J. P. Stevens & Co., Inc.

758 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD J. P. Stevens & Company, Inc. and Textile Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case No. 11-IBC-1188. April 15, 1959 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 Lewis Wolberg, 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 00(b) of the Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-mem- ber panel [Members Rodgers, Bean, and Fanning]. 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 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. 4. The Petitioner seeks a unit of production and maintenance em- ployees at the Employer's Patterson, Roanoke Nos. 1 and 2, and Rose- mary Plants in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. The Employer, although in agreement as to the scope of the requested unit, would include therein the classifications discussed below, all of whom the Petitioner would exclude because of their alleged dissimilar interests. There is no conclusive history of collective bargaining. Second hands: The Petitioner contends that the second hands in the various departments throughout the Employer's plants are super- visors. They function as leadmen in teams under the immediate su- pervision of departmental overseer or occasionally under an assistant overseer. Ten to twenty percent of their time is spent in making rou- tine work assignments, and the remainder is spent in manual work under the same working conditions as other employees in their group. Although second hands correct imperfections in work, they have no authority to recommend changes in the work status of other employees or to grant time off, and are not consulted about pay increases. They receive the same benefits as their fellow employees. With the excep- tion of the second hand at the yard in Roanoke Plant No. 2, we find that the second hands do not responsibly direct other employees or otherwise exercise supervisory authority within the meaning of the Act. We therefore find that they are not supervisors and include them in the unit. As the second hand in the yard at Roanoke Plant 123 NLRB No. 95. J. P. STEVENS & COMPANY, INC. 759 No. 2 regularly substitutes for his departmental overseer, an admitted supervisor, assuming the latter's authority in his absence, we find that this second hand is a supervisor, and exclude him from the unit. Timekeepers : The timekeepers perform the customary duties of their classifications, taking clock readings from plant machines. About 20 percent of their time is spent in the production area and the balance is spent in the departmental overseer's office, located near the production area. These employees are directly responsible to the departmental overseer, are hourly paid, and receive the same benefits as the hourly paid plant employees, and have little or no contact with the office clerical force. We find, contrary to the Petitioner, that the interests of the timekeepers are more closely allied with those of the production employees than with those of the office employees and include them. Clerks : The Employer would include its shipping clerks, produc- tion clerks, and waste clerks, all of whom perform clerical functions in the plants or warehouses. Although some are salaried and others are hourly paid, all work in the production areas, under the same overall supervision as the production employees, and receive the same benefits as the latter. We find that these clerks are essentially plant clericals whom the Board customarily includes in a production and mainte- nance unit. We include them in the unit. The planning clerk at the Patterson Plant prepares loom schedules, is salaried, and receives the same benefits as the office clerical employees. She has little contact with the production employees and is under the immediate supervision of the plant superintendent. We find that her interests are more closely allied with those of the office clerical employees and 'exclude her.' The Petitioner would exclude as a confidential employee the general clerk at Roanoke Plant No. 1 who serves as the secretary to the superintendent. As she has no contact with the production em- ployees, and performs office clerical duties, we exclude her as an office clerical employee, and find it unnecessary to determine whether she is a confidential employee. Guards: The Petitioner contends that the firemen at Patterson and the watchmen at Roanoke Plants Nos. 1 and 2 and at the Rosemary Plant are guards. These employees, in addition to performing pro- duction and maintenance work, also regularly spend a substantial part of their time making rounds of the Company's premises, protect- ing the plant against fire hazards and intruders. In these circum- stances, we find that they are guards within the meaning of the Act and exclude them 2 Overhaulers (Roanoke Plant No. 2) : The overhaulers in the card- ing department at Roanoke Plant No. 2 serve as leadmen in their I Wm. R. Whittaker Co., Ltd., 117 NLRB 339. 2 Walterboro 31anufacturing Corporation , 106 NLRB 1383. 760 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD respective groups and work under the immediate supervision of the assistant departmental overseer. As they act in the same capacity and exercise only routine direction over the other employees similar to that of the second hands in other departments, we find that the overhaulers are not supervisors and include them in the unit. We likewise include the night foreman (inspector) in the clothroom at the Rosemary Plant who acts as the leadman for the other inspectors on that shift as he has no authority effectively to recommend their hire, discharge, or changes in their work status, and is not a supervisor within the meaning of the Act. Maintenance and electrical supervisors (Roanoke Plant No. 00) : These individuals coordinate the work of from one to five assistants. They perform the same physical work and receive only 5 percent more in hourly pay because of their greater skill than their assistants. They receive the same benefits as the other employees sought herein, and their work, together with that of their assistants, is inspected by the master mechanic, an admitted supervisor. As the maintenance and electrical supervisors (Roanoke Plant No. 2) neither possess nor exercise any supervisory authority within the meaning of the Act, we shall include them. Yarn development man (Rosemary Plant) : The yarn development man spends most of his time in the twisting room experimenting and developing novel yarns for manufacture. Although he works along- side hourly paid employees, he is salaried and receives the same bene- fits as the salaried employees. He is responsible only to the chief designer rather than to the plant supervisors. As his interest and working conditions are substantially different from those of the pro- duction and maintenance employees, we find that he lacks a close community of interests with the latter and shall exclude him from the unit.3 Jacquard designing department (Rosemary Plant) : Within this department are six or eight employees, under the direction of the head designer who make and paint designs for the looms, utilizing pictures furnished by the sales department. All these designers work in a small building located apart from the main plant area. They enter the production areas solely for the purpose of checking and correct- ing the looms for which they are preparing designs. All are re- quired to have some artistic ability. They are salaried, and work under the same conditions as the other salaried employees. Although the evidence is insufficient to make a determination as to whether they are technical employees, we find that their duties and interests are so dissimilar from those of the production employees as to war- rant their exclusion from the unit of production employees 4 3 Gerber Plastic Company, 108 NLRB 403, 405. ' Wm. R. Whittaker, ibid. J. P. STEVENS & COMPANY, INC. 761 Draftsmen (Rosemary Plant) : Two draftsmen prepare blueprints used in connection with the installation of machinery in the plant. They work in a small office apart from the production area, although they frequently are required to enter the plants. The draftsmen are salaried, have the same working conditions and benefits as the office clerical employees, and are directly responsible to the chief engineer. We find that these draftsmen are technical employees and in view of the objection to their inclusion in the production and maintenance unit, we shall exclude them.5 Supervisors of supply and the supply clerks (Roanoke Plant No. 2) : The Employer maintains a central supply office at the Roanoke Plant No. 2 in which the inventory records are maintained. The two disputed employees, classified as supervisors, have their headquarters in this office, one handling the stock supply for the Roanoke Plants Nos. 1 and 2, and the other for the Rosemary Plant. They spend most of their time in the plants picking up stock and supply records. The Employer likewise has five clerks in the central supply office who tabulate inventory statistics from the cards obtained by the two supervisors. All are salaried and have the same working conditions and benefits as the office clericals and work under the same immediate supervision as the head of the supply department. We find that all these employees are office clericals and exclude them from the unit.' In view of our finding, it is unnecessary to determine whether the two employees classified as supervisors are in fact supervisors within the meaning of the Act. Preventive maintenance men (Rosemary Plant) : These two em- ployees, whose headquarters are at the Rosemary Plant, together are responsible for the maintenance of the machinery at all four plants. They of necessity spend a considerable portion of their time in the several plant areas and work under the immediate supervision of the preventive maintenance supervisor who, in turn, is directly respon- sible to the plant superintendent. As the preventive maintenance men perform work similar to that performed by other employees in the unit, we shall include them. Data processing clerks (Rosemary Plant) : These clerks tabulate inventory counts on IBM machines and prepare invoices. They are located in a building adjacent to the plant production building but have no contact with plant employees. Data processing clerks are salaried and enjoy the same benefits and working conditions as the other office clerical employees. We therefore exclude them as office clerical employees. Accordingly, we find that all production and maintenance em- ployees at the Employer's Patterson Plant, Roanoke Plants Nos. 1 6Wm. R. Whittaker, ibid. Ozark Manufacturing and Supply Company, 108 NLRB 1470, 1478. 762 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD and 2,' and the Rosemary Plant, in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, including all plant clerical employees, and all employees shown on Appendix A, but excluding all employees shown on Appendix B, office clerical employees, professional employees, watchmen, guards, and all supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.] As the record contains insufficient evidence 'from which we can make a determination as to the unit placement of the designer and planner ( Roanoke Plant No. 2), we shall permit this individual to vote, subject to challenge. APPENDIX A Second hands Production clerks Timekeepers Waste clerks Shipping clerks Overhaulers Maintenance and electrical supervision (Roanoke Plant No. 2) Preventive maintenance men (Rosemary Plant) APPENDIX B Second hand yard man (Roanoke Plant No. 2) Planning clerk (Patterson Plant) General clerk (Roanoke Plant No. 1) Guards Yarn development plan (Rosemary Plant) Jacquard designing department (Rosemary Plant) Draftsmen (Rosemary Plant) Supervisors of supply and supply clerks (Roanoke Plant No. 2) Data processing clerks (Rosemary Plant) Master Tank & Welding Company and Gerald Burkey, Petitioner and Local 363, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers, AFL- CIO. Case No. 14-RD-128. April 15, 1959 SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND CERTIFICATION Pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election 1 issued on December 30, 1958, an election by secret ballot was conducted on January 13, 1959, in the appropriate unit.2 At the conclusion of the election, the parties were furnished a tally of ballots which showed 1 Unpublished. 2 The Union, on January 7, 1959, by a telegram to the Board , protested the holding of the election on the grounds set forth in its objection to election , hereinafter stated. This protest was rejected. 123 NLRB No. 94.