Reynolds Metals Co.

In the Matter Of REYNOLDS METALS COMPANY, EMPLOYER and LOCAL UNION No. 54, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BOOKBINDERS, AFL Case No. 9-RC-361.-Decided June 9, 1949 DECISION AND ORDER Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before William Naimark, hearing officer. 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-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Gray]. 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 Intervenor are labor, organizations claim- ing to represent employees of the Employer. 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 for the following reasons: The Petitioner seeks to represent a separate unit limited to the die cutting employees at the-Employer's Louisville, Kentucky, plant Number 10. The Petitioner's claim of representation is based upon an agreement with the Intervenor, whereby the latter allegedly "re- linquished jurisdiction" over the die cutters to the Petitioner.' The i The motion made by the Intervenor, United Aluminum and Tinfoil Workers, Local No. 19388, A F L, to dismiss the petition is granted for the reasons stated herein •2 On March 6, 1947, the Employer and the Intervenor entered into a collective bargaining contract covering all the Employer's production employees at this plant. On June 5, 1947, following a Board-directed election (Matter of Reynolds Metals Company, 73 N L. R B. 353) the Intervenor was certified as the bargaining representative for these employees. Thereafter the Intervenor agreed to relinquish jurisdiction over certain production em- ployees, described as foil and paper cutters, to the Petitioner, who executed a contract with the Employer in behalf of these employees on August 19, 1947, effective for the term 84 N. L. R. B., No. 11. 853396-50-vol. 84-7 85 86 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Petitioner also contends that these employees constitute a craft which may be represented in a separate appropriate unit. The Employer and Intervenor oppose the Petitioner's jurisdictional claim, and fur- ther contend that the die cutters are not craftsmen but are produc- tion employees who may not be severed from the broader production unit which the Intervenor presently represents. The Employer is engaged in printing and cutting labels and proc- essing aluminum foil. All its production operations are performed in the printing and the foil spooling departments. The products pro- duced and the processes involved in these departments are unrelated. Labels are printed and cut in the printing department, where 125 employees perform a series of related operations beginning with the printing of sheets of labels by a rotogravure process.3 These sheets are then aligned and further processed by dot pickers and joggers preparatory to the cutting operations performed by die cutters and straight knife cutters. Oval or irregularly shaped labels are cut by die cutting machines. Square or rectangular labels are cut by straight knife-cutting machines. After labels have been cut, they are inspected and packed for shipment by other employees in the printing department. All the foregoing operations are performed on two floors of the main building and in an adjoining wing; all these employees work in close proximity to one another. With the exception of the roto- gravure pressmen and straight knife cutters, all employees are either semi-skilled or unskilled. Die cutters are trained in 3 weeks and attain proficiency in 6 months, while straight knife cutters, whose operations are more complicated and precise, require 2 to 7 years training and experience. A salaried foreman has over-all supervision of the production departments with intermediate working foremen directly supervising each operation. The die cutters and straight knife cutters have separate working foremen. Vacation and other employee benefits are the same for all produc- tion employees. All these employees are hourly rated, the rate for of 1 year. Although this agreement was not renewed upon its expiration, the Employer still recognizes the Petitioner as the bargaining representative for these employees. In 1947, when the Petitioner and the Intervenor executed their agreement concerning the foil and paper cutters, the only employees in these categories were the straight knife cutters in the printing department. In August 1948 the Employer first installed several die cut- ting machines in its printing department , and selected certain employees to operate these machines whom it classified as die cutters . The Petitioner contends that because these employees come within the purview of foil and paper cutters, it is their proper bargaining representative. As we are dismissing the petition on other grounds, it is unnecessary to pass on this contention. It is likewise unnecessary to decide the Intervenor 's contention that its contract of March 6, 1947, constitutes a bar to this proceeding. 3 Employees operating the rotogravure presses are represented by a craft union pursuant to an agreement dated June 5, 1947, wherein the Intervenor relinquished jurisdiction over these employees. REYNOLDS METALS COMPANY 87 die cutters being slightly higher than that of the dot pickers and joggers and substantially less than the rate received by the straight knife cutters. The die cutters, who had formerly been joggers and stock boys ,4 are on a seniority list which also includes dot pickers and joggers. The Employer testified that it anticipates seasonal slumps in the demand for die cut labels, at which time the die cutters will be assigned to duty with the joggers. Although the Employer expected to resume die cutting operations shortly after the hearing, for 3 weeks prior thereto, the die cutters had been working as joggers because of insufficient work. As it does not appear from these circumstances that the die cutters have the skills or training of craftsmen or that they possess interests which warrant their existence as a unit separate from the other pro- duction employees represented by the Intervenor, we find that the unit sought by the Petitioner is inappropriate.' Accordingly we shall dismiss the petition. ORDER IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed herein be, and it hereby is, dismissed. 4 Employees who carry materials from one department to another are classified as stock boys. S Matter of Columbia Envelope Company, 74 N. L. R. B. 439. I