Koppers Co., Inc.

AMERICAN ANILINE PRODUCTS 57 American Aniline Products, Unit of Koppers Company, Inc. and Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union, AFL- CIO, Petitioner. Case No. 6-RC-1965. October 931,1957 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 Harvard G. Borchardt, hearing officer. The hearing officer's 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 this case to a three-member panel [Members Rodgers, Bean, and Jenkins]. 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 1 involved claim to represent certain employees 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. The Employer, a Delaware corporation, is engaged at its operation in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, in the manufacture of dyes. The Peti- tioner seeks to represent the production and maintenance employees at this operation, including intraplant truckdrivers and warehouse- men. District 50 contends that its current contract with the Employer covering the employees in question is a bar to this proceeding. We do not agree. The contract in question was executed on October 18, 1956, and is renewable from year to year absent 30 days' written notice prior to the contract's expiration date of October 18, 1957. The instant peti- tion was filed on June 13, 1957. As the petition was filed within ap- proximately 3 months of the Mill B date of the contract, the contract cannot bar a present determination of representatives 2 4. The appropriate unit : As indicated, the Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all production and maintenance employees at the Employer's Lock Haven plant, in- 1 District 50, United Mine Workers of America, and its Local No. 13059, herein called District 50, intervened on the basis of a contractual interest. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local No. 704, herein called the Teamsters, intervened on the basis of a showing of interest. 2 Stremel Bros. Manufacturing Company, 89 NLRB 1404. Member Jenkins agrees that the contract is not a bar. However, for the reasons stated in his dissent in West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company, 118 NLRB 1595, he would not permit a labor organization which, as a matter of policy, refuses to comply with the filing requirements of Sec- tion 9 (f), (g), and (h) to intervene in representation proceedings for the purpose of asserting any contract with an employer as a bar to the processing of any petition filed pursuant to Section 9 (c). 119 NLRB No. 17. 58 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD eluding intraplant truckdrivers and warehousemen. The Teamsters, the present representative of the over-the-road and mine truckdrivers,3 also seeks to represent the intraplant drivers and warehousemen, and would either (1) add them to its existing unit; or (2) represent them in a separate unit; or (3) represent the intraplant drivers and the warehousemen in two separate units. District 50 and the Employer agree that the unit sought by the Petitioner is appropriate. Such a unit is substantially the same as has been covered by contracts between the Employer and District 50 for the past 12 to 15 years. Thus, the basic issue presented is the severance of the intraplant drivers and warehousemen from the production and maintenance unit. The Employer's operations are housed in some 40-odd buildings in an enclosed area. Two of these buildings are warehouses, in which the warehousemen perform their functions. The warehousemen are engaged in normal warehouse duties, consisting of storing materials and preparing stored goods for delivery. The intraplant drivers transfer material to and from the warehouses, and between the Em- ployer's other buildings that house its production operation. The functions of the intraplant drivers are restricted to hauling, trans- ferring, loading, and unloading supplies between these buildings, and they do not drive outside the enclosed area. The intraplant drivers do not interchange with the over-the-road and mine drivers. Although intraplant drivers and warehousemen are under separate immediate supervision from that of the production and maintenance employees, they have the same overall supervision. They are paid on the same basis, work substantially the same hours, receive same fringe benefits, and have working conditions similar to those of the produc- tion and maintenance employees, but which differ from those of the over-the-road and mine drivers. Intraplant drivers and warehousemen are paid on an hourly basis, while the over-the-road and mine drivers are paid on the trip and mileage basis. The former employees work a regular shift, while the over-the-road drivers may be away from the plant for 2 or 3 days, on trips covering 1,000 or 1,200 miles. As an example of the difference in the fringe benefits between the employees, the intraplant drivers and warehousemen with 1 year of service receive a 1-week vacation with 44 hours of pay at the regular hourly rate, while the over-the- road drivers with 1 year of service receive a 1-week vacation with a flat $120 as vacation pay for this week. 8 The over-the-road drivers are engaged in carrying materials to and from the Employer's plant. They travel distances of over 1,000 miles, and the time consumed in these trips ranges from 2 to 3 days. These employees load and unload their trucks from a ramp extending from a warehouse, which borders onto the road, and they do not enter the enclosed area of the Employer's plant. The mine drivers are engaged in hauling coal and lime from other companies to the Employer 's plant. Neither of the above classifications work inside the enclosed area of the Employer's plant, nor do they interchange with the Intraplant drivers. INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION 59 In the event that employees are needed in the warehouse, they are obtained from the production force. In the event that an intraplant driver is needed he is obtained from among the warehousemen if a qualified man is available. The intraplant drivers and warehousemen do not work in production or maintenance unless transferred, but do have rights, along with production and maintenance employees, to bid for vacant jobs in the production and maintenance departments. This opportunity is not offered the over-the-road and mine drivers. In view of the foregoing, we find that the intraplant drivers and warehousemen do not exercise genuine craft skills, nor do they con- stitute a functionally distinct department identified with a traditional trade or occupation having special interests distinct from other em- ployees 4 Accordingly, we conclude that the unit sought by the Teamsters is inappropriate for separate representation a In view of the conclusion that the intraplant drivers and ware- housemen cannot be severed from the existing production and main- tenance unit, and as all parties agree that the production and main- tenance unit is appropriate, we find that the following employees constitute a unit appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act: All production and maintenance employees employed at the Em- ployer's Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, operation, including intraplant drivers and warehousemen, but excluding over-the-road drivers, mine truckdrivers, salaried technical employees, office clerical employees, professional employees, guards, and all supervisors as defined in the Act. [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.] 4 American Potash A Chemical Corporation , 107 NLRB 1418. See also Virginia-Carolina Chemical Corporation, 101 NLRB 1336; General Electric Company, 89 NLRB 726, 739, 740. Vanadium Corporation of America, 117 NLRB 1390 (warehousemen). Cf. United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company, 116 NLRB 661 , 665, 666; Jocie Motor Lines, Inc., 112 NLRB 1201, 1209. 5 As we have concluded that these employees are not severable we deem it unnecessary to consider the various unit contentions of the Teamsters. International Longshoremen's Association, Independent, South Atlantic and Gulf Coast District , and Locals 1758 and 1763 and Bellco Industrial Engineering Co., et al. Cases Nos. 39- CD-26,27,28. October 22,1957 DECISION AND DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE This proceeding arises under Section 10 (k) of the Act, which pro- vides that "whenever it is charged that any person has engaged in an unfair labor practice within the meaning of paragraph (4) (D) 119 NLRB No. 16.