Lone Star Cement Corp.

In the Matter of LONE STAR' CEMENT CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and LOCAL UNION 716, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, A. F. OF L., PETITIONER Case No. 39-RC-136.-Decided January 31, 1950 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Charles Y. Latimer, 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 Houston and Reynolds]. 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 organizations involved claim 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 appropriate unit : The Petitioner seeks a unit of all maintenance electrical workers and motor tenders at the Employer's Houston, Texas, plant, excluding all other employees and supervisors as defined in the Act. The Em- ployer and the Intervenor, United Stone and Allied Products Workers of America, Local 143, C. I. 0., object to the severance of this group from the production and maintenance unit which has been the bar- gaining unit at the plant for more than 11 years and which is currently represented by the Intervenor. They both contend that plant opera- tions are so integrated as to make severance of any craft unit inappro- priate. The Employer's Houston plant manufactures Portland cement from oyster shell and clay. Its processes include the grinding of the raw 88 NLRB No. 92. 412 LONE STAR CEMENT . CORPORATION 413 materials, mixing and blending, calcining of the blend in 400-foot kilns, regrinding of the cement, and packaging for shipment. The materials are transported throughout the plant by conveyors, overhead cranes,, and elevators during the production process. The Houston plant employs approximately 219 employees, includ- ing the maintenance electrical workers and motor tenders sought by the Petitioner. The plant is in continuous operation on a 24-hour, 3-shift basis and all activities are carried out in 2, divisions known as the operations and maintenance divisions. Both of the divisions are subject to the over-all supervision of the general mill foreman. The operations division is concerned with the actual production of cement, and all production processes are directly supervised by the 3 shift foremen, who direct the work of the 3 daily shifts. The yard, repair, and electrical power departments constitute the maintenance division at the plant and each is under separate supervision. Main- tenance employees from these 3 departments are regularly assigned to work with the 3 daily production shifts and are under the joint supervision of their department foremen and the shift foremen while engaged in work on a shift. All production machinery is operated by approximately 8,000 elec- tric motors scattered throughout the many buildings that constitute the plant. The 12 maintenance electrical workers and motor tenders are required to keep these motors operating properly and to repair them when breakdowns occur? These employees work out of the electrical maintenance shop located in the Employer's powerhouse, and are supervised by the chief electrician. They constitute the elec- trical power department, and there is no interchange of personnel be- tween it and any other department at the Employer's plant, except during an emergency, when all of the plant employees work together to remedy the difficulty. Although the Employer has no apprentice training program for electricians, maintenance electrical workers are either employed as fully trained electricians or have become electricians after serving as motor tenders in the electrical power department. Motor tenders are similar to electrician helpers and their on-the-job training, assisting the electrical maintenance workers, qualifies them for eventual up- grading in the department, when maintenance electrician vacancies occur. Usually motor tenders have been employed in other depart- 1 Although the record indicates that some major repair work is done outside the plant, there employees hook up motor controllers , install new conduits, replace wiring, and rewind some of the motors used at the plant. Work on the Employer's electrical equipment creates hazards peculiar to the work of electricians and not common to the work of the other employees at the Employer 's plant. The record indicates that at least two maintenance electricians have suffered severe burns while working on the Employer 's electrical equipment. 414 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ments, and have applied for such work in order eventually to become skilled electrical workers. Although motor tenders and maintenance electricians are regularly assigned to work on all of the three daily shifts at the Employer's plant, they are not assigned to specific machines, but work throughout the plant wherever electrical equipment repairs are necessary. The shift foremen tell the electrical maintenance men and motor tenders where repairs are needed, but the chief electrician is responsible for the quality of their work. Shift foremen may take disciplinary ac- tion against these employees in cases of indolence or insubordination, but the chief electrician is consulted when other work deficiencies occur. These employees have departmental seniority and are pro- moted in the electrical power department in accordance with their seniority therein. The record as a whole reveals that the employees sought herein are an identifiable, skilled, and homogeneous craft group. Therefore, we find that they may constitute a separate unit, if they so desire, notwithstanding their previous inclusion in a broader unit.2 How- ever, the Board will not make any unit determination until it has first ascertained the desires of the employees involved. We shall direct that an election be held among all maintenance electrical workers and motor tenders 3 at the Employer's Houston, Texas, plant, excluding all other employees, the chief electrician, and all other supervisors as defined in the Act. If, in this election, a majority of the employees voting select the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bargain- ing unit. If, however, a majority of such employees select the In- tervenor, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to continue to be represented by the Intervenor as part of the production and maintenance unit. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur- poses 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 2 United States Gypsum Company, 79 NLRB 1282 . Cf. Reed -Roller Bit Company, 87 NLIIB 314 ( the employees there involved did no motor or transformer rewinding and were subject to assignment to production or maintenance jobs outside the electrical department). s The Petitioner would include in its proposed unit leadermen , journeymen, and appren- tices or helpers. As there are no employees so classified in the unit requested at the Employer's plant, we shall make no , determination as to the inclusion of such categories in the unit found appropriate herein. LONE STAR CEMENT CORPORATION 415 was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulatiolis, among the employees voting group described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the date of this Di- rection of Election, 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 dis- charged 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 reinstatement, to determine whether they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by Local Union 716; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, A. F. of L., or by United Stone and Allied Products Workers of America, Local 143, C. I. 0., or by neither 4 4 The compliance status of United Stone and Allied Products Workers of America, Local 143, C. I. 0., has lapsed since the hearing in this matter . The Regional Director is here- with instructed to delete it from the ballot in the election directed herein if it has not. within 2 weeks from this date, renewed its compliance with Section 9 (f), (g), and (h). No elections shall be scheduled within the 2-week period allowed until and unless compliance has been determined.