Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.

In the Matter of WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY (LouIsviLLE ORDNANCE DIVISION) and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL UNION #369, A. F. OF L. ,Case No. R--5083. -Decided May 4, 1943 Mr. T. M. Galphin, Jr., of Louisville, Ky., for the Company. Mr. Lawrence F. Daly, of Washington, D. C., and Mr. H. H. Hudson, of Louisville, Ky., for the IBEW. Mr. D. J. Amer, of Louisville, Ky., for the IAM. Mr. C. H. Van Tyne, of Louisville, Ky., and Mr. Waldo Stager, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for the CIO. Mr. Glenn L. Moller, of counsel to the Board. DECISION - AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION •STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 'Union #369, A. F. of L., herein called the IBEW, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Westinghouse Electric & Manufactur- ing Company (Louisville Ordnance Division); Louisville, Kentucky, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board pro- vided for an' appropriate hearing upon due notice before William S.^ Shooer, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at 'Louisville, Ken- tucky, on March 30, 1943. The Company, the IBEW, the Interna- tional Association of Machinists, herein called the IAM, and United" Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, CIO, herein called the CIO, appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues.. The Trial Examiner's -rulings' made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.: At the hearing the Company moved. to dismiss the petition 'on' the grounds that the employees here involved have already been found by the Board to constitute part of a larger industrial unit, and that, the- unit here sought is inappropriate., This motion was'referred •by*the' Trial Examiner to ' theBoard for decision: The -motion' is" hereby: 49 N. L. R., B., No. 59. 445 446 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATSONTS' BOARD , denied. On April 16, 1943, the IBEW filed a' brief which the Board has considered. - Upon the entire record in the,case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT k I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing -Company, incorporated under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania , has its principal offices and place of business in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania. It is,engaged in the manufacture of a. wide variety of electrical machinery and equip- ment and has numerous plants in various States of the United States. The Company operates a,plant at Louisville , Kentucky , the only opera- tion here involved , known as the Louisville Ordnance Division, at which ordnance is produced for the United States Navy. Of the raw materials used at the Louisville plant 95 percent is shipped to the plant from points outside the State of Kentucky and virtually all of the finished products of the plant , are shipped therefrom to points "outside the State of Kentucky. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 'II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED International , Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union- #369, 'affiliated with the • American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. International Association -of Machinists, Naval Ordnance Lodge x$830, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor or- ganization admitting to membership employees of the Company. United Electrical , Radio & Machine Workers of America, affiliated, with the Congress of Industrial Organizations , is a labor organization, admitting to membership employees of, the Company. III. THE' QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION Since March 1942, the IBE%y has been requesting that the Company recognize it as the exclusive barganing representative of the electrical mantenance. men,, the : gun, wiremen, and the crane operators at the Louisville Ordnance Plant, but the Company has refused such recogni- tion on„the ground that the employees involved have already been found by the.Board to be' part-of an industrial unit- and that as a result o the certification of the, IAM as the:barganing representative of the aforesaid industrial,unit, a• contract;,dated,April 14;1942;-vas executed by the Company- and the IAM, covering the employees, here involved,' WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY 447 and that this, contract is still in force and is a bar to this proceeding.' The Company further contends that the unit proposed by the IBEW is functionally inappropriate. - The TAM has taken the position, even since the Company refused to recognize the IBEW in March 1942, that it makes no claim to mem- bership among the employees in the unit claimed by the IBEW and waives its jurisdiction over these employees and that it is willing that the Board place the employees here involved in a separate appropriate unit. The contract referred to above is of indefinite duration and is there- fore, not a bar to a present determination of representatives. As to the Company's contention that our previous finding that an industrial unit was appropriate bars a present finding that a different unit is now appropriate, we have frequently held that when only the propriety of a proposed industrial unit was involved in an earlier case, and no union was requesting a craft unit, the decision in the earlier case is not necessarily determinative of,whether or not a presently pro- posed craft unit is appropriate= A statement of a Field Examiner for the Board, introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicates that the IBEW represents a sub- stantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appro- priate.3 We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company within the meaning of Section 9 (c), and Section 2'(6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The IBEW claims that all electrical maintenance employees and their apprentices, gun wiremen and their apprentices, and crane oper- ators, excluding those who have the power to hire and discharge, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. The IAM agrees that such a unit is appropriate. The Company and the CIO contend that the present industrial unit is completely satisfactory and that the work of the employees in the 'Matter of Westinghouse Electric it Manufacturing Company, Louisville Ordnance 1):v,- €ion and International Association of Machinists, Local Lodge #681, 38 N. L R B 412- 'Matter of International Shoe Co., Wood River Tanneries and International Association of Machinists , District No 9, A. F L, 49 N L R B, No 13; Matter of'Bethlehem Seel Company (Boston Yards ) and Pattein Makers League iof North Amciica (AFL) 39, N L, R-13 1230 t, - 3 The Field Examiner reported that the IBEW submitted its office ledger which contained the names of 84 paid-up members whose names appeared on the pay roll of the Company as of February 23. 1943, in the alleged appropriate unit . - There ate approximately 1.30 per- sons in the alleged appropriate unit and approximately 53 persons in the unit which we, find to be appropriate At the hearing the CIO submitted to the Trial Examiner 16 authorization cards bcaring apparently genuine signatures of persons whose names appear on the aforesaid pay l oll and who are in the alleged appropriate unit. 448 _, ,DECISIONS•. OF -^NAT'TONAL LABOR RELATIONS-;BOARD unit here sought is too closely related to the work of the- other produc- 'tion and maintenance employees to justify the establishment of the unit herein sought. The unit here sought by the IBEW is composed of three groups: electrical maintenance employees, gun wiremen; and crane operators. The electrical maintenance employees are highly skilled electricians whose function is to repair and maintain all of the varied electrical equipment throughout the plant. The Company has several wage brackets, based upon the Company's estimate of the relative skills, abilities, and responsibilities required by the various types of work. The electrical maintenance employees, as well as, the gun wiremen, are for the most part classified in the, Company's second highest wage bracket, a few being in the highest bracket. The work of the elec- trical maintenance men is not only highly skilled but is frequently dangerous. A thorough' period of training and apprenticeship is necessary to attain the necessary skills and knowledge required of a competent electrician. The Company has itself recognized the skilled character of his trade by employing, wherever possible, "qualified. journeymen." Electricians have long been recognized as an identifi- able craft and have historically bargained on a craft basis. . The second classification of employees which the IBEW would include in the unit is that' of gun wiremen and their apprentices. The .gun wiremen are also skilled electricians whose function is to install, on the ordnance being produced at the plant, the various electrical items which are part of the finished product, including wiring, conduit, fittings and controls. Their work requires the same skills as are required of the electrical maintenance employees. As above indicated, they are classed in the same wage bracket, as the electrical maintenance employees. The third classification of employees which the, IBEW would iti- elude is that of crane operators.. These employees operate the,many electric cranes by which the various heavy parts of the ordnance are moved from one place to another during the course of construction. This work does not require a knowledge of electricity and is.not con- sidered by the Company to be a particularly skilled occupation. ,The highest-paid' crane operators are in the wage bracket below that in which the electrical maintenance men. and gun wiremen, are found. After a training period of from 10 to 15 weeks, crane operators 'are considered to be competent to handle most'of the operations' required of, crane operators. ' Their only concern with electricity is that their cranes are motivated by',electric power. • This,',of, course, is true even of stenographers who use electric typewriters. • . • • Under all the circumstances,,we are, of the opinion.that the'electrieal ,maintenance. employees and their apprentices, and the'gun wiremen WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING coMPANTY 449 and their apprentices can constitute an appropriate unit, but that the crane operators should not be included in the unit. Accordingly, we find that all electrical maintenance employees and their apprentices , and all gun wiremen and their apprentices, at the .Company's Louisville Ordnance Division , excluding those who have the power to hire and discharge , and also excluding crane operators and all other employees at the said Louisville Ordnance Division, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective - bargain- ing within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be'resolved by an election by secret ballot -among the em- ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay- roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec- tion herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. DIRECTION OF ELECTION By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended , it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company (Louisville Ordnance Division), Louisville , Kentucky, an election 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 Ninth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 10, of,said Rules and Regulations , among the employees iii 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 because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including em- ployees'in the armed forces of -the United States who present them- selves in person at the polls , but excluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause , to determine whether they desire to be represented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union # 369, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, or by United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of Amer- ica, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of collective bargaining , or by neither. ^',