Clippard Instrument Laboratory, Inc.

In the Matter Of CLIPPARD INSTRUMENT LABORATORY, INC., EMPLOYER and LODGE 789, DISTRICT 34 OF INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, PETITIONER Case No. 9-RC-313.-Decided March 30,1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition 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.* 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 organization named below claims to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tion of certain employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Sec- tion 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The appropriate unit : The parties agree that a unit of production and maintenance em- ployees, including the janitor, fireman, and the mechanical mainte- nance employee in the machine shop,:, but excluding professional, of- fice and clerical employees, guards, the radio technician,2 the engineer,3 *Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Gray. Joseph Feldkamp. 2 Robert Fugazzi, classified as a radio technician is directly under the supervision of the Employer's president. Fugazzi acts as technical advisor in production and as a special consultant for the television department . He assists in the design, development, building, and maintenance of electrical testing equipment for use in the plant and for the com- mercial market. He is a salaried employee . Salaried employees receive some benefits as such. 3 Richard Wasson , classified as an engineer, works under the supervision of the pro- duction superintendent. He sets up the coil winding machine. He also works with the 82 N. L. R. B., No. 65. 838914-50-vol. 82-35 533 534 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the technical employee,4 and the mechanical engineer 5 in charge of the machine shop, and other supervisors, is appropriate for bargaining purposes. The parties agree that department supervisors, of whom there are three, and the night shift foreman are supervisors within the meaning of the Act. The parties disagree as to the status of nine persons, of whom two are classified as group leaders and seven as working group leaders, the Employer contending that they are pro- duction employees and the Petitioner that they are supervisors. The Employer manufactures radio and television parts, consisting of radio-frequency coils and television tuner units, and designs and produces custom-made electrical instruments and electrical testing equipment. Its plant at Cincinnati, Ohio, is divided into three de- partments and a machine shop, and operates under three main super- visors; the president, the production superintendent, and the foremen in charge of the night shift. The president is directly responsible for the inspection department; the production superintendent for the television tuner and the coil-winding and processing department. The inspection department with a staff of approximately 28 persons including Mickey Deeters, the department supervisor, and Mabel Shad and Mildred Hayes,e working group leaders, inspects all products prior to shipping. Deeters, directly under the president, receives the schedule of materials for checking and shipping, and sets up the routine for meeting the schedule. She gives and relays orders to the working group leaders, who in turn relay the orders to the em- ployees. She has authority to discipline if necessary, and to give emergency time off to employees. She recommends the promotion, demotion, and discharge of employees and has taken part in inter- views for hiring employees. Deeters will refer to the president any incident she can not handle directly or a recommendation for dis- charge, and the president makes an investigation and may warn, transfer, or discharge the employee concerned. Under Deeters are Shad and Hayes, classified as working group leaders. Shad assists in the inspection of coils, handles stock rec- ords, and builds some of the custom-made electrical instruments according to the Employer's specifications. When building such equipment, she has approximately 3 girls helping her. Normally, 5 to 10 percent of her time is spent on building such equipment; approximately 10 percent in taking care of stock records, and 15 president and the mechanical engineer to develop and build new machines for the plant and for customers , and to improve methods bf replacing machine parts in an effort to im- prove the quality and quantity of production. His time spent on the various activities depends on the level of production . He is a salaried employee. 4 Earl Conradi Lester Stegeman. c Mildred Hayes is also known as Irene Hayes. CLIPPARD INSTRUMENT LABORATORY, INC. 535 to 20 percent in checking coils for salvage. The remainder of her time is spent in working in the waxing department, (which comes under the inspection department), actual inspection of coils, and the training of employees. Hayes works approximately 10 to 12 employees in the inspection department. Ten to fifteen percent of her time is spent in instructing girls or helping in machine or test- ing set-up. Hayes does some waxing of coils, but spends the ma- jority of her time in testing coils. The amount of testing work done by Shad and Hayes depends on the rate of production. In peak periods they do more checking of employees and less actual testing themselves, while in slack periods when there are fewer production employees, they do more testing work. They have no authority to recommend the discharge or disci- pline of employees. Any difficulties which arise in the groups, and requests for time off or for overtime work are referred to Deeters. If an employee is not doing good inspection work, Shad and Hayes will consult Deeters. If there are any unusual technical difficulties with the machines or other serious trouble, Deeters will consult with the president. Deeters, Shad, and Hayes instruct employees when necessary. They punch a time clock and are hourly paid. Shad and Hayes receive about a 5 cent differential in hourly pay above the other workers in the department, and Deeters receives a higher differential. In view of the foregoing and upon the entire record, we agree with the parties that Deeters is a supervisor and is properly excluded as such from the unit. We find that Shad and Hayes are not supervisors within the meaning of the Act, and we shall, therefore, include them in the unit as production employees.7 The television tuner department under the production superintend- ent includes approximately 37 workers including Florance Dietz, the department supervisor, and Frances Hyden 8 and Rosemary Prichard, two working group leaders. Dietz receives the production schedule from the production superin- tendent and sets up the department operation to meet the schedule. She has direct access to the superintendent's office for her needs and receives all instructions from the superintendent or from his office. She checks the time cards turned in by employees for correctness. Dietz, after consulting with the superintendent, transfers employees to other groups. The superintendent consults Dietz regarding promo- tion. Dietz recommends the demotion or discharge of employees to the superintendent who, however, makes an independent investigation. 7 Matter of George Ehlenberger and Company, Inc., 77 N. L. R. B. 701 ; Matter of United States Gypsum Company, 81 N. L . R. B. 310. 8 Frances Hyden is also known as Maude Hyden. 536 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARL Hyden and Prichard are working group leaders, instructors, and reliefs for the base assembly group and the switch assembly group, respectively. Hyden has approximately 15 employees in her group and Prichard, approximately 17 employees. Hyden and Prichard keep their respective groups up with the schedule of production. They may assign individuals to a particular machine, but they may not assign or transfer them to any other group. They spend approxi- mately 85 percent of their time in actual production work and they turn in production cards for the production work they do. The re- mainder of their time is spent in instructing, looking up schedules, watching the quality and quantity of production, taking care of stock, bringing material to production workers and carrying away the finished work. They will watch the machines to see that they are in good working condition. They have no authority to promote, dis- charge, or to discipline. If any difficulties arise, they consult Dietz. Dietz, Hyden, and Prichard all punch a time clock and are hourly paid. Hyden and Prichard receive approximately 5 cents per hour more than the employees in their groups and Dietz receives 10 cents per hour more than Hyden and Prichard. In view of the foregoing and upon the entire record, we agree with the parties that Dietz is a supervisor and properly excluded as such from the unit. We find that Hyden and Prichard are not supervisors within the meaning of the Act, and we shall, therefore, include them in the unit as production employees. The coil winding and processing department under the production superintendent, covers the operations of coil winding, coil assembling, eyeletting, riveting, stapling, and winding and processing of television tuner coils. There are approximately 87 workers in this department, including Helen Estridge, the department supervisor, Helen Luehr- man and Agnes Kolde, group leaders, and Cecilia Short, working group leader. Estridge receives the production schedule from the superintendent and sets up the operation to meet the schedule. She gives and relays orders to the group leaders, who in turn relay orders to employees. She has the authority to discipline and recommend the discharge of employees. The superintendent however, makes an independent investigation before discharge. After consulting with the superintendent, Estridge may transfer employees to other groups. Luehrman is group leader for winding coils with approximately 28 employees. Kolde is group leader for assembly of coils with approxi- mately 50 employees. Luehrman and Kolde keep their groups cur- rent with the schedule of production. They assign individuals to particular machines or jobs within their group, but they may not transfer them to any other group. Their time is spent in instructing, CLIPPARD INSTRUMENT LABORATORY, INC. 537 looking up schedules, checking the quality and quantity of production, taking care of stock, bringing material to production workers, and carrying away finished work. They check and improve the work- manship of employees and watch the machines to keep them in good working condition. Approximately 15 to 20 percent of their time is spent in actual production work, resulting from special rush jobs or absenteeism. They turn in production cards for any production work they do. Leuhrman and Kolde make no written reports to Estridge. In case of discipline Luehrman and Kolde inform Estridge, who may if necessary, inform the superintendent. The record indi- cates, however, that there have been instances when Luehrman and Kolde have reported directly to the superintendent with a result that a discussion took place between the superintendent and the employee in the presence of Luehrman or Kolde. The testimony indicates that although Luehrman and Kolde have no authority to assign overtime work or grant time off, they have in many instances gone directly to the superintendent with such requests. The superintendent meets with Estridge, Luehrman, and Kolde to discuss production problems. He receives suggestions from Estridge as to employees qualified to be group leaders and receives suggestions from group leaders as to employees qualified to be working group leaders. Short is working group leader for three winders and two assem- blers. She spends approximately 85 percent of her time in actual production work. The remainder of her time is spent in instructing and checking the employees in her group. She rejects defective work, and helps employees perfect their workmanship. She has no au- thority to discipline, promote, and demote, or to recommend effectively the same. Estridge, Luehrman, Kolde, and Short punch a time clock and are hourly paid. Estridge receives 25 cents per hour more than Luehr- man and Kolde, who in turn receive 20 cents per hour more than the employees in their group. Short receives 5 cents per hour more than the employees in her group. In view of the foregoing, we agree with the parties that Estridge is a supervisor and properly excluded as such from the unit. We find that Luehrman and Kolde are supervisors within the meaning of the Act and we shall, therefore, exclude them from the unit. We find that Short is not a supervisor within the meaning of the Act and we shall, therefore, include her in the unit as a production employee. The second or night shift with approximately 50 employees, in- cluding 2 working group leaders, Trula Miller and Hattie McGaha, is under the supervision of Gayle Pasley. The second shift is oper- ated only during the rush season. During the slack season, Pasley 538 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD is assistant to the production superintendent, and Miller and McGaha go back to volume production on the day shift. Pasley has authority to direct employees on the night shift and to recommend effectively their promotion, demotion, transfer, or discharge. Miller is working group leader for approximately 7 employees as- signed to coil winders, and McGaha is working group leader for ap- proximately 15 employees assigned to assembly. All other employees are under the direct supervision of Pasley. Miller and McGaha in- struct employees in their respective groups whenever necessary, carry materials to the machines, and remove the finished products. They spend approximately 30 percent of their time on actual production work. They have no authority to discharge, discipline, or transfer employees to other groups. They punch the time clock, and are hourly paid, receiving 5 cents more than the employees in their group. In view of the foregoing and upon the entire record, we agree with the parties that Pasley is a supervisor and is properly excluded as such from the unit. We find that Miller and McGaha are not super- visors within the meaning of the Act and we shall, therefore, include them in the unit as production employees. We find that all production and maintenance employees at the Em- ployer's Cincinnati plant, including the janitor, fireman, mechanical maintenance employee in the machine shop,9 and the working group leaders,'0 but excluding professional, office and clerical employees, guards, the radio technician,'-' the engineer,12 the night foreman,13 the three department supervisors,' the group leaders,15 the technical employee,"' and the mechanical engineer in charge of the machine shop,17 and all other 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. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Clippard Instrument Labora- tory, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, an election by secret ballot shall be con- ducted as early as possible, but not later than 30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional 9 Feldkamp. 10 Shad, Hayes , Hyden, Prichard, Short, Miller, and McGaha. 11 Fugazzi. 14 Wasson. 11 Pasley. 14 Deeters, Dietz, and Estridge. 16 Luehrman and Kolde. 16 Conradi. 17 Stegeman. CLIPPARD INSTRUMENT LABORATORY, INC. 539 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 rein- stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Lodge 789, District 34 of In- ternational Association of Machinists, for the purposes of collective bargaining.