Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp.

f In the Matter of CONSOLIDATED VuLTEE AIRCRAFT CORPORATION and FALLS CITIES CARPENTERS' DISTRICT COUNCIL, AFFILIATED WITH A. F. OF L. In the Matter of CONSOLIDATED VuLTEE AIRCRAFT •CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL No. 369 (A. F. OF L.) Cases Nos. '9-R-1255 and 9-R-1297, respectively.Decided February, 28,1944 Mr. Johan J. Grealis, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company. Mr., Herman Cohen, of Louisville, Ky., for the Council and the T. B. E. W. Mr. Van B. Carter, of Louisville, Ky., for the I. A. M. Miss Frances Lopinsky, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS, STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by Falls Cities Carpenters' District Council, affiliated with A. F. of L., herein called the Council, and an amended petition duly filed by International Brotherhood of 'Electrical Workers, Local No. 369 (A. F. of L.), herein called the I. B. E. W., each alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Cor- poration, Louisville, Kentucky, herein 'called the Company, the Na- tioiial Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate consoli- dated hearing upon due notice before Thomas E. Shroyer, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Louisville, Kentucky, on Janu- ary 4. 1944. The Company, the Council, the I. B. E. W., and Inter- national Association of Machinists, herein called the I. A. M.,1 ap- peared and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce' I The I. A. M. appeared only to deny that any jurisdictional ,dispute existed between it and the I. B. E. W. or the Council. It did not request a place on the ballot. 55 N. L. R. B., No. 24. 130 CONSOLIDATED VULTEE AIRCRAFT CORPORATION 131 evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, a Delaware corporation, is engaged at its plant in Louisville, Kentucky, in the design, manu- facture, development, and sale of aircraft parts and accessories. At the present time it is engaged exclusively in production for war pur- poses.. The plant in Louisville is Government owned and privately, operated. The United, States Army delivers all materials and all planes for modification to the plant in Louisville and takes delivery of,them, after modification, in Louisville. The Company concedes that its raw materials and products travel in interstate commerce and admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Na- tional Labor Relations Act. H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Falls Cities Carpenters' District Council, affiliated with the Ameri- can Federation of-Labor, is a labor organization admitting to member- ship carpenters employed by the Company. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No. 369, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organiza- tion admitting to membership electrical workers employed by the -Company. International Association of Machinists, affiliated with the Ameri- can Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to member- ship employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Council or to the I. B. E. W. as exclusive representative of their respective craft groups unless and until they shall be certified by the' Board in appro- priate units. The Company contends that no determination of representatives can now be made because it has not yet reached 50 percent of its antic- ipated complement of employees . The Company, however, antici- pates no substantial increase in the number of carpenters and mainte- nance electricians in its employ. Since the employees with whom we ,are herein concerned will not be greatly affected by the expansion of 132 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the plant, we perceive no reason to deny them the right to a defermina- tion of representatives at this time.2 A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear- ing, indicates that the Council and the I. B. E. W. each represents a substantial number of employees in the unit alleged by it to be appro- priate.3 - We find that a question affecting cominerce'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 UNITS The I. B. E. W. requests a unit of maintenance electricians and electrical installers . The Council requests a unit of maintenance car- penters -and craters . The Company contends that 'only an industrial unit is appropriate for employees of a plant such as its Louisville operation and that the I. A. M. has started organization oh such a basis. The I . A. M., however , states that it is attempting to organize only prodliction employees and that it will cooperate with the I. B. E. W. and the Council in the establishment of their proposed craft units . No labor organization has ever been recognized by the Com- pany as the bargaining representative of employees in this-plant. In view of the many craft units in ivliich bargaining is being con- ducted in aircraft plants throughout the country , the Company's contention that nothing but an industrial unit can be appropriate in an aircraft plant has no basis .4 There remains to be decided whether or not the units requested by the craft unions are appropriate in the Company's plant. The maintenance carpenters and craters are a cohesive group, work- ing out of a central heedgiiarters under the direction of the mainte- nahce foreman . Carpenters are sent throughout the plant on call of all departments, for maintenance work such as installing partitions, 2 See Matter of Dodpe Chwc¢go Plant, Division of Chrysle "r Corporation, 51 N. L R. B. 1256. 3 The Acting Regional Director reported that the Council submitted 25 authorization cards all of which bore apparently genuine original signatures ; that the names of 21 persons appealing on the cards were listed on the Company 's pay roll of November 24, 1943, u;hich contained the names of 25 carpenters in the Company's employ and that the cards were all dated November 11, 1943. The I . B. E W. submitted 85 authorization cards all of which bore apparently genuine, original signatures. The names of 39 persons appearing on the cards were contained in the aforesaid pay roll which contains names bf 100 persons in the unit allege $ appropriate by the I. B. E. W. The cards were dated October, November , and December 1943. All parties admitted that the I. A. M. had sufficient interest in the employees at the plant to allow its intervention. 4 See Matter of Douglas Aircraft Company, Inc., 52 N. L. R. B. 781 ; Fisher Cleveland Aircraft Division, General . Motors Corporation, Plant No 2, 52 N. L. R. B 1291 CONSOLIDATED VULTEE AIRCRAFT CORPORATION 133 building benches and workstands, and, modifying and changing wooden facilities. Although crating does not require the same skill as general carpentry, it is done by the same men who perform the more skilled work. We find that maintenance carpenters and craters constitute an identifiable group sufficiently distinguishable from other groups of employees in the plant to warrant establishing them as a separate bargaining unit. The maintenance electricians are a group similar to the carpenters in that they report to a general headquarters and are sent` throughout the plant by the maintenance foreman to perform maintenance and repair work and the electrical part of installations attached to the plant. The installers, whom the I. B. E. W. would include in its proposed unit, install electrically operated parts in airplanes. Elec- trical installers are not necessarily trained electricians. They are not employed in the maintenance department of the plant. , They are employees who have been taught one or more operations in the instal- lation of certain electrically driven accessories and they perform these operations repetitively. In our opinion, the mere fact that these installers do work which concerns electrical apparatus does not in itself, ally their interests with those of skilled electricians rather than with those of other production employees. There in fact is no sharp dis- tinction between them and other production employees. The mainte- nance electricians, alone, however, do constitute an identifiable unit appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining. We find that (1) all maintenance carpenters and craters, excluding all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, and (2) all maintenance electricians, including their helpers and appren- tices,' excluding all supervisory employees as above-defined, constitute two separate units, each appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES' We shall direct that the questions concerning representation which have arisen be resolved by elections by secret ballot among the employ- ees in the appropriate units who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elections' herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. 5 At the time of the hearing no electricians' helpers or apprentices were employed by the Company. 134 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS 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 Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain -representa- ,tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Consolidated ' Vultee Aircraft Corporation, Louisville, Kentucky, an election by se- cret 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, Sections 10 and. 11, of said Rules and Regula- tions, among the employees in the units 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 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 elections, to determine (1) whether. or not the carpenters and craters desire to be represented by Falls Cities Carpenters' District Council, affiliated with the A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargain- ing; and, (2) whether or not the electricians, their helpers and appren- tices desire to be .represented by International Brotherhood of 'Elec- trical Workers, Local No. 369, affiliated with the (A. F. of L.), for the purposes of collective bargaining. ' i