A. O. Smith Corp.

In the Matter of A. O. SMITH CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and INTERNA- TIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, DISTRICT No. 10, PETITIONER In the Matter of A. O. SMITH CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and SMITFI STEEL WORKERS FEDERAL LABOR UNION, No. 19806, AFL, PETI- TIONER Cases Nos. 13-R-3539 and 13-R-3595, respectively. Decided September 10,1946 Mr. E. 0. Stroessner, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Employer. Messrs. P. L. Siemiller and Elmer Ritter, of Chicago, Ill., and Mr. -George Gratz, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Machinists: Padway and Goldberg, by Mr. David Previant, of Milwaukee, Wis., and Mr. Felix Reisdorf, of Milwaukee, Wis., for Local No. 19806. Mr. Jack Heisdor f, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Hotel and Restaurant Employees International Alliance, Local 122, AFL. Mr. Harvey E. Anderson, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Carpenters. Mr. Marshall E. Fredrick, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Engineers. Mr. E. B. Gilman, of Milwaukee, Wis:, for the Electricians. Mr. William E. Arndt, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Steamfitters. Mr. W. H. Schmidt, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the International Broth- erhood of Fireman & Oilers, Local No. 125, AFL. Mr.. John H. Wood, Jr., of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon petitions, duly filed, a hearing was held in these consolidated cases on June 12, 13, and 14, and July. 11, 1946, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, before Robert T. Drake, Trial Examiner. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER A. O. Smith Corporation, a New York corporation, has its principal-- place of business at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is engaged in the 70 N. L. R. B., No. 121. 1288 A. 0. SMITH CORPORATION 1289 manufacture and sale of automobile frames and parts, and pipe, casings, and other equipment for the petroleum and chemical indus- tries. The value of the materials used by the Employer during a recent annual period approximated $25,000,000, 90 percent of which was shipped to the Employer's Milwaukee operations from outside the State of Wisconsin. The Employer's sales during the same period amounted to $45,000,000, 98 percent of which represented shipments to points outside the State. The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 11. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED' International Association of Machinists, District No. 10, herein called- the Machinists, is a labor organization claiming to represent employees of the Employer. Smith Steel Workers Federal Labor Union, No. 19806, herein called Local 19806, Carpenters District Council of Milwaukee County and Vicinity, herein called the Carpenters, Technical Engineers, Architects & Draftsmen Union, Local 54, herein called the Engineers, Electrical Local B-663, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, herein called the Electricians, and Steamfitters Local 601, herein called the Steamfitters, are all labor organizations affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, and claiming to represent employees of the Employer. III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employer refuses to recognize either of the Petitioners as the exclusive bargaining representatives of the employees of the Employer in the alleged appropriate units in the absence of Board certification. We find that questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS In, substantial accordance with the agreement of the parties, we find the following units at the Employer's Milwaukee, Wisconsin, operations to be appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act:2 (1) All journeyman machinist foreman assistants, journey- man tool and die makers, journeyman tool inspectors, journey- 'The Hotel and Restaurant Employees International Alliance, Local 122, and Inter- national Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers, Local 125 , both affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, appeared at the hearing but did not intervene . The organizations presently hold separate contracts with the Employer covering employees within their respective jurisdictions. 2 The Employer has had bargaining relations with some of the participating unions since 1935, and with all of them since 1940. Each year the contracting unions have entered into 1290 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD man toolroom . machinists, journeyman bench machinists, journeyman general nlachiulsts, journeyman specialists, journey- man repair machinists, journeyman grinders, tool grinders, cutter grinders, bench hands, specialists Class C, lubemen, journeyman tool acid die maker apprentices, journeyman ma- chinist apprentices, tool hardeners, journeyman toolroom 'heat' treaters, assistant toolroom heat treaters and 'helpers, tool and guage inspectors, master gunge and templet inspectors, journey- man tool and die maker foreman's assistants, master guage and templet makers, lay-out men and group leaders 3 for all,the fore- going classifications, in the following depautmeuts of the Em- ployer: Department 132, flexible die; Department 202, toolroom; De- partment 210, tool try-out; Department 211, maintenance gen- eral; Department 223, tool hardening; Department 235, North Plant, service No. 2; Department 237, North Plant, service No. 1; Department 247, maintenance building 114; Department 311,, maintenance vessels; Department 312, maintenance, North Plant; Department 313, maintenance, water heaters; Department 411, maintenance, South plant; Department 414, South Plant, service; Department 519, mechanical research laboratory;, Depai tment 567, research machining laboratory; Department 602, tool main- tenance; Department 611, maintenance, tubular, excluding from the unit employees classed as bench hands who are engaged in the hand forming of sample frames in Department 519, mechanical research laboratory and also excluding all other employees of the Employer. (2) All carpenters including foreman helpers and_ group leaders, but- excluding supervisors with authority to hire, pro- mote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively- recommend such action, and also excluding all other employees of the Employer. (3) All tracers, detail draftsmeA, lay-out draftsmen, designers, plant lay-out engineers, draftsman checkers, designer checkers, -chemists, metallurgists, laboratory technicians, laboratory as- sistants A, laboratory assistants B, estimators, planners, time- study men, technical clerks, welding engineers, sales engineers, and industrial engineers, and foreman helpers and group leaders of such classifications, but excluding clerks, stenographers, and a,single agreement with the Employer covering their members only The agreed units are, with certain modifications made necessary by recent reconversion changes, substantially the same as those existing during the past few years ' The group leaders, who, in this and all the following units, are sometimes referred to, as foremen helpers, do not have supervisory authority within the Board's customary definition A. O. SMITH CORPORATION 1291 supervisors with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effec- tively recommend such action, and also excluding all other em- ployees of the Employer. - (4) All journeyman electricians, electricians B, electrician helpers, apprentice electricians, foreman helpers and group lead- ers in such classifications, but excluding supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or other- ,vise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recom- mend such action, and also excluding all other employees of the Employer. (5) All journeyman steam fitters, steam fitter helpers, fore- man helpers, and group leaders,in such classifications, excluding. supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, and also excluding all other employees of the Employer. (6) All other production, maintenance, and office employees,' including foreman helpers and group leaders, but excluding cafe- teria workers,5 firemen and oilers,,, confidential clerks, secretaries and administrative assistants, working in the office of the chair- man of the Board, the president, the, vice presidents, the secretary- treasurer, the assistant secretary-treasurer and comptroller, the personnel director, the industrial relations manager and his assistant, medical personnel, employees of the legal department,' foremen, and supervisory employees with authority to hire, pro- mote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action. ° Office employees have been included among the production and maintenance employees represented by Local 19806 since 1937 In view of this bargaining history and the present agreement of the parties that auch unit is appropriate, the Board approves their in(lusion as an exception to its general practice of excluding clerical employees from a production and maintenance unit Matte' of K M V. Inc, 65 N L R- B, 1129, 'and see Matter of Phoenix Iron Company, 38 N L R B -1320 5 Local 19806 agreed at the hearing that the cafeteria workers included those employees represented by the Hotel, and Restaurant Employees International Alliance , Local 122, AFL. 6 The parties agreed at the hearing that firemen and oilers include all powerhouse em- ployees such as engineers , opeiating engineers, compression and hydraulic pump operators, firemen , oilers, helpers, and steam boom crane operators , now represented by the Inter- national Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers, AFL, as the result of the recent proceeding before the Wisconsin State Labor Board. 'Local 19806 and the Employer agreed at the hearing that the employees in these enumerated executive or confidential positions should be excluded 1292 DECISIONS 'Oh NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with A. 0. Smith Corporation, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, elections 8 by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, 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, See- tioiis 10 and 11, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regu- lations-Series 3, as amended, among the employees in the units found appropriate 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 in- cluding employees in the armed forces of the United States who present theinselves in person at the polls , but excluding those em- ployees who liave since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the elections, to determine whether or not : A. The employees in unit ( 1) desire to be represented by the Inter- national Association of Machinists, District No. 10, for the purposes of collective bargaining; B. The employees in unit (2) desire to be represented by Carpen- ters District Council of Milwaukee County and Vicinity, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining; _ C. The employees in unit ( 3) desire to be represented by the Technical ,Engineers, Architects &' Draftsmen Union , Local No. 54, ,AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining; D. The employees in unit (4) desire to ' be represented by the Electricians Local B-653, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining; E. The employees in unit ( 5) desire to be represented by the Steamfitters Local No. 601, AFL, for the purposes of collective bar- gaining; ' - F. The employees in unit ( 6) desire to be represented by Smith Steel Workers Federal Labor Union No. 19806, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining. - ' MR. JAMES J. REYNOLDS , JR., took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Elections. 8 Each union desires to participate only in the election affecting the employee group for which it has been bargaining in the past