United States Rubber Co.

In the Matter Of UNITED STATES RUBBER COMPANY, EMPLOYER and IN- TERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL No. 11, A. F. L., PETITIONER Case No. 21-RC-239.-Decided January 6, 19.49 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. At the hearing, the Intervenor' moved to dismiss the instant petition on the ground that the unit sought by the Petitioner is inappropriate. For reasons here- inafter discussed, the motion is denied. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affil mecl. , Upon the entire record in this case, the Board 2 finds : 8 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act 4 2. The labor organizations named above claim to represent em- ployees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tion of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The appropriate unit : The petitioner seeks a unit composed of all maintenance and con- struction electricians employed in the maintenance department ,at the Employer's Los Angeles plant, including helpers, but excludi.xlg all other production and maintenance employees, office and clerical em- ployees, and supervisors, as defined in the Act. The Intervenor 1 Local No. 44, United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum and Plastic Workers of America, CIO. 2 Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three -man panel consisting of the undersigned Board Members [ Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Murdock]. 3 On September 2, 1948, the Intervenor submitted a letter to the Board in the nature of a motion to reopen the record for the purpose of introducing additional evidence . Inasmuch as the motion contained no offer of proof or other indication of the nature of the evidence, it is hereby 1 nie$, 4 See Matter of Samson Tire and Rubber Company, 2 N. L. R. B. 148.' 81 N. L. R. B., No. 5. 17 18 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD contends that the proposed unit is inappropriate because of the previous history of collective bargaining on a plant-wide basis.5 In addition, the Intervenor contends that the electricians are integrated into the entire production process inasmuch as the plant uses only electrical power, and therefore requires the continuous presence of electricians. The Employer also opposes the unit sought by the Peti- tioner, contending that severance of the electricians from the remainder of the plant production and maintenance employees will disrupt exist- ing harmonious relations between the Employer and the Intervenor. The Employer has no classification of journeyman electrician and maintains no regular apprenticeship training program. It classifies its electrical employees as first-class electricians, second-class electri- cians, and helpers. Generally, the Employer employs men who have been trained as electricians elsewhere, but on two occasions it has transferred employees from other departments of the plant with pre- vious electrical experience into the department as second-class elec- tricians. The record shows that the Employer requires from a year to 18 months for a helper to become a second-class electrician and approx- imately another 2 years to become a first-class electrician.6 No pre- vious electrical experience is required to become a helper, but once assigned he works exclusively with the electricians. At the present time there are 2L employees ifl the electrical department, 17 of whom are classified as first-class electricians, 4 are classified as second-class electricians, and 1 is classified as a helper. The proposed craft unit would include all electrical employees at the plant. The operations of the Employer are wholly dependent on electrical power and it is the responsibility of the electricians to maintain all electrical equipment and make immediate repairs in case of break- downs. They repair and maintain electrical lines, switches, motors, contacts, outlets, and sources of supply and bend conduit pipe. The electricians also install electric motors, switches, fuse boxes and other new and original electrical equipment purchased by the Employer. They use ohm-meters, watt-meters, potentiometers, ammeters, and other electrical instruments peculiar to the electrical craft. The elec- tricians have worked with other maintenance department employees in repairing or installing equipment but perform only electrical work and there has been no interchange of jobs or duties. The electricians have their own toolroom physically separated from the rest of the plant. They are separately supervised by the electrical " The Intervenor was certified by the Board as the bargaining agent for all the employees in the Employer's Los Angeles plant in 1936 and has had collective bargaining agreements on this basis since that time. 6 There is some conflict in testimony in the record on this point but these periods of time are based on the experience of employees in the proposed unit. UNITED STATES RUBBER COMPANY 19 foreman or chief electrician. They are hired and discharged by the chief electrician, and they have their own departmental seniority as well as plant seniority. The electricians are paid at a higher hourly rate than the operators in the plant but otherwise have the same benefits and rights as to vacations, grievances, etc. We have held that employees engaged in craft work of a distinctive nature, possessing skills and performing duties similar to those of the maintenance and construction electricians here, may be severed from an existing plant-wide unit according to their wishes as ex- pressed in a self-determination election, despite a history of bargain- ing on a broader basis.7 And, contrary to the contention of the Inter- venor, we have permitted craft severance in the rubber manufacturing industry under the conditions set forth above.8 However, even in the presence of distinct craft characteristics, we have denied the severance of electricians from a plant-wide unit where the work performed by the electricians was an integral and insep- arable part of a production process.9 Relying on this exception, as expressed in the Ford case, the Intervenor contends that the electri- cians in the instant case perform their duties in such close coordination with other maintenance and production employees as to constitute a part of a highly integrated production system. We believe, however, that the cases are distinguishable. In the Ford case, we found that the maintenance electricians involved therein were regularly assigned to portions of the assembly line process and that their work was essen- tially a part of that process, with duties regular and routine in nature. The record in the present case clearly indicates that the maintenance and construction electricians are not regularly assigned to any portion of the plant or production process, but have assignments that take them to all parts of the plant to perform jobs that vary as to type and circumstance.- Admittedly, the electricians are essential to the con- tinuous operation of the plant; but this fact, standing alone, does not bring this case within the principle enunciated in the Ford case." We find that the electrical maintenance and construction employees, including regularly assigned electricians' helpers, but excluding all 7 See Matter of Mergenthaler Linotype Company, 80 N L. R B 132; Matter of Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, 77 N. L. R B. 501 ; Matter of Hughes Tool Company, 77 N. L. R. B. 1193; Matter of Waldorf Paper Products Co., 76 N. L R. B 127. 8 Matter of General Tire and Rubber Company, 79 N. L. R. B. 580; Matter of B. F. Good- -rich Company, 75 N. L. R. B. 1142; Matter of Goodyear Synthetic Rubber Co., 74 N. L. it. B. 419. 9 Matter of Ford Motor Company (Maywood Plant), 78 N. L. it. B. 887. See also Mat- ter of National Tube Company, 76 N L it. B. 1199; Matter of Dodge San Leandro Plant, 80 N. L R B. 1031. 10 See Matter of Mergenthaler Linotype Company, footnote 7, supra; Matter of Hunter Packing Company, 79 N. L. it. B. 197. " See Matter of Gaylord Container Corporation, 80 N. L. R B. 1201 ; Matter of Seeger Refrigerator Company, 80 N. L. It. B 586. 829595-50-vol. 81-3 20 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD other production and maintenance employees, office and clerical em- ployees, and supervisors as defined in the Act, may constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean- ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act. However, we shall make no final unit determination at this time, but shall be guided in part by the desires of these employees as expressed in the election hereinafter directed. If, in this election, a majority of the employees voting select the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bargaining unit. If, however, a majority of such employees select the Intervenor, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to continue to be represented by the Intervenor as part of the existing unit. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than 30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Twenty-First Region, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among the em- ployees described in paragraph numbered 4, 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, 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, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether they desire to be repre- sented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by International Broth- erhood of Electrical Workers, Local No. 11, A. F. L., or by Local No. 44, United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum, and Plastic Workers of America, CIO, or by neither.