Johns-Manville Products Corp.

7 48 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD as defined in the Act: (a) All technicians in the Employer's research .laboratory at Hammond, Indiana, and (b) all chemists, in the Em- ployer's research laboratory at Hammond, Indiana. The employees in the professional voting group (b) will be asked two questions, on their ballot : 7 (1) Do, you' desire to be included with the technicians in a unit composed of all chemists and technicians in the Employer's research laboratory at Hammond, Indiana, for the purpose of collective bargaining? (2) Do you desire to be repre- sented by the Oil Workers International Union, CIO? If a majority of the professional employees in voting group (b) vote "Yes" to the first question, indicating their desire to be included in a unit with the nonprofessional employees, they will be so included. Their'votes on the second question will then be counted together with the votes of the nonprofessional voting group (a) to, decide the representative for the whole research 'unit, and if a majority of the employees in. voting groups (a) and (b) together select the Petitioner, the Regional Dime- tor' conducting the elections directed herein is instructed to issue a certification of representatives to the Petitioner for a unit of tech- nicians and chemists which the Board under such circumstances finds to be appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. If, on the other hand, a majority of the professional employees in voting group (b) vote against inclusion in a unit with technicians, they will not be included with the nonprofessional employees. In that event the. votes in voting groups (a) and (b) will be counted separately to determine whether or not the Union will represent the employees in- volved in separate units. The Regional Director conducting the election directed herein is instructed to issue a certification of repre- sentatives to the Petitioner for such of these two units in which a majority of the employees select the Petitioner, which separate units the Board, in these circumstances, finds to be appropriate for the purposes. of collective bargaining. [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this volume.] - 7 See Sonotone Corporations 90 NLRB 1236. JOHNS-MANVILLE PimODUCTS CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL Asso- CIATION OF MACHINISTS, AFL, L DOE No. 855 , PETITIONER. Cases Nos. 15-RC-628, 15--RC-29, 15-RC-630, 15-RC-681, and 15-RC- 632. March 19,19510 Decision and Direction of Elections Upon separate petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing was held before Victor H. Hess, Jr., hearing officer. The hearing officer's 98 NLRB No. 111. JOHNS-MANVILLE PRODUCTS CORPORATION 749 rulings46ade a't-Vlie-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 [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Murdock]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The labor,organizations named below claim to represent em- ployees of,the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tion of certain employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Petitioner seeks to sever five craft groups from the existing production and maintenance unit at the Employer's Natchez, Missis- sippi, plant,' presently represented by International Woodworkers of America, CIO, Local No. 440, herein- called the Intervenor. The Intervenor contends that the requested units are inappropriate be- cause the employees in each such unit are not craftsmen and because the Employer's operations are so integrated as to preclude severance of craft units. The Employer is neutral. The Employer is engaged in the manufacture of insulating board and allied„ products from . wood pulp. , The primary operation of the plant involves the conversion of wood logs into insulating board by a continuous production process. The wood is ground into pulp, blended, dried, and cut into various size boards. The boards are painted or impregnated with asphalt or left natural. Except for this finishing operation, the plant operates continuously on a three-shift basis for a number of days, after which it is shut down for repair and cleanup. The repair work is done primarily by the erection and repair department (also known as the E and R department), which does no production work. We believe that the operations herein, unlike those in the basic steel and certain other industries,2 are not so integrated as to preclude craft severance. On the contrary, we find that these operations are similar to those in the pulp and paper industry ,3 and do not present the kind of integration that precludes severance.4 i This unit was found appropriate in Johns-Manville Products Corporation, 80 NLRB 602. ' Seb National Tube Company, 76 NLRB 1199 ; The Permanente Metals Corporation, 89 NLRB 804; Weyerhauser Lumber Company, 87 NLRB 1076. ' Similar type of machinery is used in both operations for conversion of pulp into finished products. * For example , National Container Corporation of Wisconsin , 97 NLRB 1009, and cases cited therein. See also Armstrong Cork Company, 80 NLRB 1328, where we estap- liahed a-nitilticraft unit in an insulation board plant whose operations , the record indicates, are substantially the same as those herein. 750 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL I;ABOR'RELATIONS BOARD Of the approximately` 267 production' and maintenance employees, a8 are assigned to the E and R department, which performs the uaintenance and repair work for the entire plant. The employees requested by the Petitioner' are all assigned to the E and R department, under the general charge of the plant engineer and under the-immediate supervision of the master mechanic and the chief electrician.' Within each craft they are classified as leader, round robin,6 "A", "B", "•C", helper, and beginner.. While there is no formal apprenticeship pro- gram, the Employer trains its E and R employees on the job,'taking production employees for the lower classifications and having them work their way up. It takes approximately 21/2 to 3years for a be- -ginner or "C" classification employee to work up to "A" classification. There is no general interchange between E and R and production employees, although occasional transfers are permitted to employees with'proper seniority and qualifications, if vacancies exist. The E and It employees receive rates of pay higher than those of the production employees. Case No. 15-RC-628 (machinists) : The Employer has nine em- ployees in this group requested by the Petitioner, including four .machinists, two- garage mechanics, two tool maintenance mechanics, sand a storeroom attendant. The machinists and tool maintenance mechanics must be able to perform highly skilled all-around bench :and machine work at close tolerances, read and understand drawings, sharpen cutting tools, and handle machines customarily used by machinists. However, the garage mechanics merely perform the .typical functions of their classification, except that they do not even 'perform all the automotive repair 'work. As - for the storeroom attendant, he distributes tools and supplies not only to these .employees but also to other E and R and even production employees, and is under the separate supervision of the storeroom foreman. Case No. 15-RC-629 (millwrights) : There are 22 employees in the millwright group, including 1 oiler and 1 beginner. The millwrights must be able to set up and dismantle machinery, read and work from 'drawings, perform general construction work in wood, steel, and 'concrete, and do welding. The oiler, besides maintaining proper oil in the machinery in the plant, spends 90 percent of his'time as a helper to the round -robin millwrights in their mechanical work. The beginner assists the millwrights in their duties. e There are approximately. 13 other employees in' the E and R department whom the (Petitioner Is not seeking. They are truck drivers and laborers,in the • yard crew, and firemen. d The round robin classification is equivalent to that of "A", except that they, unlike the other E and R employees, work late shifts. The round robins are only in the millwright and electrician categories. -'JOHNS-MANVILLE PRODUCTS CORPORATION 751 Case No. 15-RC-630 (pipefitters) ': There are four employees sought ,by the Petitioner in this group, three pipefitters and a tinsmith or sheetmetal worker. The pipefitters mustbe skilled in the installation ,and repair of steam, water, and air pipes, must be able to read and work --from drawings, and must know pipe coverings and metals'and plumb- ing fixtures.? The tinsmith must be able to construct all types of duets and heating and ventilating systems, work from complex draw- ings, and rivet and solder sheet metals. The record indicates that the tinsmith in the performance of his duties works with all the other ' crafts and not primarily with any one craft. Case No. 15-RC-631 (electricians) : The Petitioner seeks a unit of the seven electricians. The electricians must be able to install, oper- ate; and maintain all types of AC and DC electrical equipment,'must have a knowledge of refrigeration' and other equipment, must be able to prepare schematics of electrical systems and to repair machines, and must know the electrical nodes. Case No. 15-RC-632 (painters) : The Petitioner seeks =a, combined unit of painters and carpenters. The painters prepare all types of paints and surfaces to be painted, use a brush-and spray gun; put up scaffolding and rigging, do lettering and numbering like a sign -painter, and fix windows.. At present, there is only one carpenter, who must be able to handle and set up all woodworking machinery, have a knowledge of all types of carpentry, work with close tolerances, and read and work from blueprints. However, the record indicates that 'the carpenter, like the tinsmith, does not work primarily with any one other craft. We are of the opinion, contrary to the Intervenor, that the employ- ees requested by the Petitioner are, generally speaking, craftsmen, and may, if they so desire, constitute separate craft units, despite a history of collective bargaining on a broader basis." However, we shall exclude ' from the machinists' unit the garage 'mechanics and the'storeroom attendant, because they lack any special -community of interest with the machinists sufficient to warrant their inclusion in the unit .9 Further, the garage mechanics do not consti- a The record indicates that a pipefitter works, on occasion, as a relief man in the pbilerhohse. Such work is clearly not' within the scope of the requested unit, but comes within the existing production and maintenance unit 8 See Armstrong Cork Company, 97 NLRB 1057 (electricians, sheet metal workers, carfienters, millwrights, pipefitters, machinists) ; National Container Corporation of Wis- consin, supra (pipefitters, electricians, painters, millwrights, machinists) ; Crown Zeller- bach Corporation, 96 NLRB 378 (machinists, painters, pipefitters, and millwrights) ; International Paper Company, 94 NLRB 483 (millwrights, machinists, tinsmiths). Cf. Johns-Manville Products Corp., 80 NLRB 602, where we found that these employees together constituted a multigrouping which was not an appropriate single unit. D International Paper Company, supra; National Container Corporation- of Wisconsin, supra. . 752 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD tute a true craft group entitled to separate - representation." As for the tinsmith and the carpenter, we are precluded from establishing separate craft units for them because there is only one employee in each craft." Moreover, as each works with various other craftsmen in the E and R department whenever required by the job, he does not appear to have associations and interests with any other single craft sufficient to warrant inclusion therein.2 Accordingly, all these em- ployees will continue to remain a part of the production and mainte- nance unit represented by the Intervenor. In view of the foregoing, we shall clct- separate elections among the Employer's employees at its Natchez, Mississippi, plant, in the voting groups set forth below, including employees in the leader, round robin, "A", "B", "C", helper, and beginner classifications, but excluding all other employees and supervisors as defined in the Act : (1) All machinists and tool maintenance mechanics, excluding garage mechanics and storeroom attendant. (2)- All millwrights (including oilers). (3) All pipefitters. (4) All electricians. (5) All painters. If a majority of the employees in any of the voting groups indicate, by voting for the Petitioner, their desire to be represented in a separate unit, the Board finds such unit to be appropriate and the Regional Director conducting the elections-directed herein is instructed, in-that event, to issue a certification of representatives to the Petitioner for each such unit. If a majority of the employees in each of the voting groups vote for the Intervenor, the Board finds the presently existing production and maintenance unit to be appropriate in that event, and the Regional Director shall issue a certificate of results of elections to that effect. If a majority of the employees in some, but not all, of the voting groups vote for the Intervenor, the Board finds all the employees in the groups so voting to be appropriately included in the residual production and maintenance unit in that event, and the Re- gional Director shall issue a certificate of results of elections to that effect. [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this volume.] 10 National Container Corporation of Wisconsin , supra. u See Robertshaw-Fulton Controls Company, 88 NLRB 1508, 1510. 12 National Container Corporation of Wisconsin, supra; cf. Robertshaw -Fulton Controls Company, supra.