Lee Brothers Foundry, Inc.

21 2 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 1. All production and maintenance employees employed at the Clay & Bailey Manufacturing Company's Kansas City, Missouri , plant, excluding truckdrivers , office clerical em- ployees , professional employees , guards, and all supervisors as defined in the Act. 2. All production and maintenance employees employed at the Morgan Foundry Company ' s Kansas City , Missouri , plant, excluding truckdrivers , office clerical employees , professional employees , guards, and all supervisors as defined in the Act. Upon the results of these elections will depend , in part, our final unit determination . If the employees in group 2 select a bargaining representative different from that selected by the employees in group 1 , the Board finds that the group 2 employees constitute a separate appropriate unit ; and in these circumstances if the employees in group 1 also select a bargaining representative the Board finds that the employees in group 1 also constitute an appropriate bargaining unit. If the employees in the two groups select the same bargaining representative , the Board finds that together they constitute an appropriate unit. The Regional Director conducting the elections directed herein is instructed to issue a certification of representatives to the union or unions in the unit or units which may result from the elections. [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.1 LEE BROTHERS FOUNDRY, INC. and INTERNATIONAL AS- SOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, DISTRICT LODGE NO. 178, A.F.L., Petitioner. Cases Nos . 10-RC-2305, 10-RC-2306, and 10 -RC-2307. July 17, 1953 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Gilbert Cohen, 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[Members Houston, Styles, and Peterson] . 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 cer- tain employees of the Employer. 3. 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. 4. The appropriate units: In Case No. 10-RC -2306, the Petitioner seeks a separate unit of all toolroom and machine shops ' employees at the 106 NLRB No 42. LEE BROTHERS FOUNDRY, INC. 213 Employer's plant in Anniston , Alabama, excluding all other employees and supervisors as defined in the Act. In Case No. 10-RC-2307 , the Petitioner requests a separate unit of all maintenance employees , excluding all other employees and supervisors . In Case No . 10-RC-2305 , the Petitioner seeks a separate unit of all shipping and receiving employees and supply room employees , with the same exclusions. The Petitioner urges, however , that if the Board finds these separate units inappropriate , it is willing to represent the employees covered by the separate petitions in a single unit. The Employer contends that only an overall production and maintenance unit, which would include the employees for whom the Petitioner seeks separate representation , as well as the foundry and smelting employees and all production clerks, is appropriate . There is no history of collective bargaining at the Employer ' s plant. The Employer , who is engaged in the manufacture and sale of brass and bronze fittings and castings at its Anniston plant, employs approximately 600 employees in 7 buildings in which the Employer's operations are conducted . Except in minor respects , there is one policy as to wages, vacations , bonuses, holidays , group insurance , and general plant operation for all employees. Case No. 10 -RC-2306: The Petitioner requests a unit of all toolroom and machine shop employees , including toolmakers (machinists ), machine operators (tapping, screw, sweat-fitting, turrent lathe , drill press , tool grinder, production lathe, production machine, plug screw , bushing, and automatic plug machine operators ), setup men, assemblers , and helpers (riddlemen), but would exclude a plant clerk and all other employees and supervisors as defined in the Act. The Employer operates two machine shops which are located in separate buildings . Each machine shop is under the super- vision of a machine shop foreman who is directly responsible to the machine shop superintendent . All the employees in the requested unit are promoted from jobs within the machine shops, are listed on the machine shop seniority list and payroll, and do not interchange with employees from other depart- ments. Most of these employees receive the same wage rates. Machine shop No. 1 consists of the toolroom and the valve, tapping machine , sweat -fitting, turret lathe, and tool grinding departments. There are 3 machinists and 4 junior machinists in the toolroom who are supervised by the machine shop foreman.' The machinists , who possess greater skills than the junior machinists and accordingly receive a higher rate of pay, make all the necessary tools for the Employer. The machine operators, of which there are approximately 26, work in the tapping machine , sweat -fitting , and turret lathe depart- ments under the supervision of their respective department foremen, and are assigned to the same machines each day. 1It appears that one of the machinists occasionally performs milling machine operations on patterns sent to the machine shop from the pattern shop. 214 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The tool grinders , who are under the same supervision as the toolroom employees , are required to grind reamers and box tools to specific degrees of clearance . The assemblers, of which there are 10, work in the valve department under the immediate supervision of the valve department foreman and assemble the various parts which go into the Employer's product. The machine shop helpers or riddlemen shuttle products on the riddle to the machine operators in the tapping and sweat -fitting departments , assist the operators in filling their machines, and devote all their time to machine shop duties. Machine shop No. 2 consists of 3 plug screw machine operators , 7 tapping machine operators , 3 bushing machine operators , 1 plug machine operator , and approximately 4 helpers. All these employees are supervised by the machine shop foreman in charge of machine shop No. 2. The toolroom and machine shop employees are separately and commonly supervised , do not interchange with employees inotherdepart- ments, receive their training in the machine shops, and are promoted within the machine shops. On the basis of the entire record in this proceeding, and in view of the fact that there is no history of collective bargaining on a broader basis, we find that the toolroom and machine shop employees constitute a homogeneous , readily identifiable , and functionally coherent group of employees possessing a sufficient community of interest separate from that of the other employees to warrant the establishment of a separate bargaining unit.' There remains for consideration , however, the unit place- ment of the plant clerk in machine shop No. 1 and the setup men. The Petitioner contends that the plant clerk should be excluded from the unit because his interests lie with the main office clerks . The Employer urges that the plant clerk should be included . The plant clerkkeeps records of all weights which are shipped into machine shop No. 1 and records the amount of materials produced there. He performs those duties exclusively in that shop . Under the circumstances , we find that the duties and interest of the plant clerk are sufficiently allied with those of the machine shop employees to warrant his inclusion in the unit. The Petitioner also contends that the foremen of the various departments in the machine shops are setup men and should be included in the unit. However , the record discloses that while these individuals assist the other employees in setting up the machines , they are classified as foremen and possess the authority to hire and discharge. We therefore find that the setup men are supervisors and we shall exclude them from the unit. Accordingly , we find that all toolroom and machine shop employees , including toolmakers (machinists ), machine opera- tors (tapping, screw , sweat -fitting, turret lathe, drill press, tool grinder, production lathe, production machine, plug screw, bushing, and automatic plug machine operators), 2See Owens-Corning Fiberglass Corporation, 81 NLRB 441 LEE BROTHERS FOUNDRY, INC. 215 assemblers, helpers (riddlemen), and the plant clerk, excluding all other employees, the setup men, and all other supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (c) of the Act. Case No. 10-RC-2307: In this case, the Petitioner requests a unit of all maintenance employees, including millwrights and their helpers, general repairmen, miscellaneous main- tenance men (carpenters), the maintenance truckdriver, elec- tricians, welders and their assistants, and laborers and helpers permanently assigned to the maintenance department. The maintenance department is under the supervision of a maintenance superintendent and is located in a separate building. The millwrights, of which there are 3, maintain and repair the plant machinery. Two of the millwrights are respon- sible, together with their helpers, for the maintenance of the machinery in foundries No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, and spend approximately 90 percent of their time at those opera- tions. The third millwright, with the assistance of 5 helpers, maintains and repairs the machinery in the remainder of the plant, and also devotes the major portion of his time outside the physical location of the maintenance department. While engaged in work outside the maintenance department, the millwrights and their helpers are under the supervision of the maintenance department superintendent although they are instructed as to what work must be done by the foremen of the departments in which their services are required. The millwrights and their helpers are trained in the maintenance department, own their hand tools, report each morning to that department at the start of their shift, and do not interchange with employees in other departments. The general repairmen repair and keep up the buildings and grounds, and maintain the fences and road shoulders. The miscellaneous maintenance men, like the general repairmen, maintain the buildings and grounds. They also do carpentry work, and spend a portion of their time making flasks in the maintenance department. These employees are supervised by the maintenance depart- ment superintendent, report to that department each morning where work assignments are made, and do not interchange with employees in other departments. The maintenance truck- driver performs some shipping work at the loading dock, but spends about 60 percent of his time working in and for the maintenance department. This individual is supervised by the maintenance department superintendent, reports for work each morning to that department, and is not interchanged with employees in other departments. There are 2 electricians who at present are being trained in that job classification by the maintenance department superintendent. These employees will perform general electrical repairs and will install electri - cal equipment in the plant. While 98 percent of their time will be consumed in working outside the maintenance department, they will be under the supervision of the maintenance depart- ment superintendent. There is 1 welder and an assistant under the supervision of the maintenance department superintendent 21 6 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD who spend about 50 percent of their time performing welding operations throughout the plant . The 2 laborers and helpers, who are ultimately supervised by the maintenance department superintendent , assist the miscellaneous maintenance men in maintaining the buildings and grounds , and are at times assigned to assist in other departments . These employees report each morning to the maintenance department. The Board has been reluctant to sever a maintenance group, such as that requested in this case by the Petitioner, from a preexisting production and maintenance unit, where to do so would disrupt stable collective -bargaining relations on a broader basis . However , where, as here, there is no collective- bargaining history on a broader basis, we have found that a readily identifiable , homogeneous group of maintenance em- ployees, similar to those involved herein , possesses a sufficient community of interest separate from that of the production employees to warrant their separate representation . Accord- ingly, we find that the maintenance department employees constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. 3 We find that a unit of all maintenance employees , including millwrights and their helpers, general repairmen , miscel- laneous maintenance men (carpenters ), the maintenance truck- driver, electricians , welders and their assistants , andlaborers and helpers permanently assigned to the maintenance depart- ment, excluding all other employees and supervisors as defined in the Act , constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col- lective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. Case No. 10 - RC-2305: The Petitioner seeks a unit of all shipping and receiving employees and supply room employees, including packers , testers, checkers , inspectors , and truck- drivers - shipping clerks, but excluding plant clerks in the shipping department and all other employees and supervisors as defined in the Act . The Employer contends that if such a unit is found appropriate the plant clerks in the shipping de- partment should be included. The shipping department, which occupies a portion of a building in which the machine shop No. 1 is located , consists of inspectors , testers, checkers , packers, truckdrivers- shipping clerks, and plant clerks . These employees are under the supervision of the shipping department foreman, do not interchange with employees in other departments , and appear on the shipping department seniority list and payroll. The inspectors check the fittings by visual examination to determine whether they are acceptable for shipment to the Employer's customers . The testers, who interchange with the inspectors, test fittings for any unusual burrs and grind them off. When an item is defective , the testers send it to the machine shop fore- man for further processing . The checkers count the number of items necessary to fill the orders, and the packers prepare the items for shipment. Upon completion of the packing 3Borden's Soy Processing Company, 88 NLRB 1208 ; Hotpoint, Inc , 85 NLRB 485. FRANCES H. LEGGETT AND COMPANY 217 process, the truckdrivers-shipping clerks convey the orders to the foundry where a scale is available for weighing the shipment. The shipment is checked by the drivers and then is transported by truck to a railroad depot. An assistant receiving clerk, who assists the receiving clerk, a conceded supervisor, works in the supply room and records the receipt of all materials which come into the plant. In view of the units found appropriate above, the shipping department employees are the only production employees who remain unrepresented, other than the foundry employees whom we traditionally find to constitute a separate appropriate unit. Accordingly, we find that the employees herein sought are in the nature of a residual unit, and that as such, they may be afforded an opportunity to select separate representation, particularly in the absence of any bargaining history on a broader basis. The unit placement of the plant clerks in the shipping depart- ment is in dispute. The Petitioner contends that these em- ployees should be excluded from the unit because their interests are not allied with those of the shipping and receiving em- ployees. The Employer contends otherwise. The two plant clerks work in the shipping department. One clerk maintains records of shipments which leave the plant and is supervised exclusively by the shipping department foreman. The other clerk keeps records of production and, while he is located in the shipping department, he is supervised by both the shipping department foreman and the production foreman. As the interests and duties of these employees appear to be allied with those of the shipping and receiving employees, we shall include them in the unit. Accordingly, we find that all shipping and receiving em- ployees and supply room employees, including packers, testers, checkers, inspectors, truckdrivers-shipping clerks, and plant clerks, excluding all other employees and supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col- lective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.] FRANCES H. LEGGETT AND COMPANY and INDUSTRIAL UNION OF MARINE AND SHIPBUILDING WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, Petitioner and LOCAL 676, INTERNA- TIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, AFL and LOCAL 56, AMALGAMATED MEAT CUTTERS AND BUTCHER WORKMEN OF NORTH AMERICA, AFL. Case No. 4-RC-1974. July 20, 1953 DECISION AND ORDER Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing 106 NLRB No. 37.