Chrysler Corp.

In the Matter of AMPLEX MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A DIVISION OF CHRYSLER CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER Case No. 7-RC-524.-Decided August 3,1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Cecil Pearl, 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 labor organization involved 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 Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all office and clerical employees employed in the office of the Employer, excluding engineers, sales engineers, technicians, executives, supervisors, and all other em- ployees now represented by a union. The Employer takes no position as to the appropriateness of the unit, but agrees with the Petitioner to the exclusion of certain employees, stipulating that there are no em ployees sought by the Petitioner in the following departments : De- partment A 15, Medical ; Department A 19, Stores ; Department A 20, Receiving; Department A 42, Plant Protection; Department A 25, Janitor; Department A 27, Inspection; Department A 31, Tool Room; Department A 34, Tool Cribs; Department A 36, Laboratory; De- partment A 40, Boiler House; Department A 41, Electricians; De- partment A 45, Mill Wrights; and all production departments. 85 N. L. R. B., No. 90. 523 ,524 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The parties disagree, however, concerning the inclusion and exclu- sion of the following employees whom the Petitioner seeks to include and the Employer to exclude : The Employer. employs two telephone operators in Department A 920. These operators operate the plant switchboard and perform the usual duties associated with such operation. In addition, they act as receptionists. The Employer asserts that these switchboard oper- ators should be excluded from the unit, because in the performance of their duties they may overhear conversations containing confidential labor relations information. These employees, however, do not act in :a confidential capacity to persons exercising managerial functions in the labor relations field; we shall include then in the unit? The Employer also contends that the driver in Department A 10 should be excluded from the unit because, as a chauffeur, his duties place him in a position to overhear discussions between the Employer's -officers relative to confidential labor matters, and because he may also be required to transport and deliver confidential papers relating to labor matters. The record discloses that while he may sometimes deliver confidential papers, he does not acquaint himself with their contents, and that his principal duties consist of driving visitors and 'customers to and from the plant: He is carried on the office pay roll, and has not been included in the production and maintenance unit. It is clear that this employee's duties do not bring him within the -category of employees which the Board considers as confidential, and we shall therefore include him within the unit.2 The Employer also seeks the exclusion of the secretaries to the heads .of departments A 32, A 38, A 920 and A 10, on the ground that if the Petitioner is certified and secures a contract these employees may type :answers to grievances. The record discloses that the department heads 'for whom these employees act as secretaries do not formulate or effect- uate the Employer's general labor relations policies. We find that these secretaries are not confidential employees within our customary definition, and shall include them in the U111 t.3 The Petitioner wishes to include the employee, Julia A. Miller, who sometimes takes dictation from the Employer's president. The record reveals that Mrs. Miller spends approximately 25 percent of her time taking dictation from the sales engineer and that she also files copies of order acknowledgments and collects previous correspondence on out-of-town orders. She has only occasionally taken dictation from 1 Matter of Smith Paper, Inc ., 76 N. L . R. B. 1222. 2 See footnote 1, supra. 3 Matter of Electrical Controller and Manufacturing Company, 69 N. L. R. B. 1242 ; Matter of Ford Motor Company ( Chicago Branch ), 66 N. L. R, B. 1317; Matter of Chrysler Corporation, 84 N. L. R. B. 516. AMPLEX MANUFACTURING COMPANY 525 the Employer's president, and the record indicates that none of that dictation dealt with labor matters. We shall include her in the unit.' Sought to be excluded by the Employer are two group leaders in Department A 920. These employees, James M. Fitzpatrick and Eve- lyn McNamara, assign work to employees who work in the section with them, but do not have the authority to hire or discharge these ,employees or to make effective recommendations concerning their -status. As their duties appear to be primarily of a routine nature which do not call for the exercise of independent judgment, we find that these group leaders are not supervisors within the meaning of the Act. We shall include them in the unit.' We find that all office and clerical employees employed in the office ,of the Company, including telephone operators of Department A 920, :secretaries to department heads in Departments A. 32, A 38, A 920, and A 10, the driver in Department A 10, the stenographer Julia A. Miller, and the group leaders in Department A 920,e but excluding confidential clerks and secretaries to executives, namely C. Reynolds and J. Truelsh, secretaries to the president, R. Schmitt and K. Koehler, employees in the Labor Relations, Personnel and Time Study Depart- ments, and M. Buchan, secretary to the assistant to the president, engineers, sales engineers, technicians, executives, all other employees, and all supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Sec- tion 9 (b) of the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election 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 Region in which this case was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National .Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, 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 ' Cf. Matter of Dayton, Price and Co . Ltd., 73 N. L. R. B. 149. 6 Matter of Ohio Power Company, 80 N. L. It . B. 1334. 6 James M. Fitzpatrick and Evelyn McNamara. 526 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein- stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees: on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargain- ing, by International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agri- cultural Implement Workers of America, CIO.