees who
are included in the unit. Professional engineers who are excluded
from the unit also perform their functions in the same areas where the
technicians work, and technicians assist these engineers in their work.
There is evidence that five of the technicians spend all their time
on the floor of the plant, one of them on the APN-59, one of the
SPS-40 system, and three in the test department area, where
excluded engineers also work using the same equipment, sometimes
with the technicians' assistance. When technicians are doing testing,
they interpret the results of the test, and if the results are satisfac-
tory to them, the technicians ship the units without checking with
anyone else.
Job progression generally is from tester to junior technician, to
technician, to senior laboratory technician. Although the classifica-
tion of tester is included in the unit, the work of testers, unlike the
work of technicians, is basically repetitive and does not require the
technical training or experience in electronics required of technicians.
Unlike production control employees, process engineers and tech-
nicians perform work of a technical nature that requires specialized
training; both of these groups of employees are located in areas sepa-
rate from those where production and maintenance employees are
located; they are separately supervised; their work is more closely
related to that of excluded engineering functions than to the produc-
tion process; and they do not interchange with production employees.
Although process engineers and technicians come in contact with
employees included in the unit when they go to the plant floor, there
is no indication that they do so more often than professional engi-
neers engaged in related duties.
As in the case of the production control employees, neither the
method of payment of these employees nor the bargaining history
at other plants of Sperry Rand Corporation is determinative of their
SANDS MOTOR HOTEL 863
unit placement. Under all of these circumstances, including the fact
that process engineers and technicians perform work of a technical
nature, chiefly in separately situated and separately controlled areas,
and the absence of any bargaining history at the Employer's plant,
we find that process engineers and technicians are technical employ-
ees who have interests that differ considerably from those of the
production and maintenance employees, and we shall therefore
exclude them from the unit.2
Accordingly, we find that the following employees of the Employer
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act:
All production and maintenance employees including leadmen,
assemblers, tool and cutter grinders, machinists, toolmakers, painters,
and finishers, inspectors, testers, maintenance men, electricians, por-
ters, trainees, material handlers, parts packagers, stockroom helpers,
raw material stockroom helpers, chauffeurs, planners, expediters,
coverage analysts, coverage clerks, traffic analysts, and traffic clerks;
but excluding process engineers, technicians, professional employees,
guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication. ] 3
2 The Sheffield Corporation , 134 NLRB 1101, 1105, 1107.
3 An election eligibility list , containing the names and addresses of all the eligible voters,
must be filed by the Employer with the Regional Director for Region 5 within 7 days after
the date of this Decision and Direction of Election . The Regional Director shall make the
list available to all parties to the election . No extension of time to file this list shall be
granted by the Regional Director except in extraordinary circumstances . Failure to comply
with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside the election whenever proper
objections are filed . Excelsior Underwear Inc., 156 NLRB 1236.
Sands Motor Hotel and Catering Industry Employees Local No.
413 and Bartenders Union Local No. 476 through the Local Joint
Executive Board , affiliated with Hotel and Restaurant Em-
ployees and Bartenders International Union, AFL-CIO. Case
28-CA-1280. January 11, 1967
DECISION AND ORDER
On March 10, 1966, Trial Examiner Maurice M. Miller issued his
Decision in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that Respondent
had engaged in certain unfair labor practices within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, and, recommending
that it cease and desist therefrom and take certain affirmative action,
as set forth in the attached Trial Examiner's Decision. Thereafter,
Respondent filed exceptions to the Trial Examiner's Decision and a
162 NLRB No. 66.