National Fireworks Ordnance Corp.

792 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD do not appear on the current payroll; all but one 11 are asserted by the Employer to have been permanently separated from employment. Testimony on behalf of the Employer indicates that the laid-off employees in dispute fall into two categories: (1) Those offered reemployment, which they refused, and (2) those who had been employed in the molding shop which was discontinued at the plant in question and moved to another city. The Petitioner filed unfair labor practice charges alleging that these laid-off employees were discriminatorily discharged,12 but in respect to the instant proceeding waived the allegations contained in the charge. In accordance with our usual procedure, while this unfair labor practice charge is pending, we hereby instruct the Regional Director to challenge and segregate the ballots of the laid-off employees in question. Their ballots will not be counted unless determinative of the results of the election. In such event, the final disposition of this case will await the outcome of the unfair labor practice proceeding under investigation. By allowing these persons to vote, subject to challenge, we are not to be taken as having passed in any way on the issues involved in the complaint case.1a [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.] "Judson Magahee, whom the Employer expects to re-call when a vacancy in a certain department arises . Accordingly, we find that Magahee has a reasonable expectancy of reemployment and is therefore eligible to vote. "Case No. 10-CA- 1638. IsSee Falls City Creamery Co., 95 NLRB 1425. NATIONAL FIREWORKS ORDNANCE CORPORATION and UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS & JOINERS OF AMERICA, AFL, LOCAL 529, Petitioner NATIONAL FIREWORKS ORDNANCE CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN & HELPERS OF AMERICA, AFL, LOCAL 878, Petitioner NATIONAL FIREWORKS ORDNANCE CORPORATION and BROTHERHOOD OF PAINTERS, DECORATORS AND PA- PERHANGERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 1636, AFL, Petitioner. Cases Nos. 15-RC-879, 15-RC-880, and 15-RC-891. May 5, 1953 DECISION, ORDER, AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before William W. Fox, hearing officer. The hearing officer's 104 NLRB No. 93. NATIONAL FIREWORKS ORDNANCE CORPORATION 793 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 [Chairman Herzog and Members Styles and Peterson]. Upon the entire record in these cases, the Board finds: 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the mean- ing 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.' 4. From the existing production and maintenance unit presently represented by International Association of Ma- chinists, Lodge No. 502, AFL, the Intervenor herein, United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America, AFL, Local 529, herein called the Carpenters, seeks to sever (1) mainte- nance carpenters and dunnage carpenters, and (2) outside machinists; International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauf - feurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America, AFL, Local 878, herein called the Teamsters, seeks to sever truckdrivers, trailerdrivers, and traffic helpers; and Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers of America, Local 1636, AFL, herein called the Painters, seeks to sever maintenance painters. The Intervenor contends that the proposed units are respectively inappropriate because they do not include all employees performing the same respective tasks. The Employer takes no position on the issues. The Employer, a Massachusetts corporation, with its main office at West Hanover, Massachusetts, has a cost-plus-fixed- fee type of contract with the United States Navy, Bureau of Ordnance, to load, assemble, and place in storage various types of rocket ammunition and to protect and maintain the Naval Ammunition Depot at Shumaker, Arkansas. Employees at this depot are concerned in these proceedings. Maintenance carpenters, with their apprentices and helpers, work under the supervision of the assistant superintendent of the carpenter shop, who works under the superintendent of shops and installations and the Employer's maintenance man- ager and his assistant. Maintenance carpenters work both in and out of a separate carpenter shop, which contains automatic I At the hearing, the Intervenor moved to dismiss the petitions in each of the cases. For the reasons set forth below, the motions with respect to Cases Nos. 15-RC-879 and 15-RC- 880 are denied, and the motion with respect to Case No . 15-RC-891 is granted. :On January 29, 1952, as a result of a certification issued in Case No . 15-RC-554, the Intervenor and Employer entered into a collective- bargaining contract covering the Em- ployer's production and maintenance employees at Shumaker , Arkansas, including the em- ployees sought herein. This contract was effective from March 1, 1952, to February 28, 1953, and contained a 60- day automatic renewal clause . The contract was opened by the Intervenor pursuant to its terms and, at the time of the hearing, the parties were still negotiating and no new contract had been executed. 7 94 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD woodworking machines, such as joiners, lathes, bandsaws, and the like. When working inside the shop, they fabricate various wood items for work orders outside the shop. They repair and maintain the building at the depot, and erect wood scaffolds for themselves and other maintenance employees. They do no production work. Occasionally, they do cement, brick mason, linoleum, and upholstery work, incidental to their regular carpentry. All carpenters have been hired as journeymen carpenters, with a 4-year apprenticeship. The Employer, however, at present is in the process of setting up an ap- prenticeship program for carpenters at the depot. Three of the above-mentioned carpenters are assigned to the dunnage crew located in a separate dunnage shop. These carpenters, called dunnage carpenters, cut timber for bracing boxcar loadings and make shipping containers, using such tools as power saws and braces. They do no production work. Dunnage carpenters and maintenance carpenters share com- mon seniority rights as carpenters. In addition to maintenance and dunnage carpenters, two other groups of employees, called craters and packers and boxcar bracers, cut and work with lumber, using hand tools such as saws and hammers. These employees work in the warehouse or shipping areas. They make crates and boxes and cut lumber for braces used in the storing of materials in boxcars for ship- ment. Craters and packers workunder the separate supervision of the assistant superintendent of warehouses in the Employer's storage and receiving department; car bracers workunder sep- arate supervision in the Employer's transportation department. These employees do not share in the seniority of maintenance and dunnage carpenters, nor do they work in the same locations. Although the skilled carpenters occasionally do work similar to that performed by craters and packers,3 no other employees at the depot perform, or are qualified to perform, the whole range of skills exercised by the maintenance and dunnage carpenters. We find, contrary to the Intervenor's contention, that the maintenance carpenters and dunnage carpenters exercise the skills typical of the carpenters' craft and may, if they so desire, constitute a separate bargaining unit." We shall hold an election among them, including apprentices and helpers in the voting group, but excluding therefrom craters and packers and boxcar bracers. Outside machinists were formerly called millwrights. In 1952, the Employer changed their classification but not their duties. Outside machinists, separately supervised by two foremen under the superintendent of production line mainte- nance, make their headquarters in a separate shop in the plant area and have a small room for the storage of their tools in a corner of the machine shop. They set up, install, and aline heavy machinery, and they repair, maintain, and disassemble 3Occasionally carpenters make "tote" boxes, which are used on the production line to convey or carry materials in the depot and are not used for shipping. 4Federal Telephone and Radio Corporation, 98 NLRB 1324; United States Defense Corpora- tion, 101 NLRB 1065. NATIONAL FIREWORKS ORDNANCE CORPORATION 795 such machinery in the production line. They are assigned by their foremen to various plant areas when they are needed. In order to erect and dismantle the heavy machinery, they use hoists, dollies, and rollers, and wrenches, hammers,.and other hand tools. They employ measuring devices, such as squares, micro- meters , and the like in installing and alining the machinery. Out- side machinists have separate seniority within their group. The Intervenor contends that outside machinists do not con- stitute an appropriate separate unit, apart from inside ma- chinists. Inside machinists work the majority of their time in the machine shop, under the supervision of the machine shop foreman. They use machines, such as metal lathes, drill presses, power hacksaws, and the like, to make parts and bearings. Their seniority is separate and distinct from that of outside machinists. It is true that outside machinists occasionally work in the machine shop, doing such work as repairing parts or moving heavy machinery for the inside machinists to work upon. Inside machinists occasionally work outside the machine shop, repair- ing small parts or bearings in production machines. There is no interchange, however, between inside machinists and outside machinists. They do not essentially perform the same duties, nor do they share seniority rights. Outside machinists are not qualified to do the work of inside machinists, nor generally to operate machines in the machine shop. Outside machinists constitute a traditional craft group of millwrights, who may, if they so desire, constitute a separate unit exclusive of inside machinists.' Truckdrivers, trailerdrivers, and traffic helpers all work under the supervision of the Employer's superintendent of motor vehicles of the plant transportation department. These employees all punch a time clock in the Employer's garage and work out of three motor pools on the depot. They are engaged solely in the loading and unloading of trucks and trailers and the moving of materials in these vehicles both inside and outside the depot. Both truck and trailer drivers are hired as qualified drivers and are not transferred to or from any other group of employees.6 They operate only trucks and trailers, and no other power-driven vehicles used at the depot, such as forklifts'' and bulldozers. There is no interchange between these two groups. Traffic helpers assist drivers and work in the depot garage on a rotating basis. The Intervenor contends that the Teamsters' proposed unit is inappropriate in that it does not include all operators of 5 International Harvester Company (Louisville Works), 87 NLRB 317; Louisville Plant of the Minneapolis-Moline Company, 101 NLRB 1766, and cases cited therein . Cf. Members of the California State Brewers Institute, et al, 90 NLRB 1747. 6It appears in the record that the Employer's electrical maintenance department employs one truckdriver . This truckdriver is a part of the unit of the electrical maintenance depart- ment employees presently represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and certified by the Board on January 29, 1952. in Case No. 15-RC-557. 7A forklift driver may transfer to truck or trailer driver if an opening in that classifica- tion appears . There is no evidence in the record, however, that this has ever occurred. 796 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD power-driven equipment. We find no merit to this contention. Truck and trailer drivers with their helpers spend all of their time performing usual duties of their classification. They have their own separate immediate supervision and do not inter- change with operators of other power-driven equipment. They constitute a clearly identifiable and homogeneous group of employees who we have frequently held may constitute a separate unit, if they so desire." Painters: At the time of the hearing, the Employer employed in all 51 maintenance painters at the ordnance depot. They work under separate supervision in a separate building called the paint shop. Maintenance painters use brushes and spray guns in exercising the customary skills of journeymen painters. They paint both inside and outside the depot buildings and do no production painting. They have exclusive seniority within their own craft. One maintenance painter in the paint shop, whom the Painters would include, paints signs exclusively. Another is assigned to the garage to paint the heavy motor vehicles used by the Employer's transportation department. Another painter, how- ever, whom the Painters would exclude, works in the transpor- tation department and paints light motor vehicles under the supervision of the motor vehicles superintendent. Four pro- duction painters, who paint on the production line, mix paint and are skilled workmen. It appears from the record that the four production painters and the second transportation depart- ment painter all of whom the Painters would exclude exercise the same craft skills as maintenance painters, whom the Painters seek. Under these circumstances, and in accord with the Inter- venor's contention, we find that the maintenance painters desired for inclusion constitute but a segment of the painters' craft employed at the ordnance depot. As it is well established that the Board will not find a segment of a craft to be appro- priate,' and the Painters do not have a sufficient showing among all painters who should be included in the craft group, we shall dismiss the petition in Case No. 15-RC-891, filed by the Painters. In view of the foregoing determinations, we shall direct separate elections among employees at the Employer's Shu- maker, Arkansas, Naval Ordnance Depot, in the voting groups set forth below, excluding from each all office clerical employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act: (A) All maintenance carpenters, their apprentices and helpers, and dunnage carpenters, excluding craters and packers, boxcar bracers, and all other employees. (B) All outside machinists or millwrights, excluding inside machinists and all other employees. (C) All truckdrivers and trailerdrivers and traffic helpers, excluding the drivers of all other power-driven vehicles, the " McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, 92 NLRB 899. 9 Douglas Aircraft Co., Inc., 101 NLRB 515. MANSBACH METAL COMPANY 797 electrical department maintenance truckdriver, and all other employees. If a majority of employees in voting groups (A), (B), and (C), respectively, vote for the labor organization seeking to repre- sent that group separately, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate unit, and the Regional Director conducting the elections herein is instructed to issue a certification of representatives to such labor organization or organizations for such unit or units, which the Board under such circumstances finds to be appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining. In the event the majority in any of the voting groups vote for the Intervenor, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to remain part of the existing production and maintenance unit, and the Regional Director will issue a certification of results of election to that effect. ORDER IT IS HEREBY OP TIERED that the petition in Case No. 15-RC-891 be, and it hereby is, dismissed. (Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.] JOSEPH MANSBACH, SAMUEL MANSBACH, SYLVIA MANS- BACH, HANNAH MANSBACH, MINNIE RAE AUERBACH, SOPHIA POCKROS, GERTRUDE WEBER, AND GERALD MANSBACH, Co-partners d/b/a MANSBACH METAL COM- PANY and UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO. Case No. 9-CA-540. May 6, 1953 DECISION AND ORDER On March 9, 1953, Trial Examiner Lloyd Buchanan issued his Intermediate Report in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that the Respondent had engaged in and was engaging in certain unfair labor practices, and recommending that it cease and desist therefrom and take certain affirmative action, as set forth in the copy of the Intermediate Report attached hereto. The Trial Examiner also found that the Respondent had not engaged in certain other alleged unfair labor practices and recommended that the complaint be dismissed with respect thereto. Thereafter, only the Respondent filed exceptions to the Intermediate Report and a supporting brief. The Respondent also moved to take testimony of two witnesses by deposition. The Boardl has reviewed the rulings made by the Trial Examiner at the hearing and finds that no prejudicial error t 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 [Chairman Herzog and Members Styles and Peterson]. 104 NLRB No. 95.