Philco Corp.

184 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD PHILCO CORPORATION and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TECIINICAL EN- GINEERS, AFL, PETITIONER. Case No. 4-RC-1976. September-30, 1954 Decision and Order Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Herbert B. Mintz, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.1 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 employees of the Employer.' 3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act, for the following reasons: The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit comprising all employees in the following classifications at the Employer's Philadelphia and Croydon, Pennsylvania, plants: (1) Troubleshooting, electronics; (2) maintenance (production test equipment) ; and (3) calibration and laboratory measurements. The Petitioner asserts that these employees are highly skilled electronic technicians, and is willing to represent any unit composed of such employees, either broader or narrower in scope, as the Board might deem appropriate. The Intervenors and Employer assert that these classifications may not appropriately be severed from the broad production and maintenance units in which they have been represented by the Intervenors for a substantial number of years. Operations at the Employer's Philadelphia plants are conducted through 2 operating divisions, 1 of which manufactures television and radio and the other various types of electronics equipment such as radar for the Government and for industrial concerns. In both divi- sions the production process is carried on mainly by means of long conveyor belts, or lines, of which the first and greater portions are devoted to various wiring and assembly operations. The latter por- tions, referred to as the "back end" operations, include some assembly, but consist mainly of testing operations together with provisions for the repair of defective parts or sets. The classifications sought by the Petitioner perform their functions in connection with these back end operations. 1 Motions of the Employer and Intervenors to dismiss the petition are granted for seasons hereinafter appearing. 3 Locals 101 and 102, International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers, CIO, were permitted to intervene on the basis of a contractual interest. 110 NLRB No. 20. PHILCO CORPORATION 185 Most of the troubleshooters sought by the Petitioner,' of whom there are 353,4 are stationed close up against one or another of the various test conveyor lines. Some, however, are stationed in trouble bays 6 to 10 feet from the line. In general, they check the units or sets rejected by test operators stationed on the lines, and endeavor to clear minor troubles by tube changes, simple adjustments, or other methods. In case of major troubles, it is their function to locate the source of trouble, after which they may send the defective units to be repaired by repairmen working in repair bays. Like the test operators and other production classifications working on the line, the trouble- shooters are under the supervision of the plant's production supervisors. The maintenance (production test equipment) men, of whom there are 64, maintain the various test instruments, such as voltmeters, ohm- meters, oscilloscopes, analyzers, oscillators, attenuators, etc., used by the test operators and by the troubleshooters working on the various test conveyor lines. They are located at positions usually near the end of a conveyor belt, where they may remain awaiting notification of some sort of breakdown along the line, or they may walk along the line to check on it. They spend part of their time repairing or building jigs and fixtures for use in applying tests, and they build the trouble- shooters' stations and install the instruments on them. Unlike the troubleshooters and other classifications working on the line, they are under separate supervisors responsible to the factory engineering division. Of the 37 measurement and calibration men, 6 are located in 2 sig- nal cages in the television and radio division plants, where they maintain the equipment for generating and distributing the various types of signals 5 applied to the sets in the test conveyor lines for use in the testing operations. Fifteen measurement and calibration men work in plant 11 checking out production test equipment which the Employer builds in that plant for its own use, and repairing certain equipment sent to them from the signal cages and the production floor. The remainder in this category are divided among several locations in both the television and radio and the Government and industrial divi- sions. The employees in this classification are also under the separate supervision of the factory engineering division. The record indicates that some background of training or experi- ence is desirable in order to qualify for these positions, and that vari- s The Petitioner would include both the classification of troubleshooters , electronics, in the television and radio division and its counterpart , the classification of troubleshooters, radar, in the Government and industrial division . It does not seek to represent the troubleshooters ( continuity ) who work on that portion of the test lines which precedes the insertion of tubes and application of alternating current to the assembled unit. ' There are approximately 9,000 production and maintenance employees in the Employer's Philadelphia plants. 5 In the words of one of the measurement and calibration men, "a signal is a voltage in the form in which a television or radio receiver sees it." 186 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ous individuals have acquired this background through such methods as home study of texts and periodicals, practical experience in radio shops or in amateur radio, correspondence courses, and part-time or full-time attendance at technical schools. The Employer has recog- nized the desirability of some degree of ability and experience by pre- scribing tests which must be passed for entrance to these positions. Thus in 1950 the Employer established four progressive grades in the troubleshooter, electronics, classification, and began a program of examinations for these positions. At necessary intervals, the Em- ployer gives a written screening examination open to all employees in the plants. Those passing it are placed in a pool of availability and applicants are selected from the pool, in order of seniority, to take a further oral examination to fill the lowest grade of the troubleshooting classification 6 Thereafter, at quarterly intervals, the troubleshooters are given further written examinations which, together with a per- formance rating, enable them to progress to the three higher grades at increases in pay. The maintenance (production test equipment) and measurement and calibration employees are likewise qualified for their jobs by written examinations, but advancement to the higher grades and pay scales within these classifications, though based upon merit, is not determined by further examinations. The 3 classifica- tions here involved are paid at a higher hourly rate than most of the production and maintenance employees, but there are 7 classifications that receive as much or more than they do.7 It is apparent from the foregoing facts that the classifications sought by the Petitioner must possess a higher degree of skill and ability than most of the other production and maintenance employees. However, it is likewise clear that there is no established course of training, comparable to an apprenticeship, either provided for or required of them. Nor does their progression within classification appear to be comparable to the advancement from apprentice to journeyman that is characteristic of a craft. For this reason, as well as the nature of their duties and abilities, we are not convinced that they constitute a craft. Nor do we believe that they are technicians within the sense in which the Board has used that term.' The trouble- shooters, who constitute the greater part of the group sought by the G In February 1953 the Employer announced an examination for qualification to take a basic course in troubleshooting About 1,400 applications were received and about 300 persons actually took the examination Of these, the 42 having the highest grades were selected to take the course; scheduled to occupy 2 evenings a week for 12 weeks, on the employees' own time. Those completing the course were still required, however, to take the written and oral screening examinations for the lowest troubleshooting grade, as openings in that position might occur. 7 These are the meter repairmen , fixture makers, steeplejacks , project group leaders, heat treaters , toolroom machinists, and tool, die , and gauge makers. s See, for example , Gerber Plastic Company, 108 NLRB 403, where the Board excluded technical employees from a unit of production and maintenance employees upon objection being raised to their inclusion. LUMBER FABRICATORS, INC. 187 Petitioner, work on or in close connection with the several testing conveyor lines, or "back end" operations, which constitute a substan- tial part of the Employer's production assembly line procedure. The function performed by the troubleshooters is patently an essential and integral part of that procedure. The functions of the other cate- gories sought consist essentially of the provision and maintenance of the testing line equipment. Upon the entire record, we find that the categories here sought to be represented as a separate group are essen- tially no more than highly skilled production and maintenance em- ployees, and as such are not entitled to severance from the existing production and maintenance units.9 Therefore we shall dismiss the petition. [The Board dismissed the petition.] MEMBERS MURDOCK and RODGERS took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Order. 9 Cf. Heintz Manufacturing Co., 100 NLRB 1521 at 1526 ; American Potash & Chemical Corporation, 107 NLRB 1418. LUMBER FABRICATORS , INC. and UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO AND MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA ( UE), PETITIONER . Case No. 9-RC-2288. September 30, 1954 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 Orville E. Andrews, 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 organizations involved claim to represent certain em- ployees of the Employer.' 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The appropriate unit : The Petitioner seeks a unit of all production and maintenance em- ployees at the Employer's Clarksville, Ohio, plant. The Employer and the Intervenor contend as to scope, that only a multiplant unit, including the employees of the Employer's main plant at Fort Payne, Alabama, is appropriate. 3 United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America, AFL, was permitted to inter- vene at the hearing on the basis of a sufficient showing of Interest. 110 NLRB No. 21.