The Firestone Tire and Rubber Co.

THE FIRESTONE TIRE AND RUBBER COMPANY 571 The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company-Firestone Textiles Di- vision 1 and Textile Workers Union of America, CIO, Petitioner. Case No. 11-RC-705. April 29,1955 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 John M. Dyer, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju- dicial 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 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 of the Employer's production and maintenance employees at its Gastonia, North Carolina, plant, excluding office clerical employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. The Employer agrees that a production and maintenance unit is appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Employer, however, would include in the unit certain classifications of employees which the Petitioner would exclude. Lead inspectors: Three lead inspectors, one for each shift, are lo- cated in the quality control and laboratory department. The lead inspectors cannot effectively recommend the hiring or discharging of employees. They, however, assign work to and direct the work of 5 to 10 inspectors who go into the various departments to inspect yarn during the operations. They have the authority to grant time off to an employee for the employee's personal convenience. Furthermore, the lead inspectors comprise the only supervision over the inspectors on the second and third shifts, except for the assistant superintendent of the plant. They are paid on a salary basis, whereas the inspec- tors are hourly paid. We find that the lead inspectors are supervisors and, therefore, shall exclude them from the unit 2 Quality control clerk : This employee works in the quality control and laboratory department and is under the direct supervision of the quality control manager. She primarily types reports, consolidates incoming reports, and types and compiles records. We find that the 1 The Employer's name appears as amended at the hearing Chicopee Manufacturing Corporation of Georgia, 85 NLRB 1439 at 1442. 112 NLRB No. 70. 572 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD primary duties of this employee are plant clerical in nature and shall include her in the unit.' Waste control man, special assignments man, and stroborama opera- tor: These employees also work in the quality control and laboratory department. The waste control man checks and keeps a chart on the amount and kinds of waste from the different raw materials in process and tries to work out some method to eliminate all waste possible. He discusses his findings with the manager of the department and makes recommendations to decrease or eliminate the waste. He has many years of experience in the mill. He is paid on a salary basis and re- ceives higher compensation than the production employees. The special assignments man acts as a troubleshooter for the Employer. When new specifications come in for a certain type or style of yarn, he helps the Employer get the new yarns and styles satisfactorily into production. He has many years of practical experience in the Em- ployer's mill and is paid on a salary basis. The stroborama operator takes the stroborama machine to the various departments in the mill and checks on whether the spindles and machines are running true and at proper speeds. It seems clear that the interests of the waste control man and the special assignments man are different from those of the production and maintenance employees. Accordingly, we shall exclude them from the unit. As the record does not contain sufficient information for us to determine the unit placement of the stroborama operator, we shall permit him to vote subject to challenge. As,sistant cotton classer: This employee works in the cotton office and on the ramp where the cotton is unloaded. He obtains cotton samples and grades or classes them. He has been in training to be- come a cotton classer for about 2 years. The Employer admits that the work of a cotton classer involves a highly specialized knowledge which requires a number of years of training. This employee is paid on a salary basis and receives higher compensation than the pro- duction employees. We find that this employee is being trained for highly technical work and shall exclude him from the unit 4 Draftsman: This employee works directly under the supervision and direction of the plant engineer and performs only draftsman duties. His work requires that he have prior experience in mechanical drawing. He draws plans and sketches for machinery parts and machinery layout. We find that the draftsman is a technical em- ployee and shall exclude him from the unit.' Time-study man and trainee : The time-study man has completed short courses in time and motion study at Bellmont Vocational Tex- 8 Downingtown Manufacturing Company, 107 NLRB No. 288 (not reported in printed volumes of Board Decisions and Orders). * See Mrs Tucker's Products, Division of Anderson, Clayton & Company, Inc, 106 NLRB 533 at 534 5 Arnold Hoffman & Company, Incorporated, 95 NLRB 907 at 910. THE FIRESTONE TIRE AND RUBBER COMPANY 573 tile School and Gastonia Technical Institute. He makes time studies throughout the plant and makes certain recommendations based on his studies. The time-study trainee also works throughout the plant, making workload and job evaluation studies. The office for these two employees is across the street from the production plant. They are separately supervised by the head time-study man, both employees are paid on a salary basis, and the time-study man receives higher com- pensation than the production employees. In these circumstances, we find that there is no substantial community of interests between the time-study men and the production and maintenance employees which would warrant their inclusion in the production and maintenance unit. Scheduler in production: As orders for materials are received, the Employer informs this employee of the type, amount, and delivery date for each order. He, then, in consultation with the plant superin- tendent, determines the number of frames or machines to operate for meeting the desired delivery schedule. He also makes arrangements for the necessary machinery to be available to meet the production schedule. He performs his work in his own separate office, is paid on a salary basis, and receives higher compensation than the produc- tion and maintenance employees. We find that he is a managerial employee and, therefore, shall exclude him from the unit. Shipping document clericals: The shipping document clericals work in the warehouse office preparing bills of lading and other papers concerning the shipping and receiving of materials. They are under the supervision of the warehouse foreman. We find that they are plant clerical employees and shall include them in the unit. Addressograph clerk : This employee works in the main office building under the supervision of the paymaster. She operates the addressograph machine to address pay checks and for newspaper work. She does not perform any work in the production plant. We find that she is an office clerical employee and shall exclude her from the unit. Head changer, section men, and lead men: The head changer per- forms manual labor with a group of employees called changers in the changing of pulleys, belts, and related equipment on various machinery as required for the production of new sizes of yarns. Although he is more experienced than the changers, he receives instructions from the overseer or second hands concerning work to be performed and merely acts as a conduit for the assignment of duties to the changers. Sec- tion men, or lead men, or both, as well as second hands whom the parties agree are supervisors, are employed on all three shifts in most depart- ments of the plant. The section men and lead men are hourly paid but receive higher compensation than the other employees. They work with the employees in repairing machinery and making minor altera- tions as necessary, and merely act as conduits in assigning work to the 574 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD employees. They make reports on employee derelictions of duty. Those reports, however, result in an independent investigation. They cannot hire or discharge employees and do not have the power to effectively recommend changes in employee status. In at least one small department which has a total complement of about 25 employees, e. g., plastic dip, no second hands or overseers are employed on the second and third shifts. One lead man and one section man are em- ployed on each of those shifts. They appear to have the same duties and responsibilities as the lead men and section men employed on the first shift at which time the overseer is present. Any extraordinary circumstances occurring on the second or third shifts in the plastic dip department are reported to the assistant superintendent for direc- tions. In these circumstances, we find that the head changer, lead men, and section men are not supervisors and shall include them in the unit. Recreation department employees: The Employer maintains for its employees a dormitory, men's club, and girl's club, all of which are about 1 block from the plant, and a camp at Lake James about 65 miles from the plant. Two clerks and several pin boys work at the men's club. The clerks sell soft drinks and cigarettes to the employees and collect fees for certain recreational activities. The pin boys work part time on a seasonal basis setting up bowling pins. One maid works in the girl's club. One maid and one janitor work in the dormitory for company employees. A caretaker works at the camp cleaning up the cabins, chopping wood for the fireplace, and making minor repairs. The recreation department employees are under the separate imme- diate supervision of the recreational director and directress. All of them, except the pin boys, are full-time employees. They do not per- form any work in the plant. It is clear that the duties, interests, and working conditions of the recreation department employees are dif- ferent from those of the production and maintenance employees. They are also separately located and under separate immediate super- vision. In those circumstances, we shall exclude them from the unit. We find that the following employees constitute an appropriate unit for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Sec- tion 9 (b) of the Act: All of the Employer's production and maintenance employees at its Gastonia, North Carolina, plant, including head changers, quality con- trol clerk, shipping document clericals, lead men and section men, but excluding the lead inspectors, waste control man, and special assign- ments man in the quality control and laboratory department, drafts- men, assistant cotton classers, time-study men and time-study trainees, schedulers in production, addressograph clerks, recreation department employees, office clerical employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. LYKES BROTHERS, INC. OF GEORGIA 575 5. Determination of representatives : The Employer laid off approximately 70 employees during the 5-week period preceding the instant hearing. The Employer keeps the names of laid-off employees on a layoff list for about a year and has a, policy of recalling them as soon as possible. Due to the unstable conditions at the time of the hearing, however, the Employer was unable to determine whether there was a reasonable expectancy that these employees would be recalled in the near future. Neither party took a position concerning the eligibility of these employees to vote in the election, but both parties desired that their eligibility be deter- mined by the Board. In view of the inconclusive nature of the evi- dence, we are unable to make a definitive determination at this time of the employment status of these individuals. We shall allow the laid-off employees to vote subject to challenge in the election herein- after directed. The challenged ballots shall not be counted unless they affect the result of the election, in which event a further investigation concerning the employment status of the employees casting the chal- lenged ballots will be made.6 [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication ] MEDIBBR LEEDOM took no part m the (-onsideration of the above De- cision and Direction of Election. °Kent Plastics Corporation , 101 NLRB 519 at 521 Gnagenheim Pac7,ing Company, 94 NLRB 777 at 778 Lykes Brothers, Inc. of Georgia and United Packinghouse Work- ers of America, CIO, Petitioner Lykes Brothers, Inc. of Georgia and Truck Drivers & Helpers Local Union No. 728, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America, AFL, Pe- tioner. Cases Nos. 10-I?C-2961 and 10-IBC-(2970. May 2,195i DECISION, ORDER, AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon separate petitions duly filed undei Section 9 (c) of the Na- tional Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing vas held before Frank E. Hamilton, Jr., hearing officer. The hearing officers rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.' I The hearing officer referred to the Board the motion of the Petitioner in Case No. 10-RC-2961, United Packinghouse Workers of America, CIO, herein called the Packing- house Workers, to dismiss the petition in Case No 10-RC-2970. For the reasons stated in paragraph 2, above, the motion is granted. 112 NLRB No 76