International Telephone and Telegraph Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 30, 1974

213 N.L.R.B. 134 (N.L.R.B. 1974)

134 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation
and International Union , United Automobile, Aero-
space and Agricultural Implement Workers (UAW),
Petitioner. Case 4-RC-10943
August 30, 1974
DECISION ON REVIEW
BY MEMBERS FANNING, KENNEDY, AND PENELLO
On June 14, 1974, the Acting Regional Director for
Region 4 issued a Decision and Direction of Election
in the above-entitled proceeding, in which he found
appropriate a unit of all production and maintenance
employees of the Employer at its Easton, Pennsylva-
nia, plant, including, in accord with the Petitioner's
request, eight electronic technicians. In accordance
with Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended,
the Employer filed a timely request for review of the
Acting Regional Director's decision on the grounds,
inter alia, that in including the electronic technicians,
he made erroneous findings as to substantial factual
issues and departed from officially reported Board
precedent.
The National Labor Relations Board, by telegraph-
ic order dated July 17, 1974, granted the request for
review and directed that the ballots of the election
conducted on July 12, 1974, remain impounded pend-
ing the Board's decision on review.' Thereafter, the
Petitioner filed a brief on review.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au-
thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has considered the entire record in this
proceeding including the Petitioner's brief on review,
with respect to the issue under review, and finds as
follows:
The Employer is engaged in the manufacture and
sale of special purpose tubes at its Easton, Pennsylva-
nia, facility. The facility involved herein is divided
into seven divisions: manufacturing, marketing, con-
tracts administration, engineering, employee rela-
tions, Q.C. and manufacturing support division2
'Initially by telegraphic order dated July 11, 1974, the Board denied the
Employer's request for review as raising no substantial issues warranting
review except as to the unit placement of the eight electronic technicians. The
Board therein directed that the electronic technicians be allowed to vote
subject to challenge . At the election conducted on July 12 the ballots of the
electronic technicians were inadvertently not challenged as provided for in
the Board's telegraphic order. The ballots of the election were then impound-
ed by the Regional Office and have remained impounded pending this deci-
sion on review regarding the unit placement of the electronic technicians.
which itself is divided into five departments: plant
maintenance, standards, tools and engineering serv-
ices , quality control, and equipment maintenance.
The eight electronic technicians and an electronic spe-
cialist comprise the employee complement of the
equipment maintenance department, which is under
the immediate supervision of A. DeAnna, the equip-
ment maintenance manager.
The Acting Regional Director's factual findings,
supported by the record, relating to the job duties and
working conditions of the electronic technicians are
herein excerpted:
Electronic technicians . . . are also hourly
paid , punch a time clock, receive the same fringe
benefits , work the same hours (i.e., day shift),
share the same parking and lunch facilities and
receive wages comparable to production and
maintenance employees. They repair test equip-
ment, build and install new test equipment, trou-
ble shoot using schematic and wiring diagrams,
place the various components in the proper
place and calibrate equipment . They work on
small items in a separate enclosed test mainte-
nance area adjacent to the stockroom . Work on
large items is performed in the production test-
ers area . Electronic technicians also make sim-
ple schematics , interpret wiring diagrams , select
components to replace those which have failed
and occasionally assist engineers in designing
new equipment which is being built . In the per-
formance of their duties they progress from test-
ers to electronic technicians classification. The
electronic technicians use screwdrivers , wrench-
es, voltmeters, oscilloscopes , ampmeters [sic]
and specialized calibration equipment... .
The record further discloses, regarding the elec-
tronic technicians, that seven of the eight have pro-
gressed from the job of tester, a unit classification, to
their present job within a range of approximately 2
months to 2 years. It is also apparent that no fixed
formal training period in electronics is required in
order to be classified as an electronic technician.
Thus, the record reveals that one of these technicians
possesses only a high school diploma; others have
taken electronic courses at various schools and for
varying periods of time, including one who has
achieved an associate degree in electronics. The dif-
ference in the top pay rate for testers and that of the
electronic technicians is 19 cents per hour. Although
the electronic technicians are in the equipment de-
2 Also employed in this division are Q .C. inspectors , included in the unit
by the Acting Regional Director . The Employer did not seek review of their
inclusion.
INTL . TELEPHONE & TELEGRAPH CORP.
partment , a separate section of the Q .C. and manufac-
turing support division , their supervisor, A. DeAnna,
is also the supervisor of the employees in the plant
maintenance department, who are included in the
unit.
Based on the foregoing and the record as a whole,
particularly the facts that electronic technicians pro-
gress from the tester classification , require no fixed
formal training period , share a common supervisor
with unit employees, earn comparable wages, and
135
share the same fringe benefits with them , we conclude
they do not share a separate and distinct community
of interest requiring their exclusion from the unit'
Accordingly , we hereby affirm the Acting Regional
Director's Decision, and shall remand the case to him
in order that he may open the impounded ballots and
take such further steps as he deems necessary in ac-
cordance with the Board's Rules and Regulations.
3 Cf. Sperry Piedmont Company, 162 NLRB 857 (1%7).