Mueller Brass Co.

In the Matter Of MUELLER BRASS COMPANY, EMPLOYER and LODGE No. 218, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, PETITIONER Oases Nos. 7-RC-567, 7-RCD68, 7-RC-569, 7-RC-570, 7-RC-571, and 7-RC-572.Decided January 31,1950 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon separate petitions duly filed in these consolidated cases,' a hearing was held before Francis E. Burger, 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 these cases to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Murdock]. Upon the entire record in these cases, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em- ployees 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 has filed with the Board six separate petitions requesting in each severance of an alleged craft group of employees from the production and maintenance unit, which has been repre- sented since 1942 by the Intervenor, Local 44, International Union, United Automobile Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW-CIO) 2 The individual bargaining units sought 1 The above-numbered cases were consolidated by order of the Regional Director dated July 8, 1949. 2 In 1933, both International Association of Machinists and Brass, Bronze, and Copper Workers Federal Labor Union , Local 18796, AFL, were recognized by the Employer as joint bargaining representatives for all its employees . Their first written agreement was executed in 1937, with these two labor organizations acting jointly in behalf of all the Employer's employees. This company-wide unit was later split into Unit A, consisting of all the tool 88 NLRB No. 53. 431 432 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD by the Petitioner are : (1) All electricians, electrical instrument re- pairmen, hydraulic repairmen, helpers, and apprentices; (2) all sheet metal workers, helpers, and apprentices; (3) all carpenters, helpers, and apprentices; (4) all pipe fitters, helpers, and apprentices; (5) all powerhouse employees; and (6) all masons, helpers, and appren- tices ; each group excluding office and clerical employees, guards, pro- fessional employees, supervisors, and all other employees of the Employer. The Intervenor and the Employer contend that the groups peti- tioned for should not constitute separate units, but should remain part of the existing production and maintenance unit. The Em- ployer moved to dismiss the petition, basing its motion upon the following considerations : (1) What it terms an "inordinate increase" in bargaining units; (2) its past history of amicable labor relations;, (3) past bargaining history upon a broader basis; and (4) the ex- clusion from the proposed units of employees with similar interests.: (1) Electricians : The electricians work under separate supervision in the electric shop, which is a separate room in the millwright build- ing. The electricians are classified as first class, second class, and. electricians' helpers. Although the Employer has no formal appren- ticeship program, the record indicates that it takes approximately- 4 years for an electrician's helper to be upgraded to a first-class, electrician. The electricians, who own their own tools, perform the usual duties of their craft in constructing and maintaining the Em- ployer's electrical equipment. The instrument repairmen work in a separate room adjacent to, the electric shop, under the supervision of the electric foreman. They are trained in electronics work and in handling the delicate electrical and diemakers, die sinkers, tool grinders, pattern makers, machinists, millwrights, heat: treaters, rod and tool mill die crib employees, blacksmiths, tool designers, and their helpers. and apprentices ; and Unit B, consisting of all the production and maintenance employees,. including powerhouse employees, but excluding supervisors, office employees, and plant guards. In 1939 and again in 1943, International Association of Machinists was certified by the Board as representative of the employees in Unit A. In 1942, International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW-CIO), was certified by the Board as representative of the employees in Unit B. Subsequent to the certification, the Intervenor, a local of the certified. union, entered into a series of contracts with the Employer covering the employees in Unit B, including the groups here petitioned for. The most recent of these contracts expiredi prior to the hearing, and was extended orally to September 12, 1949. Upon a petition filed] by the UAW-CIO in February 1949, a Stipulation for Certification upon Consent Election, was enterer} into, resulting in the certification of International Association of Machinists: as representative of the employees in Unit A. On October 13, 1948, International Die Sinkers Conference, Port Huron Die Sinkers,.. Lodge No. 40, was certified as representative of the Employer's journeymen die sinkers and their apprentices. (See 78 NLRB 1092.) The Employer refused to bargain with the certi- fied representative and has petitioned for review of the Board's order directing that it so bargain. (82 NLRB No. 48.) This petition is now pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. MUELLER BRASS COMPANY 433 instruments which are used in maintaining and testing the electri- cal and mechanical instruments used in the Employer's plant. The hydraulic repairmen are under the supervision of the electric foremen. They do not have a shop of their own but work out of an assigned part of the electric shop. The record shows that they are required to have electrical training in order to perform their duties properly. (2) Sheet metal workers: The Employer employs two tinsmiths who work in a shop physically separated from the other divisions of the millwright department. The tinsmiths own most of their own tools; the Employer furnishes only the larger tools necessary for their work. These employees perform the normal duties and functions of sheet metal workers, and apparently possess the high degree of skill usually required of individuals engaged in this type of work. (3) Carpenters: The six carpenters employed by the Employer are classified as first-class carpenters, second-class carpenters, and a car- penter's helper. The carpenters construct and maintain structural woodwork and equipment for the Employer, make and repair benches, partitions, doors, and floors, build forms for concrete work, build wooden patterns, and do such other carpentry work as may be re- quired throughout the plant. The carpenters are required to have their own tools. The carpentry shop occupies a portion of the ma- chine shop and is separated therefrom by a partition. The carpenters work in the millwright department but are separately supervised. (4) Pipe fitters: These employees are under the direct supervision of the pipe fitters' foreman. They work out of the pipe shop, which is located in a separate building. They install new equipment and do maintenance and repair work throughout the Employer's plant. It takes an employee doing pipe fitting work about 5 to 6 years to obtain the skill necessary to reach the classification of first-class pipe fitter in the Employer's shop. (5) Powerhouse employees: These employees work in the power- house,' which is separate from the other buildings of the Employer, under the direct supervision of the chief engineer: Four of the ten employees in the powerhouse are classified as engineers, the remainder being classified as firemen. All four engineers have been so classified in the Employer's plant for five or more years. All these powerhouse employees perform the usual duties relating to powerhouse operation. ' In previous years, during the winter months, the Employer has employed four men to keep space heaters operating in a building some distance from the powerhouse. These four men were classified as firemen, and worked out of the powerhouse. According to the Employer, the, jobs of space heater operators will be abolished about January 1, 1950,, whereupon two of the firemen will be retained in the powerhouse, and the other two will be transferred to production jobs or laid off. 434 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD (6) Masons: The Employer employs five furnace masons, who are separately supervised and who work out of a mason shop, which is a separate room at one end of the Employer's machine shop. The principal occupation of these masons is the relining, with insulating brick, of the melting furnaces used by the Employer. In addition, these masons make the brick for relining the furnaces, and do any bricklaying required throughout the plant. The record indicates that it would take a furnace mason's helper at least 1 year to progress to a first-class furnace mason, and that one of the helpers now employed has worked as a helper for approximately 5 years. Upon the basis of the entire record, and particularly because (1) the employees in the requested units are physically segregated; (2) they are separately supervised; (3) they do not ordinarily inter- change with employes in the production unit; 4 and (4) they are paid upon a different basis from the production employees,' we are satis- fied that the employees in the several groups sought by the Petitioner as separate units are skilled maintenance employees of the type to whom we have customarily accorded separate representation, notwith- standing their prior inclusion in a unit of production and maintenance employees.6 Moreover, the record shows that, despite the absence of a formal apprenticeship program in the Employer's plant, these employees receive, in the course of their employment with the Em- ployer, the necessary training to equip them for the performance of their respective duties? Under all the circumstances herein, we find that each group de- scribed above may constitute a separate appropriate unit or may be included in the existing production and maintenance unit .8 Accord- * Under the contracts between the Employer and the Intervenor , seniority in Unit B became plant-wide after 3 years of employment . Thus employees in the requested units with the requisite seniority could, and did, "bump" production employees in the event of layoffs. S The record shows that all the employees sought by the Petitioner herein, with the possible exception of the carpenters , are paid on a straight hourly basis and receive no incentive pay, as do many of the production workers represented by the Intervenor. The record does not show upon what basis the carpenters are paid, and our conclusion with respect to the carpenters is not based upon this factor. 6Aluminum Company of America, 86 NLRB 1176 ( electricians and instrument re- pairmen ) ; General Aniline & Film Corporation, 79 NLRB 79 (sheet metal workers) ; Heyden Chemical Corporation, 85 NLRB 1181 (carpenters ) ; B. F. Goodrich Chemical Company, 84 NLRB 429 ( pipe fitters ) ; Buffalo Weaving and Belting Company, 85 NLRB 1178 ( powerhouse employees ) ; cf. National Tube Company, 76 NLRB 1199 (masons). 7 Westolos Division, General Time Corporation, 87 NLRB 406. s In view of our findings herein , the Employer 's motion to dismiss the petitions is denied as (1) the freedom of choice of bargaining representatives guaranteed employees by the Act outweighs the possibility that the number of bargaining units might be increased to as extent that the Employer considers "inordinate"; ( 2) we cannot assume that the Employer's labor relations will be any less amicable if the employees herein choose to be represented in separate appropriate units; ( 3) we have frequently held that past bar- gaining history on a broader basis does not preclude us from directing severance elections for appropriate functional groups ; and (4 ) we have excluded no employees with interests identical to those of the employees in the voting groups. MUELLER BRASS COMPANY 435 ingly, we shall make no final unit determination at this time, but shall first ascertain the desires of the employees as expressed in the elec- tions hereinafter directed. We shall direct elections among the fol- lowing groups of employees at the Employer's Port Huron, Michigan, plant, excluding from each group office and clerical employees, guards, professional employees, supervisors, and all other employees of the Employer. Group No. 1-All electricians, electrical instrument repairmen, hy- draulic repairmen, helpers, and apprentices. Group No. 2-All sheet metal workers, helpers, and apprentices. Group No. 3-All carpenters, helpers, and apprentices. Group No. 4-All pipe fitters, helpers, and apprentices. Group No. 5-All powerhouse employees. Group No. 6-All masons, helpers, and apprentices. 5. The determination of representatives : The record shows that many employees previously employed in the units here petitioned for have, for economic reasons, been laid off or transferred to production jobs. The record further shows that the Employer does not anticipate any expansion of operations in the near future. Nevertheless, the present working force is a representative and substantial group and has a reasonable expectation of stable em- ployment. We shall therefore follow our customary practice of di- recting an immediate election among those currently employed.9 DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS 10 As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur- poses of collective bargaining with the Employer, separate 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 these cases were heard, 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 in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Elections, including employees who did not work during said payroll 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 rein- stated prior to the date of the elections and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether ° Southern Athletic Company, Inc., 86 NLRB 908. 0 Any participant in the elections directed herein may, upon its prompt request to, and approval thereof by, the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot. 882191-51-29 436 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by Lodge No. 218, International Association of Machinists, or by Local 44, International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricul- tural Implement Workers of America (UAW-CIO), or by neither.