Kennecott Copper Corp.

572 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD KENNECOTT COPPER CORPORATION-UTAH COPPER DIVISION and UNITED STEEL WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER KENNECOTT COPPER DIVISION-UTAH COPPER DIVISION 1 and INTER- NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, AFL, PETITIONER. Cases Nos. 0O-RC-1312 and 2O-RC-1310. May 16, 1951 Decision and Direction of Elections Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before David Karasick, 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 Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three- member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Murdock]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain employees of the Employer .2 ' 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. With the exception of watchmen, whom the Employer and the Intervenor would exclude and whom the Steelworkers 4 would include, the Employer, the Intervenor, and the Steelworkers agree that all employees in the classifications covered by the existing contract be- tween the Employer and Intervenor constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Intervenor's contract with the Employer covers production and maintenance employees at both the Employer's Arthur and Magna mills, and employees in the Em- ployer's maintenance-of-way mills ore haulage department and elec- trical engineering department. The Electrical- Workers I contends n The petition and other formal papers were amended at the hearing to show the correct name of the Employer. 2 International Union of Mine , Mill and Smelter Workers, Arthur-Magna Millmen's Union Local No 392 , was allowed to intervene in this proceeding without objection on the basis of its contractual relationship with the Employer. 3 No contention is made that the existing contract between the Employer and the Intervenor is a bar to this proceeding. The contract is terminable upon notice 60 days prior to June 30, 1951. Both petitions were timely filed with respect to the automatic renewal date of the contract. 4 The United Steelwoi kers of America , CIO, will be referred to herein as the Steelworkers. 5 The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL , will be referred to herein as the Electrical workers. 94 NLRB No. 113. KENNECOTT COPPER CORPORATION 573 that all employees in the electrical departments at both mills, trans- mission linemen, including the transmission line lead man, lineman helpers, and all employees in the signal division of the Employer's maintenance-of-way mills ore haulage department, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Employer, the Intervenor, and the Steelworkers, all of whom oppose the unit contention of the Electrical Workers, assert that a history of bargain- ing on a broader basis and the integration of the Employer's operations prevent the severance of the proposed craft unit. The Employer's Operations 6 The Employer's Arthur and Magna mills are located in the vicinity of Garfield, Utah, about 1 mile distant from each other and about 14 miles from the Employer's mine at Bingham Canyon. Ore from the mine is transported by the Employer's railroad to the Arthur and Magna mills, where it is subjected to a series of crushing and grinding operations. The crushed ore is then put through a flotation process, from which is obtained a copper mineral concentrate con- taining small quantities of gold, silver, and molybdenite. The copper concentrate is shipped to a nearby smelter of the American Smelting and Refining Company for further processing. The Disputed Category of Watchmen As noted above, the Steelworkers would include, and the Employer and the Intervenor would exclude, employees classified as watchmen from the existing production and maintenance unit represented by the Intervenor. The watchmen at both the Arthur and Magna mills work under the supervision of a plant-protection foreman at each mill. The sole duties of the watchmen are to guard the plant from thieves, to prevent destruction of plant property, and .to insure that employees are in fit condition when reporting for work and that plant rules are not violated by the employees. We find, contrary to the contention of the -Steelworkers, that the Employer's watchmen are guards within the meaning of Section 9 (b) (3) of the Act. Accordingly, we shall exclude them from the production and maintenance unit.7 The Proposed Unit of Electricians The unit proposed by the Electrical Workers, as stated above, would consist of all employees in the electrical departments at both mills, 6 A more complete description of the Employer's operations at the Arthur and Magna mills may be found in Utah Copper Company, 54 NLRB 1151. 7 Kennecott Copper Corporation, 92 NLRB No. 266. 574 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD transmission linemen, including the transmission line lead man, line- man helpers, and all employees in the signal division of the Employer's maintenance-of-way mills ore haulage department. The employees in the electrical departments are classified as arma- ture winders, electricians, apprentices, and helpers. They all work under the direct supervision of the electric shop foremen. The 28 employees classified as electricians are responsible for the maintenance of all electrical equipment throughout the mills, including motors, transformers, and the electrical lines. They are all experienced journeymen electricians,. and are required to have served either a 4-year apprenticeship at the Employer's mills or its equivalent in employment elsewhere. The 4 employees classified as apprentices assist the journeymen electricians in their duties, and are training for posi- tions as journeymen electricians. There are 15 employees classified as helpers, who also assist the journeymen electricians. They differ from the apprentices in that they have had less experience and therefore are assigned less complicated work. Normally, they are eligible to become apprentices after serving 4 years as helpers. The 4 armature winders in the electrical shops are engaged solely in winding armatures. Arm- ature winders are selected from the most experienced of the qualified electrician journeymen and require approximately 6 months' addi- tional training to be qualified to perform armature winding operations. The transmission line lead man, eight transmission linemen, three lineman helpers, and a truck driver are assigned to the electrical en- gineering department and work: under the direct supervision of the transmission foreman. The linemen maintain, repair, and install the transmission lines from the Employer's central power station to the mills. These lines carry voltages varying from 44,000 to 110 volts. The linemen also maintain the electric power lines on the Employer's railroad and the electric lines leading up to the signals used on the railroad. Although linemen need not necessarily be electricians, they are required either to undergo a period of 4 years of training by the Employer or to have had equivalent experience elsewhere. The line- iaan helpers are training for positions as linemen. - The employees in the signal division of the maintenance-of-way ore haulage department are classified as signal maintainer, assistant sig- nal maintainer, maintainer helpers, and laborers. However, at the time of the hearing, there were no maintainer helpers or laborers in the signal division. Although the skills of a signal maintainer are not the same as those of a journeyman electrician, a signal maintainer must have a specialized knowledge of electricity and usually must have had 4 years' experience to become fully qualified for the position. The signal maintainer is primarily responsible for maintenance and repair of the electrical semaphore signal system used on the Employer's KENNECOTT COPPER CORPORATION 575 railroad. An assistant signal maintainer assists the signal maintainer in the performance of his duties, and usually must have had 2 years of experience as a maintainer helper to be qualified for the position. Maintainer helpers assist the signal maintainer and the assistant signal maintainer in the performance of their duties. Although an employee is not required to have any particular training or experience to become a maintainer helper, a maintainer helper may be considered as an apprentice to the signal maintainer. Laborers in the signal division work under the direction of the signal supervisor and perform manual labor, usually with a pick and shovel. They require no specialized training or experience and receive the same rate of pay as laborers in other -departments of the mills. As stated above, the Employer, the Intervenor, and the Steelworkers argue that the history of bargaining on a broader basis and the integra- tion of the Employer's operations prevent the severance of the pro- posed craft unit. However, the Board has previously considered and rejected the argument that the integration of the Employer's opera- tions at the two mills involved in this proceeding prevent the severance of a craft unit." Nor do we now believe that the history of bargaining at these two mills constitutes sufficient reason for denying the severance of a craft unit.' We find that the employees sought by the Electrical Workers are an identifiable, homogeneous, and skilled craft group, with interests separate and distinct from those of other production and maintenance -workers, and that they may, if they so desire, constitute a separate appropriate unit 10 We shall, however, exclude from this unit labor- ei s in the signal division, because they do not exercise any of the skills of the electricians craft." We shall direct separate elections in the two following voting groups, excluding from each group all office clerical and professional em- ployees, guards, watchmen, and supervisors as defined in the Act: a. All employees at the Employers Arthur and Magna mills and in the Employer's maintenance-of-way mills ore haulage department and the electrical engineering department in the classifications cov- ered by the existing contract between the Employer and the Inter- venor, as listed in Appendix A, excluding the employees in voting group a. s Utah Copper Company , footnote 6, supra. In this respect , n e note that certain fringe groups of employees are represented by other unions not involved in this proceeding. 10Kennecott Copper Corporation, 92 NLRB 1786. Inte,national Haraester Companyy, Canton Works , 91 NLRB 487 , Carthage Hydrocol, Inc, 91 NLRB No 67 ; Kennecott Copper Corporation, 84 NLRB 836 11Cf Kennecott Copper Corporation, 92 NLRB 1786 ; Phelps-Dodge Corporation, Morent Branch, 92 NLRB 1564 576 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD b. All employees in the electrical departments at the Employer's Arthur and Magna mills, transmission linemen, including the trans- mission line lead man, lineman helpers,l2 signal maintainers, assistant signal maintainers, and signal maintainer helpers. However, we shall make no final unit determination for the em- ployees at this time, but shall first ascertain the desires of the em- ployees as expressed in the elections hereinafter directed. If a major- ity of the employees in voting group b vote for the Electrical Workers, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bargaining unit. Although none of the parties to this proceeding raised the issue, it appears possible that employees in the Employer's maintenance-of- way mills ore haulage department are subject to the Railway Labor Act,13 and hence are not employees within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. The record in this proceeding does not make it possible to determine such an issue. Accordingly, we shall make no determination with respect to such employees, but shall allow them to vote in the several elections subject to challenge. If any of their votes are challenged and are sufficient in number to affect the elec- tion results, we shall make a final determination with respect to the unit placement of such employees at that time 14 [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this volume.] 11 Included in this category is the truck driver permanently assigned to working with the transmission linemen. The record reveals that he must have a knowledge of the tools, equipment , and materials used by the linemen , and that, when not driving , he regularly assists them as a helper . Moreover, he was previously classified as a lineman helper, and was only reclassified as a truck driver to give him the benefit of the higher wage rate paid to truck drivers without any change in his duties. 13 48 Stat. 1185. 14 Cf. Utah Copper Company, 57 NLRB 641. 94 NLRB No. 88. FRANKLIN SIMON & COMPANY, INC. AND KAYS-NEWPORT, INC. and DEPARTMENT STORE EMPLOYEES UNION, LOCAL 21, AFFILIATED WITH RETAIL CLERKS INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AFL, PETITIONER. Case No.. -RC-2570. May 16, 1951 Decision and Direction of Election Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Jack Davis, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.