Russell Electric Co.

In the Matter of RUSSELL ELECTRIC COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTER- NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, DIE AND TOOL MAKERS LODGE No. 113, PETITIONER In the Matter of RUSSELL ELECTRIC COMPANY, EMPLOYER and UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO AND MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. 0., PETITIONER Cases Nos. 13-R-3945 and 13-R-59,55, respectively.-Decided January 27,1947 Fyffe and Clark, by Mr. John Harrington, of Chicago, Ill., for the Employer. Mr. J. J. Denny, of Chicago, Ill., for the IAM. Messrs. Leo Turner and Fred Dutner, both of Chicago, Ill., for the UE. Miss Irene R. Shriber, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION.OF ELECTIONS Upon separate petitions 1 duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Chicago, Illinois, on October 11, 1946, before Leon A. Rosell, hear- ing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed .2 Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF TIIE EMPLOYER Russell Electric Company, an Illinois corporation with plants and offices in Chicago, Illinois, is engaged in the manufacture of fractional horsepower motors. During 1945, the Employer purchased more ' These cases were consolidated by order of the Board on October 3, 1946. 2 Local B-1031, International Brotherhood of Electrical \Vo,kers, AbL, herein called the IBEW, was not served with notice and did not appear at the hearing. After the hearing, the IBEW moved to intervene in this proceeding for the purpose of having its name placed on the ballot in the election , hereinafter ordered Inasmuch as we are admlmstiatively satisfied that the IBEW has an interest in this proceeding, the motion to intervene is hereby granted 72 N. L It B , No. 53. 278 RUSSELL ELECTRIC COMPANY 279 than $50,000 worth of raw materials, of which more than 50 percent was obtained outside the State of Illinois. During the same period, the Employer's sales exceeded $100,000, of which more than 50 percent involved transportation to out-of-State purchasers. We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORG'\NIZATIONS INVOLVED International Association of Machinists, Die and Tool Makers Lodge No. 113, herein called the IAM, is an unaffiliated labor organi- zation, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, herein called the UE, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. Local B-1031, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, herein called the IBEW, is a labor organization) affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employer refuses to recognize either of the Petitioners as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until 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. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The UE seeks a unit composed of all the Employer's production and maintenance employees excluding office clerical employees, plant guards, first aid nurse, foremen, assistant foremen and all other super- visory employees.3 The TAM opposes the establishment of a plant- wide unit insofar as it might include the employees in the toolroom,4 tool inspection department, and model shop, all of whom are claimed by the JAM to constitute a separate unit. While the Employer is in substantial agreement with the unit proposed by the UE, it objects to the inclusion of certain categories of employees requested therein. 3 The UE does not seek to include in the unit the employees in the following six depart- ments : the drafting department , the products engineering department , the research department, the chemical engineering department, the tool designing department , and the tool processing department . These employees are all professionally and technically trained and perform highly specialized work 4 The toolrooui is also referred to in the record as the tool die and gauge making department. 280 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The Employer's operations are carried on in divisions, each of which has its own manager. The employees involved in this proceeding work in departments within the divisions managed by the factory manager, the hold heet manager, the chief engineer, and the master mechanic. These four managers are responsible to the general works manager and direct the supervisory staff in charge of the departments within their respective divisions. The factory manager directs the operations of all the production departments, except one small department which is managed by the hold beet manager and the three departments whose employees the IAM seeks to represent, namely, the toolroom, the tool inspection department, and the model shop. The model shop is within the division directed by the chief engineer; the toolroom and the tool inspection department are within the division directed by the master mechanic. The master ulechan is also manages the maintenance depart- ment employees. The UE contends that the employees in the 3 departments petitioned for by the IAM are integral parts of the Employer's production proc- esses and that they should not be segregated into a separate unit. The record shows that these 3 departments adjoin each other with only partitions separating them. However, each department has its own foreman. There are approximately 57 employees in these 3 depart- ments, of whom 43 work in the toolroom, 4 in the tool inspection de- partment, and 10 in the model shop. AU these employees are highly skilled and work in close proximity to each other. The employees in the toolroom are classified as tool and die makers, machinists, and grinders. They make and repair the tools, dies, and gauges which are used in production. The tool inspection department employees inspect only the items made and repaired in the toolroom.' The employees in the model shop are machine operators and model makers who possess the same skills as the first class tool and die makers in the toolroom. They operate lathes and other machines similar to those in use in the toolroom. Because of the similarity of their skills and equipment, the employees in the model shop and the toolroom are not only fre- rnently interchanged but often use each other's equipment. It appears from the record that the Employer conducts its opera- iions as an integrated enterprise and that a plant-wide unit covering all its production and maintenance employees would be feasible. It also appears, however, that the employees in the three departments petitioned for by the IAM have a close functional relationship and con- stltute ahomogeneous and ski I led group, the bulk of whom are members of well defined craft groups with interests sufficiently different from those of the other employees to warrant establishing them in a separate unit. Therefore, we shall not make a find determination at the present 5 The Employer employs other inspectors to inspect the p1oducts it manuflctw es RUSSELL ELECTRIC COMPANY 281 time as to the appropriate unit or units but shall direct that a separate election be held among the employees in the toolroom, tool inspection department, and the model shop as one voting group to determine their desires with respect to this matter. There remains for consideration two categories of employees whom the Employer would exclude and the UE would include. Desk girls: These employees perform clerical functions in the pro- duction departments and are supervised by the foremen of the depart- ments in which they work. They keep departmental records on the transfer of materials and the production and time records of the em- ployees. Like their departmental fellow workers, and in contrast to the general office clerical employees, the desk girls are paid on an hourly basis. The reason advanced by the Employer for the exclusion of these girls is that they are confidential employees. Under all the circumstances disclosed by the record, we are convinced that these em- ployees do not acquire information in regard to the Employer's labor relations in the normal -course of their duties and that they are not con- fidential employees within our usual definition. Accordingly, we shall include them. Inspectors: The Employer employs about 80 inspectors in the vari- ous production departments who inspect the quality of material, production, and assembly. They are paid on an hourly basis and work under the supervision of the chief inspector. When the inspec- tors detect flaws in production, they report the matter to the chief inspector who in turn refers it to the departmental foreman. They have no authority to discipline the production workers although they may investigate the clause of faulty production and order the shut- down of machines not operating properly. The Employer does not contend that these employees are supervisory, but that their functions are so different from those of the production employees that they should be excluded. We do not agree. We have frequently included inspectors whose duties were similar to those of the inspectors here in- volved. in units of production and maintenance workers 6 and since no substantial reason appears for departing from our usual custom, we shall include them in the present unit. Accordingly, we shall direct that separate elections be held among the employees in the following voting groups, excluding foremen, assistant foremen and all other supervisory employees with authority to ]tire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees or effectively recommend such action. 1. All employees in the tOolroom, tool inspection department, and model shop. 1, AlatIer of Schtile i Axle Companif , Inc, 64 N L It B 740 , ]tatter of Crane Enanrel- wateCompany, 56N L B 11 259, 3Iatte of SangamoPI ectrteCoat pany, 59N L B B 304 282 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 2.. All production and maintenance employees, including desk girls and inspectors, but excluding office clerical employees, employees of the toolroom, tool inspection department, and model shop, guards, and the first-aid nurse. DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Russell Electric Company, Chicago, Illinois, elections 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 Direc- tor 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 voting groups listed 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 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 : (1) The employees in group 1, desire to be represented by United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, C. I. 0., or by International Association of Machinists, Die and Tool Makers Lodge No. 113, or by Local B-1301, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, A. F. L., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by none. (2) The employees in group 2, desire to be represented by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, C. I. 0., or by Local B-1031, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, A. F. L., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by none.