Northwest Engineering Co.

In the Matter of NORTHWEST ENGINEERING COMPANY, EMPLOYER and UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA, PETITIONER Case No. 13-R-3877.Decided March 31, 191 Mr. G. E. Frazer, of Green Bay, Wis., and Mr. L. E. Houston, of River Forest, Ill., for the Employer. 211r. W. T. Anderson, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Petitioner. Messrs. Homer Weidman and Carl Gr iepentrog, of Milwaukee, Wis., and Mr. Leon De Bronx, Port Washington, Wis., for the Intervenor. Mr. Jerry Wolilmuth, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Green Bay, Wisconsin, on October 9, 1946, before Gustaf B. Erickson, hear- ing officer. The hearing officer'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. TILE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Northwest Engineering Company is a Wisconsin corporation with a plant involved in this proceeding, located at Green Bay, Wisconsin. It is there engaged in the manufacture of power shovels and cranes. During the past year the Employer's purchases of raw materials amounted to approximately $1,000,000, of which about 55 percent came from points outside the State of Wisconsin. During the same period, the Employer's sales amounted to more than $1,500,000, of which approximately 90 percent was shipped to ponits outside the State. The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. 73 N. L R. B, No. S. 40 NORTHWEST ENGINEERING COMPANY 41 The United Automobile Workers of America, herein called the In- tervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federa- tion of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The' Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. We find that a question affecting commerce has 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. TIIii APPROPRLATIi UNIT The parties are in general agreement concerning the appropriate- ness of a unit of production and maintenance employees, excluding the factory cost clerks, the engineers, the draftsmen, the sales demonstra- tors, the chief schedule clerk, the production planning supervisor, the tool crib clerk, the clerical work dispatcher, the guard supervisor, the drill supervisor, the working supervisor in the yard, and the tine-study men. The Employer, however, would exclude, and the unions include, certain classifications discussed below. There is no history of collec- tive bargaining at the Employer's plant.' Watchmen: The watchmen are not deputized or militarized. Their chief duties consist of controlling ingress and egress to the plant and making tours throughout the plant for the purpose of plant protection. A portion of their time is used to watch over the time clock as the em- ployees punch in "and out. The record shows that although it is the duty of the watchmen to see that no employee leaves the plant with any personal property of the company and also to forbid entrance to the plant of any employee because of a physical ailment or drunken- ness, their duties respecting infractions of company rules are limited in this respect. While making their tours throughout the plant, the watchmen do not inspect or report violations of company rules by em- ployees working therein. Accordingly, we find that the duties of the watchmen are essentially non-monitorial. We shall include the watch- men in the unit.2 Stop clerks: These employees keep various production records un- der the supervision of the foremen in the several production depart- ments. Where, as here, plant clericals are subject to the control of pro- ' On July 17, 1945, pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election issued by the Board (62 N L R B555), an election was conducted at the Employer's plant The result of this election was set aside by the Board ( 63 N L R B 1219 ) 1 Hatter of Hannah Pickett Dfills Company, 69 N L R B 413 42 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD duction supervisors, we have included them in the production and maintenance units.3 Accordingly, we shall include the shop clerks. Firemen: The duties of these employees consist of tending the boilers and maintaining the fire and adequate steam pressure. They are di- i ectly supervised by the chief electrician. We shall include the firemen, in the appropriate unit.' First-aid attendants: These employees are practical nurses who per- form first-aid work and make reports of injuries. Inasmuch as they are not engaged in production work, and in view of the specialized character of their services, we shall exclude the first-aid attendants from the unit.-' Timekeepers: The duties of timekeepers consist of keeping records of the time spent by employees in production and partial computations of the earnings of these employees. The record in the instant proceed- ing discloses that the duties of the timekeepers involved herein are similar to the duties performed by timekeepers in other cases in which we were faced with the issue of whether to include or exclude time- keepers from a unit of production and maintenance employees. In, the majority of cases decided, where timekeepers perform purely cleri- cal functions, we have excluded them from the industrial units How- ever, the Board has consistently negatived the oft-repeated conten- tions that timekeepers perform duties involving the exercise of man- agerial or confidential functions,' or that they should be excluded front units of production and maintenance employees because of the possi- bility of collusion growing out of representation by the same union as represents the latter employees.' Furthermore, in those cases in which we have included timekeepers in the production and maintenance unit; we have recognized that these employees in the performance of their timekeeping duties are no different from other plant clerical employees, 9 Matter of Goodman Manufacturing Company, 58 N. L R B 531. Matter of Guilford Hosiery Company, 70 N L. R B 1047 ° Matter of Welch Furniture Company, 65 N. L. R. B. 1197 ; Matter of The Babcock & Wilcox Co , 65 N L R. B 83 8 Matter of Food Machinery Corporation, 64 N. L R. B. 1405. e See more recent cases, Matter of Wicaco Machine Corporation, 69 N. L. R. B. 741, 742: Matter of Hughes Tool Company, 69 N. L. R B 294 , 299; Matter of Luscombe Airplane Corporation, 69 N. L R. B 479, 482: Matter of Domestic Engine & Pnnip Company, 70 N L R B 1263: Matter of Guilford Hosiery Mills. Inc, 70 N L R B 1047 4 Matter of Edward Valve & Manufacturing Co , Inc, 38 N. L R B 428; Matter of Gen- eral Motors Corporation. 51 N L R B 136G • Matter of Bendix Aviation Corporation (Phila- delphia Division). 53 N L R B 8611, Matter of Chrysler Corporation. 55 N L R B 1215 - Matter of Westelox Division, General Time Instruments Corporation, 57 N L R. B 297 ; Matter of Bethlehem Steel Company, Shipbuilding Division (Hoboken Yards ), 59 N. L R. B. 1376: Matter of Gould & Eberhardt-Company. 66 N L R B 1326. 1328: Matter of Bethle- hem Steel Company, 67 N. L. R B 159, 161 8In rejecting this argument the Board has held that there is "no necessary conflict between self-organization and collective bargaining and the faithful performance of duty " See Matter of Mergenthaler Linotype Company, 3 N L R B 131 : Matter of Aluminum Com- pany of America. 8 N L R B 164 Matter of Intereontinent Aircraft Corporation, 50 N L R B 99, 102, Matter of Armour and Company, 54 N L R B 1462, 1466; Matter of The Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation, 55 N L R B 629, 631 ; Matter of Sullivan Drydoek and Repair Corp . 56 N L R B 582 (following Ingalls case) • Matter of Bethlehem Steel Company, 67 N L R. B 159, 162. NORTHWEST ENGINEERING COMPANY 43 even when they are under separate supervision,9 and that, unlike the general clerical staff, their working conditions associate them more closely with production employees." Upon reconsideration of the functions performed by timekeepers, we are of the opinion that as such they perform essentially the same clerical duties as other factory cleri- cal employees whom we customarily include within a unit of production and maintenance employees. As the Board pointed out in the Good- ,man case," factory clerical employees are in close daily contact with the production and maintenance employees, generally work under the same supervision as the latter, and, therefore, have such mutuality of interest as warrants their inclusion in the same unit.12 Accordingly, absent any other circumstances warranting their exclusion, we shall include the timekeepers in the unit. DIRECTION OF ELECTION 13 As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Northwest Engineering Corpo- ration, Green Bay, Wisconsin, an election 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 Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 4, among the employees in the unit 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 themselves in person at the polls, but excluding those employees 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 represented by the United Steelworkers of America, C. I. 0., or by U. A. W.-A. F. L., for the purposes of collective bar- gaining, or by neither. .1 9 Matter -of Shartle Brothers Machine Company, 57 N. L. R B. 1546 , 1548; Matter of Chicago Rawhide Manufacturing Company, 59 N. L R B 1234 , Matter of Dahlstrom Metal- lic Door Company, 61 N L . It. B. 1160 , 1162 ( In the instant case the timekeepers are supervised by the chief of the timekeeping and pay-roll departments). 10 Matter of Edward Valve d Manufacturing Co., Inc, 38 N L. It. B 428; Matter of Chrysler Detroit Co. d Chrysler Corp ., 38 N. L. It. B. 313 ; Matter of Delta-Starr Electric Co , 37 N. L. It. B. 459, 462 , Matter of Mueller Brass Cc , 39 N L. It. B . 167, Matter of Aluminum Company of America, 44 N. L R B. 490 ; Matter of Bucyrus -Erne Co_ 54 54 N. L. It. B. 863, 867 ; Matter of West Steel Casting Company, 68 N L R B 795, 798 1 Matter of Goodman Manufacturing Company, 58 N. L R B. 531. 12 See also Matter of Keatnel d Trecker Corporation , 60 N L R B 148 , Matter of The Payson Manufacturing Co., 65 N. L. It. B . 539; Matter of Elizabeth Arden, Inc, 65 N L. R. B. 1034. 13 Any participant in the election herein may , upon its prompt request to and approval thereof by the Regional Director , have its name removed from the ballot