Hardy Plastics & Chemical Corp.

In the Matter of HARDY PLASTICS & CHEMICAL CORPORATION, EM- PLOYER and LOCAL UNION No. 3 OF THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS (AFL),' PETITIONER Case No. 3-R-7922.-Decided March 2, 1948 Messrs. Daniel R. Edelman, and Abraham Edelman, of New York City, for the Employer. Mr. Harold Stern, of New York City, for the Petitioner. Mr. Martin Feldman, of New York City, for the Plastic Workers. DECISION AND ORDER Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at New York City, on November 14 and 18, 1947, before Oscar Geltman, 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 2 makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Hardy Plastics & Chemical Corporation is a New York Corporation engaged in the manufacture of metal and plastic products at two plants, one at No. 1 Junius Street, and the other at 162 Central Avenue, both in Brooklyn, New York. During the year 1946, the Employer purchased materials, consisting principally of plastic molding powders, steel, and brass, valued in excess of $250,000, of which ap- proximately 66 percent represented shipments to the Employer from points outside the State of New York. During the same period, the Employer produced finished products valued in excess of $1,000,000, 1 The designation of the Employer and the Petitioner appears as amended at the hearing 2 Pursuant to Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, the National Labor Rela- tions Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three -man panel con- sisting of the undersigned Board Alembersf [Houston , Tiuidock, and GraiJ 76 N. L. R. B., No. 69. 463 464 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD of which approximately 66 percent represented shipments to points outside of the State of New York. The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. T1LE ORGANIZATIONS T\ COLA-ED The Petitioner is a labor organization: affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. Plastic Button and Novelty Workers Union. Local 132, ILGWU, herein called the Plastic Workers, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent em- ployees of the Employer., M. THE ALLEGED APPROI'iiLATE UNIT The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of five employees in the Junius Street plant,' who are carried on the Employer's records, together with laborers and porters responsible for the cleanliness of the build- ing, in a department designated as maintenance and repairs.5 The Employed contends that this unit is inappropriate. The five employees in question perform general building and ma- chine maintenance work of a semi-skilled nature. They install tem- porary electrical wiring and switches, move and reset machines, replace electrical motors on machines, perform minor carpentry, glazing, and plumbing, and other tasks related to general mam- tenance.s Some machine maintenance is performed by the production supervisors, and on rare occasions by rank and file production em- ployees. In the main, however, machine maintenance is performed by the five employees, as is almost all of the ordinary building main- tenance, other than that relating to the cleanliness of the building. Where maintenance operations are extensive or require special skills not possessed by the five employees, independent contractors are employed. The employees in question dress together when they report for work. They are under the supervision of the building superin- tendent, who also supervises the unskilled maintenance workers 3 The Plastic Workers, after entering an appearance at the hearing, withdrew its appear- ance by a telegram and letter addressed to the hearing officer, which stated "We have no interest in this proceeding and we are hereby withdrawing our appearance " 4 This plant employs between 200 and 400 persons , depending on the level of business actn ity 3 The petition designates the unit as "maintenance mechanics," but at the hearing the Petitioner specified that its interest was confined to the jobs presently performed by the five specific employees. s Four ottlie five employees have performed more than one type of maintenance task. HARDY PLASTICS & CHEMICAL CORPORATION 465 engaged in keeping the building clean. One of the five men, Peter Hoehler, ordinarily transmits to the others the orders of the building superintendent. The wage rates of the five employees are slightly higher than the average paid to production workers in the plant, but, because the latter receive production bonuses, their total wages are generally higher than those paid to the five mien in question. Since May or June 1947, the Employer has assigned to these five employees as a, regular additional duty the task of constructing and assembling jigs and fixtures, which are subsequently attached to pro- duction machines and used in the production process. In performing this task the five maintenance employees work in any part of the plant where appropriate equipment may be found, and frequently work alongside of toolroom employees, who spend a, portion of then' time also making jigs and fixtures. While engaged in the production of jigs and fixtures the five maintenance employees remain under the general supervision of the building superintendent. However, it ap- pears that the determination of whether a particular jig or fixture has been properly produced is ordinarily made by the supervisor of the production unit for whose use it is intended. The proportion of time consumed by the five employees in question on the production or assembly of jigs and fixtures has steadily increased since this function was first assigned to these men. It appears that, as a group, they now spend from 25 percent to 75 percent of their time in this activity.' The Employer explained this trend on the basis of the fact that before May 1947, the Company was engaged in the process of moving to and setting up the Junius Street plant;.that this i equired a considerable amount of electrical, millwright, and mainte- itance work; that this task is now complete; and that In order to utilize fully the services of the five maintenance men, it had switched an in- rreasnng portion of then t une to the production of jigs and fixtures. The Employer further asserts that in the future these men will be used almost exclusively for this purpose, and that only one person and 7 prior to the time at w hich the Employ et begin to assign jig and fixture pioduction to the five maintenance emplo} ees. this function was perfoi med exclusively by the employees of two tooliooms Employees in one toolroom produce jigs, fix'uies, molds, dies, and ma- chine parts fod the Employer's plastics depaitment The employees of the other toolroom produce similar items for the metal depaitment About 15 employees are so eniploved, and at the present spend about 20 percent of their time in the production of jigs and fixtures The jigs and fixtures produced by the five maintenance employees are eenerall,y of the sane type as those pioduced by the toolroom employees, and are used in both the plastics and the metal depaitmcnts 8 The Employer asserted that 75 per cent of their time was so spent One of the five men testified that in the period immediately before the heaii, g he had spent 100 percent of his time in the production of pas and fixtures Peter Hoehlcr testified that, because of his greater experience with maintenance work, lie was spending only 25 percent of his tune in this work , but that for the other four men the jig and fixtures work consumed 50 percent of their time. 466 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD possibly one helper will be required to do the maintenance work for the plant. Whether or not this prediction is supported by future developments, the fact remains that at this time the employees in question are spend- ing a significant portion of their time in work that is wholly unrelated to maintenance operations or to the craft skills they are alleged to possess, and is also performed by other production employees in the plant.9 Under these circumstances we find the unit sought herein is inappropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining, and we shall therefore dismiss the petition io ORDER Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, and upon the en- tire record in these proceedings, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the petition for investigation and certification of representatives of employees of Hardy Plastics & Chemical Corpora- lion, Brooklyn, New York, filed herein by Local Union No. 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (AFL), be, and it hereby is, dismissed. . 0 Cf. Matter of American Greeting Publishers, Inc, 73 N. L R B 1226 , Matter of Southern Fertilizer and Chemical Company, 73 N L R B 100. 10 The record indicates that the five employees in question are not members of the Plastic \Vorkei s , that at least two of the five have been refused membership in this union ; and that there is some doubt whether the contract with the Plastic workers, which stales that "the union represents the workers employed in the shop of the employer, ' was intended to cover the five employees In the absence, however, of any clear showing that the Plastic workers will not accoid adequate representation to these employees, particularly if they continue to work at jobs skin to those of the production workers, we do not consider these facts suffi- cient to justify the establishment of these employees in a separate unit. In this connection wi, to tlrit norfors and similar unskilled maintenance employees of the Employer are members of this union. ..i