General Electric Co.

364 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD generally considered inappropriate by the Board, the Board has held that the mere fact that they have expressed that dis- satisfaction in formalized action is not by itself sufficient reason for making an exception to the normal contract-bar rule. io Before applying the schism doctrine, the Board must be convinced that the bargaining relationship is so confused that no stabilizing purpose would be served by applying the contract- bar rule, and the Board will not permit the schism doctrine to be used to facilitate raiding by a rival union. n Moreover, the Board will not accord any validity toa formalized disaffiliation proceeding when, by reason of the control by the rival union over the disaffiliation proceeding, a vote is not taken at a meeting of the contracting union.11 Applying these principles to the present case, we believe that the situation does not warrant an exception to the contract-bar rule. We find that the Petitioner actively assisted the dissident employees in their efforts at disaffiliation, that the May 25 meeting effectually became an AFL meeting after the CIO offi- cials departed, and that there remains sufficient support of the CIO Local for it to represent the employees and to administer the contract. As the existing contract will not expire until January 15, 1954, we find that it is a bar to the present petition. We shall therefore dismiss it, without prejudice to a timely refiling. i$ [The Board dismissed the petition.] to Allied Container Corporation, 98 NLRB 580. "Saginaw Furniture Shops, Inc.. 97 NLRB 1488; Dennis-Mitchell Industries, 101 NLRB 846. 12Bendix Products Division, 98 NLRB 1180. 13 In light of this disposition of the case, we deny the motion of the Brewery Workers, CIO, to reopen the hearing GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANYand INTERNATIONAL UNION OF ELECTRICAL, RADIO AND MACHINE WORKERS, CIO, Petitioner . Case No . 9-RC-1939. July 23, 1953 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before William G. Wilkerson, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. i i The Petitioner's motion, made at the hearing, to consolidate the instant case with Case No 9-RC-1839 was reserved for the Board. As the Board's decision in that case issued on May 26, 1953, the day of the hearing in the present case, the motion is denied. The Peti- tioner's motion made in its brief, that the Board review the compliance status of the Greater Louisville Metal Trades Council of Louisville, Kentucky, AFL, as it pertains to that organi- zation's participation in Case No. 9-RC-1839, is not properly before the Board and is there- fore denied. 106 NLRB No. 66. GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 365 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-member panel [Members Houston, Murdock, and Styles]. Upon the entire record in this case, 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.2 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. Expanding Unit Contention The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit of all production and maintenance employees at the Employer's Appliance Park plant. All the parties agree that the unit sought is appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining, however the Employer contends that the petition should be dismissed and no election be held at this time because there is not now employed a substantial and representative work force. The Employer's major appliance division manufactures and sells major electrical appliances . It has manufacturing plants in several States. In 1951, the Employer decided to centralize its electrical appliance manufacturing operations and for that purpose began constructing a large plant near Louisville, Kentucky, herein referred to as Appliance Park. Production of various products is already under way in 3 of the 5 planned production buildings. The Employer expects to begin pro- duction in a fourth building in December 1953. Construction of the fifth building will not begin until December 1953 and will not be completed until at least a year later. As facilities become available the Employer will transfer its operations from the existing plants to Appliance Park. When completed the major appliance division at Appliance Park will be divided into 5 product departments. The home laundry department produces dryers and automatic washers and occupies building 1. This department employed approxi- mately 500 employees on the date of hearing. It expects to hire 500 more by the end of 1953 and an additional 200 employees by May 1954, a year from the hearing. The range and water heater department is presently producing ranges and occupies building 2. Water heaters will not be produced at Appliance Park within the next year. On the date of the hearing this 2 The hearing officer permitted the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, UE, and the Greater Louisville Metal Trades Council of Louisville, Kentucky, AFL, to intervene on the basis of an adequate showing of interest. The official name of the latter organization as listed on the Board's compliance records is Greater Louisville Metal Trades Council, Metal Trades Department, AFL. In addition to the Council, all member Locals which through the Council could participate in representing the employees involved, are in compliance with Section 9 (f), (g). and (h) of the Act 366 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD department employed approximately 500 employees and expects to employ about 100 more during the next year. The electric sink and cabinet department occupies building 3. It produces garbage disposals , dishwashers, and a combination sink-dishwasher- disposal unit. The latter 2 items are currently being produced on a temporary assembly line in building 1. On the date of the hearing , 138 employees, including the central toolroom unit which is to be housed in building 3, were employed in this building. By the end of 1953 an additional 600 employees will be hired to work in this building. No further increase is con- templated before May 1954. The home refrigerator department will occupy buildings 4 and 5. Building 4 will be ready for occupancy in November or December 1953 at which time approximately 500 employees will be hired, with an additional 500 employees being hired by May 1954. The refrigerating mechanism will be manufactured in this building. Eventually the Employer expects to have 3,500 employees in this building. The cabinets for refrigeration units will eventually be manu- factured in building 5. The specialty refrigeration department will not be functioning within the next 12 months. This depart- ment is slated to occupy a planned extension of building 3. A sixth department to be known as the Appliance Park project department will constitute a maintenance and service depart- ment. It is expected to consist of a mill- water system which by the end of 1953 will have 4 or 5 employees, the propane gas plant which will be operated by boilerhouse employees who are excluded'from the unit,3 a meter house, the operators of which are also excluded by agreement of the parties, an industrial waste treatment plant which will be operated by laboratory employees who are also excluded from the unit sought, a warehouse which will not be completed within the next 12 months, a central maintenance group which will be moved into a separate building in November 1953 (there are presently employed 63 employees in a maintenance group, some of whom will be transferred to department maintenance groups with the remaining employees forming the nucleus of the central maintenance group), a salvage and incinerator building which will be completed in February 1954, the central toolroom group, a traffic and transportation group which will service and maintain the roads and railroad tracks on the grounds and which will include truckdrivers and a train crew, the boilerhouse, the employees of which are, as noted above, excluded from the unit, and a plant-protection group which includes guards and 4 fire inspectors. The facts set forth above show that, as of the date of the hearing , May 26, 1953, the Employer employed over 1,200 3 The Board found the boilerhouse employees constituted an appropriate unit for purposes of collective bargaining , and directed an election among them in General Electric Co., 105 NLRB No. 9. GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 367 employees at Appliance Park, that it expects to hire additional employees at the rate of 200 to 300 employees a month for the next year, that by August 1, 1953, it expects to have approxi- mately 1,800 to 1,900 employees, and that approximately 3,800 employees will be employed 1 year from the date of the hearing. The record further reveals that employment will increase to approximately 6,500 by the beginning of 1955, and eventually to approximately 12,000 employees, but no target date has been set for reaching the latter number and it necessarily remains speculative as to when full employment will be attained. High- lighting the difficulties and uncertainties in making long-range predictions , is the variance between the Employer ' s testimony at this hearing and at the hearing in the case involving boilerhouse employees , held on March 5, 1953. In that case the Employer testified that it expected to have a total of approximately 2,300 employees at the end of 1953, 4,000 employees at the end of 1954, and eventually approximately 16,000 employees. With respect to job classifications, the record shows that 91 classifications are now filled and the Employer expects to fill 44 more classifications by the end of 1953. This number will then remain about the same for an indefinite period. When the project is completed the Employer expects to have 185 job classifications . The record shows that some employees , though not so classified , are performing work similar to that which will be done by persons to be employed in a number of the unfilled classifications. In view of the above circumstances and on the record as a whole, we find no merit in the Employer's contention that we should not direct an election at this time. Although the Employer expects a substantial expansion of its plant and personnel continuing at least through 1955, at the time of the hearing it employed a substantial and representative group of the number of employees it intended to hire within a year from the hearing. Completion of the plant and the increase inpersonnel in accord- ance with the schedules projected by the Employer depend in part on factors over which it has little or no control , such as general economic conditions , available labor supply, and consumer demand for its products. The Employer's own witness admitted that because of these factors, its planning for the period beyond May 1954 necessarily is only an estimate of what it hopes to accomplish . But assuming that its expansion for the year following the date of the hearing goes according to schedule, by August 1, 1953, the Employer will have approxi- mately 1,900 or 50 percent of the 3,800 employees it expects to have in May 1954. Also by that date approximately 68 percent of the ultimate number of job classifications will be filled. We find that a substantial number of employees are currently employed and that they constitute a representative group of the ultimate personnel complement . Therefore , we shall , in accord- 368 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ante with the Board ' s policy in such cases ,4 direct an election among the employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate. The Appropriate Unit As noted above , the parties agree that the unit sought by the Petitioner is appropriate for the purposes of collective bar- gaining. They are in disagreement however as to the inclusion and exclusion of certain classifications. General clerks : This classification includes all employees doing general clerical work throughout Appliance Park. The parties stipulated that those general clerks who were assigned to the production , maintenance , inspection , and shipping and receiving foremen should be excluded from the unit . Each of these clerks works in a foreman's office which is an enclosed office on the factory floor, and performs stenographic and typing work for him. There are other general clerks who work as timekeepers . They keep records of time and output, and in most cases make employee initial gross-pay calculations. Unlike the general clerks to the foreman , the general clerk- timekeepers are under the supervision of the payroll super- visor . They spend most of their time in the foremen ' s offices, but do have occasion to go out on the floor and ask questions or check on records that may be incomplete . We find that these general clerk - timekeepers are plant clericals and may properly be included in a production and maintenance unit , notwithstanding the fact that they are paid on a different basis and are under different ultimate supervision than the other employees in the unit . ' There are several general clerks employed as shipping and receiving records clerks who work in the shipping and receiving foreman's offices . They keep records in connection with the receiving and shipping of materials . They identify materials , checking them against orders, and certifying to the fact that the material received is actually the material that is represented in the papers that accompany it. They do some typing and operate a calculating machine . They are paid on a salary basis . In addition to these clerks , the Employer also has hourly paid receiving clerks, who work on the shipping and receiving floor and are included in the unit by agreement of the parties . We find that the general clerks working as shipping and receiving records clerks are plant clericals and we shall include them in the unit -6 Some general clerks work in the dispatchers ' cages which are on the factory floor. They perform routine clerical work for the dispatchers . We find these 4 See Western Electric Company, Incorporated , 76 NLRB 400; Walnut Ridge Manufacturing Co., Inc., 80 NLRB 1196; Cadillac Motor Car Division , 94 NLRB 217 ; Ford Motor Company, 96 NLRB 1075 ; Bell Aircraft Corporation, 96 NLRB 1211; Chrysler Corporation , Michaud Ordnance Plant, 98 NLRB 1105. 5Daystrom Furniture Division, Daystrom Inc., 101 NLRB 343, Wm. L Hoge & Co , In- corporated, 103 NLRB 20. 6 Union Aluminum Company, 101 NLRB 324 GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 369 dispatchers ' clerks to be plant clericals and shall include them in the unit.' Production - control employees : The Employer's production- control group plans and controls the flow of materials through the various manufacturing operations , by coordinating the use of equipment , materials , and manpower . Included in this group are production scheduling employees , inventory control em- ployees , expediters , and dispatchers . The parties agree that the production scheduling employees and the inventory control employees are excluded from the unit . The Employer would also exclude the expediters and the dispatchers because they are an integral part of the production - control group and their normal promotion channels are into office positions within the group . The labor organizations would include them because the expediters spend approximately 60 percent of their time on the factory floor, and the dispatchers work in cages on the factory floor and come in frequent contact with production employees. We find in accordance with well - established Board procedures that the dispatchers8 and the expediters9 are plant clericals and we shall include them in the unit . The Petitioner would include fire inspectors in the unit and all other parties would exclude them. The fire inspectors care for fire - fighting equipment , inspect the premises for fire hazards , have the same headquarters as guards , are under the same supervision as guards , and have the same authority as do guards with respect to enforcing plant rules . There is some interchange between guards and fire inspectors and the natural channel of promotion for guards is to fire inspector . The parties stipulated that the guards are guards as defined in the Act and are there- fore excluded from the unit . We find that the fire inspectors come within the definition of guards as defined in the Act and we therefore exclude them from the unit.'° 4. We find the following employees of the Employer at its plant in Buechel , Kentucky , hereinbefore referred to as Appliance Park , constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act: All production and maintenance employees including general clerks who work as timekeepers , as recordkeepers in the shipping and receiving room, and as dispatchers ' clerks, dispatchers, and expediters , but excluding boilerhouse em- ployees,u employees in the classifications excluded by stipula- tion of the parties and listed in Appendix A, professional employees , office clerical employees , guards and fire inspec- tors, and supervisors as defined in the Act. [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.] 7Bell Aircraft Corporation , 98 NLRB 1277. 8Bell Aircraft Corporation, supra. 9Efco Manufacturing, Inc., 97 NLRB 263. "Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., 92 NLRB 1376; Kohler Co., 93 NLRB 398. "See footnote 3. 370 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD APPENDIX A Engineering Assistants Employees engaged on the following training programs of the Employer Test Engineering Program Manufacturing Training Program Factory Training Program Planning Methods and Wage Rate and Time-Study Employees Tool Planners Tool Designers No. land No. 2. Machine Designer Tool Expediter ( outside and inside), Tool Engineers Trial and Test Employees Packing Methodsmen Laboratory Technicians Messengers Production Schedule Employees Inventory Control Employees Routing Clerk Rail Transportation Dispatcher Transportation Rate Clerk Freight Tracer Reservations Clerk Traffic Coordinator Safety Coordinator General Clerks to the Production , Maintenance , Inspection, and Shipping and Receiving Room Foremen FULTON BAG AND COTTON MILLS and PRINTING SPE- CIALTY AND PAPER PRODUCTS UNION NO. 388, INTER- NATIONAL PRINTING PRESSMEN AND ASSISTANTS' UNION OF NORTH AMERICA, AFL, Petitioner. Case No. 21-RC-2898. July 23, 1953 SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF RESULTS OF ELECTION On March 6, 1953, pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election' issued by the Board , an election by secret ballot was conducted in the above-entitled matter under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Twenty-first Region in the unit found to be appropriate. Upon the completion of the election , a tally of ballots was issued and duly served upon the parties. The tally shows that of approximately 87 eligible voters, 72 cast valid ballots, of which 23 were for the Petitioner and 49 were against the Petitioner. 1 Not reported in printed volumes of Board decisions. 106 NLRB No. 59.