Florence Stove Co.

16 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD FLORENCE STOVE COMPANY and OFFICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION, A. F. OF L., PETITIONER . Cases Nos. 10-RC=1684'and 10- RC-1685. February 8,1952 Decision and Direction of Elections Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the Na- tional Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before Jerold B. Sindler, 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 these cases to a three- member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Murdock and Styles]. Upon the entire record in these cases, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain! employees of the Employer. 3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the representa- tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9P (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The appropriate units : The Petitioner seeks two separate units at the Employer's Lewis-- burg, Tennessee, plant; one composed of technical employees, and the other of office and clerical employees. The Employer asserts that, a single office, clerical, and technical unit is appropriate. There is. no history of collective bargaining affecting these employees. In ac- cordance with usual Board practice in situations where, as here, one party objects to the inclusion of technical employees in the same unit with office and clerical employees, we find that the separate units. sought by the Petitioner are appropriate.' There remains for con- sideration the composition of each of the units. The Technical Unit The Petitioner's proposed technical unit is composed of all engi- neering and time-study employees. The Employer takes no position, regarding the composition of this unit. The engineering employees, who are employed in the engineering department under the super- vision of the chief engineer and the assistant chief engineer,2 include. liaison engineers, engineer-product designers, draftsmen A, and draftsmen B.3 The record establishes that the duties of these em- ' American Locomotive Company, 92 NLRB 115. 2 The parties agree, and we find , that the chief engineer and the assistant chief engineer should be excluded from the unit as supervisors. 8Also employed in the enginvoring^department,4s al bill `of'materials clerk and a secre- 98 NLRB No. 4. FLORENCE STOVE COMPANY 17 ployees, and the skills and training required for the positions, are similar to the duties, skills, and training of employees in the mer- chandise development department at another of the Employer's plants, which employees, the Board held, were technical employees 4 Ac- cordingly, we find that these employees are technical employees. The record further establishes, and we find, that the assistant time-study engineer,' the time-study men, and the time-study observers are like- wise technical employees," and we are satisfied that all these employees have a sufficient community of interest to warrant their inclusion in a single technical unit.? , The Office and Clerical Unit The parties are in substantial agreement as to the composition of this unit. However, the Employer took no position regarding the unit placement of the following employees, whom the Petitioner would include in the unit : The duties of the assistant purchasing agent and the buyer include, among others, the placing of orders for various items of supplies and equipment. It appears that they effectively bind the Employer's credit in the regular course of their work. In accordance with es- tablished Board practice, we find that these employees are managerial employees, and we shall therefore-exclude them from the unit. The assistant supervisor in the billing department and the assistant to the production control manager assign work to other employees in their departments; however, the record fails to establish that such duties require the use of independent judgment. Although the assis- tant supervisor in the billing department has nominal authority to act for his supervisor in the latter's_absence, the record establishes that he has never exercised such authority,,, and, it appears that any opportunity to exercise such authority would be sporadic. The record fails to establish that either of these employees possesses any of the other indicia of supervisory authority. Under these circumstances, we find that these employees are not supervisors within the meaning of the Act,9 and we shall therefore include them in the unit. Accordingly, on the basis of the foregoing and the entire record, we tary to the chief engineer. As the record establishes that these employees are not technical employees , we shall include them in the office and clerical unit. a Florence Stove Company, 94 NLRB r434. This employee assigns work to the time -study men and time-study observers. As the record fails to establish that such duties require the use of independent judgment, and as he possesses none of the other indicia of supervisory authority, we find that he is not a supervisor as defined in the Act 6 Florence Stove Company, supra. As the clerk-typist in the time -study department performs only clerical duties, we shall include her in the office and clerical unit. IIt is not contended that any of the employees in the technical unit requested are professional employees. 8 The Girdler Corporation (Dana Pro)ect), 96 NLRB 894. 9 Florence Stove Company, -supra. 18 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD find that the following two groups of employees constitute separate units appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act: (a) All technical employees at-the Employer's Lewisburg, Ten- nessee, plant, including liaison engineers , engineer-product designers, draftsmen A, draftsmen B, time-study men, time-study observers, and the assistant time-study engineer, but excluding office and clerical employees, production and maintenance employees , confidential em- ployees, professional employees , guards, the chief engineer , the assis- tant chief engineer, the supervisor of the time-study department, and all other supervisors as defined in the Act. (b) All office and clerical employees'`at the Employer's Lewisburg, Tennessee, plant, including but not limited to the employees listed on Appendix A attached hereto, but excluding all technical employees, production and maintenance employees, confidential employees, pro- fessional employees, managerial employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act .10 [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this volume.] Appendix A Classifications of Employees Included in Office and Clerical Unit Engineering department Bill of materials clerk Secretary to chief engineer Purchasing department Purchasing expediter Clerk-stenographer Materials accounting department Purchase parts planning clerk Clerk calculator operator Inventory clerk Accounts payable clerk Payroll department Labor analysis clerk Payroll clerk A Payroll clerk B Payroll clerk-machine and reports clerk Billing department Assistant supervisor Pricing clerk Checker Invoice clerk 10 Certain specific exclusions are set forth on Appendix B attached hereto. FLORENCE STOVE COMPANY 19 General accounting department Typist Duplicating operator and typist Telephone operator and receptionist Relief telephone operator, receptionist, and typist Cost estimator Cost estimating clerk A Cost estimating clerk B Factory accountant A Factory accountant B Government reports and priorities employee Accounting clerk Station wagon driver Messenger and driver Section leader-office services Timekeeper Production tally clerk Time-study department Clerk-typist Production control department Assistant to production control manager Production expediter Production clerk Clerk-stenographer Appendix B Classifications of Employees Excluded From Office and Clerical Unit Supervisors Purchasing agent Supervisor; materials accounting department Supervisor, payroll department Supervisor, billing department Office manager Assistant office manager Chief cost accountant Chief timekeeper Production control manager Personnel manager Employment manager Managerial employees Assistant purchasing agent Buyer Professional employees Industrial nurses 20 z DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR='RELATION'S BOARD Confidential employees Secretary to office manager and assistant office manager Secretary to vice president Secretary to plant superintendent Clerk-stenographer in personnel department GRINNELL BROTHERS 1 and MICHIGAN JOINT BOARD, RETAIL'& DEPART- MENT STORE EMPLOYEES , AMALGAMATED CLOTHING WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO,2 PETITIONER. Case No. 7-RC-1559. February 8, 1952 Decision and Direction of Election Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Emil C. Farkas, 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 National Labor Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel [Members Houston, Murdock, and Styles]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is a Michigan corporation with its principal offices and places of business at Detroit, Michigan. It is engaged in the retail sale of musical merchandise and household appliances. It also owns and operates a piano factory located.at Holly, Michigan. The Employer has approximately 25 stores within the State of Michi- gan, 1 store in Toledo, Ohio, and 1 in Windsor, Ontario. Only the Flint, Michigan, store is involved in this proceeding. During a recent 12-month period, the Employer in all its operations purchased $5,500,000 to $6,000,000 worth of merchandise. Of this amount, in excess of $1,000,000 worth of merchandise was received from outside the State of Michigan. During the same period, the Employer's sales amounted to between $9,500,000 and $10,000,000. Of this amount, the Employer shipped in excess of $100,000 worth of merchandise to its stores located outside the State of Michigan. The Employer contends that in deciding whether or not to assert jurisdiction in this matter the Board should not consider any opera- tions of the Employer except the Flint store. We do not agree with this. contention. The policies of the Employer are formulated and determined for all the stores by its board of directors and its president. The manager of the Flint store has the responsibility of conducting the store under the supervision of the president of the Employer and ' As amended at the hearing. s As amended at the hearing. 98 NLRB No. 13.