Remington Arms Co., Inc.

In the Matter of REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, INC. and INTERNATIONAL UNION OF MINE, MILL & SMELTER WORKERS, FOR ITSELF AND ON BEHALF OF ITS LOCAL UNION, REMINGTON ARMS WORKERS LOCAL 611, C. I. 0. In the Matter Of REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, INC. and A. F. of L. ORDNANCE PLANT MECHANICS, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, LOCAL No. 1620 In the Matter of REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, INC. and BROTHERHOOD OF RAILROAD TRAINMEN In the Matter of REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, INC. and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS Cases Nos.'R-5496 to R-5499, inclusive, respectively.Decided July, 22, 1943 Mr. Elmer L. Hunt, for the Board. Mr. C. M. Spargo, of Bridgeport, Conn., and Messrs. Walter S. Buck and Donald B. Campbell, of Denver, Colo., for the Company. Messrs. Eugene H. Tepley, Forrest Emerson, Ray Lee, and Eunice C. Dolan, of Denver, Colo., for the Smelter Workers. Messrs. David W. Oyler, H. J. Paar, and George W. Bray field, of ,Denver, Colo., for the Plant Mechanics. Messrs. R. H. McDonald and O. L. Jackson, of Denver, Colo., for the Trainmen. Messrs. A. L. Smith and J. Clyde Williams, of Denver, Colo., for the I. B. E. W. Mrs. Augusta Spaulding, of counsel to the Board. DECISION DIRECTION OF ELECTION AND ORDER STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon separate, petitions duly filed by, International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers, for itself and on behalf of its local union, Remington Arms Workers Local 611, C. 1. 0., herein called the Smelter 51 N. L. R. B., No. 106. 628 REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, INC. 629 Workers; by A. F. of L. Ordnance Plant Mechanics, International Association of Machinists, Local No. 1620, herein called the Plant Mechanics; by Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, herein called the Trainmen; and by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, herein called the I. B. E. W., each alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Remington Arms Company, Inc., Denver, Colorado, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appro- priate consolidated hearing upon due notice before Earl S. Bellman, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Denver, Colorado, on June 1, 2, 3, and 4, 1943. The Board, the Company, the Smelter Workers, the Plant Mechanics, the Trainmen, and the I. B. E. W. appeared and participated i All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hear- ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.2 All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Remington Arms Company, Inc., has its principal office and head- quarters at Bridgeport, Connecticut. The Company manufactures small arms and ammunition at the Denver Ordnance Plant, Denver, Colorado, the only plant involved in this proceeding. The plant, and the raw materials used, and the products finished at the plant are owned by the United States Government. During the past year the Com- pany used at the plant raw materials valued in excess of $1,000,000, at least 50 percent of which was shipped to the plant from points outside Colorado. During the same period the Company finished at the plant products valued in excess of $5,000,000, a substantial part of which has been, and the remainder of which will be, shipped to points outside Colorado. i Representatives of Colorado State Federation of Labor, Denver Building and Con- struction Trades Council , and Denver Trades and Labor Assembly , labor organizations also served with notice, appeared at the bearing on behalf of the Plant Mechanics. z Subsequent to the hearing, all parties entered into a stipulation providing for the correction of the transcript of the hearing in these consolidated proceedings . The stipula- tion was approved by the attorney for the Board and forwarded to the Board at Wash- ington in accordance with the request of the parties , the Board orders that the stipulation be, and It hereby is, incorporated in, and made a part of, the record 'herein and that the transcript of the hearing be deemed and considered amended in accordance with the stipulation of the parties. 630 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD IL THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizatibns, admitting to membership employees of the Company. A. F. of L. Ordnance Plant Mechanics, Local No. 1620, is a labor organization chartered by International Association of Machinists, admitting to membership employees of the Company. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen is an unaffiliated labor organ- ization, admitting to membership employees of the Company. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is a labor organ- ization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION In November 1942 the I. B. E. W. asked the Company for recogni- tion as exclusive bargaining representative of electrical employees at the plant. The Company refused, alleging that the proposed unit was not appropriate for bargaining. In January 1943 the Smelter Work- ers and the Plant Mechanics made similar requests for recognition in other proposed units. The Company refused to recognize either labor organization until it should be certified as exclusive bargaining repre- sentative by the Board. In March 1943 the Trainmen asked the Company for recognition as exclusive bargaining representative of the Diesel engine crews. The Company refused on the ground of the conflicting claims of the Smelter Workers and the Plant Mechanics. A statement prepared by the Board's attorney and introduced into evidence at the hearing indicates that the Trainmen represents a substantial number of employees in its proposed unit.' We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning s The Trainmen submitted authorization cards, dated March 9, 1943, all of which appear to bear genuine signatures of employees of the Company in its proposed unit. These cards indicate that the Trainmen represents 90 percent of the employees of the Com- pany in its proposed unit. The Plant Mechanics submitted authorization cards, dated between November 1942 and May 1943, all of which appear to bear genuine signatures of employees of the Company in its proposed unit. These cards indicate that the Plant Mechanics represents 16% percent of the employees in its proposed unit. The Smelter workers submitted authorization cards, 15 percent of which were undated, 5 percent dated between October 1941 and November 1942, and the remaining dated between October 1942 and March 1'943, all of which appear to bear genuine signatures of employees of the Company in its proposed unit. These cards indicate that the Smelter workers represents 28 percent of the employees in its proposed unit. The I. B. E. W. submitted authorization cards, dated in November 1942, all of which appear to bear genuine signatures of employees of the Company in its proposed unit. These cards indicate that the I. B. E. W. represents 92 percent of the employees in its proposed unit. All authorization cards were checked against the Company's pay rolls for the periods ending January 1 and February 12, 1943. . REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, INC. 631 of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. IV. THE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE 'UNITS The Plant Mechanics contends that production and maintenance employees at the plant, excluding supervisory and clerical employees, constitute an appropriate bargaining unit. The Smelter Workers contends that "maintenance and mechanical" employees at the plant, excluding production, clerical, and supervisory employees, constitute an appropriate bargaining unit .4 The I. B. E. W. contends that a unit restricted to the Company's electrical employees, excluding super- visory employees, is an appropriate bargaining unit. The Trainmen contends that the Diesel engine crews, including motormen, switchmen, and engine foremen or conductors, but excluding the yard master, constitute an appropriate bargaining unit. The Company's plant is a Government reservation, 1 mile wide and 3 miles long, enclosed by a series of wire fences. The entire enclosure includes approximately 175 buildings, including 5 main production buildings and numerous warehouses and storages areas. The sole product of the plant is for Government use. Under the works man- ager are 8 superintendents in charge of several work processes at the plant, including the production, product engineering, ballistics, works engineering, accounting, and service sections. All orders and policies are transmitted from the works manager through the several superin- tendents and subordinate supervisory employees to the production and maintenance employees at the plant. Machine operators, who consti- • The Smelter Workers would include in its proposed unit all employees in the following categories : all tool setters ; machine adjusters in the Incendiary Operation , Priming and Loading Area ; machine adjuster in the Packing Operation , Packing Area ; all employees in Gauge Inspection , Inspection Department , namely, master gauge inspector, senior gauge inspector „ gauge adjuster , gauge inspector , and machine cleaner-gauge and weigh ; all employees in the Transportation Group, Service Section, namely , truck driver, car washer, chauffeur , and car greaser ; steel storekeepers in the Planning and Stores Group, Methods and Planning Section ; yard clerks, chauffeurs , and truck drivers in the Traffic Group, Methods and Planning Section ; all employees of the Laundry, Methods and Planning Section, namely , laundry operator , laundry repairer, and laundrymen ; all employees in the salvage unit of Methods and Planning Section ; all sanitation operators, sanitation group leaders, and elevator operators ; also all employees in Gauge Manufac- turing, Tool Manufacturing, Tool and Gauge Inspection , Tool Salvage, Tool and Gauge Plating, and Miscellaneous Groups in the Tool and Gauge Section ; all employees in the General Maintenance, Yard and Motive Maintenance , Power Dept., Manufacturing Buildings Maintenance, Heating and Ventilating Groups in the Works Engineering Section ; the locksmiths, craft helpers, office-machine repairmen , stock chasers , oilers and oil separators in the Miscellaneous Group, Works Engineering Section ; also the following miscellaneous classifications used in all Sections of the Works , where employees so classified are not engaged in the production of cartridges in the assembly -line operations : instructor A, instructor B, truck driver, tractor driver , tool-crib attendant , group leader-labor, laborer; but excluding all production employees ; Product Engineering and Control Section em- ployees other than gauge inspection employees ; clerical, medical, confidential , and patrol employees, and all employees above the rank of wage-roll group leader, and also excluding employees in the proposed collective bargaining units claimed by the Trainmen and the I. B. E. W. in the event that these units are delcared appropriate by the Board. 632 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD tute approximately 50 percent of these employees, and tool setters, who constitute 15 percent, are the principal employees in the production department. Machine operators keep the machines running and sup- plied with stock and visually inspect the product issuing from the machines. When they notice any failure of quality in the product, they shut down the machines and report the conditions to, the tool setters. The general character of the work of machine operators is the same, although some machine processes require more attention on the part of the operators than others. The machines are generally automatically fed, and the operators do not move the product except in unusual circumstances. Tool setters are not maintenance employees who repair production machines. They are machine operators who have acquired the necessary skill and experience to set perishable tools on machines which they operate and on similar machines. The Com- pany does not hire tool setters as such. Machine operators become tool setters by promotion and continue -to operate machines in the production department with other machine operators. If trouble develops on the machine of an operator with whom a tool setter is working, the two employees exchange machines, the operator.continu- ing the work on the tool setter's machine and the tool setter making the necessary adjustment on the operator's machine. Such adjustments are made necessary by the wearing of the tools in the operating process. While a tool setter is assigned to take care 'of tool adjustments on a number of machines and might theoretically spend a great majority of his time setting tools on them, as a practical matter he spends a considerable part of his time as a regular machine operator. The Company's "maintenance and mechanical" employees, includ- ing employees listed in footnote 4, 'constitute about 35 percent of its wage-roll employees. Tool setters, and 'machine adjusters with similar duties, included by the Smelter Workers in this group, con- stitute about one-third of its numbers. Maintenance employees work generally in the several departments, shops, and services of the plant, some under production and some under special maintenance depart- ment supervisors. There are separate maintenance shops in the sev- eral production buildings. So far as the record discloses, the sev- eral classes of employees listed in footnote 4, share no interest with one another that is not shared with "production" 5 employees of the, Company. The Company's employees are closely knit as a single organization concentrated on the production of a single product for war purposes. G Machine operators are concededly production employees . The Company, the Plant Mechanics, and the Smelter Workers are in disagreement what other employees should be so classed The Smelter Workers contends that employees within its proposed unit are all non-production workers. REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, INC. 633 There are many transfers and exchanges of employees among depart- mental and working groups. To speed production, higher-paid em- ployees without loss of wages assist in menial tasks. The functional coherence among the several departments of the plant clearly favors the contention, of the Plant Mechanics that production and maintenance wage-roll employees of the Company constitute a single appropriate unit. Of the total number of wage- roll employees in this proposed plant unit, only 162/3 percent has designated the Plant Mechanics as bargaining representative. We find that this representation is insufficient to indicate that a sub- stantial number of the production and maintenance employees at -the plant desires to bargain collectively with the Company and that therefore no question has arisen concerning the representation of em- ployees in the proposed plant unit. For this reason, we shall dis- miss the petition filed by the Plant Mechanics.° The I. B. E. W. urges that the electrical employees at the plant constitute a separate appropriate unit. The Company's electrical employees constitute a clearly defined craft group. Wherever these employees work, they are subject to craft supervision. The' Plant Mechanics, however, contends that these electrical employees do not constitute a separate bargaining unit, but that they should properly be included in the plant unit, which it urges is the only appropriate unit for the Company's employees. In support of its claim to rep- resent the electrical employees, the Plant Mechanics submitted cards to indicate that of the electrical employees who had signed authoriza- tion cards of the I. B. E. W., 16 percent had also signed authorization cards of the Plant Mechanics. In November 1942 International Association of Machinists, herein called the I. A. M., sponsored an organizational campaign among the Company's employees. At that time the I. A. M. was affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. Cooperating with the I. A. M. were affiliated craft unions, which consented to the establishment of a plant bargaining unit and agreed to waive their several craft jurisdictions over the Company's employees in favor of industrial representation by the I. A. M. The I. A. M. chartered the Plant Mechanics for the Company's plant employees. Employees at the plant who -were members of the several affiliated craft unions joined the Plant Mechanics and designated'it as their bargaining representa- tive. We, take, notice that the I. A. M. subsequently withdrew from the American Federation of Labor. At the consolidated hearing held upon the several petitions filed herein, the Plant Mechanics was rep- resented by local and international representatives of the American 6 Matter of New Jersey Worsted Mills, 35 N. L. R. B. 1303; and Matter of Houston Shipbuilding Corporation of Irish Bend, Texas, 41 N. L. R. B. 638. 634 DECQSrONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Federation of Labor. Since the Plant Mechanics clearly represents the combined interests of unions affiliated with the American Fed- eration of Labor to organize the Company's employees, and the Plant Mechanics, specifically represented by such interests, seeks to include the electrical employees within the plant unit, we find that the claim of the I. B. E. W. to represent the same employees in a craft unit is a conflicting claim of a kindred interest and consti- tutes a jurisdictional dispute between affiliated unions. For this reason, we shall make no finding with respect to the separate unit urged for the Company's electrical employees, and we shall dismiss the petition filed by the I. B. E. W. herein.? The Smelter Workers seek to represent employees in a unit com- posed of the "mechanical and maintenance" employees at the plant. Approximately one-third of the employees in its proposed unit are tool setters who work in production departments and operate pro- duction machines under production foremen. The interests of these employees are clearly tied with those of production machine operators with whom they work. Since tool setters comprise so appreciable a portion of this unit and their work is so closely tied with that of the regular machine operators who generally constitute the Com- pany's production employees, since groups of employees in the pro- posed unit have no common interests not shared by production workers, and since, moreover, the Smelter Workers is admittedly engaged in organizing the Company's employees on a plant-wide basis, we find that the proposed "maintenance and mechanical" unit is not an appro- priate bargaining unit, and we shall dismiss the petition filed by the Smelter Workers herein.8 The Trainmen contends that the Diesel engine crews, including motormen, switchmen, and engine foremen or conductors,9 but ex- cluding the yard master, constitute an appropriate bargaining unit. A Diesel engine crew consists of a motorman, a conductor, and a switchman. The crews work on three shifts. The motormen, switchmen, and conductors are under the supervision of the yard master. These employees move the Company's raw materials and products from interstate railway terminals into the plant and about the plant yard from one building or storage area to another. They are not directly concerned with employees in any other particular department of the Company's operations. The Trainmen has submitted evidence to indicate that it repre- sents 90 percent of the employees in the Diesel engine crews. At this time there is no substantial organization of the Company's 7 Matter of Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, 16 N. L. R. B. 902. 8 Matter of Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company, 44 N. L. R B. 865. Engine foremen are not supervisory employees . They are frequently called "yard" conductors. REMINGiTON ARMS COMPANY, INC. 635 employees on a plant-wide basis. The Diesel engine crews constitute a distinguishable group of employees. On the basis of the entire record, we are of the opinion, and find, that these employees may constitute either a separate bargaining unit or a part of a plant unit with other employees of the Company. We shall direct that an election be held among them to determine, in part, whether they should constitute a separate bargaining unit at this time. If a majority of employees in this group selects the Trainmen as their exclusive bargaining representative, we shall find that the Diesel engine crews constitute an appropriate bargaining unit and shall certify the Trainmen as their bargaining representative. If, how- ever, a majority of employees in this group does not designate the Trainmen as bargaining representative, we shall dismiss the petition of the-Trainmen filed herein. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES As noted in Section IV, above, we find that the question which has arisen concerning the representation of the Company's employees should be decided in part by an election. So far as the record discloses, the Plant Mechanics, the Smelter Workers, and the I. B. E. W. do not claim to represent any employees among the Diesel engine ciews or desire to participate in an election among them. For this reason, we shall not provide that any of these labor organizations appear upon the ballot. Those eligible to vote in the election which we now direct shall be all employees in the Diesel engine crews, including the motormen, switchmen, and engine foremen or conductors, but excluding the yard master, who were employed during the pay-roll period imme- diately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein, sub- ject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. DIRECTION OF ELECTION By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Remington Arms Company, Inc., Denver, Colorado, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Seventeenth Region, acting in this 636 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATION S BOARD, matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 10, of said Rules and Regulations, among all employees of the Company in the Diesel engine crews, including the motormen, switchmen, and engine foremen or conductors, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not .work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily raid ^ off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but excluding the yard master and employees who have since quit or been dis- charged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, for the purposes of collective bargaining. ORDER It is hereby ordered that the separate petitions for investigation and certification of representatives filed herein by International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers, for itself and on behalf of its local union Remington Arms Workers Local 611, C. I. 0., by A. F. of L. Ordnance Plant Mechanics, International Association of Machinists, Local No. 1620, and by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, respectively, be, and they hereby are, dismissed.