Aluminum Co. of America

In the Matter of ALUMINUM COMPANY OF AMERICA, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, DIE AND TOOL MAKERS LODGE No. 113, PETITIONER In the Matter of ALUMINUM COMPANY OF AMERICA, EMPLOYER and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR , PETITIONER Cases Nos. 13-RC-282 and 13-RC--366, respectively .Decided May 6,1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing in this matter was held before Irving Friedman, 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. Upon the entire record in these cases, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The Petitioner in Case No. 13-RC-282, herein called the IAM; the Petitioner in Case No. 13-RC-366, herein called the AFL; Inter- national Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 134, an intervenor, herein called the IBEW; and International Union, United Automo- bile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America, an intervenor, herein called the UAW, are labor organizations claiming to represent employees of the Employer. 3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the representation 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 units : The Employer is engaged in the refining and reduction of alumina, and the manufacture of aluminum and aluminum products. At its Hillside plant, the only plant directly involved in this proceeding, the Employer manufactures die castings and uses these die castings in its plant production processes. The parties disagree with respect to the unit or units appropriate for employees at the Hillside plant. The IAM seeks a separate unit of all tool and die makers and die 83 N. L. R. B., No. 59. 398 ALUMINUM COMPANY OF AMERICA 399 machinists and their apprentices, excluding all other plant employees and supervisors. The IBEW seeks a separate unit of maintenance electricians, excluding all other plant employees and supervisors. The Employer, the AFL, and the UAW urge that a single plant-wide unit is the only appropriate unit for production and maintenance employees at the plant, alleging that the high degree of integration of operations at the plant and the historical over-all bargaining pattern on a non- craft basis in the die casting industry, as distinct from the die manu- facturing industry, render a single-plant unit appropriate. The Hillside plant is a one-story structure with a common passage- way between two wings known as the South Wing and the North Wing. The melting, casting, finishing, and shipping departments are located in the South Wing; the maintenance, stores, heat treating, and die departments are located in the North Wing. There is no history of collective bargaining at this plant. Tool and die makers: All new dies and major repairs on dies used in the plant production processes are made in the die department at the plant. The tool and die makers who work in this department are highly skilled craftsmen who have served an apprenticeship of 7 years. They work under separate immediate supervision and are the highest paid employees at the plant. They are able to operate all machines in the die department, to read blueprints, and to work to very close toler- ances. Die machinists possess similar skills and perform similar work, but they are not held to such close tolerances. An apprentice program has been in effect in the die room since the plant started operation. At the end of 4 years of training, apprentices will have the option to terminate their training, becoming either maintenance or die machin- ists, or to continue their training for an additional 3 years, becoming tool and die makers. Tool and die makers and die machinists and their apprentices clearly constitute a highly skilled traditional craft bargaining group., The Employer, the AFL, and the UAW urge, however, that it often requires months to complete a die; that, although these highly skilled employees work in the die department, the production of a finished die is a highly integrated process which requires the cooperation, collabo- ration, and constant consultation among employees in the die, engi- neering, and casting and finishing departments; and that it is often necessary to machine each part of the die to very close tolerances at 1 We find no merit in the contention of the UAW that maintenance machinists who work in the maintenance department , along with electricians , pipefitters, and other maintenance employees, should be included in the same unit with die machinists in the die department. All machinists undergo a 4-year apprenticeship to become machinists . Die machinists have further specialized training in die work and may become , on completion of such training, tool and die makers . The work programs and employment interests of the machinists and maintenance machinists are clearly separate and distinct . See Matter of Swift Die & Manufacturing Company and Di Machine Corporation , 78 N. L. R. B. 861. 400 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD different stages in the course of its production. They further urge that the die casting industry has been organized on a non-craft basis and that the absence of established craft bargaining units in this industry is conclusive on the issue that an over-all plant-wide unit is appropriate for the Hillside plant employees. There has been no history of collective bargaining among employees at the Hillside plant. As noted above, the tool and die makers and die machinists with their apprentices constitute a traditional craft group, who we have found may constitute an appropriate unit.2 There is necessarily a considerable degree of integration between cooperating departments to achieve a finished product. The die department employees are not, however, so integrated in the production processes as to make the absence of evidence of separate craft units in the die casting industry controlling.3 We find that tool and die makers and die machinists and their ap- prentices in the die department constitute an identifiable, homogeneous ,craft group which may appropriately bargain as a separate craft group or may form part of the broader plant-wide unit sought by the Employer, the AFL, and the UAW. Maintenance electricians: As noted above, the IBEW contends that maintenance electricians at the Employer's plant constitute a separate bargaining unit. The Employer, the AFL, and the UAW disagree. In the maintenance department at the Hillside plant, along with machinists, metal workers, welders, and pipefitters, are five electri- cians. All employees in the maintenance department are classified as general maintenance men, allegedly because the plant is, at present, too small to permit these specially skilled employees to devote all their time to their respective trades. The electricians sought by the IBEW circulate throughout the plant in the course of their work. They are under the over-all supervision of the master mechanic, the only supervisor in the maintenance de- partment. As a general rule, however, electricians report to, and are assigned work by, the oldest electrician in the department. They maintain all electrical equipment at the plant, such as cranes, heat treating machines, die cast machines, furnaces, circuit breakers, ma- 2 Matter of General Electric Company, 80 N. L. R. B. 169; Matter of Continental Can Company, Inc., 73 N. L. R. B. 1.375; 76 N. L R. B 131; Matter of Columbus Bolt Works, 76 N. L. R. B. 305; Matter of American Can Company, 75 N. L. R. B 1127. 9 Matter of Hunter Packing Company, 79 N. L. R. B. 197; See also Matter of National Tube Company, 76 N. L. R. B. 1199, where the Board denied a proposed unit of bricklayers because, among other factors , there was a history of industry-wide bargaining on a non- craft basis. In that case, however, unlike the present one , the Board also predicated its decision upon the high degree of integration between the bricklayers and the production process, and also upon the character of the entire industry which is already highly organ- ized on an industrial basis. ALUMINUM COMPANY OF AMERICA 401 chine control circuits and lighting circuits, automatic boiler equip- ment, and the water purifying system. At least one electrician was hired on the basis of an interview in which the emphasis was laid on his background in electrical temperature control. The services of other employees at the plant are, at times, utilized for assistance to the electricians, but this does not occur with any appreciable fre- quency. Electricians do not ordinarily perform the work of other em- ployees at the plant. The maintenance electricians herein involved comprise a distinct craft group which we have often found may appropriately constitute either a craft unit or part of a production and maintenance unit.4 We find that maintenance electricians at the Hillside plant may properly constitute a separate craft unit or part of the broader plant unit sought by the AFL and the UAW herein. We shall make no final determination with respect to the appro- priate unit or units for employees at the Hillside plant until after sep- arate elections shall have been held among employees in the following voting groups : (1) All tool and die makers, die machinists, and their apprentices, excluding the tool crib attendant, the die room clerk, and supervisors. (2) All maintenance electricians, excluding supervisors. (3) All production and maintenance employees, excluding tool and die makers, die machinists, and their apprentices, maintenance electri- cians, office and clerical employees, guards, professional employees, and all supervisors. 5. The determination of representatives : At the hearing testimony was introduced to indicate that the Em- ployer's Hillside plant was now producing 25 percent of its full pro- duction capacity and that total employment at the plant is presently only 25 percent of its full possible employment capacity. It is esti- mated that, even if the production of dies at the plant justifies its ex- pansion, the full employment capacity of the plant will not be reached before 11/2 to 2 years. 'The die storage department at the plant is equipped to 50 percent of its capacity. The record does not disclose the number of employees now in this department. The'maintenance and heat-treating depart- ments are equipped to 75 percent of their respective capacities. There are 32, employees now in the maintenance department, The record does not disclose the number of employees now in the heat treating department. The' general stores and die departments are equipped 1 Matter of Turbine •Rngineering Company, 73 N. L. R. B. 163 ; Matter of B.'F. Goodrich CAemicai Company ( Leon Plant), 75 M. L. R. B. 1142; Matter of Lockheed Aircraft Cor- poration, 77 N. L. R. B. 507 ; Matter of Hughes Toot Company, 77 N. L. R. B. 1193 ;'Matter of Tin Processing Corporation , 78 N. L.. R. B. 96. . 402 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD to 100 percent of their full capacities. There are now 36 employees in the die department. The record does not disclose the number of employees in the general stores department. There are approximately 50 employees in the casting department, 42 in the finishing depart- ment, and 4 in the melting department. The record does not disclose the full employment capacity for each department. The record discloses that the Employer's plant is currently in pro- duction, and that the present complement of the plant constitutes a substantial and representative proportion of the contemplated working force. In view of the speculative character of the anticipated ex- pansion, and since all parties desire a determination of bargaining representatives at the earliest possible date, and upon the basis of the entire record in the case, we will direct immediate elections.5 DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS 6 As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, elections 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 Thirteenth 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 voting groups listed in Section 4, above, who were em- ployed 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 re- instated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine : (a) Whether the employees in voting group (1) desire to be rep- resented by International Association of Machinists, Die and Tool Makers Lodge No. 113, or by International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, C. I. 0., or by the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by none; (b) Whether the employees in- voting group (2) desire to be rep- resented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 134, A. F. L., or by International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft 5Matter of American Enka Corporation (Lowland), 80 N. L. R. B. 298 ; Matter of Gen- eral Motors Corporation, Electro Motive Division, Plant No. S. 82 N. L. It. B. 876; Matter of Ed White Junior Shoe Company, 78 N. L. R. B. 530. "Any participant in the elections directed herein may, upon its prompt request to, and approval thereof by, the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot. ALUMINUM COMPANY OF AMERICA 403 & Agricultural Implement Workers of America, C. I. 0., or by the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargain- ing or by none ; and (c) Whether the employees in voting group (3) desire to be repre- sented by International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agri- cultural Implement Workers of America, C. I. 0., or by the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. MEMBER GRAY took no part in the consideration of the above De- cision and Direction of Elections.