W.F. & John Barnes Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 30, 1951

96 N.L.R.B. 1136 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

1136 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Employer as the exclusive bargaining representative for the employees
designated in the petition.
3. No 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, for the following reasons :
T. E. Martin, the Petitioner herein, was employed as a foreman in
a subsidiary corporation of the Employer until 1942. Since that date,
he has worked as a machine operator in the tub cover department of
the Employer. As part of his duties, he trains new employees-from
two to five in number-and directs their work until they are able to
operate their own machines. The evidence is undisputed that he has
the authority to make effective recommendations regarding the reten-
tion or the discharge of new employees.' Moreover, he has attended
meetings of foremen pertaining to the work of his department and has
substituted for the foreman of the department during the latter's
absence.
We find that the Petitioner is a supervisor within the meaning of
the Act, and is therefore ineligible to represent the Employer's em-
ployees in this proceeding? We shall for this reason dismiss the
petition.3
Order
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed herein be, and it hereby
is, dismissed.
1 The Employer 's manager testified that he would accord great weight to such recom-
mendations
2 Clyde J. Merril, 77 NLRB 1375 See also Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co, 86 NLRB 61.
8 We find it unnecessary therefore to consider the other issues raised in this proceeding.
W. F . & JOHN BARNES COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED
ArrrOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT & AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF
AMERICA (UAW-CIO) , PETITIONER . Case No. 13-RC-2091. Octo-
ber 30,1951
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 Richard C. Swander, 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, Murdock, and Styles].
96 NLRB No. 186.
W. F. & JOHN BARNES COMPANY 1137
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 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 Petitioner requests that the Board find appropriate a unit
consisting of all production and maintenance employees including
receiving clerks, stock clerks, the serviceman and assembler, shipping
clerks, inspectors, the truck dispatcher, and trainees but excluding all
office and clerical employees, production routers, stock chasers, time-
keepers, shop clerks, nurses, draftsmen, guards, leadmen, foremen,
and all other supervisors as defined in the amended Act.' The Em-
ployer contends that draftsmen, shop clerks, production routers, stock
chasers, timekeepers, nurses, and leadmen should be included in the
unit found appropriate.
Draftsmen: Approximately 50 employees are classified as drafts-
men and are assigned to the Employer's drafting department where
they work as designers or layout men, detail men, and checkers. These
employees are located in drafting rooms adjacent, in each case, to
the manufacturing department wherein the plans and blueprints are
to be used for production. Draftsmen work approximately the same
hours as the production employees and receive an hourly rate of pay
comparable to skilled machine workers. The great majority of these
employees have no formal engineering training and are taught the
requisite skills on the job. Several years of this training are required
for journeymen status in the drafting department. The Employer
asserts that the unique nature of its product, specially designed and
built machine tools, make the draftsmen an integral part of the pro-
duction process and that these employees, accordingly, should be in-
cluded in the over-all unit. On the other hand, the record shows
clearly that the drafting employees are separately supervised, perform
no production cr maintenance work, and do not interchange with shop
,employees.2 The Board finds that the Employer's drafting employees
are highly skilled technical employees whose work and interests are
disparate from those of the production and maintenance force. We
I Both parties are in agreement that certain production and maintenance employees,
now situated in a separate building due to space limitations in the main plant , should
be included in the unit.
I
Although production employees sometimes request and are given transfers to positions
in the drafting department , there is no instance shown in the record where draftsmen
have transferred to production jobs, except in supervisory capacities . Draftsmen, on the
other hand , often become members of the sales or executive force of the Employer.
1138 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
shall therefore exclude the draftsmen from the unit hereinafter found
appropriate.'
Nurses : The Employer employs two registered nurses to furnish
first aid to the office and plant personnel of the plant and to employees
of two separate companies also occupying the plant building. The
nurses, who are salaried employees, each work a separate shift. Al-
though the nurses work the same hours as other employees and come
into daily contact with employees included in the unit, the Board
has consistently held that nurses have basic interests and duties dis-
similar to production and maintenance personnel. Accordingly, we
shall exclude the nurses from the unit.'
Production routers and stock chasers : Seven employees classified
as production routers and three or four other workers classified as
stock chasers are engaged in controlling and expediting production
at the plant. The production routers are situated in offices adjoining
the machine shop and work the same hours and are in the same gen-
eral pay range of the Employer's skilled machinists. The duties of
these employees consist primarily of routing the completed drawing
furnished by the draftsmen through those production departments
whose work will be necessary for the manufacture of the item. When
delays occur, the production router acts as an expediter in securing
lost parts and replacements. Stock chasers, in turn, work with pro-
duction department foremen and workers in assisting the flow of
work through the plant. As the individual component pieces are
manufactured in the plant they are sent to a central tool bin where
they are collected and turned over to the assemblers for the assembly
of the machine being manufactured. Stock chasers at the tool bin
generally assist and expedite this process. As in the case of the pro-
duction routers, stock chasers work the same hours and are on the
same general wage basis'as the production and maintenance employ-
ees. On the entire record the Board finds that the production routers
and the stock chasers are factory clerical employees sharing a com-
munity of interests and working conditions with production and main-
tenance employees .,5 Accordingly we shall include the production
routers and stock chasers in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.
Timekeepers and shop clerk: The Employer has three employ-
ees in the classification of timekeeper. For cost accounting purposes,
the Employer uses time clocks, situated in the plant tool cribs, for
determining the cost and time of production of the special machines
3 See The Sheffield Corporation , 94 NLRB 1781 ; S. B. Whistler and Sons, Inc., 92,
NLRB No. 197, and cases cited therein . See also Kelsey Hayes Wheel Company, 85 NLRB
666. Compare Metal Cutting Tools, Inc, 13-RC-440, March 2, 1949, not reported in
printed volumes of Board decisions.
* See Boeing Aircraft Company, 86 NLRB 368
5 See Chase Aircraft Company, Inc., 94 NLRB 1158; and General Motors Corporation,
88 NLRB 450.
W. F. & JOHN BARNES COMPANY 1139
it designs and builds . The timekeepers are stationed in the tool cribs
and operate the time clocks as well as occasionally handing out tools.
The timekeepers are responsible to the cost accounting department
of the plant rather than to the production department supervisors,
and keep job, as distinguished from personnel, records. The shop
clerk is stationed in the plant with the cut-off saw operator. This
employee does light manual work assisting the cut-off saw operator
in the cutting of steel stock and handles the requisitions for the stock.
On the entire record, the Board finds that the timekeepers and the
shop clerk , while performing little or no production work, have
interests and working conditions in common with the production and
maintenance employees , and should be included in the unit hereinafter
found appropriate 6
Leadmen : In addition to between 30 and 35 foremen , the Employer
has up to 20 employees who work in the capacity of leadmen with
crews of 4 or 5 other employees under their direction . The Petitioner
requested the exclusion of the leadmen from the unit on the ground
that they are supervisory personnel while the Employer denies that
the leadmen have such authority. The employees in this classifica-
tion are normally the highest paid in their departments and are re-
sponsible for the "coordination " of the men and work of their crews.
While it was testified that the leadmen do not have authority to hire,
discharge , transfer , promote , lay off, recall , or reward employees, it
also appears that a leadman 's dissatisfaction with the work of a
member of his crew would normally lead, upon his complaint, to a
transfer or dismissal of the offending employee. The evidence also
leads to the conclusion that the leadman is responsible for the per-
formance of the employees in his crew . Upon the entire record, the
Board finds that the leadmen may effectively recommend changes in
status of individuals under their responsible direction and are super-
visors as defined in the amended Act.
The Board finds that all production and maintenance employees
of the Employer's machine tool plant at Rockford , Illinois , includ-
ing receiving clerks, stock clerks, the serviceman and assembler,
shipping clerks, inspectors , the truck dispatcher, trainees , production
routers, stock chasers, the shop clerk and timekeepers , but excluding
office and clerical employees , draftsmen , nurses, guards , professional
employees, leadmen , foremen, and all supervisors as defined in the
amended Act , constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
•[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
6 See Hotpoint, Inc, 85 NLRB 485; and Electrical Reactance Corporation , 92 NLRB 1256.