American Relay and Controls, Inc.

In the Matter of AMERICAN RELAY AND CONTROLS, INC., EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL 1031, A. F. L., PETITIONER In the Matter Of OHMITE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, DIE AND TOOL MAKERS LODGE No. 113, PETITIONER Cases Nos. 13-RC--3& and 13-RC-382, respectively.Decided January 17, 1949 DECISION ORDER AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon separate petitions duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. 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.* Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent employees of the Employer.' 3. For the reasons stated hereinafter, no question affecting com- merce exists concerning the representation of employees of the Em- ployer in Case No. 13-RC-362 within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. We do, however, find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation of employees of the Employer in Case No. 13-RC-382, within the mean- ing of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 1 These cases were consolidated by order of the Board on October 21, 1948. *Houston, Reynolds, and Murdock. z The Petitioner in Case No. 13-RC-362 is hereinafter referred to as the I . B. B. W.; the Petitioner in Case No . 13-RC-382 is hereinafter referred to as I. A. M. 81 N. L. R. B., No. 24. 178 AMERICAN RELAY AND CONTROLS, INC. 179 The I. B. E. W. seeks a unit composed of all production and main- tenance employees employed at American Relay and Controls, Inc., herein called American, excluding all supervisors. The I. A. M. seeks a unit composed of all the toolroom employees employed at Ohmite Manufacturing Company, herein called Ohmite, excluding the tool crib attendant and supervisors. American and Ohmite contend, in effect, that they constitute a single Employer within the meaning of the Act and as such, they would have the Board determine whether the unit sought by the I. B. E. W. is an appropriate one. As to the unit request of the I. A. M., Ohmite contends that there is no warrant for establishing such a unit because all its employees have the same working conditions, privileges, and benefits and moreover, its opera- tions are highly integrated. American is an Illinois corporation engaged in the production of electrical equipment. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ohmite which is an Illinois corporation engaged in the production of radio parts. Both American and Ohmite conduct their activities in Chicago, Illinois, in plants located across the street from each other. They have a common president, vice-president, and treasurer and the same in- dividual acts as works manager for the two corporations. A single personnel staff formulates and enforces the labor relations policies of i he two corporations and their new workers are hired through a com- mon employment office. The financial reports and the records for both Ohmite and American are prepared by an office force in the employ of Ohmite. The employees of American and Ohmite are for the most part as- semblers since both corporations purchase all parts necessary for their finished products. At the close of the hearing, there were only 4 em- ployees on the pay roll of American,3 and 525 on the pay roll of Ohmite. In both corporations, the hours of work, vacation and insurance bene- fits, and other conditions of employment are the same. In view of the common ownership and control of production opera- tions and labor policies, we find that, for the purposes of this proceed- ing, American and Ohmite constitute a single employer within the meaning of Section 2 (2) of the Act .4 The alleged appropriate unit in Case No. 13-RC-366 The unit requested by the I. B. E. W. would include only the pro- duction and maintenance employees carried on the pay roll of Ameri- a while the record does not show the normal complement of employees at American, it appears that there have been as many as 27 employees on its pay roll at various times. 4 Matter of Home Furniture Company, 77 N. L. R. B. 1437; Matter of Salter Mills Com- pany, 76 N. L. R. B. 930. 829595-50-vol. 81-13 180 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD can. Although there is practically no interchange between these employees and the production and maintenance workers of Ohmite, the record shows that these two groups have common interests. They possess like skills and have identical working conditions and privileges. Upon the basis of the entire record, it would appear that the only justification for establishing the unit sought by the I. B. E. W. would be on the basis of the extent of employee organization, a factor which may no longer be considered as controlling under the provisions of the Act, as amended.5 Accordingly, we find that the unit requested by the I. B. E. W. in Case No. 13-RC-362 is inappropriate, and we shall, therefore, dismiss the petition. The appropriate unit in Case No. 13-RC-382 The employees in the toolroom whom the I. A. M. would represent are tool and die makers, machinists, and their apprentices. These em- ployees fabricate and repair tools, dies, jigs, machine parts, and spe- cial plant machinery for both Ohmite and American. They also make some of the parts used in the Employer's finished products, but devote only between 5 and 10 percent of their time to these production operations. The requested employees work under separate immediate supervision and they are the most highly paid of the Employer's hourly rated employees. In order to qualify for their jobs, tool and die makers and machinists are required to have had an apprenticeship training of at least 4 years and 2 years of experience in their respec- tive fields. At the time of the hearing, there were three employees serving as apprentices in the toolroom. The record does not disclose a bargaining history for the Employer's employees although there have been other representation proceedings before the Board involving the employees of Ohmite. It is clear from the foregoing that the employees sought by the I. A. M. constitute an identifiable homogeneous craft group. Accord- ingly, we find that they constitute a separate appropriate unit. We find that all the Employer's toolroom employees, including the tool and die makers, machinists, their apprentices, and the assistant foreman,s but excluding the tool crib attendant and all supervisors, as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 5 Section 9 (c) (5). 9 We have included the assistant foreman since he exercises supervisory powers only during the foreman's absence and this does not occur frequently. During the past year, the foreman was absent from the toolroom only three or four times. AMERICAN RELAY AND CONTROLS, INC. 181 ORDER IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition for investigation and certifi- cation filed by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1031, A. F. L., be severed from this proceeding and that it be, and hereby is, dismissed. 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 super- vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, 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 em- ployees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collec- tive bargaining, by International Association of Machinists, Die and Tool Makers Lodge No. 113.