The Standard Register Co.

THE STANDARD REGISTER COMPANY 351 THE STANDARD REGISTER COMPANY and DISTRICT LODGE 13, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, AFL, Petitioner. Cases Nos. 9-RC-1953 and 9-RC-1954. July 22, 1953 DECISION, DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS, AND ORDER Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before Bernard Marcus, 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 organizations involved claim to represent certain 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 in Case No. 9-RC-1953, but not in Case No. 9-RC-1954. 4. In Case No. 9-RC-1953, the Petitioner seeks to sever a unit of maintenance employees at the Employer's Dayton, Ohio, plant, or in the alternative, any craft unit or units among these employees that the Board may find appropriate. In Case No. 9-RC-1954, the Petitioner seeks to sever a departmental unit of the Employer's machine-division em- ployees at this plant. The Employer and the Intervenor contend the units sought are inappropriate and move to dismiss the petitions.* In Case No. 9-RC-1953 they further contend that the proposed unit or units are barred since the Board has pre- viously refused to sever a single unit of maintenance em- ployees. The Employer at its Dayton plant is engaged in the manufac- ture of business forms and attachments. Its production opera- tions consist of a forms division engaged in the manufacture of forms, a machine division which manufactures the attach- ments, and a carbon division which produces carbon paper for combination with the forms. In general, heads of these divisions report to the general superintendent as do the heads 1 The Petitioner in both cases is the same. In both cases the Intervenor is International Union of Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers, CIO, which intervened on behalf of its Local 768. 2In Case No. 9-RC-1953, the Employer and Intervenor move to dismiss on the grounds of alleged indefiniteness of the unit request and the history of bargaining on a broader basis. In Case No. 9-RC-1954, the Employer and the Intervenor cite as grounds for their motion the alleged indefiniteness of the request, the difficulty the Board would encounter in deciding the issue, the difficulty for the parties to comply if such request is granted, and the history of bargaining on a broader basis. For the reasons stated infra , the motions to dismiss Case No. 9-RC- 1953 are denied and the motions to dismiss Case No. 9-RC- 1954 are granted. 106 NLRB No. 47. 352 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD of various servicing arms which service the three production divisions . Among these servicing arms are the production control department , the quality control department , and the plant maintenance department which includes subsections devoted to general services , and heating and plant protection. The plant consists of four buildings . Building 1 houses forms production and the maintenance department . Building 2 has the mechanical production and the engineering divisions and houses the offices of quality control and production control, and the tool and machine repair department . Building 3 is devoted to the production of carbon . Building 4 houses the experimental engineering department formerly also located in Building 2. The Intervenor , since April 1950, has been the certified bargaining representative for a general unit of all the Em- ployer's production and maintenance employees including the employees sought by the Petitioner herein. " Prior to this time substantially the same unit was represented by another union beginning in 1943. However , bargaining has also been conducted among a number of separate units of the Employer's employees . Thus, the printing and allied craft employees in the forms division have been represented by various printing trades unions . Moreover , as a result of a Board decision in September 1952,5 the Petitioner was certified to represent a separate unit of experimental department employees and tool and machinery repair employees , and the IBEW was certified to represent a unit of maintenance electricians. In the latter decision the Board rejected a separate petition for severance of a single unit of combined maintenance em- ployees . " The carbon division employees have also historically been excluded from the larger production and maintenance unit. Case No. 9-RC - 1953 : The primary unit request in this case is for all maintenance employees including general maintenance employees , welders, carpenters and box and crate makers, plumbers, painters , and boiler firemen. This is essentially a multicraft unit and, as the Board has frequently held , severance of such a unit will not be granted . ' However , as the Petitioner has alternately requested separate craft units , we will consider the propriety of such separate units. There are five employees classified as general maintenance miscellaneous , general maintenance , and general maintenance special.8 These employees install, set up, move, and relocate machinery , motors, conveyors , and other equipment; make guards for the equipment and fabricate steel; inspect , repair, 8 The engineering division is composed substantially of professional employees. " Case No. 9-RM-52, not reported in printed volumes of Board decisions. 5100 NLRB 981 6 A petition for a similar unit was dismissed by the Regional Director again in March 1953, on the basis of the previous Board decision , Case No. 9-RC-1882. 7See United States Time Corporation , 86 NLRB 724. 8 Whenever employed, the descriptive word "special " designates the leadman of the group involved . All parties agree these leadmen are not supervisors within the meaning of the Act. THE STANDARD REGISTER COMPANY 353 and lubricate equipment such as elevators, pumps, conveyors, and compressors; and perform building repair work and minor concrete work. They do no repair work on production machinery It requires about 4 years for an unskilled person to become a qualified general maintenance man in the Employer's plant. The general maintenance miscellaneous is less skilled than the others but works primarily with this group and assists the others in their work. We find that the general maintenance employees are essentially millwrights who constitute a homogeneous, iden- tifiable craft group whom the Board has held may constitute a separate bargaining unit if they so desire, notwithstanding a bargaining history on a larger basis.9 The Employer has two welders. These employees perform oxy-acetylene and electric arc welding, and the other usual duties of their trade. The Employer hires only experienced welders . We find these employees are craftsmen who may constitute a separate bargaining unit, if they so desire." The Employer has 1 carpenter, 1 special carpenter, and 2 box and crate makers. The carpenters work from drawings and gen- erally perform the duties of their trade. The box and crate makers spend most of their time making shipping boxes but also assist the carpenters and take instructions from them. In the past, box and crate makers have beenupgraded into the carpen- ter classification. We find that the carpenters and box and crate makers together are a homogeneous, identifiable craft group who may constitute a separate bargaining unit if they so desire.11 The Employer has a plumber, a plumber helper, and a spe- cial plumber. The special plumber and the plumber lay out, install, and maintain gas, air, water, sewer , and steam pipes and appurtenances, and install and maintain all toilets, wash- room facilities and air-conditioning equipment. The plumber helper assists the plumber. The Employer hires only ex- perienced plumbers. We find the plumbers and the plumber helpers are of a type the Board has held may constitute a separate bargaining unit, if they desire,' The Employer has two painters who possess the usual skills of persons engaged in that trade. They, like the other groups above, are the only persons performing the work of their respective classifications. The Employer hires only ex- perienced painters. We find the painters may constitute a separate bargaining unit, if they so desire.13 The Employer has three boiler firemen. Although not under the same immediate supervision as the other employees men- tioned above, the Petitioner included them in its petition. These employees fire and tend the boilers during the heating season. In the summer, they assist other maintenance employees as simple laborers. They aFe licensed to work on low pressure boilers by the State and require 2 years to learn their job 9Federal Telephone and Radio Corporation, 98 NLRB 1324. 10 National Container Corporation of Wisconsin. 97 NLRB 1009, 1014. 11 Hudson Pulp & Paper Corporation, 94 NLRB 1018. 1020. 12 Robertshaw- Fulton Controls Company (Fulton Sylphon Division), 88 NLRB 1508. >9 The Kroger Co., 103 NLRB 218. 354 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD adequately. We find the firemen may constitute a separate unit for the purpose of collective bargaining, if they so desire." Accordingly, we shall direct that separate elections be con- ducted among the following groups of employees employed by the Employer at its Dayton, Ohio, plant, excluding all other employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act: (1) All general maintenance employees; (2) all welders; (3) all carpenters and box and crate makers; (4) all plumbers and plumber helpers; (5) all painters; and (6) all boiler firemen. If a majority in any group votes for the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate appropriate unit, and the Regional Director is instructed to issue a certification of representatives to the Petitioner for such unit, which the Board, under the circumstances, finds to be appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. If a majority in any group votes for the Intervenor, they will be taken to have indi- cated their desire to remain a part of the existing bargaining unit and the Regional Director will issue a certification of the results of the elections to that effect. Case No. 9-RC-1954: In this case, the Petitioner makes no contention that the requested machine-division employees con- stitute a craft unit. It asserts that the machine division is a departmental unit and as such may be severed as a separate unit from the broader unit now represented by the Intervenor. The machine division housed in Building 2 contains a machine shop of about 59 employees who actually make parts for the attachments manufactured by the Employer. It also contains a final assembly department consisting of some 14 employees who assemble the parts into the attachments. In addition, the Petitioner would include various servicing arm employees who work primarily in association with the machine shop. For exam- ple, the Petitioner would include 12 machine production-control employees, 10 quality-control employees, 2 receiving-depart- ment employees, and 1 timekeeper under supervision of the en- gineering department. Excluded by the Petitioner would be pro- duction-control employees assigned to the forms division, other receiving employees, and janitors who service both divisions. It appears that the employees in the unit requested work primarily in the machine division, that there is little inter- change among the Employer's production divisions, that each production division does a substantially dissimilar kind of work, and that the production employees of each are under separate supervision. However, all employees generally are subject to the same conditions of employment, share the same interests , and are classified under a common numerical grading system. Furthermore, the Employer utilizes plantwide up- grading and transfers frequently occur from division to division. "Crown Zellerbach Corporation, 96 NLRB 378; Jacobsen Mfg. Co., 82 NLRB 1404. LOCK JOINT PIPE COMPANY 355 We find nothing the record to indicate, nor does the Peti- tioner contend, that the employees inthe proposedunit comprise a departmental group with a sufficient craft nucleus to be represented on this basis. Moreover, the record discloses no sufficient special community of interest of these employees apart from the Employer's other production employees. In view of these circumstances, including the fact that they have been represented in the same unit with other production em- ployees for 10 years, we perceive no reason for severing the employees in question from the existing unit now represented by the Intervenor." Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition in Case No. 9-RC-1954. [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.] [The Board dismissed the petition in Case No. 9-RC-1954.] Member Peterson, concurring in part and dissenting inpart: I agree with the majority opinion to the extent that it dis- misses the petition in Case No. 9-RC-1954' for the machine- division employees because there is no basis for severing them from the existing overall unit represented by the Intervenor. However, I disagree with the decision to direct elections in Case No. 9-RC-1953 for maintenance employees, welders, carpenters, plumbers, painters, and boiler firemen. In accordance with the views which I expressed in my dis- senting opinion in the Hamilton case,16 I find no reason to grant craft severance for the employees sought by the Peti- tioner in Case No. 9-RC-1953, where, as here, for a period of 10 years there has been an apparently satisfactory history of collective bargaining for a general unit of all production and maintenance employees including the employees sought herein. Is See John Deere Waterloo Tractor Works, 97 NLRB 969; The Store Kraft Manufacturing Company, 100 NLRB 968. 16 W. C. Hamilton and Sons, 104 NLRB 627. LOCK JOINT PIPE COMPANY, Petitioner and LOCAL 910, INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS, AFL and INTERNATIONAL HOD CARRIERS, BUILDING AND COMMON LABORERS UNION, LOCAL 846, AFL. Case No. 10-RM-123. July 22, 1953 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Paul L. Harper, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. 106 NLRB No. 56. 322615 0 - 54 - 24