Lockheed Aircraft Corp.

In the Matter of LOCKHEED AIRCRAFT CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL UNION 11, A. F. L.1 PETITIONER Cases Nos. 21-R-4908 and 21-RC-800.-Decided November 14, 1949 DECISION AND ORDER Upon a separate petition and motion 2 duly filed, a consolidated hearing in these cases was held before Eugene M. Purver, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the,entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. The Petitioner and International Association of Machinists , District Lodge 727, hereinafter called the Intervenor , are labor organizations claiming to represent employees of the Employer. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRJISENTATION The petition in Case No. 21-RC-800 was filed on April 19, 1949. The Intervenor urges as a bar to this petition its current contract with the Employer. On June 16, 1947, the Employer and Intervenor en- tered into a contract to remain in force for a period of 2 years, and from year to year thereafter, unless notice of a desire to modify the agreement was given not less than 15 days before June 15, 1949, or any subsequent anniversary date. We find that the petition having been filed before the automatic renewal date of the 1947 contract, was I The name of the Petitioner appears as amended at the hearing. 2 On motion of the Petitioner , the record in Case No . 21-R-4028 was reopened in order to consider further the alleged supervisory status of electrician maintenance leadmen, which category was excluded from the appropriate unit in a certification issued by the Board. 78 NLRB 1064 . This reopened hearing was consolidated with the hearing in Case No. 21-RC-800. 87 NLRB No. 8. 40 LOCKHEED AIRCRAFT CORPORATION 41 timely filed, and is not barred by that contract; or by any renewal thereof.3 We find, therefore, that a question affecting commerce exists con- cerning the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. THE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE UNIT (a) The leadmen in Case No. 21-R-4028 As indicated in footnote 2 above, the record in Case No. 21-8-4028 was reopened upon Petitioner's motion to take additional testimony regarding the supervisory status of electrician maintenance leadmen. In the original Decision and Direction of Election in this case the Board stated : 4 Although the inclusion of the electrician leadmen in the unit was opposed on other grounds, none of the parties sought their exclusion on the ground that they are supervisors. However, evidence was adduced at the hearing that the leadmen work with small multi-craft groups and assign work to the members of these groups on the basis of their special capabilities; that they make reports to higher supervision on the performance of the other employees in their groups, as well as on the completion of particular tasks; and that they effectively recommend wage in- creases and promotions for such other employees. We, accord- ingly, find that they are supervisors and shall exclude them from the unit. At the present hearing, as at the original hearing, all the parties were in agreement that the electrician maintenance leadmen are not supervisors. However, the evidence adduced at the present hearing confirms the previous findings, quoted above, that the leadmen work with small 5 multi-craft groups, assign work to the members of these groups on the basis of their special capabilities, and that the leadmen make reports to higher management on the performance of the members of their group. The evidence shows further that the lead- men are hourly paid, while supervisors generally are paid on a salary basis; that the leadmen receive 6 to 10 cents more per hour than the journeyman electrician rate; and that they interpret to the members of their groups the instructions that the leadmen receive from their own supervisors in the form of shop orders and blueprints. While the 8 The Intervenor contended that under Section 8 ( d) (1) of the amended Act the petition in'21-RC-800 was required to be filed 60 days before the termination date of the existing contract , and that this requirement was not met . However, Section 8 (d) (1) does not create a new 60-day "Mill B" date . Manhattan Coil Corporation, 79 NLRB 187. 4 77 NLRB 507. 5 The number in each group ranges from 2 to 28. In most cases the number is about 10. 42 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD leadmen may deviate from the blueprints in minor respects, they can- not make any major change without consulting their supervisors. The two witnesses who testified at the present hearing as to the duties of leadmen,s stated further that leadmen had no power effectively to recommend wage increases or promotions for other employees, or otherwise to affect their status.' Leadmen do not have the same vaca- tion or sick leave benefits as are enjoyed by supervisors generally, and while supervisors in general wear oval badges, the leadmen wear the same round badges as the production workers. They spend part of their time in working with the members of their crew, using the tools of their trade. They do not attend meetings regularly held by the Employer for supervisors. They may request the assignment of addi- tional men to their crews, but have no power to assign members of their crews to other crews or departments, or to determine which of two jobs shall be done first, or to determine the qualifications of their subordinates. Upon the entire record we find that the electrician maintenance leadmen are not supervisors. (b) The electronics electricians in Case No. 21-RC-800 The Petitioner in Case No. 21-RC-800 represents a unit of main- tenance electricians. It now seeks to sever a unit of electronics electricians, excluding supervisors above the rank of leadmen, from the existing contract unit of production and maintenance employees at the Employer's Burbank, California, plant." These employees have been included in the general plant-wide writ, for which the Intervenor has bargained since 1937. They are required to maintain the elec- tronics equipment B in the plant, such as spot welders, the public ad- dress system, the fire alarm system, automatic lathes, blueprint ma- chines, scales, and radios. The duties of the electronics electricians in this respect are distinct from those of the maintenance electricians, who service the power and light distribution systems in the plant up to the point where they connect with the electronics equipment through a switch, plug or control panel. However, the electronics electricians may do the work of maintenance electricians in an emergency and in E Both witnesses , Ted B . Crego and T. R. Maxey , were, themselves, electrician leadmen. 7 In finding in its original decision in Case No . 21-R-4028 that leadmen effectively recommend wage increases and promotions for other employees , the Board relied on the testimony of Robert J. Phelan , a leadman , who had formerly been a supervisor over leadmen, and who was called as a witness by the Petitioner. ` 8 The position of the Intervenor and the Employer on this point was not directly stated in the record . However , it is inferred that the Intervenor opposes the severance of the electronics electricians from the broader unit covered by its contract with the Employer. 9 "Electronics equipment " was defined in the record as equipment controlled by an electric current transmitted ordinarily through a vacuum tube or a gas, rather than through a wire conductor. LOCK$EED AIRCRAFT CORPORATION 43 servicing electronics equipment they perform certain operations, con- stituting about 10 percent of their work, which are also performed by maintenance electricians in their own work, such as stripping, lugging, cutting, tinning, and grouping wires. The work of electronics elec- tricians requires specialized training in electronics. While a basic knowledge of electricity is necessary for this work, it may be done by persons who do not have the skill or training of maintenance. electricians.b0 The electronics electricians have no separate immediate supervision, but are under the same immediate supervision as other maintenance crafts. A special area in the plant is reserved for their use, but about 50 percent of their time is spent in work throughout the plant; they are subject to special hazards from live wires. They use special test- ing and measuring devices peculiar to electronics, in addition to other devices used by the maintenance electricians. While their job de- scription states that they must possess such license or certificate as is required by law, the record is not clear whether electronics electricians are in fact required to be licensed."' Employees doing the work of electronics electricians on a part-time basis were classified as maintenance electricians until February 10, 1947, when, the volume of such work having increased to such an extent as to justify the assignment of employees thereto on a full-time basis, the Employer established a separate classification of electronics electricians. However, in the southern California airframe industry generally there is rio separate classification of electronics electrician, such work being done by specially qualified maintenance electricians ; and no separate units of electronics electricians have been established in the industry in that area. Except for the emergency occasions referred to above, there is now no overlapping of work or interchange between maintenance and elec- tronics electricians in the Employers' plant under consideration. The record also discloses that there are other employees in other departments who work on electronics equipment and whose work is lU One of the Employer 's electronics electricians testified that he had studied electronics for about 2 years, in addition to 3 or 4 years spent in learning the trade of electrician. Another stated that he had studied radio for a year in school and electronics out of school continuously during his 5 years of employment as an electronics electrician. He had previously worked for the Employer for 4 years as a maintenance electrician. On the other hand, there was testimony that other electronics electricians had had no prior expe- rience as maintenance electricians, and that such experience was not necessary for electronics work. 11 An ordinance of the city of Burbank , California, requires that maintenance electricians be licensed. See 77 NLRB 507, 509. The record herein, does not indicate, however, whether this ordinance applies to electronics electricians. 44 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD similar to that performed by the electronics electricians sought by the Petitioner. Without determining whether the electronics electricians constitute a craft, we find that, in view of the fact that the unit sought by Peti- tioner does not include all categories of persons employed by the Respondent in the maintenance of electronics equipment, such unit, apart from any other considerations, is too limited in scope to be appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. We shall, accordingly, dismiss the petition in Case No. 21-RC-800. ORDER Upon the basis of the entire record in Case No. 21-RC-800, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the petition filed therein be, and it hereby is, dismissed. MEMBERS REYNOLDS and MURDOCK took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Order.