Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp.

In the Matter of OWENS-CORNING FIBERGLAS CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and LODGE 463, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, PETITIONER Case Nos. 8-RC-298, 8-RC-321, and 8-RC-329.-Decided February 1, 1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon petitions duly filed,' a consolidated hearing was held before a hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hear- ing 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,2 the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The labor organization named below claims to represent certain employees of the Employer.' 3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the representa= tion of certain employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The appropriate units : The Employer operates plants in several States, including a plant at Newark, Ohio, which alone is involved in this proceeding, at 1 Pursuant to an Agreement for Consent Election , executed by the Petitioner and the Employer with respect to the employees designated in the petition, as amended , in Case No. 8-RC-298, an election was conducted on December 8, 1948, by the Regional Director for the Eighth Region. The Petitioner received a majority of the valid votes cast at such election . Accordingly, that case is hereby severed from this proceeding. 'Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Gray. 2 As elections are being directed herein, in the units requested by the Petitioner, Its request for leave to file a reply brief is hereby denied. 3 Although served with Notice of Hearing, International Union of Operating Engineers (AFL) and International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers did not appear or participate In this proceeding. 81 N. L. R. B., No. 77. 441 442 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD which it manufactures fibrous glass products. The Petitioner seeks, in Case No. 8-RC-321, a unit of all tool makers, machinists and their apprentices, and tool crib employees in the Employer's factory ma- chine repair department and, in Case No. 8-RC-329, a unit of all power house employees at the Employer's Newark, Ohio, plant. The Employer contends that the units sought are inappropriate. There is no bargaining history applicable to either of the foregoing groups of employees.4 a. The machinists' unit The Machine Repair Department occupies a definitely assigned section of a large room, which room also houses such maintenance employees as blacksmiths, sheet metal workers, auto mechanics, mill- wrights, pipe fitters, and welders. The present complement of the department includes 6 shift foremen,5 47 machinists, first class, 12 machinists, second class, 3 machinists, third class, and 1 clerk. No trainees or apprentices are presently employed, and there are no em- ployees classified as either tool makers or tool crib employees.6 The employees in the department are under the immediate supervision of the machine repair supervisor, who supervises no other employees. The other employees in the same room are under the immediate supervision of the maintenance foreman, who in turn is supervised by the maintenance and construction supervisor. Both the machine repair supervisor and the maintenance and construction supervisor are supervised by the plant engineer. Most of the present employees in the machine repair department were recruited from the Employer's production employees. The Employer has no regular machinists' training or apprenticeship program. Recruits for the machine repair department are, however, unless they possess the necessary experience, required to undergo a period of training before being employed as third class machinist. The time required for progression from trainee through the lower machinist classifications to machinist, first class, is not fixed, but depends upon the ability of the individual employee. Except to re- flect that the machinists, first class, receive a higher hourly rate of 4 Both groups of employees were part of a residual production and maintenance unit wicu respect to which two representation elections had previously been conducted . Matter of Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., 57 N. L. R B . 345, 61 N L It . B 546 , Matter of Owens- Corning Fiberglas Corporation, 70 N. L R B . 1335 In both elections, a majority of the eligible votes cast were against representation by a labor organization . Accordingly the prior unit determinations do not preclude the establishment of the units requested herein . Matter of Sampsel Time Control, Inc., 74 N . L. R B. 611 5 The record does not disclose whether the shift foremen are supervisors as defined in Section 2 ( 11) of the amended Act If they are not supervisors , they may vote in the election herein directed . If they are supervisors , they may not vote and will be excluded from the unit 6 The tool crib attendant is classified as a machinist, third class. OWENS-CORNING FIBERGLAS CORPORATION 443 pay than the Employer's production employees, the record is silent as to the comparative rates of pay received by these machinists and the Employer's other employees. The function of the machine repair department is to keep the Em- ployer's production machinery and equipment in operating condition, including the repair of parts, the replacement of worn parts, the making of necessary adjustments, and upon occasion the fabricatiQn of replacement parts. In the performance of their duties, the machinists use such customary machinists' tools as milling machines, shapers, planers, lathes, drill presses, and grinders. The machinists may work either in the area assigned to the machine repair department, or in the production area of the Employer's plant, depending on the type of work to be done. They are at all times, however, under the super- vision of the machine repair supervisor. There are no other em- ployees at this plant who have duties identical to those of the machinists here involved.7 There is no interchange of employees between the machine repair department and other departments in the Employer's plant. In the case of major repairs, such as machine rebuilds and checker changes, approximately 20 production employees are assigned to assist the machinists, are placed under the supervision of the machine repair supervisor, and are classified as machinists, third class. Such assign- ment is, however, only for the duration of the particular job, and at the conclusion thereof such production employees are returned to their regular jobs, supervision, and pay-roll classifications. There are approximately 6 or 7 machine rebuilds per year, each of which lasts approximately 30 days, and 4 or 5 checker changes, each of which lasts approximately 6 days. On the basis of the foregoing, and on the entire record, it is evident that, despite the fact that they spend a substantial portion of their time working outside their regularly assigned area, and despite the temporary assignment of other employees to the department, the machinists here involved constitute a homogeneous group of skilled employees of the type which the Board has consistently held, particu-. larly in the absence of contrary bargaining history, to constitute an appropriate collective bargaining unit.8 Accordingly, we find that all shift foremen,e machinists, first class, machinists, second class, and 7 The Employer employs two other groups of machinists at this plant, in the laboratory machine shop and in the fibre forming department in the research laboratory. The former group constructs new production equipment, both for this plant and for other of the Employer's plants. The latter makes experimental parts. The former group has been represented by the Petitioner herein since 1944. Matter of Owens-Cornting Fiberglas Corp., 57 N. L. R. B. 345, 58 N. L. R. B. 225. The Petitioner was recently selected as the bargaining representative of the latter group. See footnote 1, supra. B Matter of International Hat rester Company, 79 N. L. R. B. 1452. 1 If they are not supervisors. 444 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD machinists, third class 10 in the machine repair department at the Employer's Newark, Ohio, plant, excluding 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, and we shall direct that an election be held among them. b. The powerhouse unit The Employer's powerhouse, which is located in a building separate from any of the other buildings at the plant, furnishes all of the steam power and approximately one-sixth of the electric power used in the Employer's manufacturing operations. The remainder of the electric power is furnished by sources outside of the plant. The present complement of the powerhouse includes four air compressor attend- ants, nine boiler operators (firemen), two coal unloaders, five station- ary engineers, one handyman, eight boiler operator helpers, two maintenance men, and two meter repairmen. All are under the super- vision of the boiler room supervisor, who has no other employees under his supervision, and who is supervised by the plant engineer. With the exception of the air compressor attendants and the meter repair- men, all of such employees perform the duties associated with their titles in or about the powerhouse. The engineers are required to be licensed, and all but one of the firemen and some of the other employees are also licensed. All of the positions require some degree of training or experience. The air compressor attendants are charged with the mechanical maintenance of the air compressors, which are located throughout the plant. The meter repairmen are charged with the maintenance of the power meters, except electric meters, which are also located through- out the plant. Although they spend most of their time outside the powerhouse, their duties pertain solely to the maintenance of power equipment, and they are at all times under the supervision of the boiler room supervisor. There is no interchange of employees between the powerhouse and the Employer's other operations, although occasionally other em- ployees are called into the powerhouse for maintenance work or major repairs. Such employees do not, however, come under the supervi- sion of the boiler room supervisor. On the basis of the foregoing, and on the entire record, it is evident that these powerhouse employees constitute an identifiable, function- ally.cohesive, and homogeneous group such as the Board has consist- ently held may constitute an appropriate bargaining unit." Accord- 10 Including the tool crib attendant , who also has machinist's duties, but excluding any employees temporarily so classified for the duration only of a particular job n This is so, even in the face of a bargaining history. Matter of Kalamazoo Vegetable Parchment Company, 76 N. L. R. B. 1015. OWENS-CORNING FIBERGLAS CORPORATION 445 ingly, we find that all powerhouse employees at the Employer's Newark, Ohio, plant, excluding supervisors as defined in the Act, con- stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act, and we shall direct that an election be held among them. DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, separate elec- tions 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 Eighth 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 in the units found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Elections, 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 exclud- ing employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement , to deter- mine whether or not they desire to be represented , for purposes of collective bargaining, by Lodge 463, International Association of Machinists.