Hotpoint, Inc.

In the Matter of HOTPOINT, INC. and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF FIREMEN AND OILERS, LOCAL 125, A. F. L. In the Matter Of HOTPOINT,. INC. and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO Cases Nos. 13-RC-637 and 13-RC-W, respectively.-Decided July 09, 1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon separate petitions duly filed , a consolidated hearing was held before Irving M. Friedman , 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 in Case No . 13-RC-637, herein called the Firemen and Oilers, the Petitioner in Case No . 13-RC-648, herein called the UAW, and District No. 10, International Association of Machinists, herein called the IAM, are labor organizations claiming to represent employees of the Employer.' 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the represents. tion of the employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 'The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers of America , A. F. of L. herein referred to as the IBEW, also sought to intervene in this proceeding because of its con- tractual interest in a unit of electrical workers heretofore established at the Employer's plant . Upon disclaimer by the other parties of any interest in this unit , this union with- drew from the hearing. 85 N. L. R. B., No. 81. 485 486 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 4. The appropriate-unit: The Firemen and Oilers seek certification as representative of a unit of all the Employer's maintenance employees at its Milwaukee, Wis- consin, plant, including carpenters, millwrights, sheetmetal workers, painters, maintenance machinists, welders, trade helpers, oilers, store- keeper, janitors, and matron. The UAW seeks certification as repre- sentative of a unit of all production and maintenance employees, in- cluding plant clericals, inspectors, tool and die makers, timekeepers, and custodial employees employed in this plant. The TAM also seeks certification as representative of a unit of production and maintenance employees. All three agree to exclude the electricians and their helpers from any unit that may be found appropriate. The UAW and TAM also agree to exclude the powerhouse employees, at present represented by the Firemen and Oilers, from the production and main- tenance unit that they seek. The Employer agrees that a unit of pro- duction and maintenance employees is appropriate for its Milwaukee plant, but contends that its plant clericals and timekeepers should also be excluded from this unit. The Employer, a New York corporation, with its principal office in Chicago, Illinois, owns and operates an electrical appliances plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It has bargained collectively with the IBEW for its electricians and their helpers,' and the Firemen and Oilers for its powerhouse employees,3 in this plant. These two units are part of the Employer's maintenance force, supervised by a maintenance fore- man. The maintenance employees have their headquarters in a sepa- rate part of the.plant, and, except for the powerhouse employees, are sent out by the maintenance foreman to perform repair or maintenance work wherever required throughout the plant. The production em- ployees are divided by the Employer into two groups : "direct" and "indirect" production employees. Those engaged in actual fabrica- tion or assembly line work are considered to be engaged in direct pro- duction. Those engaged in the supplementary activities, such as receiving raw materials, loading and unloading articles, and ship- ping and trucking,. are designated as indirect production employees. Except for an incentive bonus plan for certain employees who are engaged in direct production work, there is one policy as to wages, hours of work, pensions, insurance benefits, vacations, and overtime, for both production and maintenance employees. Seniority is on a departmental basis. 2This unit includes all electrical maintenance and alteration employees with the usual exclusions. 3 The powerhouse unit covers all powerhouse employees and all employees "working out of he powerhouse," and includes engineers , firemen, firemen helpers, oilers , coal and ash handlers , steamfitters , and plumbers. HOTPOINT, INC. 487 The Board has been reluctant to sever a maintenance group, such as that requested by the Firemen and Oilers, from a preexisting pro- duction and maintenance unit, where to do so would disrupt stable collective bargaining relations on a broader basis 4 However, where, as here, there is no collective bargaining history on a broader basis, we have found that the maintenance employees, as a multi-craft group possessing separate interests from those of the production and main- tenance employees, may constitute a separate unit.b There remains for consideration the question of inclusion of the timekeepers and certain other plant clericals in the proposed produc- tion and maintenance unit. The duty of the timekeepers is merely to record the hours worked by the various employees, as well as the number of items finished by those who work under the incentive bonus plan, and to report them to the Employer's pay-roll section which computes and determines the amounts to be paid the various employees. They exercise no independent judgment or discretion in the perform- ance of their duties. Although they are paid on a weekly rather than an hourly basis, this does not essentially distinguish them from the production employees with whom they work and have common in- terests. We shall include them, as plant clericals, in the voting group of production employees.6 There are five shop clerks employed in the production areas of the plant whom the Employer would exclude as confidential employees. They perform various types of paper work, such as typing letters and memoranda, and act as filing clerks, for four departmental foremen and a departmental supervisor. These foremen alid the supervisor represent the Employer at one stage of the grievance procedure. After consideration by the foremen, grievances are referred to the plant superintendent and personnel director. As it appears that the depart- lnental foremen are not concerned with the Employer's general labor relations, we find that the shop clerks do not act in a confidential capacity to any person exercising managerial functions in the field of labor relations.' We shall include the shop clerks in the unit. In view of the foregoing facts and considerations, we believe that the employees may be represented either in a single plant-wide produc- tion and maintenance unit, such as we have customarily found to be appropriate, or in separate units of production employees and mainte- 4 Matter of Kimberly-Clark Corp., 78 N. L. R. B. 478. 5 Matter of Weston Biscuit Company, Inc ., 81 N. L. R. B. 407; Matter of Armstrong Cork Company, 80 N. L. R. B. 1328 . See also Matter of Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 84 N. L. R. B., No. 27. CP. Matter of Celanese Corporation, 84 N. L. R. B., No. 26. 8 Matter of Aragon-Baldwin Mills, Inc., Aragon Plant, 80 N. L. R. B. 1042 ; Matter of Bryant Heater Co., 77 N. L. R. B. 744 ; Matter of H. C. Canfield Co., 76 N. L. R. B. 606. ' Matter of Chrysler Corporation, 84 N. L. R. B., No. 64; Matter of Inter-Mountain Telephone Co., 79 N. L. R. B. 715. 488 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Hance employees. However, we shall make no final unit determination at this time, but shall first ascertain the desires of the employees as expressed in elections among the following groups of employees in the Employer's Milwaukee, Wisconsin, plant: (a) All maintenance employees, including carpenters, millwrights, sheetmetal workers, painters, maintenance machinists, welders, trade helpers, oilers, storekeeper, and janitors and matron in the mainte- nance department, but excluding electricians and their helpers, pro- fessional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. (b) All. production employees including inspectors, tool and die makers, custodial employees, timekeepers, and shop clerks, but ex- cluding powerhouse employees and employees who work from the powerhouse, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as de- fined in the Act. If the majority of the employees in voting group (a) select the Firemen and Oilers, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate aprpopriate unit. 5. The UAW contends that all the-employees who were on the Em- ployer's pay roll at its Milwaukee plant on March 1, 1949, the date when the Employer began to lay off a number of its employees, should be eligible to vote at the election. It bases its contention on the asser- tion that these employees were temporarily laid off and that they would soon be reemployed. The Employer denies that it contemplates the reemployment of its laid-off employees within the immediate fu- ture, and asserts that, on the contrary, it is possible that business con- ditions may require it to make additional lay-offs. We find that the employees severed pursuant to reduction in force have been perma- nently laid off, without any reasonable expectation of reemployment, and are ineligible to vote in the election. We shall adhere to the usual provision for determining voting eligibility in this proceeding. DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS 8 As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur- poses 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 super- vision 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, among the employees in the voting groups described above, who were employed during the pay-roll period im- 8 Any participant in the election directed herein may, upon its prompt request to, and approval thereof by, the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot. HOTPOINT, INC. 489, mediately 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 reinstated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstate- ment, to determine : (1) Whether the employees in voting group (a) desire to be repre- sented for purposes of collective bargaining by International Brother- hood of Firemen and Oilers, Local 125, A. F. L., or by International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, CIO, or by District Lodge No. 10, International Association of Machinists, or by none. . (2) Whether the employees in voting group (b) desire to be repre- sented for purposes of collective bargaining by International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America or by District No. 10, International Association of Ma- chinists or by neither.