The Rauland Corp.

In the Matter of THE RAULAND CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL B-1031, A. F. OF L. Case No. 13-R-2761.-Decided June 9,1945 Mr. H. E. Christensen, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company. Mr. M. F. Darling, of Chicago, Ill., for the I. B. E. W. Mr. Irving Krane, of Chicago, Ill., for the U. E. Miss Virginia A. Miller, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local B-1031, A. F. of L., herein called the I. B. E. W., alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa- tion of employees of The Rauland Corporation, Chicago, Illinois, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before John R. Hill, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Chicago, Illinois, on February 16, 1945. At the commencement of the hearing, the Trial Examiner granted a motion of United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, C. I. 0., herein called the U. E., to intervene. The Company, the I. B. E. W., and the U. E. 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 an 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 TIIE COMPANY The Raulaiid Corporation is an Illinois corporation engaged in the manufacture of radar, radio, and communications equipment and it oiler- - 62 N. L. R. B., No. 39. 248 THE RAULANV CORPORATION 249 aces four plants located in Chicago, Illinois. During the calendar year of 1944, the Company purchased raw materials valued in excess of $500,000, 40 percent of which was shipped to it from points outside the State of Illi- nois. During the same period, the Company sold products valued' in excess of $1,000,000, 75 percent of which was shipped to points outside the State of Illinois. A total of approximately 1,500 persons are employed by the Company, and the Company is engaged almost 100 percent in the war effort. The Company concedes that it issengaged in commerce within the mean- ing of the National Labor Relations Act. H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local B-1031, affili- ated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization ad- mitting to membership employees of the Company. United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization ad- mitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On or about November 14, 1944, the U. E. and the I. B. E. W., advised the Company that each claimed to represent a majority of the Company's employees and requested recognition as the exclusive agent for purposes of collective bargaining. The Company has refused to recognize either organization until certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicates that each of the labor organizations represents a substantial num- ber of employees in the unit alleged to be appropriate.' We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning of Sec- tion 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The I. B. E. W. seeks a company-wide, four-plant unit of production and maintenance employees, exclusive of certain employee classifications. The parties are in substantial agreement as to the specified composition of the unit with certain exceptions hereinafter discussed, but some question is raised by the U. E. as to whether Plant No. III should be included therein. 1 The Field Examiner reported that the I B. E. W. submitted 668 authorization cards, the U. E. 189 authorization cards; that 607 I. B . E. W. cards and 124 U. E cards bore names of persons appear- ing on the Company's pay roll of November 15, 1944. Thirty-eight of the latter designations appear on those submitted by the I. B E W There are approximately 1,504 employees in the alleged appro- priate unit. Eleven cards submitted were dated between the months of January 1944 , and February 1945, except for 32 I. B. E W. cards which were undated. 2;0 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The Company operates four plants in Chicago, Illinois, located at 4245 N. Knox Avenue, 1400 N. Kostner Avenue, 3020 W. Lawrence Avenue, and 4558 W. Fullerton Avenue, herein referred to as Plants I, II, III, and IV, respectively. All four plants are within a radius of 3/ miles of Plant No. I. The Company refers to, Plant No. I as its main plant and the other three plants as supplementary plants. Originally all operations were housed in Plant No. I, the other plants having been established as emer- gency plants within the past year. Manufacturing operations of a similar nature are carried on in each of the plants except Plant No. III which is used as a warehouse and storeroom. The record indicates that there is considerable interdependence and integration of operations in the Company's four plants. Employees are hired by a central authority and are subject to transfer from one plant to another; all work production is supervised by a single works manager who is located in Plant No. I ; a central office is maintained in Plant No. I. the other plants having only "factory" offices; the plant-protection unit is a single organization guarding all four plants, supervised by a chief guard who reports to the personnel director in Plant No. I ; although Plants No. I, II, and IV maintain regular stockrooms, Plant No. III is used to store materials overflowing from those stockrooms. Plant No. III issues, upon requisition, materials to the other three plants and is staffed by three full-time and eight part-time employees. In view of the close integration between Plant No. III and the other three plants, as shown by the fore- going facts, we are of the opinion, and find, that a four-plant unit is appro- priate for the purposes of collective bargaining E The composition of the unit 11 All parties are agreed that the proposed unit includes all production and maintenance employees, and excludes employees engaged in accounting, file, pay-roll, purchasing, sales, personnel, employee's service, contract termination, production control, material-'control, expediting, electronics,' product engineering and engineering departments ; and timekeepers, works manager, superintendent, general foremen, foremen (Treasury), foremen A and B, chief guard, guards, chief inspector, assistant, chief inspector, inspection engineer, maintenance engineer, chief shipping clerk, and stock department manager. They are in dispute, however, as to the inclusion or exclusion of the categories of employees discussed below : Foremen C, D, and E.-The organizational line of supervision in Plants II and IV runs from the Works Manager, through the Superintendent to the foremen. In Plants I and III the line of supervision runs directly from 2 Matter of Mills Industry, Inc., 57 N. L. R. B. 467. 8 The department referred to is the electronics department located in the general office as dis- tinguishable from that of the production division. THE RAULAND CORPORATION 251 the Works Manager to the foremen. The foremen are classified as "Treas- ury," "A," "B," "C," "D." and "E." The record indicates that the duties and authority of Foremen (Treasury) are comparable to those of Fore- men A. All parties are agreed to the exclusion of Foremen (Treasury), A, and B. The I. B. E. W. requests that Foremen C, D, and E be included in the unit sought . The U.E. contends that such foremen should be excluded as supervisory employees. The Company agrees that Foremen C should be excluded, but takes no position as to D and E. The foreman classifications were established by the Company about a year ago. Foremen (Treasury) are paid on a straight salary basis Fore- men A, B, C, D, and E are paid on an hourly basis. Prior to the establish- ment of those alphabetical classifications, the Company referred to Foremen A and B as Foremen; to C as Assistant Foremen, to D as Supervisors; the testimony indicates that D and E would be comparable to group leaders There are approximately 66 foremen employed by the Company Of this total, there are 20 Foremen C and 8 Foremen D, At present the Company has no employees classified as Foremen E and does not intend to fill such a classification in the future. The Company employs also 5 general fore- men, all of whom have charge of a number of departments. In each depart- ment there is a ranking foreman who may be a Foreman (Treasury) A, or B. The record clearly indicates that such foremen have the authority to make recommendations affecting the status of employees. The evidence further indicates that the authority of Foremen C is equivalent to that of A and B. The authority of Foremen C is distinguishable from that of D and E in that the latter may only make "suggestions" as to the status of employees, which "suggestions" are investigated by the ranking fore- man who in turn makes a "recommendation" to the superintendent or works manager, whereas "recommendations" of Foremen C to the rank- ing foreman are automatically effected. A further distinction . is that although Foremen C, D, and E all spend part of their time in manual labor, C spends considerably less than either D or E. There is also a com- parable discrepancy in occasion for attendance at foremen's meetings, D and E appearing only in isolated ipstances and C appearing with a greater regularity. All foremen receive a higher rate of compensation than their subordinates. As compared to each other, the starting salary on the weekly wage scale is as follows: E-$26.25; D-$29 75: and C-$33. WVe are of the opinion and find that Foremen C are supervisory employees within the Board's customary definition but that Foremen D and E do not possess such supervisory status. Accordingly, we shall exclude Foremen C and include Foremen D and E in the unit Cafeteria Employees.-The Company maintains a cafeteria for the benefit of all employees. These facilities, located in Plant No 1, are oper- ated by a manager, an assistant cook, a cook's helper, 10 counter girls, a 252 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD dish carrier, a utility man, and a cashier. The I. B. E. W. seeks to include all cafeteria employees, except the cafeteria manager, in the production and maintenance unit requested, while the U. E. contends that all cafeteria employees be excluded. The Company takes no position on this point. While the cafeteria workers are not directly connected with the production processes, the evidence indicates that the conditions of employment of cafe- teria workers are identical with those of the production and maintenance employees ; they are paid on the same basis ; carried on the same pay roll ; punch the same time clocks ; and are eligible under the Company's policy to all the same seniority and promotion benefits. The interests of these employees are not so dissimilar that both groups cannot be represented in a single unit. Accordingly, we shall include them.' Inspector Technicians A and B.-In the production inspection depart- ment, inspectors of various levels and grades are employed to examine products for defects. The I. B. E. W. seeks to include, in the production and maintenance unit sought herein, all employees of this Department, including the two Inspector Technicians, A and B. The U. E. contends that the latter employees should be excluded ; the Company would include them. While the evidence indicates that the employees in dispute are more highly skilled than the lower levels of inspectors ; their duties and responsibilities vary from that of the other inspectors only in the matter of degree ; additional educational or technical qualifications are not required ; nor are they engaged in any experimental work. In the absence of any showing of super- visory authority, we find that Inspector Technicians A and B are properly included in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.' Departmental Clerks.-There are four or five employees now classified as departmental clerks. The I. B. E. W. and the Company seek to include these employees in the production and maintenance unit sought herein ; the U. E. contends that they should be excluded. The evidence indicates that these employees engage in manual labor 50 percent or more of their work- ing time ; that all of their functions, including clerical, are performed in their respective production departments ; that they are responsible directly to their department foreman; and that they are paid on an hourly basis. It is our opinion that the interests of these employees are identical with those of the production and maintenance employees. We shall, therefore, include departmental clerks in the unit.' Precision Inspector A, Routine Production Tester, Analyzer B, and General Maintenance Man: The I. B. E. W. would include these employees and the Company agrees. The U. E., however, contends that they should he excluded as supervisory employees. There is no showing in the record that 4 Matter of The Globe Company, 60 N. L. R. B. 1312. 5 Matter of The Whitcomb Locomotive Company, 60 N L R B 1160. 6 Matter-of Goodman Manufacturing Company , 58 N. L. R B. 531, and cases cited therein. THE RAULAND CORPORATION 253 these employees direct or supervise the work of any other employees, or that their duties differ substantially from those of production and mainte- nance employees . In the absence of any evidence that such employees pos- sess supervisory authority , we shall include them in the unit. Shipping Clerk.-The I . B. E. W. and the Company seek to include Ship- ping Clerk A. The U. E. requests that this employee be excluded. The employee in dispute is acting as foreman half of each day, replacing the regular foreman who is convalescing from a recent illness and apparently is unable to work full time . Upon the foreman 's return to full time the employee in question will return to his regular duties as Shipping Clerk. We shall, therefore, exclude the Shipping Clerk from the unit for so long as lie is acting as foreman.' Truck Drivers.-The U. E. requests the exclusion of two outside truck drivers. Neither the I . B. E. W. nor the Company expresses a position. The employees in question drive entirely within the city of Chicago. Since it does not appear that there is a similarity of interests or conditions of employment sufficient to include them in the unit requested , we shall exclude the outside truck drivers." We find that all production and maintenance employees at the Com- pany's Plants Nos. I, II, III, and IV, including foremen D and E, cafeteria employees, departmental clerks, inspector technicians A and B, precision inspector A, routine production tester, analyzer B, general maintenance man, and shipping clerk A,° but excluding employees engaged in the accounting , file, pay-roll, purchasing , sales , personnel, employees ' service, contract termination , production control, material control expediting elec- tronics," production engineering, and engineering departments ; timekeep- ers, guards, truck drivers , works manager, superintendent , general fore- men, chief inspector, assistant chief inspector , inspection engineer , mainte- nance engineer, chief shipping clerk, stock department manager, cafeteria manager, chief guard, foremen (Treasury) A, B, and C, and all or any other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effec- tively recommend such action , constitute a unit appropriate for the pur- poses of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period imme- 7 Cf. Matter of H. Brinton Company, 57 N L. R B 1442 8 Matter of Kingan & Co, Incorporated, 61 N L R B 1222 9 Shipping Clerk A shall be deemed excluded from the unit until such time as he is no longr.i acting as foreman. io That electronics department located in the general office 2.4 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD diately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. The Company employs approximately 169 part-time employees. They work regularly for the Company from 4 to 6 days per week, working 20 to 30 hours weekly. They are employed throughout the various depart- ments, holding identical labor grades and job classifications as do full-time employees ; they are paid on the same basis for performance of identical duties. The Company has utilized this part-time system of employment for some 5 years. The I. B. E. W. requests that part-time employees working more than 20 hours a week be deemed eligible to vote. The U. E. contends that all part-time employees should be found ineligible. The Company takes no position. Although, due to changing operations, the Company contemplates eliminating the employment of part-time employees, when and if such change occurs, part-time employees will be offered an oppor- tunity to become full-time employees, since the Company has no intention of effecting any general reduction in personnel. We are of the opinion that the interests of these regular part-time employees is sufficient to warrant their participation in the election hereinafter directed." The Company also has in its employ approximately 25 individuals who are detailed by the U. S. Navy to work in the Company's shipping depart- ment. This group is employed sporadically on a temporary basis and nor- mally is used only when a backlog exists toward the close of each month. All parties stipulated that such employees be excluded from any unit estab- lished. In accord with the parties' agreement, we find that these part-time employees are ineligible to vote in the election directed hereinafter. DIRECTION OF ELECTION 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 Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with The Rauland Corporation, Chicago, Illinois, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direc- tion, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Thirteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board; and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period imme- u National Lock Company, 61 N 1, R B 1366, Inteutahonat Harvester Company, Wisconsin Steel Works, 61 N. L. R B 133. THE RAULAND CORPORATION 2» cliately preceding the date of this Direction, including regular part-time employees and employees who did not work during the 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 have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether they desire to be repre- sented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local B-1031, A. F. of L., or by United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of Amer- ica, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.