United Aircraft Corp.

In the Matter of UNITED AIRCRAFT CORPORATION, CHANCE VOUGHT AIRCRAFT DIVISION, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL UNION OF UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER Case No. 16-RC-310.Decided July 14,1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing in this case was held on March 15, 1949, at Dallas, Texas, before Elmer Davis, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prej - udicial 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 [Members Reynolds, Murdock, and Gray]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. , 2. International Association of Machinists, Lodge 1639, herein called the I. A. M., and International Brotherhood of Electrical Work- ers of America, Local Union No. 59, AFL, herein called the I. B. E. W., intervened at the hearing.2 The Petitioner, the I. A. M., and the I The I. A. M. moved to dismiss the proceedings in this case on two grounds: (1) the pendency of an unfair labor practice charge in Case No. 16-CA-130, and (2) that the Petitioner is "fronting" for its Local 893 which has not complied with the filing require- ments of the Act , and is not, therefore , the real party in interest. A complaint issued in Case No. 16-CA-130, and at the close of the hearing in connection therewith the Trial Examiner granted the Employer's motion to dismiss the complaint . The Board has this day sustained the action of the Trial Examiner , and has dismissed the complaint. As the charges are no longer pending , there is no present bar to an election on this ground, and the Petitioner ' s request for oral argument in this issue is hereby denied . As for the "fronting" allegation , it appears that the Petitioner has issued , but is holding in abeyance, a charter for Local 893. The Local has no officers , has issued no membership cards, and has collected no dues. We find that Local 893 is not in existence as a functioning labor organization and that the Petitioner is the real party in interest . Matter of Cribben it Sexton Company, 82 N. L. R. B. 1409 . Accordingly , the I. A. M.' s motion to dismiss is hereby denied. 2 Amalgamated Lithographers of America, Local No. 35, CIO, withdrew its motion to intervene at the hearing , after all parties stipulated to the exclusion of lithographers from the unit . The Employer committed itself to a consent election if this labor organiza- tion should file a petition and make a representative showing among the lithographers. 85 N. L. R. B., No. 36. 209 210 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD I. B. E. W. are labor organizations claiming to represent employees of the Employer. 3. A question of representation exists 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 unit : The Petitioner and the I. A. M. seek plant-wide units. The I. B E. W. asks for two separate units, one for powerhouse employees, the other for maintenance electricians. The Employer, the Petitioner, and the I. A. M. stipulated as to the composition of the plant-wide unit, and all parties agreed to a self-determination election for power- house employees. The parties are in disagreement with respect to a separate unit for the maintenance electricians. There are approximately 30 maintenance electricians at the Em- ployer's Grand Prairie, Texas, plant, the only one involved in this case. The Employer is engaged at this plant in the manufacture and assem- bly of aircraft. The maintenance electricians do all of the construc- tion, maintenance, and repair of electrical equipment at the plant. Much of the machinery used in the production processes is operated by electrical motors. There are three classifications of electricians, A, B, and C; Class A electricians alone must be licensed. The Employer maintains no apprenticeship system for electricians, but employees hired as electricians must have a background of electrical work. There is a progressive promotion system for electricians, so that in the course of time the Class B and Class C electricians may advance to the Class A category. Although the maintenance electricians are under the over-all supervision of the superintendent of maintenance, their imme- diate supervisor is the electrical foreman.3 The maintenance elec- tricians occasionally do nonelectrical maintenance jobs but_ spend approximately 75 percent of their time on electrical maintenance work which is their principal employment. The Board has frequently found, especially in the aircraft indus- try, that maintenance electricians such as those herein involved con- stitute a distinct craft group that may be established as a separate unit for the purposes of collective bargaining .4 Accordingly, we shall direct a separate election for maintenance electricians and, in accord- ance with the stipulation of the parties, a separate election for the powerhouse employees. However, we shall make no final unit determi- ' This foreman also supervises employees engaged in plumbing repair work. Matter of Hughes Aircraft Company, et al., 81 N. L. R. B. 867 ; Matter of Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, 77 N. L. R. B. 507; and Matter of Consolidated Vultee Aircraft -'orporation, et al., 75 N. L. R. B . 1276. . UNITED AIRCRAFT CORPORATION 211 nations at this time, but shall first ascertain the desires of the employees as expressed in the elections hereinafter directed. We shall direct that the question concerning representation shall be resolved by separate elections by secret ballot among the employees at the Grand Prairie, Texas, plant of the Employer within the voting groups described below : (1) All Class A, B, and C maintenance electricians and their help- ers, excluding clerical employees and supervisors 5 as defined in the Act. (2) All powerhouse employees, excluding clerical employees and supervisors as defined in the Act. (3) All remaining hourly rated production, inspection, and main- tenance employees, including trainees, shipping, receiving, and fac- tory clerical employees, and production control and experimental employees, but excluding medical department employees, plant-pro- tection department employees, all main office and clerical employees, group leaders, laboratory technicians, lithographers, timekeepers, confidential clerks to supervisors, and supervisors as defined in the Act. 5. The determination of representatives: The Employer is in the process of transferring its operations from Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Grand Prairie, Texas. At the time of the hearing, there were employed at the Grand Prairie plant slightly over 3,000 employees in the voting groups established in this deci- sion s Substantially full employment will be reached at the Grand Prairie plant in September 1949, and the full complement of 5,400 employees will be at work by December 1949. According to reliable estimates in the record, there are now over 4,500 employees in the plant. All departments are functioning and no substantial change in the operation of the plant is contemplated. At the hearing, the Employer contended that any election the Board might direct be deferred until a representative group of em- ployees are at work in the Grand Prairie plant. In its brief, the Em- ployer argued that no election should be held until the transfer from Bridgeport is completed. The Employer conceded that the moving operation would be completed by July 1, 1949. As that date will have been-reached before elections can be held in this proceeding, and as a very substantial and representative number of employees b All parties stipulated that the two group leaders under the electrical foreman are supervisors. G This figure is about 350 less than the Employer 's estimate made several months there- tofore. The record indicates that this lag would be made up in the 90 days following the hearing. 857829-50-vol. 85-15 212 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD) are presently employed at the Grand Prairie plant, we see no reason for not directing immediate elections.' DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS 8 As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purpose 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 su- pervision of the Regional Director for the Sixteenth Region, and sub- iect to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the voting groups de- scribed 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 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, for purposes of collective bargaining, by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers of America, Local Union No. 59, AFL, or by International Union of United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, CIO, or by Interna- tional Association of Machinists, Lodge 1639, or by none; (b) Whether the employees in voting group (2) desire to be rep- resented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers of America, Local Union No. 59, AFL, or by International Union of United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, CIO, or by Interna- tional Association of Machinists, Lodge 1639, or by none; (c) Whether the employees in voting group (3) desire to be rep- resented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by International Union of United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, CIO, or by International Association of Ma- chinists, Lodge 1639, or by neither. 7 Matter of General Motors Corporation, etc., 82 N. L. R. B. 876; Matter of Amerloac Enka Corporation (Lowland), 80 N. L. R. B. 298. Any participant in the elections herein may, upon its prompt request to and approval thereof by, the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot.