Textron Inc.

TEXTRON INCORPORATED 355 We shall provide for an election to be held by March 31, 1954, or on such earlier date, to be selected by the Regional Director , as it shall appear that a substantial and representative number of employees are then employed ' We believe that the working force which will be employed when the election directed herein is held , will be a substantial and representative segment of the employees to be employed in the voting group for a reasonable time in the future. [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.] 2 Eligibility shall be determined by the payroll period immediately ,preceding the issuance of a notice of election. TEXTRON INCORPORATED and TEXTILE WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA, CIO, Petitioner . Case No. 10 -RC-Z538. December 15, 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 Lloyd R. Fraker, hearing officer . The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. 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 organization involved claims 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. 1 4. The parties are in general agreement that a unit of production and maintenance employees is appropriate. The Petitioner , however, would exclude, among others , the clerk in the preparation department and the clerk in the cloth room; the standards man and the planning clerk, whose interests , it contends , are different from the production and maintenance employees ; and the shipping clerk , the head supply man , the head loom fixers, the head loom fixer in- structors , and mechanic Bethel Duck, who, it alleges, are supervisors .' On the other hand, it would include the shop mechanics who serve as part-time watchmen. Except for its 'Contrary to the Employer 's contention, the fact of compliance by a labor organization which is required to comply is a matter for administrative determination and is not litigable by the parties . Sunbeam Corporation , 94 NLRB 844 Moreover , the Board is administratively satisfied that the Petitioner is in compliance. 2 The parties are agreed that overseers and second hands are supervisors within the meaning of the Act 107 NLRB No 89. 356 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD opposition to the exclusion of the head loom fixers as super- visors, the Employer takes no position on the placement of the specified employees.' The clericals : The preparation department clerk keeps the production records of the department and the time of certain employees . The cloth room clerk tabulates the number of yards, grade , and classification of cloth inspected in the cloth room and prepares other records used for billing purposes . Both employees are located in the mill and are in continuous contact with the production employees . They are hourly paid and, except for vacation benefits , similar to those of the office clericals , they enjoy the same benefits accorded to production and maintenance employees. As the interests and working conditions of these 2 employees are closely allied to those of the production employees , we find that they are plant clericals who may be appropriately in- cluded in a unit of production and maintenance employees." The standards man: He is located in the front office and works under the 'direct supervision of the plant manager. His function is to check production methods and employee work loads. He observes specific methods of production and, when necessary , conducts time studies . Upon the basis of his observations and studies he formulates and submits recommendations to change methods of production or correct inequitable workloads . Although the standards man neces- sarily spends • a major portion of his time on the factory floor, we find that his interests are sufficiently different from those of the production and maintenance employees to warrant his exclusion from the unit! Planning clerk : Like the standards man, the planning clerk is also under the direct supervision of the plant manager and has his desk in the front office. His function is to record the flow of materials in the various departments of the plant for the purpose of enabling the Employer to plan the more efficient operation of the mill . His reports are submitted to the plant manager who takes the necessary remedial action indicated thereby. As in the case of the standards man, we find that the planning clerk has a sufficient diversity of interests from those of the production and maintenance employees to warrant his exclusion from the unit. The shipping clerk : He is an hourly paid employee under the supervision of the overseer of the preparation department. He has three helpers to assist him in the performance of his shipping and receiving duties. In the daily conduct of the work of his department, the shipping clerk exercises no independent judgment but merely transmits to the other employees in- structions from the overseer . He has no authority to hire or 3 In accord with the apparent agreement of the parties, we will include the probationary employees and the janitor . We will also exclude the loom fixer on loan , as it is clear that his employment at the Employer 's Hartwell plant is of temporary duration. 4Riverside Mills, 85 NIRB 969. 5Cf. J P. Stevens and Co., 93 NLRB 1513. TEXTRON INCORPORATED 357 discharge or otherwise affect the employment status of the helpers. Although the record indicates that he may make recommendations with respect to such matters, these rec- ommendations carry no weight other than possibly to initiate an independent investigation by the overseer. We therefore find that the shipping clerk is not a supervisor within the meaning of the Act and, accordingly , we will include him in the unit. The head supply man : He is an hourly paid employee under the direct supervision of the technical supervisor . Although the supply room is operated on a 3-shift basis, the head supply man is on duty only on the first shift. He is assisted by 3 helpers , 1 on each shift. He has no authority to assign work to these helpers and does not exercise any independent judgment in the operation of his supply room. He has no authority to affect the employment status of other employees nor to make effective recommendations in that regard. Ac- cordingly , we find that the head supply manis not a supervisor within the meaning of the Act. We will include him in the unit. The head loom fixers : The Employer has an unspecified number of employees acting as head loom fixers. They are skilled employees whose duties are , essentially, to assist the approximately 21 loom fixers employed on 3 shifts with their repair problems. Head loom fixers are hourly rated employees and share the same benefits and other conditions of employment as do the production and maintenance em- ployees. They are under the supervision of the overseer and second hand, at least 1 of whom is always on duty in the department . Except in instances when a head loom fixer substitutes for a second hand absent on vacation ,6 the record does not establish that the head loom fixer has authority responsibly to direct the work of the loom fixers, effectively recommend disciplinary action, or exercise any other super- visory authority. Accordingly, we find that they are not supervisors within the meaning of the Act . We will include them in the unit. The loom fixer instructors: There are two loom fixer instructors who conduct the Employer ' s loom fixer training program. Although they devote the major portion of their time to their duties as instructors , they also spend approxi- mately 25 to 30 percent of their time in regular production and maintenance work . Instruction , given mainly in the class- room, is supplemented by practical training in the mill under experienced loom fixers. Periodic reports on the progress of the trainees are' submitted by the instructor . Although in instances , where a trainee has failed to make expected progress, a report may be accompanied by a recommendation that the trainee be dropped from the program , this rec- ommendation serves only to initiate an investigation by the overseer and is not otherwise given any effective weight. 6 Wayside Press, 104 NLRB 1028; Phillips Oil Company, 91 NLRB 534. 358 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD We are satisfied on the record as a whole that the loom fixer instructors neither possess nor exercise any super- visory authority within the meaning of the Act. Accordingly, we will include them in the unit.? The mechanic : Bethel Duck , whom the Petitioner would exclude as a supervisor , is an hourly rated employee. Duck is under the direct supervision of the master mechanic and, in the latter ' s absence on vacation , substitutes for him. However, except in such circumstances , Duck has no authority to hire or discharge or otherwise affect the employment status of the shop mechanics , nor does he have any authority effectively to recommend such action . We therefore find that he is not a supervisor within the meaning of the Act and we will include him in the unit. The watchmen : As indicated above, the Petitioner would include an unspecified number of shop mechanics who, in addition to their regular duties as mechanics , serve on a rotational basis as watchmen on Saturdays and Sundays when the plant is not in operation . As watchmen , they maintain a fire and security watch . It is undisputed that at such times they have the authority to keep unauthorized persons, em- ployees included, off the Employer ' s premises . The Board has recently held that employees who spend less than a major part of their time as watchmen are nevertheless guards within the meaning of the Act . 8 Accordingly , we will exclude from the unit shop mechanics who regularly perform watchmen duties. We find that all production and maintenance employees at the Employer ' s Hartwell , Georgia, plant , including the prepa- ration department clerk, the cloth room clerk, the shipping clerk, the head supply man, the head loom fixers , the loom fixer instructors , the probationary employees , and the plant janitor, but excluding office clerical employees , the standards man, the planning clerk, the temporary loom fixer , the shop mechanics who regularly serve as watchmen , guards, pro- fessional employees, and supervisors within the meaning of the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.] 7J P. Stevens and Co. , Inc., 93 NLRB 1513 8 Walterboro Manufacturing Corporation , 106 NLRB 1383.