Westinghouse Electric Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 13, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 94 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORP., EMPLOYER and
CHICAGO WESTINGHOUSE EMPLOYEES' ASSOCIATION, AFFILIATED
WITH THE FEDERATION OF WESTINGHOUSE INDEPENDENT SALARIED
UNIONS, PETITIONER
In the Matter of WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORP., EMPLOYER and
CE-IICAGO WESTINGH-IOUSE, EMPLOYEES' ASSOCIATION, AFFILIATED
WITH THE FEDERATION OF WESTINGHOUSE INDEPENDENT SALARIED
UNIONS , PETITIONER
In the Matter of WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORP., EMPLOYER and
CHICAGO 'VVESTINGIIOUSE EMPLOYEES' ASSOCIATION, AFFILIATED
WITH THE FEDERATION OF WESTINGHOUSE INDEPENDENT SALARIED
UNIONS, PETITIONER
Cases Nos. 13-R-14215, 13--R-423$, and 13-R-4239, respectively.-
Decided June 13, 1947
Messrs. Job Taylor, II, and G. C. Moore, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and
Mr. S. H. Stevenson, of Chicago, Ill., for the Employer.
Mr. Harry C. Jones, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and Mr. Clarence.F. Schutz,
of Elmwood Park, Ill., for the Petitioner.
Mr. David Scribner, of New York City, by Mr. Leo Turner, of Chi-
cago, Ill., for the Intervenor.
Mr. Bernard L. Balicer, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon petitions duly filed, hearing in these consolidated cases was
held at Chicago, Illinois, on March 26, 1947, before Robert E. Acker-
berg, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hear-
ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.'
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
At the hearing the Petitioner moved, without objection , to withdiaw its petition in
Case No 13-R-4239 , in which it sought to represent the Employer ' s tone-study employees
in a separate unit The hearing officer reserved for the Board ruling on the motion The
motion is hereby granted
74 N. L. R B, No. 23.
94
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORP.
FINDINGS Or FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
95,
The Employer is a Pennsylvania corporation, with its principal
offices located at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is engaged in the manu-
facture, sale, and repair of electrical equipment and other products
which are sold throughout the United States. The Employer has
manufacturing plants located in various States of the United States,
including Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio,
West Virginia, Illinois, and California.
At its offices, plant, and warehouse at West Pershing Road, Chicago,
Illinois, the only operations of the Employer involved in these pro-
ceedings, the Employer is engaged in the manufacture, repair, and
warehousing of electrical equipment. The materials used and products
warehoused at this plant are shipped from places in Illinois and other
States. Shipments from points outside the State of Illinois annually
exceed $1,000,000 in value. Finished products are shipped from the
plant to places in Illinois and other States, shipments to points outside
Illinois being in excess of $1,000,000 annually.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the.meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. TILE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Federation
of Westinghouse Independent Salaried Unions, claiming to represent
employees of the Employer.
United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, herein
called the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the Con-
gress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees
of the Employer.
III. TILE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION; THE DETERMINATION
OF REPRESENTATIVES
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
O
The Petitioner desires a unit of all salaried clerical and technical
employees, including mechanical and electrical engineers and time-
7 5542 0-4 8-vol 74-8
96 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
study engineers,' but excluding certain salaried pay-roll clerks, six
confidential secretaries, and supervisory employees. Although the
Petitioner urges that mechanical and electrical engineers be included
in the over-all clerical and technical unit,3 in the alternative, it desires,
to represent them as a separate appropriate unit.4
The Employer agrees generally to the unit sought by the Petitioner,
but contends that the mechanical and electrical engineers constitute
a separate appropriate unit. In the alternative, it urges that a self-
determination election be directed among the engineers to determine
their desires as to inclusion in the over-all clerical and technical unit.
The Employer also contends that the inclusion of time-study engineers
in any unit is inappropriate, on the ground that they are confidential
and managerial employees.
The Intervenor seeks a unit comprised of all salaried clerical and
technical employees, excluding only four confidential secretaries.5
We turn now to a consideration of the units and the disputed
categories of employees.
Pay-roll clerks: In the normal performance of their duties, two
salaried pay-roll clerks in the accounting department have access to
information concerning the salaries of all salaried employees in the
Employer's Northwestern District, which comprises several States.
These clerks work in a separate office, access to which is available only
to the manager of the accounting department and the factory account-
ant who directly supervises their work. The Employer contends that
these pay-roll clerks are confidential employees and should, therefore,
be excluded from the unit. The Petitioner concurs in seeking their
exclusion, whereas the Intervenor desires.them to be included. Inas-
much as the pay-roll clerks in question do not act in a confidential
capacity to persons exercising managerial functions in the field of
labor relations, we find that they are not confidential within the
Board's accepted definition. We shall include them.
Secretaries: The Intervenor would include in the unit the secretary
to the shop superintendent and the secretary to the office manager of
the, West Pershing Road plant. Aside from the district manager, the
shop superintendent is the principal management officer at'the-plant.
He is a member of the grievance and negotiating conlmittee for the
hourly paid employees.e As part of her normal duties, his secretary
prepares memoranda setting forth the position to be taken by the
Employer in labor negotiations. She acts as the official reporter for
2 Upon the motion of Petitioner, the petition in Case No . 13-R-4215 was amended at
the hearing to include time -study engineers.
Case No 13-R-4215.
' Case No. 13-R-4238.
L There are approximately 130 employees in the alleged appropriate unit.
0 The hourly paid employees are now represented by the Intervenor.
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORP. 97
meetings of the wage coordinating committee and frequently sits in
on job and salary classification meetings.
The secretary to the office manager acts as the regular substitute
for the secretary to the district manager and the supervisor of indus-
trial relations. From time to time she is called upon to take dictation
and to transcribe confidential memoranda relating to the Employer's
position on labor relations matters.
We are of the opinion that the secretary to the shop superintendent
and the secretary to the office manager are confidential employees
within the Board's customary definition of that terns, and, accordingly,
we shall exclude them from the unit.
The parties agree that the respective secretaries to the industrial re-
lations supervisor, the manager of the accounting division, the man-
ager of the warehouse division. and the maintenance and repair dis-
tract manager are confident sal employees and should be excluded. We
shall exclude them.
Time-study eri,y'rrtee1 : Inasmuch as their duties and interests usu-
ally differ, we have generally excluded time-study men from units
of office and clerical, technical, and production employees. We see no
reason to depart from our custom III the instant proceeding and,
accordingly, shall exclude the time-study engineers from the unit
sought.'
Mechanical and elect,°ical engineer6: There are approximately 11
employees in this category. They design equipment, compute job
costs, and furnish all price quotations on material manufactured in the
Employer's Northwestern District plants. The engineers then direct
draftsmen in the engineering department in reducing the design to
blueprints and drawings from the engineers' rough schematic dia-
grams or pencilled sketches. Although each engineer has from 1 to
6 draftsmen assigned to his direction, none of the parties contends that
the engineers are supervisory employees within the Board's customary
definition thereof. The engineers must have an engineering degree
or its equivalent in experience and there is an average difference in pay
of approximately n0-percent between the engineers and the draftsmen.
The record shows that,the duties of the engineers and draftsmen are
technical in nature, that both classifications work in close association
with one a pother, and that the work of one group complements that of
the other. However, as indicated above, the record also shows that the
qualifications, duties, and responsibilities of the engineers are snbstan-
tai 11 great er thaui those of the draftsmen. Under these circuinstances.
we are of the opinion that the electrical and mechanical engineers may
properly comprise a-separate unit or, on the other hand, they may
''Matter of A'rdcra]-Mogul (lorpora6oay,7!3 N L. 1, S. 1i59.
98 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
function effectively for collective bargaining purposes as part of the
over-all clerical and technical unit. Under these circumstances, our
unit determinations will depend, in part, upon the desires of the em-
ployees expressed in separate elections in the voting groups hereinafter
set forth. Accordingly, we shall make no final determination of the
appropriate unit at this time but shall defer such determination pend-
ing the outcome of the elections ordered hereinafter."
We shall direct that separate elections by secret ballot be held among
the employees of the Employer's West Pershing Road plant, Chicago,
Illinois, in the voting groups described below, excluding supervisory
employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively rec-
ommend such action.
(1) All mechanical and electrical engineers.
(2) All salaried clerical and technical employees, including salaried
pay-roll clerks, but excluding the respective secretaries to the indus-
trial relations supervisor, the manager of the accounting division, the
manager of the warehouse division, the maintenance and repair dis-
trict manager, the office manager and the shop superintendent, time-
study engineers, and mechanical and electrical engineers.
As stated above, there will be no final determination of the appro-
priate unit or units of engineers and clerical and technical employees
pending the results of the elections.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS 9
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with Westinghouse Electric Corp., West
Pershing Road, Chicago, Illinois, elections 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 supervision
of the Regional Director for the Thirteenth 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 voting
groups 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 because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid
off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United States
s Matter of Westzaco Chlorine Products Corporation, 63 N L R B. 763, and cases cited
therein
° And participant in the election herein may, upon its prompt request to, and approval
thereof by, the Regional Directoi, have its name removed fiom the ballot
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORP. 99
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 they desire to be represented by Chicago Westing-
house Employees' Association, affiliated with the Federation of West-
inghouse Independent Salaried Unions, or by United Electrical, Ra-
dio and Machine Workers of America, C. I. 0., for the purposes of
collective bargaining, or by neither.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Elections.