Carbide & Carbon Chemicals Corp.

In the Matter Of CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION, EM- PLOYER and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, DISTRICT LODGE No. 167, PETITIONER In the Matter of CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION, EM- PLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL 760, AFL, PETITIONER In the Matter of CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION, EM- PLOYER and TJNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS & JOINERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 50, AND MILLWRIGHT' AND MACHINERY ERECTORS LOCAL 1002, AFL, PETITIONER In the Matter of CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION, EM- PLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BOILERMAKERS, IRON SHIP BuaLDERS AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 350, AFL, PETITIONER In the Matter of CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION, EM- PLOYER and UNITED GAS, COKE AND CHEMICAL WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER Cases Nos. 10-RCD01, 10-RC-636, 10-RC-570, 10-RC-571, 10-RC- 624,10-RC-626, and 10-RC-694.-Decided February 1, 1950 DECISION AND ORDER Upon separate petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing 2 Was held before James W. Mackle, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.3 All parties have requested permission to present I Amended at the hearing to include the Millwrights as joint petitioner. 2 The petitions as consolidated for hearing did not include the one involved in Case No. 10-RC-694, which was filed during the course of the hearing. As the facts necessary for a decision of the issues raised by that petition are fully covered in the record, it is hereby consolidated for decision with the other petitions involved herein. 3 The IAM contends that it was prejudiced and denied due process in that its representa- tives were excluded from a tour of part of the Employer's operations made by the hearing officer before the hearing commenced in order to familiarize himself with the work classifi- cations and duties of the employees herein involved. The IAM contends that as a result of this tour the hearing officer became convinced that only a plant-wide bargaining unit was appropriate. We find no merit in this contention. Representation proceedings are 88 NLRB No. 98. 437 438 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD oral argument before the Board. These requests are denied because, in our opinion, the record and the briefs submitted adequately present the issues and the positions of all the parties. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Murdock]. Upon the entire record 4 in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer, a New York corporation, operates several Gov- ernment-owned plants in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, under a cost-plus-a- fixed-fee contract with the United States Government. We are here concerned only with two plants designated K-25 and Y-12. All raw materials used by the Employer in these plants are delivered to it by the Government in Oak Ridge, and after certain processing opera- tions have been performed, the products are turned over to the Gov- ernment in Oak Ridge. For security reasons detailed information relating to the scope of the Employer's operations were not disclosed at the hearing, Without conceding that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act, the Employer admits that the com- merce facts submitted in a confidential report to the Board in an earlier case 6 are substantially the same at this time. On those facts We have previously determined, and we again find, that the opera- tions of the Employer affect commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The organizations involved : International Association of Machinists, District Lodge No. 167, herein called the IAN; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 760,6 AFL, herein called the IBETV; United Brother- hood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local 50, and Millwright and Machinery Erectors Local 1002, AFL,7 herein called the Car- investigatory in character rather than adversary. The hearing officer's statement made at the commencement of this hearing makes clear his neutral functions and responsibilities. The Board makes its own determination upon the facts adduced , and the sole duty of the hearing officer is to present a complete record , upon which the Board, and not the hearing officer, may in the first instance determine the facts and predicate thereon pertinent con- clusions. See Stokely Foods, Inc., 78 NLRB 842 ; Pure Oil Company (Heath Refinery), 74 NLRB 1382 ; N. L. R. B. v. Botany Worsted Mills, 133 F. 2d 876 (C. A. 3). The instant record does not disclose that any party was denied an opportunity to introduce evidence pertinent to the issues or was otherwise prejudiced by the hearing officer 's conduct. * After the hearing the Machinists filed a "Motion to Correct Record " wnicn was served on all the parties. As none of the parties have objected thereto, this motion is hereby granted and the record amended to conform to the motion. 5 Carbide and Carbon Chemicals Corporation, 73 NLRB 134. 8 The IBEW petition was originally filed by Local 204 . This local, under authority of its international , was subsequently merged into Local 760 . The hearing officer properly granted the IBEW motion to substitute Local 760 as the Petitioner. ' The Chemical Workers objected to the intervention of the Carpenters-Millwrights on the ground that they had made no showing of interest in the matter. We have frequently held that the showing of interest is an administrative matter for determination by the CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION 439 penters-Millwrights; International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders and Helpers of America, Local 350, AFL, herein called the Boilermakers; and United Gas, Coke and Chemical Work- ers of America, CIO, herein called the Chemical Workers, are labor organizations claiming to represent employees of the Employer. 3. For the reasons stated below, we find that no question affecting commerce exists concerning 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 Petitioners, other than the Chemical Workers, seek to repre- sent craft and./or departmental units of employees at the K-25 and Y-12 plants of the Employer. The Employer and the Chemical Workers contend that only an over-all production and maintenance unit at each plant is appropriate. As the two plants are separate operations, and there is no request for units covering both, we shall consider them separately. THE K-25 PLANT The units requested In Case No. iO-RC-570, the IBEW seeks to represent a unit of cable splicers ; electric field operators ; electric field operator leaders ; elec - trical mechanics, first class and second class; electrical mechanic group leaders; electricians, first and second class; instrument mechanics, first class and second class; heavy equipment operator B; linemen ; switch- board operators; switchboard operator leaders; turbine operators; and turbine operator leaders. In Case No. 10-RC--636, the IAM seeks a unit 8 of all instrument makers; all machine tool mechanics (and/or repairmen ) ; machinists, first and second class; machinists specialists ; and welders, first class and second class. In Case No . 10-RC-634, the Carpenters-Millwrights, joint peti- tioner in this case , seeks to represent a unit of carpenters , first and second class ; carpenters, shop, first and second class; carpenter group Board and not subject to collateral attack. Stokely Foods, Inc., 78 NLRB 842; C. D. Jennings & Company, 68 NLRB 516. 8 The Employer objected to several unit amendments made by the IAM contending that under the rule in Hyster Company, 72 NLRB 937, the final amendment actually constituted a new petition and was therefore untimely filed. We do not agree. Under Board rules and procedure , a petitioner may amend its unit at any time before the close of the hearing, and in the event it seeks a unit larger than originally requested, it is required that a substantial showing of interest in the larger unit be made. The IAM submitted additional authoriza- tion cards at the hearing in support of its amended petition . The present situation is dis- tinguishable from the Hyster case. There the Petitioner amended its petition to a unit much larger and substantially different from that originally petitioned for. Here the amended unit is actually an expanded unit of the same or similar classifications of employees sought. 440 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD leaders; locksmiths; maintenance mechanics, first and second class; maintenance mechanic group leaders; refrigeration mechanics; re- frigeration mechanic group leaders; scale mechanics, lubrication men; and lubrication group leaders. In Case No. 10-RC-626, the Boilermakers seeks a unit of all main- tenance employees in the boiler room and turbine room at the K-25 powerhouse in the following classifications: helpers; insulators, first and second class; maintenance mechanics, first and second class; main- tenance mechanic group leaders; utility men; and welders, first and second class. The operations involved K-25 plant, which the Employer has operated since 1943, produces enriched fissionable isotopes by the use of a gaseous diffusion process. This is essentially a physio-chemical process in which uranium hexa- fluoride is cycled and recycled through thousands of porous barriers. The process is a continuous one 9 requiring the use of thousands of miles of pipe, thousands of pumps and motors, and innumerable intri- cate electrical and electronic mechanisms. K-25, which is repre- sented as the largest continuous process plant in the world under a single roof, is U-shaped, approximately 1 mile long, a twelfth of a mile wide, 4 stories high, and covers 60 acres. Together with 70 other auxiliary buildings the operation covers a 600-acre tract. There has been a wide fluctuation of employment at this plant. It reached its peak of 11,700 employees in May 1945, but because of new plant in- stallations, acquisition) of greater technological skills in operations, greater integration of the work, and the development of new equip- ment, employment has dropped to 4,400, even though production has increased. The entire operation at the K-25 plant is coordinated from a central point where plant data are continuously and automatically reported by a vast variety of instruments, the information recorded, the need for maintenance of equipment detected, and the decision made as to what maintenance is required and how it shall be scheduled. Because plant operations must be continuous, maintenance work is presched- uled, coordinated and synchronized with production. Although, for administrative purposes, there are operating and maintenance divi- sions in the plant,10 in the actual performance of maintenance work both operating and maintenance personnel with divergent job classi- fications often work together under common supervision. Thus, for 9 The plant operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 10 The K-25 plant is divided into 10 divisions . These include process, general mainte- nance, electrical and instrument maintenance , plant engineering, power, industrial rela- tions and plant protection , manufacturing office, engineering development, laboratory, and safety and inspection. CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION 441 example, on certain replacement work, maintenance mechanics, elec- tric mechanics, welders, and process operators function together under a single foreman. The continuous production process requires considerable flexibility in the use of manpower. The record discloses that there have been frequent transfers of employees from one job classification to another "- ,and employees have been used to perform work in more than one classification .12 This flexibility is further reflected in the fact that there is no apprenticeship program in the plant and the Employer fills vacancies from available employees in any other classification rather than hire new employees from outside the plant. This resulted in the elimination of many job classifications in the plant 13 as the work previously performed by the employees reclassified has been absorbed and integrated by employees in other job classifications. All employees in the plant are governed by the same job evaluation policy, are subject to the same plant rules, and share the same medi- cal, insurance, and retirement plans. History of collective bargaining There was no collective bargaining at the K-25 plant until 1946.14 In April 1946, after several petitions for craft units had been filed, the Board conducted a special investigation which resulted in a finding that only a unit of all production and maintenance employees was appropriate. Thereafter, a number of unions, including the IAM, IBEW, and the Carpenters, who had previously filed petitions for individual craft units, withdrew their several petitions, banded to- gether as the Atomic Trades and Labor Council, AFL, and filed a representation petition for a production and maintenance unit. A consent election in which the Chemical Workers 15 also participated, was held in August 1946. As neither of the participating unions re- ceived the required number of votes it was necessary to have a run-off election, which was held in September 1946 and resulted in the selec- tion of the Chemical Workers as the bargaining representative of the production and maintenance employees. A contract was exe- 11 Guards, helpers , maintenance mechanics , and operators have become boiler operators, electrical mechanics, instrument mechanics , material expeditors , welders, and switchboard operators ; pump operators and switchboard operators have become electrical mechanics and instrument mechanics ; instrument mechanics have become maintenance mechanics and material expeditors ; pipe fitters have become maintenance mechanics and welders, etc. "Maintenance mechanics do millwright work and rigging work in the powerhouse. The maintenance mechanic assigned to the tool repair shop does electrical work ; car- penters assist in erection of machinery ; converter men do some millwright work, etc. 18 The number of job classifications in the plant have been reduced from 222 to 133. " Several petitions for craft units filed prior to 1946 were subsequently withdrawn. 1a The Chemical Workers participated as CIO, Atomic Workers Organizing Committee, UGC & CWA. 442 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD cuted on December 9, 1946. A subsequent election on the basis of an over-all production and maintenance unit was held in 1947. The Chemical Workers,"having received a majority of the votes cast, exe- cuted a contract on December 9, 1947. This contract was modified on August 9, 1948. The existing contract between the Employer and the Chemical Workers covering all production and maintenance em- ployees, was executed on June 9, 1949.1' The record indicates that the collective bargaining history of the Employer at this plant has followed the general pattern of collective bargaining in the major part of the chemical industry which has been predominately on an over-all production and maintenance basis 17 Conclusions as to the K-25 plant The facts set forth above amply demonstrate the highly integrated character of the operations in the K-25 plant, and the extent to which the interests and working conditions of all employees have been fused. The unique nature of the product manufactured, the complexity of the equipment employed, and the need for continuous production has created a situation in which the jobs of most of the employees-and, in particular those engaged in maintenance work-cross craft lines and have become the jobs of specialists adapted to the particular op- eration of this plant. On these facts the Employer and the Chemical Workers urge that we find this plant comparable to those in other industries in which we have concluded that, for that industry, units which embrace less than all production and maintenance employees are inappropriate for collective bargaining.,,, However, we need not reach that basic question in this case. We have carefully examined the voluminous evidence pertaining to the job tasks of each classification in the plant, and we are.persuaded that the units as proposed are inappropriate without regard to the question of whether the industry is one in which less than plant-wide units should be permitted. Essentially, all of the requested units suffer from the same fundamental defects which militate against their 16 The Chemical Workers contends that this contract is a bar to the petitions filed herein. As we are dismissing the petitions for other reasons hereinafter set forth, we find it unnecessary to pass upon this contention. "The Employer introduced in evidence a report by the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., of Washington, D. C., on "Bargaining Units in the Chemical Industry," based on contracts filed with the BNA and with the Industrial Relations Branch of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor, which shows that 86.6 percent of the collective bargaining contracts in the chemical industry provides for over-all production and main- tenance groups, with the standard supervisory, clerical, etc., exclusions. This report was also accepted as evidencd in E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Inc., 85 NLRB 1301 ; and Sylvania Division, American Viscose Corporation, 84 NLRB 202. 18 E. g., Weyerhauser Timber Company (Springfield Lumber Division). 87 NLRB 1076; Ford Motor Company (Maywood Plant), 78 NLRB 887; National Tube Company, 76 NLRB 1199. CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION 443 appropriateness for collective bargaining: they are all heterogeneous groupings of employees with diffuse supervision, some of whom are true craftsmen, but most of whom are not; and they are all too limited in scope in that they do not include all employees performing the same or similar tasks. This conclusion is demonstrated in a general examination of the particular units requested. Thus, for example, the unit sought by the IBETV includes turbine operators but does not include process opera- tors whose basic work is similar in that they both use similar instru- ments to observe and control flows and temperatures, operate complex electronic instruments for the determination of gas analysis, and operate similar auxiliary equipment, such as pumps and fans which assist in major control functions. Electrical mechanics sought in this unit work all over the plant and at times perform nonelectrical work such as carpentry and plumbing. They use tools and instru- ments not associated with the electricians craft, such as metal working tools, welding torches, drill presses, and lathes, and at times work under the supervision of a maintenance mechanic supervisor. This proposed unit also includes instrument mechanics whose functions ap- pear comparable to those of instrument repairmen whom we have in the past excluded from proposed units of electricians on the ground that they are not a part of the electricians craft 19 The proposed unit of the IAM includes instrument makers, some of whom are assigned to the laboratory and others to the plant engineer- ing division. They rebuild and alter complex electronic instrumenta- tion, which work is closely related and tied in with the work of instrument mechanics and electrical mechanics who are not included in the proposed unit. Machinists are loaned from one department to another under separate supervision, as the work requires. They have been assigned to the machine shop in the instrument building and have spent considerable time in the barrier plant. Many of them are also engaged directly in the production process. The welders sought to be included in this unit constitute only a portion of the welders in the plant. The employees in the unit sought by the Carpenters-Millwrights include carpenters who often perform other than carpentry work. They fabricate and install reinforced steel doors, perform insulation work, erect steel fences, do spickling,20 and often do ordinary laborer's work. Carpenters are in frequent contact with process workers, and 11 George S. Mephavz Corporation, 78 NLRB 1081 ; Tin Processing Corporation, 78 NLRB 96; Mathieson Alkali Works (Inc.), 67 NLRB 716; The B. F. Goodrich Company, 55 NLRB 338. 20 Spickling consists of filling in cracks and nail dents on wallboard preparatory to painting. 444 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 50 percent of their time in the process area is under the supervision of either operators or maintenance mechanics, and, in some instances, under electrical supervisors. Maintenance mechanics perform work not usually associated with their classification. They do carpentry work, build scaffolds, pour concrete, do rigging, and sheet metal work. There are other employees in the plant not included in the unit, who also do related carpenter work. These include insulators, who build transite boxes around valves; instrument mechanics who build their own box-like carts on wheels; cement finishers who often erect and tear down forms; and electric mechanics and mechanics in the power- house who take down scaffolding. The unit proposed by the Boilermakers includes employees who perform boiler and turbine maintenance work in the powerhouse. This type of work is also performed by electrical mechanics, instru- ment mechanics, machinists, painters, and carpenters, who are not included in the proposed unit. The maintenance mechanics sought work closely with operators and other maintenance employees in the power division, and on large scale maintenance jobs, they are aug- mented by other maintenance employees in various classifications from all over the plant. On occasion the maintenance mechanics perform rigging operations in the removal of generator heads and spindles. They build scaffolds, do insulation work, sheet metal work, and work, on refrigeration equipment. The Boilermakers also seeks to include welders in the unit, although the welders sought do not confine them- selves to working exclusively with other employees in the proposed unit but work with any classification of employees that requires their services. On the basis of the foregoing, and the entire record in this case, we find that none of the Petitioners in the cases involving the K-25 plant has established that the unit it seeks embraces employees with a sufficient community of interest to warrant representation as a sep- arate bargaining unit. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the several petitions involving the K-25 plant.21 THE Y-12 PLANT The units requested In Case No. 10--RC-201, the IAM seeks a unit of all employees clas- sified as automotive mechanics, carbon machine hands, carbon shop group leaders, machine hands, machinists, machinists (carbon), ma- chinists (experimental), machinist group leaders, maintenance me- 21 See Reed Roller Bit Company, 87 NLRB 314; Celanese Corporation of America, 84 NLRB 207 ; Welding Shipyards, Inc., 81 NLRB 936; Carborundum Company, 80 NLRB 756. CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION 445 chanics, mechanical instrument makers, millwrights, millwright group leaders, P. F. carbon machinists, P. F. machinist group leaders, P. F. shop inspectors, R. E. development mechanics, stand-by main- tenance mechanic group leaders, tool crib attendants in machine shop, tool and die makers, tool and die maker group leaders, vacuum service mechanics, and vacuum service mechanic group leaders. In Case No. 10-RC-571, the IBEW seeks a unit of all employees classified as electrical assistants, electronic instrument makers, elec- tronic maintenance mechanics, electronic maintenance mechanic group leaders, instrument mechanics, instrument mechanic group leaders, linemen, maintenance electricians, maintenance electrician group leaders, and telephone repairmen. In Case No. 10-RC-694, the Chemical Workers seeks a unit of all hourly paid employees with the usual exclusions. The Carpenters and Millwrights, Intervenor, seek a unit of all carpenters, carpenter group leaders, grinders and polishers, lock- smiths, maintenance mechanics, metal layout and fabricators, metal layout and fabricator group leaders, millwrights, millwright group leaders, refrigeration mechanics, scale mechanics, stand-by mainte- nance mechanics, stand-by maintenance mechanic group leaders, vacuum service mechanics, vacuum service mechanic group leaders, converter maintenance men, and converter group leaders. The operations involved The Y-12 plant, located in Oak Ridge, has been operated by the Employer for the Government since May 1, 1917. It consists of over 100 buildings, occupies an area about 2 miles long and one-third of a mile wide, and is approximately 13 miles from the K-25 plant. Originally set up as an electromagnetic separation plant for the pro- duction of Uranium 235, certain changing conditions caused the clos- ing down of some of the processes and the placing of the plant in a stand-by condition. Subsequently a research program was under- taken and at the time of the hearing the Y-12 plant was in operation on research and development activities, in which certain chemical ele- ments were being separated into various isotopes which are used for research purposes. Because of a desire that only the minimum num- ber of employees possible be even remotely acquainted with any phase of the activity at this plant, employees are trained to perform as many different types of work as possible, regardless of their classifications. This has resulted in a reduction in force without a reduction of the scope of the work performed because the full scale research program, 12 This ninnt wns fnrmrriv onerated by the Tennessee Eastman Corporation. 446 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD by the use of a minimum number of employees, incorporated practi- cally all of the jobs originally performed. Thus from a peak employ- ment of 22,500 in August 1945, employment at the plant was reduced to 1,745 employees, and at the same time the number of employee classifications in the plant have been reduced from 420 to 139. At the time of the hearing there were approximately. 500 maintenance employees and about 400 production employees in the plant. The production and maintenance employees are paid on an hourly basis as compared to professional, technical, and clerical employees who are paid on a salary basis. The Y-12 plant is organized into five major divisions.23 Two of these divisions, chemical, and research and development, process the end product, while the maintenance division acts as an auxiliary group to aid production efforts. There is an extensive overlapping and in- terrelationship of jobs within and across divisional and departmental lines within this plant. The work of employees in the units sought is not restricted to any particular department or to the traditional skills of their respective crafts. The same classification of employee performs maintenance, production, research, and experimental work, in the course of which they are intermingled and interchanged and come under different supervision. Machine tools and shops,24 located in both maintenance and production areas of the plant, are used in- discriminately by production, maintenance, technical, and research employees. Employees often perform duties outside their classifi- cations, work under different craft supervision, and their work is so coordinated with production that it is often blended into and be- comes a part of the research and production program. Thus, a stand- by crew consisting of maintenance mechanics, maintenance electricians, and a maintenance mechanic group leader, repair, operate, and main- tain equipment in the large number of stand-by buildings and perform work, including precision work, of millwrights, pipe fitters, ma- chinists, vacuum and utility operators, sheet metal workers, and truck drivers. Likewise employees in other classifications throughout the plant, who exercise craft skills similar to some of the employees sought, are not included in the proposed units. Thus chemical operators, in the performance of their duties, do millwright, pipe fitting, and elec- trical work. And process operators on production work perform duties of other classifications by operating a drill press, a hydraulic break press, a mechanical and diffusion vacuum pump, and by chang- ing oil, cleaning pumps, and operating electrical equipment. 23 Engineering and maintenance , research and development , chemical production, manu- facturing office, and industrial relations. R4 There are 16 machine shops in the Y-12 plant located in 12 different buildings and operated by both production and maintenance employees in various classifications. CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION 447 All employees in the Y-12 plant share common working conditions, participate in the same employee benefits, and are governed by the same wage standards and grievance procedure. Collective bargaining There is no history of collective bargaining at this plant. Al- though petitions for craft units have been filed in the past , no elec- tions on this basis have ever been field, the petitions having been either dismissed or withdrawn. A consent election for an over-all unit of production, maintenance , and process employees was con- ducted in August 1946 and a runoff election held in September 1946 with the Chemical Workers and the Atomic Trades and Labor Council, AFL '25 on the ballot. Neither union won the election and the petitions were accordingly dismissed. Conclusions as to the Y-12 plant From the foregoing it is apparent that the close integration of operations, interchange of employees, and general community of interest of all employees which we found to exist in the K-25 plant likewise obtains in the Y-12 plant. It is clear, however, that here, as in the K25 petitions, we need not determine that only a'unit em- bracing all production and maintenance employees is appropriate ; for the same defects which we found in the units sought in the K-25 plant exist here. The units requested are too limited in scope, and involve a heterogeneous grouping of employees who are at most specialists, are diversely supervised, and have no community of in- terest which warrants segregating them iii separate units. Thus the unit sought by the IAN, which is fundamentally a main- tenance type unit, includes certain machinists and their group lead- ers in the maintenance division who perform machining operations on materials which are for production purposes only. Some of these employees have been assigned to work in the research and develop- ment division under entirely different supervision from that of others of these machinists. Some of the P. F. machinists fabricate specialized parts under production supervision for use in produc- tion programs. They are also called upon to work for staff chem- ists. The stand-by maintenance mechanics and their group leader, together with two maintenance electricians not included in the pro- posed unit, constitute a stand-by crew who maintain, repair, and .operate all equipment in stand-by condition. Their work includes 25 The Council was composed of several craft unions and included the IAM and the IBEW, Petitioners, and the Carpenters, Intervenor, herein. 448 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD that ordinarily performed by pipe fitters, millwrights, operators, electricians, carpenters, laborers, and others. They operate machine tools, lathes, drill press, shaper, hacksaw, power saws, etc. The tool crib attendant not only furnishes tools, equipment, and materials to the employees in this proposed unit, but performs the same services for all employees regardless of their classification. The tool and die maker does all the tool and die work which comes into the shop from all departments of the plant, including parts for production purposes. Included in the unit sought by the IBEW is the electronic instru- ment maker whose work is confined to the mass spectrometer which is a necessary adjunct to production. His work is not, however, limited to the electrical phases of this instrument, but includes any job con- nected with making, repairing, constructing, and installing parts used in the mass spectrometer. He builds vacuum systems which require glass blowing, silver soldering, copper tubing, pipe fitting of water lines, and the removal and installation of mechanical and diffusion vacuum pumps. He services and actually builds simple systems which work includes carpentry fabrication of plywood panels. He repairs, constructs, and installs valves and performs high precision work using shop tools such as lathes, milling machines, and drill presses, which are also used by professional employees, physicists, chemists, and engineers. He works closely with the mechanical instrument maker, not included in the proposed unit, and is under the supervision of an operating supervisor. The electronic maintenance mechanic also spends at least 50 percent of his time on work which is nonelectrical. He fabricates metal and wooden panels and angle irons and installs them. He paints panels,, stencils numbers, and does spot welding and insulating of heating elements. He is under the supervision of the uranium operations foreman. Because of the complex nature of the research and development program the electronic maintenance me- chanic in that division extends his duties into other so-called crafts and includes making repairs to mechanical components of electrical equipment. He operates cranes, hoists, and a transporter, and oper- ates trucks to transport heavy equipment. He also installs new bush- ings and pipe connections on experimental transformers, and operates vacuum equipment for diagnostic purposes. He comes in close con- tact with operating personnel, works with maintenance employees on large projects, and is under the supervision of professional engineers. Maintenance electricians perform some work in the chemical area and some in the electric shop. Some unassigned maintenance mechanics work in the steam plant and in the operating area, in close contact with other employees, and do some repair work in the shop and in the process area. They also work in crews with carpenters, millwrights, CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION 449 pipe fitters, and riggers. The Petitioner does not seek to represent the electroplater who performs certain electrical work in the perform- ance of his duties. The unit sought by the Carpenters-Millwrights includes carpenters but does not include other employees such as pattern makers, riggers, and the stand-by maintenance crew, who perform carpenter work. Millwrights in this unit, scattered throughout the plant, fabricate enormous quantities of sheet metal, under the direction of chemical personnel, which work is closely tied in with the production process. Millwrights also work side by side with, and receive instructions from, operating personnel and work closely with isotope production em- ployees in the isotope production area. In the performance of their duties millwrights have also been assigned to do pipe fitting work, and, similarly, pipe fitters have been assigned to a crew to do millwright work. The refrigeration mechanic, in the performance of his duties, uses a welding torch, does silver solder work, and breaks pipe connections. On the basis of these facts, and the record as a whole, and for the reasons stated above, we conclude that the units sought by the IAM, the IBEW, and the Carpenters-Millwrights in the Y-12 plant are inappropriate for collective bargaining and we shall dismiss their petitions. As noted above, the Chemical Workers has petitioned for a unit of all production and maintenance employees in the Y-12 plant. How- ever, we are not satisfied that the showing of interest submitted by the Chemical Workers is sufficient under present Board practice.26 Accordingly we shall dismiss the Chemical Workers petition without prejudice. ORDER IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petitions in Cases Nos. 10-RC-201, 10-RC-636, 10-RC-570, 10-RC-571, 10-RC-624, and 10-RC- 626 filed herein be, and they hereby are, dismissed. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition in Case No. 10-RC-694 filed herein be, and it hereby is, dismissed without prejudice. 20 Under our present practice 30 percent is considered a substantial showing. The Chem- ical Workers showing does not equal that amount.