Goodyear Engineering Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 29, 1952

100 N.L.R.B. 971 (N.L.R.B. 1952)

GOODYEAR ENGINEERING CORPORATION 971
production operations. As such it may not constitute a separate bar-
gaining unit. As the two-department unit is not a distinctive homo-
geneous craft group, and as it was not shown to be otherwise supported
by any significantly common interests among its employees, we find
it is inappropriate for purposes of collective bargaining.3
Accordingly, we find that all production and maintenance employees
in the machine department, assembly department, shipping depart-
ment, maintenance department, finishing department, and glass de-
partment at the Employer's Beatrice, Nebraska, plant, but excluding
office and technical employees, sales and service department em-
ployees, inspectors, guards and watchmen, firemen, janitors and jani-
tresses, foremen, all supervisors as defined in the Act, and all eln--
ployees in the above-named departments not engaged in production
and maintenance work, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation , 79 NLRB 594, 596.
GOODYEAR ENGINEERING CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL CHEMICAL
WORKERS UNION , AFL, PETITIONER . Case No. 35-RCi-713. August
29,1950
Decision and Direction of Elections
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Robert Cohn, hearing officer.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejii-
dicial 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 [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston 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 organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer."
' United Gas, Coke and Chemical Workers of America, CIO, herein called CIO; District
Lodge No. 27, International Association of Machinists, AFL, herein called machinists
Local No. 369, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL, 'herein called
Electricians ; Local No 320, International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers, AFL, herein
called Firemen and Oilers, were permitted to intervene on the basis of adequate showing
of interest. United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL, failed to
present a showing of any interest among the employees and was denied permission to
intervene.
100 NLRB No. 145.
972 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 and the CIO each seek to represent a production
and maintenance unit. The Machinists desires to establish a sepa-
rate unit of machinists, tool crib attendants, maintenance mechanics,
millwrights, pipefitters, plumbers, carpenters, welders, sheet metal
workers, and their helpers, apprentices, and trainees, Diesel mechanics,
and the engineer and brakemen. The Electricians desires to repre-
sent a separate unit of all the Employer's electricians. The Firemen
and Oilers desires to represent a separate unit of all the heating plant
and powerhouse employees, mechanics who maintain and repair oil
burners, sewage disposal employees, and water treatment men. The
Employer takes no position on the unit issue, except that it would
exclude, from any production and maintenance unit, the employees
working in its technical division, on the ground that they are technical
employees.
In 1951, the Employer contracted with the Army Ordnance Corps
to operate its Indiana Arsenal, Hoosier unit, at Charlestown, Indiana 2
This unit covers a tract of land of approximately 5,000 acres contain-
ing a large number of buildings, where about 3,000 production and
maintenance employees are employed. The Employer's technical divi-
sion contains about 240 hourly rated employees, whose function is to
make final inspections of the Employer's finished products to make
sure that they meet army specifications. The Employer also employs
a group of production inspectors, not a part of the technical division,
who check materials that make up the finished product. All parties
agree to include the production inspectors in the unit.
Most of the employees in the technical division have acquired their
skills on the job.3 Although there are some college graduates among
them, it does not appear that any academic training higher than a
high school education is needed for a job in this division. These em-
ployees are hourly rated and their rates of pay are only slightly
higher than the rates of the production inspectors or the rates of the
production employees. They share the same benefits and privileges
as the other employees. We believe that the technical division em-
ployees are not, in fact, technical employees such as the Board usually
excludes from a production and maintenance unit. We find that
essentially they are inspectors similar to the production inspectors,
"The Employer operated in substantially the same area from 1941 to 1945 under a
contract with the Army Ordnance Corps. With the cessation of the war, the Employer's
interest in this operation ceased.
8 Some of them were trained by the Employer during the period of 1941 -45 when the
Employer operated this same ordnance plant. Others acquired their skills while in
Government employ during the period from 1945 to 1951.
GOODYEAR ENGINEERING CORPORATION 973
although possessing more skill. We shall include them in the voting
group of production employees hereinafter described .4
The two groups of employees sought to be represented as separate
units by the Machinists and Electricians are employed in the engi-
neering department under the general supervision of the plant
engineer.5 The record is clear that the electricians and most of the
other maintenance employees are skilled craftsmen. Although the
Employer has no apprentice or training system in its plant, it hires
employees of the highest skills available for the various maintenance
tasks. The Board has held that craftsmen, such as the electricians
group sought by the Electricians, are entitled to separate representa-
tion, if they so desire .6 Those sought by the Machinists constitute
the remainder of the maintenance department and compose a multi-
craft maintenance group such as the Board has held may, in the
absence of controlling bargaining history,' constitute a separate unit .8
We shall direct separate elections in a voting group composed of the
electricians and in a voting group comprising the remainder of the
maintenance employees.
The Employer employs an engineer, five brakemen, and several
Diesel mechanics, who are engaged in the operation and maintenance
of a railroad which runs over about 15 miles of track throughout this
plant.° These employees are in a separate department known as the
transportation department. As the Diesel mechanics are essentially
maintenance craftsmen similar to the others sought to be represented
by the Machinists, we shall include them in the voting group of the
maintenance employees. We shall, however, include the engineer and
the brakemen in the voting group of production employees.
The employees sought to be represented by the Firemen and Oilers,
including the heating plant and powerhouse employees and oil burner
lnechanics,10 constitute a clearly identifiable powerhouse group, such
as the Board has held are entitled to separate representation if they
so desire.11 We shall, however, include the sewage disposal employees
in the residual production voting group, as it appears that these
4 Clayton Mark ct Company , 76 NLRB 230; Hawthorn School of Aeronautics , 98 NLRB
1098.
6 Except that the Diesel mechanics and the engineer and the brakemen are in the trans-
portation department.
# Chrysler Corporation, Michaud Ordnance Plant, 98 NLRB 1105.
T St. Regis Paper Company, 84 NLRB 454.
$ Armstrong Cork Company, 80 NLRB 1328 . Cf. Owens-Corning Filbergias Corpora-
tion, 84 NLRB 298.
9 The record indicates that this railroad is owned and operated by the Employer as
part of its plant facilities , and is not part of the system of any common carrier . Gifford-
H41 and Company, Inc., 90 NLRB 428 ; Chicago Mill and Lumber Company, 71 NLRB
286; Harvester War Depot, Inc., 62 NLRB 520.
n The oil burner mechanics service a high pressure steam generating boiler and a num-
ber of other heating units scattered throughout the Employer 's operations.
11 The Gates Rubber Company, 95 NLRB 351. Cf . Bloomingdale Brothers, Inc., 81
NLRB 1252.
974 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
employees work in a separate building under separate supervision
about 3,000 feet away from the powerhouse employees. They treat
the sewage with chemicals.12 We shall therefore direct a separate
election in a voting group composed of the heating plant and power-
house employees and oil burner mechanics.13 We shall direct separate
elections by secret ballot among the following groups of employees at
the Employer's Charlestown, Indiana, plant, excluding from each
group all office and clerical employees, professional employees,
guards'14 and all supervisors as defined in the Act :
Group (a) All machinists, tool crib attendants, maintenance me-
chanics, pipefitters, plumbers, Diesel mechanics, welders, sheet metal
workers, their helpers, apprentices, and trainees."
Group (b) All electricians.
Group (c) All heating plant and powerhouse employees and oil
burner mechanics.
Group (d) All production employees, including group leaders,"',
employees working in the technical division, the engineer and brake -
men, and the sewage disposal employees.
If a majority of the employees in group (a), (b), or (c) vote for
the labor organization seeking to represent such group separately,
they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a sepa-
rate unit, and the Regional Director conducting the election is in-
structed to issue a certificate of representatives to such labor organiza-
tion or organizations for such unit or units, which the Board under
such circumstances finds to be appropriate for purposes of collective
bargaining.
In the event a majority of the employees in voting group (a), (b),
or (c) vote for the Petitioner or for the CIO, they will be taken to
have indicated their desire to be represented by such union, and if a
majority of the employees in voting group (d) also vote for the same
labor organization, the Regional Director is instructed to issue a
certification of representatives to such labor organization for the
broader production, or production and maintenance, unit, including
therein the employees in all voting groups wherein a majority has
voted for such labor organization, which unit the Board under such
12 Cf. Chrysler Corporation, Michaud Ordnance Plant, supra.
13 It appears, however, that there is no water treatment man employed as such. The
job requires little time and is therefore performed by one of the maintenance mechanics.
We shall, therefore , make no determination at this time as to this particular category.
Chrysler Corporation, Michaud Ordnance Plant, supra.
"The parties agree that change house employees are guards within the meaning of the
Act.
16 As the record indicates that there are no millwrights employed at this time , we have
not included them in the voting group . Chrysler Corporation , Michaud Ordnance Plant,
supra.
16 The parties agree, and the record establishes , that the group leaders are not super-
visors within the meaning of the Act.
WISCONSIN MOTOR CORPORATION 975
circumstances finds to be appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this
volume.]
WISCONSIN MOTOR CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED
AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT, AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS
OF AMERICA (UAWWr-CIO) , PETITIONER. Case No . 13-RC-2603.
August 29,1952
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 William D. Boetticher, hear-
ing 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 [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Murdock].
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 seeks to add'to the production and maintenance
unit which it now represents a group of timekeepers and shop clerical
employees.2 The Employer contends that these employees are actually
office clerical employees, with no community of interest with the pro-
duction and maintenance employees, and that they cannot therefore
properly be included in the production and maintenance unit.
The Employer is engaged at its plant at West Allis, Wisconsin, in
the manufacture of internal combustion air-cooled engines. Its pro-
duction and maintenance employees are currently represented by the
Petitioner and its Local 283. Its office employees are unrepresented.
The 17 employees involved in this proceeding include 7 shop clerks,
2 stock clerks, and 8 time clerks. Three of the shop clerks, referred
' At the hearing, the Employer moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that the
unit sought was inappropriate. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is hereby
denied.
2The Petitioner originally requested a separate unit of these employees At the hear-
ing, however, it stated that it preferred to add them to the established unit.
100 NLRB No. 150.