Day & Zimmermann, Inc.

In the Matter of DAY & ZIMMERMANN, INC: and UNITED CONSTRUCTION WORKERS, AFFILIATED WITH UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA Case No. 4-R-1595-.-Decided April 5, 1945 Drinker, Biddle and Reath, by Mr. Howard H. Coburn, of Phila- delphia, Pa., and Mr. Homer H. Maxwell, of Cressona, Pa., for the Company. Mr. Martin L. Brennan, of Williamstown, Pa., Mr. Howard R. Sneddon, of Shenandoah, Pa., and Mr. George Bias, for the U. C. W. Mr. Philip M. Curran, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and Mr. Kenneth Bender, of Pottsville, Pa., for the C. I. O. Mr. Thomas Mallon, of Philadelphia, Pa., for the M. T. D. Mr. E. Hefefinger, of West Lawn, Pa., for the Electrical Workers. Mr. Stanley N. Lentz, of Philadelphia, Pa., for the Machinists. Mr. Thomas A. Ricci, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS* STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by United Construction Workers, affil- iated with United Mine Workers of America, herein called the U. C. W., alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen con- cerning the representation of employees of Day & Zimmermann, Inc., Cressona, Pennsylvania, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Charles W. Schneider, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Pottsville, Pennsylvania, on February 6 and 7, 1945. The Company, the U. C. W., United Steelworkers of America, Local Union' #339, C. 1. 0., herein called the C. 1. 0., the Metal Trades Department, A. F. L., herein called the M. T. D., the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, A. F. L., herein called the Electrical Workers, and the International Association of Machinists, A. F. L., herein called the *The Decision and Direction of Elections , issued on April 5, 1945, was, pursuant to a stipulation of the parties, subsequently amended by the Board and, as amended , appears in printed form. 61 N L. R B., No. 48. 347 348 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Machinists, appeared and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Day & Zimmermann, Inc., a Maryland corporation, operates a plant at Cressona, Pennsylvania, where it is engaged in the reclamation, repair, and salvage of ordnance materiel which is sent to the plant from overseas and front various points within the United States. The plant is owned by the Defense Plants Corporation and is leased to the Company. At peak production the Cressona plant processes in excess of 100,000 tons of material weekly. This material is received almost entirely from sources outside the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and, after processing, is shipped almost entirely to points outside that State. The Company also operates a plant at Burlington, Iowa. This proceeding solely concerns the employees of the Cressona plant. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED United Construction Workers, affiliated with the United Mine Workers of America, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. United Steelworkers of America, Local Union #339, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. Metal Trades Department, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and International Association of Machinists, all affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, are labor organizations ad- mitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to grant recognition to the U. C. W. as the exclusive bargaining representative of certain of its employees until the U. C. W. has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. DAY & ZIMMERMANN, INC. 349 A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear- ing, indicates that the U. C. W. represents a substantial number of employees in the unit it alleges to be appropriate." We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT; THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES The U. C. W. and the C. I. 0. request a plant-wide unit of all pro- duction and maintenance employees, subject to certain specified ex- clusions, in the Company's operations, plant engineering (mainte- nance), inspection, and traffic departments, and some clerical em- ployees in the comptroller (general office) department, excluding supervisory personnel. With the exception of timekeepers, whom it would exclude as confidential employees, the Company is in agree- ment with the U. C. W. and the C. I. 0. The Electrical Workers requests a unit of electricians, electricians' helpers, and the light cleaner, in the plant engineering department, and crane operators and crane operator trainees in the operations department. The Machinists requests a unit limited to certain employees in the plant engineering department, consisting of machinists, maintenance mechanics and helpers, machine tool operators, the combination welder, the electric welder, crane repairmen, and the automobile mechanic. The M. T. D. requests a unit essentially limited to plant engi- neering department employees, comprising pipe fitters, carpenters and helpers, laborers, boiler operators, relief men, line attendants and helpers, greasers, mechanical sweeper operators, the oil recovery at- tendant, and the saw filer. It also would include in the unit the steam locomotive operator from the operations department. With 1 The following table summarizes the above-mentioned statement prepared by the Board's Field Examiner Number of N b r um e of employees in the Designations designations it all ed t un eg o b i t submitted checked against e appropr a e by that union pay roll Name of Union : U. C. W---------------------------- 1, 319 610 --- C. 1. 0----------------------------- 1 , 319 614 --- M. T. D---------------------------- 100 20 18 Electrical workers ------------------ 48 30 26 Machinists ------------------------- 39 10 10 *Pay roll for period ending December 31, 1944. The Field Examiner did not check the designations of the U. C. W. and the C. I. 0. against the pay roll because of the low turn-over among the employees in the unit they seek and because the designations they submitted are of recent date. 639678-45-vol 61-24 350 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD very few exceptions, this proposed unit encompasses all employees in the maintenance department aside from those sought by the Electrical Workers and the Machinists. The Company's Cressona plant is primarily a reclamation depot to which are sent a great variety of machines, guns, vehicles, and ordnance parts from distant battlefields. The materiel arrives in boxes which. enter the one-half mile long plant at one end and are carried through the building on hand carts, trucks, a locomotive, and cranes. As the material arrives it is sorted and inspected and then directed to different groups of workmen who rebuild some of it, re- crate undamaged or unused parts, discard useless materiel and ship out all that can be used again. For this continuous salvage operation, the Company employs a great diversity of workmen and its oper- ations are highly integrated. It seeks to coordinate closely the work of all its employees because the type of material that arrives is not known in advance, Government priorities on different parts change from day to day, and there is always a great urgency for immediate shipments. Employees in the operations department work on the salvage materiel itself, sorting, inspecting, rebuilding, marking, crating, and shipping it. Their duties compare to ordinary production workers. The plant engineering department is a maintenance group, including electricians, machinists, carpenters, and a number of other employees together with their respective helpers. Their work consists of keep- ing in repair the building and all permanent fixtures, as well as the great variety of equipment used in the Company's operations. In the inspection department are a group of inspectors and inspector trainees who inspect the materiel before and after it has been worked on. In the traffic department are truck drivers, a chauffeur, a brake- man, a conductor, and a steam locomotive operator. These employees work together with the production employees on company property; the truck drivers sometimes make pick-ups or deliveries outside the plant. In the comptroller department are the Company's clerical and fiscal employees. Some of them are in the office or are confi- dential employees, and others, whom the U. C. W., the C.' I. 0., and the Company agree to include in the bargaining unit with produc- tion and maintenance employees, work throughout the plant in close contact with operations employees. Since the Company operates the plant as an integrated unit on a departmental basis, it is clear that a plant-wide unit as sought by the C. I. 0. and the U. C. W. would be feasible for collective bargaining purposes. We are not persuaded, however, that the alleged craft units requested by the Electrical Workers, the Machinists, and the M. T. D. are appro- DAY & ZIMMERMANN , INC. 351 priate. The Electrical Workers seeks to represent electricians in the plant engineering department, but does not request the electricians employed in the operations department. Its unit, therefore, would be limited to a portion of a craft. On the other hand, the unit it seeks includes crane operators who work in the operations department, and are neither electricians nor maintenance men. Crane operators work in close cooperation with production employees and their duties never include repair work. Clearly the unit requested by the Electrical Workers is not appropriate. In like fashion, the unit requested by the Machinists, although limited to the plant engineering department, is neither homogeneous nor complete. It is substantially a unit of machinists, but it includes welders and automobile mechanics. This unit also includes categories of employees having their counterparts in the operations department, such as machine tool operators and automobile mechanics. For these reasons, we do not believe that the unit sought by the Machinists is an appropriate one. The categories of employees which the M. T. D. seeks to combine in a bargaining unit likewise have no common denominator. It seeks, in effect, a residual unit in the plant engineering department, plus the locomotive operator from the traffic department. • Such a unit is neither craft, functional, departmental, nor homogeneous. It, therefore, is not appropriate. Viewing the various categories of employees sought by the A. F. L. unions as a group comprising the Company's plant engineering depart- ment, however, there appears a functionally and departmentally dis- tinct unit that may well be appropriate for collective bargaining pur- poses. All the employees sought by the Electrical Workers (except for the crane operators who properly belong with the operations department employees), the groups sought by the Machinists, and those sought by the M. T. D. (except for the locomotive operator who properly belongs with the traffic department employees), work under the plant engineer and their duties are limited to repair and mainte- nance of company property and equipment. In the Company's depart- mental organization they form a distinct and separate group. We also note that the Electrical Workers and the Machinists made the alternative request that, in the event the Board should not grant their requests for craft units, but should hold that a unit encompassing the plant engineering department may be appropriate, they desire to be represented on the ballot for such a unit by the M. T. D., without their separate names appearing. In view of the foregoing facts, it appears that all plant engineering department (maintenance) employees, except those specifically ex- cluded by a stipulation of the parties, may comprise a separate appro- 352 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD priate bargaining unit, or that all the Company's production and main- tenance employees , as more specifically set forth below, may comprise a single unit for collective bargaining purposes. Under these circum- stances, we shall defer our determination of the appropriate unit or units. Such determination shall depend, in part, upon the results of the elections which we hereinafter direct. The U. C. W. and the C. I. O.,would include 13 timekeepers whom the Company employs in the comptroller department. The Company urges that they be excluded as quasi-confidential employees who are associated with management. Timekeepers work under the pay-roll timekeeper in a room set off from, the operations employees. They remove time cards from the punch time clocks after each shift and prepare time sheets. They check these time records against others made by the foremen. Except for occasional contacts with production Employees, the timekeepers do clerical work in their separate office. We are of the opinion that these timekeepers are essentially clerical employees having separate interests and we shall exclude them from both voting groups described below. We shall direct elections by secret ballot to be conducted among the employees of the Company in the following groups who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of our Direction of Elections, subject to the limitations and additions set forth therein : (1) All employees in the plant engineering department, including leadmen and gang leaders,2 but excluding janitors, janitor leadmen, general maintenance clerks, foremen's clerks, janitresses, matrons, utility department engineers, draftsmen, the reproduction machine operator," the plant engineer, foremen, superintendents, the master mechanic, the chief designer, the chief electrician, and all other super- visory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, disci- pline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effec- tively recommend such action, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Metal Trades Department, A. F. L., by United Con- struction Workers, affiliated with the United Mine Workers of Amer- ica, by United Steelworkers of America, Local Union #339, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by none of them ; (2) All remaining production and maintenance employees in the Company's operations, plant engineering, inspection, and traffic de- 2 All parties agree to include leadmen and gang leaders . The record discloses that these employees perform the same duties as other production and maintenance employees and have no power to make recommendations affecting the status of other employees. s All parties agree that janitors and janitor leadmen should be included in the residual group All parties agree that janitresses and the matrons should be excluded from both groups because their work is largely limited to the general offices. All parties are also in agreement to exclude from both groups utility engineers , draftsmen , and the reproduction machine operator as technical employees . The parties further agree to exclude general maintenance clerks and foremen 's clerks from both groups. DAY & ZIMMERMANN, INC. 353 partments, including leadmen and gang leaders, crane operators and crane operator trainees, the locomotive operator, all categories of em- ployees in the comptroller department listed in Schedule "A" annexed hereto, but excluding all employees listed in Schedule "B" annexed hereto, all employees in the administrative, industrial engineer- ing, planning, industrial relations, process engineering, and pro- curement departments, timekeepers, and all other supervisory em- ployees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, to determine whether they desire to be repre- sented by United Construction Workers, affiliated with the United Mine Workers of America, by United Steelworkers of America, Local Union $339, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Day & Zimmer- mann, Inc., Cressona, Pennsylvania, separate elections by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than sixty (60) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervi- sion of the Regional Director for the Fourth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among the employees in Groups (1) and (2), described in Section IV, above, who were employed during the' pay-roll period immediately preceding the date' of this Direction, including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation, or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but excluding any who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the elections, to determine : 1. Whether the employees in Group (1) desire to be represented for the purposes of collective bargaining by United Construction Workers, affiliated with the United Mine Workers of America, by United Steel- workers of America, Local Union #339, C. I. 0., by Metal Trades Department, A. F. L., or by none of them; and 2. Whether the employees in Group (2) desire to be represented for the purposes of collective bargaining by United Construction Work- 354 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ers, affiliated with the United Mine Workers of America, by United Steelworkers of America, Local Union #339, C. I. 0., or by neither. SCHEDULE A Employees in the Comptroller Department included by stipulation 1. Receiving checker 2. Storekeeper 3. Tool crib attendant 4. Stores clerk trainee 5. Checker 6. Receiving leader 7. Order filler 8. Material checker 9. Storeroom attendant 10. Stores clerk 11. Stores leader 12. Order taker 13. Delivery man 14. Employee sales clerk SCHEDULE B Operations Department 1. General superintendent 2. Foreman 3. General foreman 4. Foreman trainee 5. Supervisor 6. Superintendent 7. Foreman's clerk 8. Probationary foreman trainee 9. Probationary foreman Plant E'iigineerirng Department 1. Plant engineer 2. Foreman 3. Superintendent 4. Master mechanic 5. Chief designer 6. Chief electrician 7. Utility department engineer 8. Draftsmen 9. Reproduction machine op- erator 10. Janitress 11. Matron Inspection Department 1. Assistant chief inspector 3. Inspection foreman 2. Supervisor of inspection office 4. General foreman 1. Traffic manager Traffic Department 2. Garage foreman