Rheem Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 30, 1952

100 N.L.R.B. 1298 (N.L.R.B. 1952)

1298 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Order
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the election of January 24, 1951, among
the employees of Sparkletts Drinking Water Corporation at its Los
Angeles plant be, and it hereby is, set aside.
RHEEM MANUFACTURING COMPANY, WEDGEWOOD DIVISION and INTER-
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, DISTRICT LODGE No. 115,
AFL, PETITIONER. Cases Nos. 20-RC-1827, 20-RC-1828, 20-RC-
1829, 20-RC-1830, and 20-RC-1831. September 30,1952
Decision , Order, and Direction of Elections
Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before Natalie P.
Allen, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hear-
ing 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].
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 Petitioner and the Stove Mounters' International Union of
North America, Local No. 61, AFL, the Intervenor, claim to represent
certain employees of the Employer.
3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the representation
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 in these consolidated cases seeks to sever from
the established production and maintenance unit currently repre-
sented by the Intervenor several craft units composed, respectively,
of electricians, carpenters, maintenance machinists and the auto
mechanic, the sheet metal man, and the pipefitter. In the event the
Board finds inappropriate separate units comprising one pipefitter
and one sheet metal man, the Petitioner requests that these two in-
dividuals be grouped with the machinists. As a further alternative,
the Petitioner takes the position that it will accept a unit made up
of all employees in the maintenance department or any other unit
the Board finds appropriate.
The Intervenor contends that a contract between it and the Employer , automatically
renewable each year on June 15, subject to notice to modify on or before the preceding
April 15, constitutes a bar to the present proceeding . As the contract was,opened by both
parties April 15, 1952, we find that no contract bar exists Coca-Cola Bottling Company
of Pottsville, 97 NLRB 503; Danner Press of Canton , Inc, 91 NLRB 237.
100 NLRB No. 220.
RHEEM MANUFACTURING COMPANY 1299
The Employer contends that two units composed, respectively, of
one pipefitter and one sheet metal worker are inappropriate. The
Employer, in agreement with the Intervenor, further opposes the
severance of any employees from the existing production and
maintenance unit.
Since approximately 1929 production and maintenance employees
of the plant here involved have been covered by contracts between the
Employer or its predecessor, the James Graham Manufacturing Com-
pany, and the Intervenor.' In view of this history of collective
bargaining, we find that a multicraft unit or a unit consisting of
employees in the maintenance department is inappropriate.3 We
shall consider, therefore, only the appropriateness of the several craft
units requested by the Petitioner.
Electricians: The two electricians install, adjust, and repair elec-
trical motors, electrical contacts, spot welders, lights, and other
electrical equipment, make diagrams for electrical installations, install
panel boards, etc. One of them is paid $1.96 per hour; the other,
$2.08, as contrasted with the production rate and unskilled general
maintenance rate of $1.71. One of the electricians has worked at the
Employer's plant for years and appears to have been trained on the
job. The record indicates that the other electrician served an
apprenticeship, Both the electricians have a background of extensive
electrical work.4 The electricians have their own location in the
maintenance building and do not share it with other employees. They
work throughout the plant but do not interchange with production
workers or other maintenance employees.
Maintenance machinists: The three maintenance machinists adjust
and repair the plant's mechanical equipment, and, in addition, fabri-
cate parts for the equipment. In this connection they operate lathes,
stationary grinders, and drill presses. The three machinists earn,
respectively, $2.12, $1.98, and $1.86 per hour. Their duties require
approximately 2 years of on-the-job training. One of the machinists
has previously been classified as a journeyman machinist. Another
of the remaining two machinists is sufficiently competent to repair
all the plant machinery and equipment. As in the case of the elec-
tricians, these employees have their own location in the maintenance
building and do not interchange with production workers or other
maintenance employees.
2 The record shows that the Employer 's metal polishers and tool and die room employees
for some years have not been included in this contract and are now represented in sepa-
rate units by other labor organizations.
3 Crossett Paper Mills, Division of Crossett Lumber Company , 98 NLRB 542 ; Westing-
house Electric Corporation, 96 NLRB 1128.
4 Although one of the electricians as well as a machinist and a carpenter are leadmen,
the parties stipulated at the hearing that these individuals are not supervisors . As there
is no evidence to the contrary , we find that these leadmen are not supervisors within the
meaning of the Act
227260-53-voi 100--83
1300 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Automotive mechanic: The automotive mechanic is engaged in the
repair and maintenance of mobile equipment consisting of the lift
and fork trucks. He does not work on the plant machinery cared for
by the machinists.
carpenters: The four carpenters perform all necessary carpentry
work about the plant, including repairs to the building and construc-
tion of boxes, frames, racks, and pallets. They also do crating. Three
receive $1.86 an hour whereas the fourth, who acts as leadman, earns
$2.04. A year's on-the-job training is required for this type of work.
These employees, like those described above, have their own location
in the maintenance building and do not interchange with production
workers or other maintenance personnel.
On the basis of the foregoing, we find that the electricians. main-
tenance machinists, and carpenters are skilled craftsmen, and may,
if they so desire, constitute separate craft units, despite a history of
pollective bargaining on a broader basis."
However, we shall exclude the automotive mechanic from the ma-
chinists unit as he lacks sufficient community of interest with the
maintenance machinists to warrant his inclusion.e With regard to
the pipefitter and sheet metal worker, the Board will not establish
a unit consisting of a single employee.' Accordingly, we shall dismiss
the petitions in Cases Nos. 20-RC-1829 and 20-RC-1831. The auto-
motive mechanic, the pipefitter, and the sheet metal worker will
continue to remain a part of the existing production and maintenance
unit represented by the Intervenor.
We shall direct separate elections among the following groups of
maintenance employees at the Employer's Newark, California, plant,
excluding all guards and all supervisors as defined in the Act :
1. All electricians.
2. All machinists, excluding the automotive mechanic.
3. All carpenters.
If a majority of the employees in each or any of these voting groups
vote for the Petitioner they will be taken to.have indicated their desire
to constitute a separate appropriate unit, and the Regional Director
conducting the elections directed herein is instructed to issue a. cer-
tification of representatives to the Petitioner for such unit or units,
6 Ravenna Arsenal, Inc , 98 NLRB 1; Ai mstrong Coi is Company (Lancaster Floor and
Closure Plants ), 97 NLRB 1057 : Sinclair Rubber, Inc., 96 NLRB 220 (electricians) ;
General Foods Corporation ( Maxwell House Division ), 97 NLRB 1243 ; Armstrong Cork
Company ( Lancaster Floor and Closure Plant ), supra ; Crown Zellerbach Corporation, 96
NLRB 378; Sinclair Rubber, Inc ., supra ( machinists ) ; Armstrong Cork Company (Lan-
caster Floor and Closure Plants ), supra; Sinclair Rubber, Inc .. supra, ( carpenters).
6 Johns-Manville Products Corporation, 98 NLRB 748 ; Armstrong Cork Company (Lan-
caster Floor and Closure Plants ), supra. -
4 The Carborundum Company, 96 NLRB No 108 ; Johns-Manville Products Corporation,
supra.
LUCKENBACH STEAMSHIP COMPANY, INC. 1301
which the Board, under such circumstances, finds to be appropriate
for purposes of collective bargaining. In the event a majority
in each or any of these voting groups vote for the Intervenor, the
Board finds their inclusion in the existing unit to be appropriate
and the Regional Director will issue a certificate of results of election
to such effect.
Order
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petitions filed in Cases Nos. 20-RC-
1829 and 20-RC-1831 by International Union of Machinists, District
Lodge No. 115, AFL, be, and they hereby are, dismissed.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this.
volume.]
LUCKENBACH STEAMSHIP COMPANY , INC. and LOCAL 253, DISTRIBUTIVE,
PROCESSING AND OFFICE WORKERS OF AMERICA , PETITIONER. Case
No. 21-RC-2575. September 30, 1952
Supplemental Decision and Direction
Pursuant to.a Decision and Direction of Election,1 issued on July
22, 1952, in the above proceeding, all election by secret ballot was
conducted on August 8, 1952, under the direction and supervision of
the Regional Director for the Twenty-first Region. At the conclu-
sion of the election, the parties were furnished with a tally of ballots
which shows that of approximately 9 eligible voters, 9 cast ballots, of
which 4 were for the Petitioner, 2 were cast against the participating
labor organization, and 3 were challenged.
As the challenged ballots were sufficient in number to affect the
results of the election, the Regional Director, pursuant to the Board's
Rules and Regulations, conducted an investigation and, on August
20, 1952, issued and served upon the parties a report on challenged
ballots. On September 2, 1952, the Employer filed exceptions to the
Regional Director's report?
' Luckenbach Steamship Company, Inc., 21-RC-2575 , not reported in printed volumes of
Board decisions.
2 The Employer 's request for oral argument is hereby denied as the record , exceptions,
and briefs , in our opinion , adequately present the issues and the positions of the parties.
On September 5, 1952 , the Employer further requested that the entire record be reopened
on the ground that the Department of Justice may be seeking indictments for perjury
against the officers of the Petitioner for falsification of certain affidavits filed under Sec-
tion 9 (h) of the Act. As the Board does not go behind the affidavits required to be filed
under this section of the Act, and as the filed affidavits have not been vitiated by any
proceedings under Section 35 (a) of the Criminal Code , we see no basis for reopening the
record and shall deny the Employer' s request . American Seating Company, 85 NLRB 269';
Alpert & Alpert, 92 NLRB 806.
100 NLRB No. 211.