Kennecott Copper Corp.

In the Matter of KENNECOTT COPPER CORPORATION , RAY-MINES DIvi SION, HAYDEN OPERATIONS , EMPLOYER and LOCAL UNION 314, INTER- NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD. OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, AFL, PETITIONER Case No. 01-RC-769.-Decided June W,19491, DECISION AND " DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon a petition duly filed , a hearing was held before Ben, Grodsky, 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-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Murdock]. ' 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 claims to represent certain employees of the Employer. ' 3. A 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. - 4. The appropriate units : The Petitioner seeks two separate bargaining units 1 consisting of (1) all ' employees in the Employer's Power and Water Department and (2 ) all employees in the -Employer's -.Electrical . Department, excluding clerical , employees and supervisors. In the alternative, the Petitioner seeks to represent ' both groups in a single unit. ' The Employer takes no position with respect to the appropriateness of the units. The Employer, a New York corporation, is engaged in the State of Arizona in mining, milling, and producing copper. We are here concerned with the Ray Mines division of the Employer , consisting of a concentrator or mill located at Hayden, Arizona, which receives 1 As amended at the hearing. 84 N. L. R. B., No. 94. 836 KENNECOTT COPPER CORPORATION 837 copper ore from the Employer's mines at Ray, Arizona. The record ,reveals that, as the result of a Board-directed election,2 the employees whom the Petitioner seeks to represent herein are included in an over- all unit of production and maintenance employees covered by a 2-year collective bargaining contract between the Employer and the Ameri- can Federation of Labor,3 effective May 16, 1947. This contract was open for renegotiation at the time of the hearing, and was not pleaded 'as a bar to this proceeding. a. The Power and Water Department unit Employees in this department, who are under the supervision of the chief engineer, work in the powerhouse, a building separate and apart from the rest of the plant. Included in the unit sought are engineers, assistant engineers, switchboard operators, blower engine operators or pump men, firemen, pipe fitter, machinist, and clean-up man or janitor. The engineer operates the primary generators 4 The assistant engineer checks over the operation of auxiliary equipment, starts it on start-up and shut-down, lubricates it, and reports any devi- ations from normal conditions to the shift engineer. The switchboard operator operates the boilers and tests the waters. The blower engine operators or pump men opefate the'reciprocating°blowing engines for low-pressure air for-the smelter. The machinist in this department repairs equipment in the powerhouse on jobs which are not big enough to send to the machine shop, and the pipe fitter does whatever pipe- fitting work is necessary in the powerhouse operations. Neither the machinist nor the pipe fitter works on equipment other than that located in the powerhouse. There is no interchange between any of these employees and employees in other departments. These employees constitute a readily identifiable, functionally co- herent group, having a community of interest, and of a type which we have frequently held may constitute a unit appropriate for the pur- poses of collective bargaining.' b. The Electrical Department unit The Petitioner would include the employees in the Electrical De- partment in a unit which includes leadmen, electricians, handymen, linemen, armature winders, apprentices, and helpers. These em- ployees are separately located in an electrical shop in the machine-shop 2 47 N. L. R. B. 732. 8 The American Federation of Labor , although duly notified, made no appearance in this proceeding. 4 Although the record indicates the engineer on duty is in charge of the shift , there is no evidence, and the parties do not contend, that the engineers are supervisors within the meaning of the Act. 5 Matter of Owens-Corning Fiberglass Corporation, 81 N. L. R. B 441 1 Matter of Collins Manufacturing Company, 81 N. L. It. B. 267.- 838 DECISIONS i.OF ,N-ATIONAL; LABOR' REL"ATIONIS BOARD building. 7" They perform all, necessary electrical work in the plant wherever required, are =never interchanged -with other employees,in the pl'ant, and=are-under the supervision, of a chief -electrician and as"si'staiit:,chief "electricians The record as a whole reveals that-these `employees are an identifiable, homogeneous, and skilled craft group such, as we have often held may constitute an appropriate bargaining -ilnit.T - r , We find therefore that the following employees at the Employer's Ray Mines Division, Hayden Operations, Arizona, excluding clerical ,employees and supervisors as defined in the Act, may constitute sepa- rate units appropriate,for the purposes of collective bargaining within ,the meaning of Section 9'(b) of the Act : 1. All employees in the Power and,Water Department. 2.. All employees in the Electrical Department. However, we shall make no final'unit determination at this time, but shall be guided in part by the desires of these employees, as expressed in the elections hereinafter directed. If a majority` of the .employees in each, voting group described above, vote for the Peti- tioner,.they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute .separate appropriate units. DIRECTION OF ELECTION ' -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 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 voting groups described 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,re- hi,red or reinstated prior' to the date of the election, and also excluding `employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bar-- ,gaining, by Local Unl on^ 312; International Brotlierhood,,of Electrical Workers,-AFL.- Both the chief electrician and the assistant chief electrician have authority to hire and discharge employees and. ill therefore be excluded fioni the unit as supervisors 7 Matter of American Can Company, 82 N. L. 'R' B.- 257; Matter-of International, HaY- vester Company (Fort Wayne, Indiana, plant), 80 N. L. R. B. 1451.