Permanente Metals Corp.

In the Matter of PERMANENTE METALS CORPORATION , EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS , PETITIONER Case No. 15-RC-7.Decided April 1, 19419 DECISION AND ORDER 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 Petitioner, and the following organizations affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein collectively called the Intervenors, are labor organizations claiming to represent certain employees of the Employer : United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local No. 1098; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No. 767; International Union of Operating Engineers, Local No. 406; International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders and Helpers of America, Local No. 582; United Association of Plumbers & Steamfitters of U. S. and Canada, Local No. 807; International Broth- erhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers, Local No. 5; Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators, and Paperhangers, Local No. 728; International Assn. of Bridge, Structural & Ornamental Iron Workers, Local 623; Sheet Metal Workers' International Assn., Local No. 21; 1 and International Council of Aluminum Workers Unions, Local Aluminum Workers 23336. *Houston, Reynolds, and Murdock. 1 The foregoing A. F. L. unions are affiliated with Baton Rouge Building and Construc- tion Trades Council. The Council, as such, did not seek to intervene at the hearing. 82 N. L. R. B., No. 78. 692 PERMANENTE METALS CORPORATION 693 3. No 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,2 for the following reasons: The Petitioner seeks to sever from the presently existing plant- wide unit 3 all millwrights in the machine shop at the Employer's Baton Rouge, Louisiana, plant, including the millwright' presently assigned to powerhouse maintenance work. The Employer moves to dismiss the petition on the ground, inter alia,5 that the unit sought by the Petitioner is inherently inappropriate in that it comprises only a segment of the employees at the plant having similar skills, duties, and training. The Intervenors take substantially the same position as does the Employer. At its Baton Rouge plant, the Employer is engaged in the produc- tion of alumina by means of a specialized process of refining bauxite, known as the Bayer process. This process, which is chain-like and highly mechanized, involves the chemical treatment of bauxite ore, mined by the Employer in South America, while it is being con- stantly pumped in liquid form through various pipe lines and tanks. The finished product, an aluminum dust, is shipped to other plants of the Employer out of the State, where it is further processed and finally emerges as aluminum. The machine shop at the Baton Rouge plant, in which are employed the seven millwrights sought by the Petitioner, also houses electricians, pipe fitters, boilermakers, iron workers, carpenters, hoisting engi- neers, a sheet metal worker, painter, warehouseman, and truck driver, and laborers. All of these employees are under the immediate super- vision of a machine shop foreman except the electricians who have over them an intermediate foreman.6 The millwrights in the machine shop, herein called the inside millwrights, are essentially machinists who work on the traditional machine tools of that trade. Outside ' The collective bargaining contract , expiring May 31 , 1949 , between the Employer and the Intervenors was not asserted as a bar to this proceeding. $ Although all the constituent A. F. L. unions comprising the Intervenors undertook in the contract to represent a plant-wide unit of employees , it appears that provision was made in this contract having the effect of preserving the autonomous character of each of these unions . Thus, the contract provided for preferential hiring from each of the constituent craft unions and for compulsory membership therein, and for notice of modifi- cation or termination of the contract by any of these separate unions. 4 E L. Scott. 5 The Employer also asserts as grounds for dismissal of the petition that the highly functional integration of its operations as well as its collective bargaining history on a plant-wide basis precludes the severance of the Petitioner's proposed unit, and that the granting of such unit would result in the contravention of governmental policy and the public interest. However, in view of our finding herein , we deem it unnecessary to pass upon these other contentions of the Employer. The boilermakers and carpenters each have a leadman to assist the machine shop foreman. 838914-50-vol. 82-45 694 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD of the machine shop, employees classified as millwrights, herein called the outside millwrights, are employed as part of rotating maintenance crews.' The outside maintenance crews, under the supervision of rotating shift foremen, operate on the basis of three shifts a day, while the employees assigned to the machine shop work a single day shift. Both the inside and the outside millwrights are engaged in repair and maintenance work. Both work on the same machinery and equipment, such as line machinery, pumps, conveyors, rollers, and valves. The outside millwrights function generally in assembling and disassembling machinery and equipment, repairing or replacing defective parts. Such repair and replacement of parts and equipment as requires the precision work of the metal cutting tools in the machine shop are reserved for the inside millwrights. The latter, in addition, construct certain spare parts which are in constant demand. The training and background of inside and outside millwrights ap- pear to be substantially similar. Although the Employer engages only first-class and journeyman craftsmen and has no apprenticeship training program at the plant, it was testified by a substantial number of present and former millwrights, inside and outside, that they had served a 4-year apprentice period as machinists at other plants. With respect to interchange and transfer, the record shows that at least four of the seven inside millwrights were previously employed at the plant as outside millwrights, and that inside millwrights have been requisitioned on occasion to augment the crews of the outside millwrights. While the work of the inside millwrights is substan- tially confined to the operation of the machine tools, there is evidence that these tools are also utilized occasionally by outside millwrights working on the night shifts. Moreover, two of the inside millwrights called floormen rarely work on these machine tools; they spend all their time tearing down and reconstructing equipment sent to the machine shop for repair. In addition, it appears that under the con- tract between the Employer and the Intervenors, both the inside and the outside millwrights were required to maintain membership in the same craft union," as were other craftsmen employed inside and outside of the machine shop in their respective craft unions. The Petitioner's contention that the skill of the inside millwrights, work- ing on precision tools, is substantially greater than that of the outside millwrights, and therefore warrants severance of the requested unit, is further refuted by the fact that both the inside and outside mill- wrights receive the identical rate of pay. 'These rotating maintenance crews each consist of four millwrights, two electricians, one welder, two oilers , and one instrument and meter man. 3 The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local No. 1098. PERMANENTE METALS CORPORATION 695 In view of the foregoing, we find that the proposed unit of inside millwrights, failing to include the outside millwrights,' is inappropri- ate as it comprises only a segment of a craft group possessing similar skills and performing comparable work.10 Accordingly, we shall grant the Employer's motion to dismiss the petition. ORDER IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition herein be, and it hereby is, dismissed. ° The Petitioner has indicated , alternatively, that it will "accept" such inclusions in its proposed unit as may be found appropriate by the Board. However, apart from other- considerations herein, the Petitioner has not submitted an adequate showing of interest with respect to enlarged unit of all millwrights in the Employer 's plant to warrant any election in such a unit. 10 See Matter of Ethyl Corporation, 80 N. L. R. B. 9; Matter of International Harvester Company, 77 N. L. R. B. 520; cf. Matter of Gibbs Corporation, 81 N. L. R B. 1029; Matter of West Tacoma Newsprint Company, 81 N L. R B. 961; Matter of Potash Company of America, 80 N. L. R. B. 1035; Matter of C. V. Hill and Company, Inc, 76. N. L. R. B . 158; Matter of Southland Paper Mills, 60 N. L R B. 63.