Geneva Forge, Inc.

In the Matter of GENEVA FORGE, INC., EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS , PETITIONER Case No. 34X-3.-Decided March 2, 1948 Goldstein and Goldman, by Mr. Manuel D. Goldman, of Rochester, N. Y., for the Employer. Mr. Daniel J. Omer, of Buffalo, N. Y., and Mr. Stephen M. Estey, of Syracuse, N. Y., for the Petitioner. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Rochester, New York, on November 3 , 1947, before Samuel J. Weintraub, 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-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board Members.' Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Geneva Forge, Inc., a New York corporation with three plants in Geneva, New York, is engaged in the manufacture of various types of cutlery. The Employer annually purchases more than $100,000 worth of raw materials, 50 percent of which is obtained from points outside the State of New York. The Employer annually sells more than $100,000 worth of finished products, 25 percent of which is shipped to out-of-State customers. The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. *Chairman Heizog and Members Reynolds and Murdock 76 N. L R. B., No. 78. 497 498 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The Petitioner is an unaffiliated labor organization, 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 exists concerning the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Petitioner seeks a single unit of all the production and main- tenance employees in the Employer's three plants, excluding office employees, guards, and supervisors. The Employer, on the other hand, urges a separate unit for the employees in each of its three plants. The parties are also in disagreement with respect to various categories of employees whom the Petitioner would include in, and the Employer exclude from, any unit or units found appropriate. The three plants of the Employer, which are known as Plants 1, 2, and 3, respectively, are within less than a mile of each other. Plants 1 and 2 house all the manufacturing operations, and in addition, Plant 2 contains the general offices and packing and shipping rooms of the Employer. Plant 3 is a warehouse where all raw materials used by the production plants are received and stored until a request for them is made. The Employer fabricates both the metal blade and the wooden handle of which its final product is composed. Until recently, all the operations required for the production of these two items as well as those for assembling them into the finished product were located in Plant 2. About a year ago, the Employer acquired Plant 1 and trans- ferred to it all but two of the departments which processed the metal blade.' These two departments, however, will also be moved to Plant 1 shortly. All the blades produced at Plant 1 are shipped to Plant 2 for assembly with the wooden handles into the Employer's final product and for various finishing operations, such as sanding, buffing, and edge- setting. The finished products are packed and shipped by employees 1 These are the heat treating department and the blank and stamp department. These departments will be moved to Plant 1 when the Employer is able to procure a new furnace, a facility upon which their operation depends. GENEVA FORGE, INC. 499 in Plant 2. Although each of the Employer's three plants is sepa- rately supervised by a general foreman, these officials are each re- sponsible to the Employer 's superintendent . The plants are all' served by a single administrative office and a common group of maintenance employees. Uniform working conditions, hours of employment, and personnel policies prevail in the three plants and all employees enjoy like vacation and insurance benefits. A single pay roll is maintained at the main office for the entire personnel of the Employer. While there is no interchange of employees between the plants, their skills, for the most part, are not substantially different. Under all the circumstances, including the integration of operations among the three plants and the numerous features common to them, we are persuaded that a single bargaining unit of all the employees in the Employer's three plants is appropriate. We turn now to a consideration of the disputed categories of employees. The set-up men: The Employer would exclude these employees on the ground that their interests are different from those of the pro- duction employees. These employees setup and adjust the machinery in the Employer's production departments. If in the course of making adjustments they observe that a machine is not being properly operated, they report this fact to the foreman in charge of the depart, ment in which they work. The record shows that they have no author- ity to discipline production workers or recommend their hire or discharge. No contention is made that these employees are super- visors. While set-up men possess greater mechanical ability than the operators whose machines they adjust, it seems clear that their skills are not greater than nor more distinguishable from those of other employees whom the Employer would include , such as the maintenance employees of the millwrights. The set-up men are subject to the same conditions of employment as the regular production workers. Their rates of pay and hours of employment are substantially similar and they enjoy like privileges and benefits. We are of the opinion that the interests of the set-up men are sufficiently allied to those of the pro- duction employees to warrant their inclusion in the unit hereinafter found appropriate. Accordingly, we shall include them. Toolrooma employees: There are 20 employees in the Employer's toolroom which is located in Plant 2 . They construct and repair machinery, and make tools , dies, and fixtures. While these employees are a highly skilled group, they work under conditions of employment identical to those of the regular production and maintenance em- ployees. In view of these circumstances, and the fact that no other 78190-48-vol 76 33 500 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD labor organization is seeking to represent these employees on a separate basis, we shall include them.2 Probationary employees : All new employees of the Employer are subject to a 90-day probationary period. During this period, the duties and working conditions of these employees are the same as those of permanent employees except that they do not participate in the vacation and insurance benefits. However, after they acquire the status of permanent employees, the time spent in their probationary period is credited to them in the computation of vacation privileges and seniority rights. The record shows that 50 to 75 percent of the probationary employees become permanent employees and that the majority of those who do not acquire permanent status quit their jobs of their own accord. We find that the probationary employees have substantial interests in common with the permanent employees. We shall include them.3 Ex-foremen : Several months ago, the Employer , because of a re- duction in its business , demoted several of its foremen to production jobs instead of laying them off. The Employer contends that these employees should be excluded because they previously occupied super- visory positions and because it contemplates restoring them to these positions when its operations expand. While some of the demoted employees have been reinstated to their former positions as foremen, it is uncertain when the balance of them will be reinstated , if at all. As production workers, these employees are subject to the same con- ditions of employineiit as the other production employees. In view of the fact that these ex-foremen have been demoted and thereby divested of all supervisory authority and are currently employed as rank-and- file production workers , we shall include them in the unit as production employees. We find that all the production ' and maintenance employees in the Employer's three plants at Geneva , New York, including the set-up men, the toolroom employees, and the probationary employees, but excluding office and clerical employees, guards, and all supervisors, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 ( b) of the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purpose of collective bargaining with Geneva Forge, Inc., Geneva, 2 Matter of AircooleSl Motor Corporation, 63 N. L R . B. 1043 ; Matter of The Chace-Shaw- mut Company, 71 N. L. R B 610 A See Matter of Wytheville Knitting Mills, Inc, 70 N L R B. 1354 Including ex-foremen employed as production workers GENEVA FORGE, INC. 501 New York, 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 Third Region, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations- Series 5, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Sec- tion IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immedi- ately 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, 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, and also excluding em- ployees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by International Associa- tion of Machinists for the purposes of collective bargaining.