Line Material Co. of Pennsylvania

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 30, 1947

73 N.L.R.B. 704 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of LINE MATERIAL COMPANY OF PENNSYLVANIA,' EM-
PLoYER aid OFFICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION, A. F." OF L.,
PETITIONER - - , '
Case No. 4-B-e422.,-Decided April30,1947
-Mr. Louis H. Parent ;,of Milwaukee; Wis., and, Mr. C. W. Rubow,
of East Stroudsburg, Pa.,, for the Employer.
Mr. George P. Firth, of Washington, D. C., and Mrs. Helen Cort-
right, of East Stroudsburg, Pa., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Benjamin B.'Lipton, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION-
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Strouds-
burg, Pennsylvania, on' January 27, 1947, before John H. Garver,
hearing officer. The. hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing
are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.'
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Line Material Company ,of'Pennsylvania , a Pennsylvania corpora-
tion, operates a plant at East ' Stroudsburg , Pennsylvania , where it is
engaged in the manufacture of pole line hardware and related items.
It uses raw materials valued in excess of $3,000,000 annually , of which
approximately 40 percent is received from points outside the Com-
monwealth of Pennsylvania . Approximately 90 percent of its fin -
'At the commencement of the hearing , the Employer moved to dismiss the petition on
the ground that the petition , as filed , erroneously names the Employer as ',`Line Material
Company" instead of "Line Material Company of Pennsylvania ." The latter is a wholly
owned subsidiary of the former . The Employer was correctly named in the Notice of
Hearing and , at the hearing, the petition was amended to state the correct name. The
record shows that the Employer was fully apprised of the Petitioner 's claim and that it
has been aware at all times that this matter concerned its employees . Moreover,- "tile -
Employer participated in the hearing herein. There is no prejudice under these circum-
stances, and we therefore deny the motion to dismiss . Matter o f LaSalle-Crittenden Press,
Inc, 72 N . L. R. B. 1166.
73 N. L . R. B., No. 134.
704
LINE MATERIAL COMPANY" OF- PENNSYLVANIA' 705
ished products, valued in, excess of $5,000,000 annually, is 'sold and
shipped-to points-outside' the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
- The Employer admits and we find'that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE' ORGANIZATION INVOLVED _ ,
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer:
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the -exclusive'
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within'the,meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and ('7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit of engineering and clerical
employees at the East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, plant of the Em-
ployer.2 Disagreement as to the composition of the unit is confined
to employees in the following departments whom the Petitioner would
include and the Employer would exclude : ,
Stenographic and communications: The Employer contends that the
six employees in this,department, including the "supervisor," are con-
fidential employees. The "supervisor" acts as private secretary to the
plant manager, who exercises managerial functions respecting the
labor. relations of the Employer. This "supervisor" has acce-ss to con-
fidential labor relations information; and we shall therefore exclude
her. The remaining employees 3 in this department perforid. routine
clerical duties in no way related to labor relations. Accordingly, we
shall include them 4
Pay roll and timekeeping: One employee in this department is al-
leged by the Employer to be confidential. He compiles reports in-
volving the application of established incentive and hourly labor
rates. In addition, he computes summaries 'of efficiency rates for the
plant,manager. As to the latter, the record shows that the employee
himself does not know whether his computations are above or below
2 The employees whom the Petitioner seeks to represent are essentially those who are
excluded from a current contract between the Employer and the International Association
of Machinists.
s
Three of the remaining five employees in this department perform services as private
secretaries to certain managerial employees who do not function in labor relations matters.
Matter of Phillips Petroleum Company, 73 N L. R B 236.
i
706 DECISION-S OF, NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the plant manager's "normal" efficiency index, which is alleged to be
confidential. Clearly, the. duties of this employee are merely of a
statistical nature involving no confidential matters relating to labor
relations. We shallinclude.him3
Order and billing; accounts payable; material control; and receiv-
ing: The "supervisor" in each of these departments.is the sole em-
ployee in dispute. Although the number of employees working under
each of them is relatively small, these "supervisors" nevertheless as-
sign and direct the work of their respective subordinates, allow them
time off from work, and receive a considerably higher rate of pay.
Furthermore, the record. shows that these "supervisors" make effec-
tive recommendations concerning the status, of employees under them.
Inasmuch as they fall within our customary supervisory definition, we
shall exclude them.
Wired radio : The Employer contends that the three non-super-
visory employees in this department are confidential employees. The
persons involved are design engineers who perform highly specialized
work on certain electrical products which are to be or have already
been patented. It appears that the alleged confidential nature of
their work is based upon the purported secrecy of the product being
designed or produced rather than upon the accessibility of labor rela-
tions information to these employees. We shall include them.",
Engineering : In this department there are in dispute four "Super-
visors," a tool designer, and four G. I. apprentices.
"Supervisors" in engineering
A chief engineer with authority to hire and discharge is in charge
of the 'engineering department. Under him are 13 employees, includ-
ing the 4 alleged "supervisors." 7 It is apparent from. the record that
the so-called "supervisors" are highly skilled technicians who merely
lay out and guide the work of assistants; that they spend a substantial
portion of their time in actual work; and that the chief engineer in
fact performs the supervision of the department. Upon the entire
record, we conclude that these employees are not supervisory, and we
shall include them in the unit.
The tool designer in engineering
This employee designs all the tools used in manufacturing, He
works directly under the chief engineer: Although the Employer
contends that he is a managerial employee, the record does not sub=
stantiate this contention. Consequently, we shall include him.'
5 Ibid.
U Matter of Phillips Petroleum Company, 73 N. L. R. B. 236.
7 Special products engineers.
8 Matter of Union Switch and Signal Company, 63 N. L. R. B. 974, 981.
` • FINE MATERIAL COMPANY OF PENNSYLVANIA - '
"? G. 1. apprentices'
707
,Four apprentices' are being trained -as,junior, draftsmen in the engi
iiee'ring department under an apprentice training, program authorized
by the G.J. Bill of Rights.e Because these apprentices are being, sub,
sidized by the - Government,' the: Employer, argues they should, not
properly be.•part• of the bargaining twit. The record indicates that
there is no substantial distinction between their employment condi-
tions and interests and those of the regular employees. Accordingly,
we shall include then-i.11
We find that all engineering and clerical employees at the East
Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, plant of the Employer, including em-
ployees in-the order and billing, accounts-payable, accounting, sales
and service," material control, material control plant No. 2, receiving,
shipping, stenographic and communications, pay-roll and timekeep-
ing, wired radio, and engineering -departments,'2 but excluding all
employees in the traffic, personnel, methods and time-study depart-
ments, the "supervisors" of the order and billing, accounts payable,
material control, receiving, accounting, sales and service, pay-roll
and timekeeping, and stenographic and communications departments,
purchasing agents, assistant purchasing agents, chief engineers, the
supervisor of production and planning, and all other supervisory
employees -with • authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively rec-
ommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of
the Act. -
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with Line Material Company of Pennsyl-
vania; East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, an•selection by secret,ballot
shall be conducted as early as possible, but-not later than thirty (30)
days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervi-
sion of the Regional Director for the Fourth Region, acting in this
matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject
to Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board
Rules and Regulations-Series 4, among the employees in the unit
found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during
the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date-of this Direction,
including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period be-
Servicemen 's Readjustment Act, as amended , Public Law 346, 79th Congress.
1 0 Matter o f The Beach Company, 72 N. L. R. B. 510.
" Included in this department are the two emplovees_ in Street Lighting and Airport
Lighting.
n Including the tool ' designer , the G. I. apprentices , and, the ' so-called "supervisors."
708 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
cause they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and includ-
ing employees in the armed forces of the United States who present
themselves in person at the polls, but excluding those employees who
have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired
or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented by Office Employees International
Union, A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining.