General Dynamics Corp.

CONVAIR, A DIVISION OF GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP . 397 Convair, a Division of General Dynamics Corporation, Fort Worth, Texas and Federated Independent Texas Unions, Air- craft Local 900, Petitioner. Case No. 16-RC-0560. Novem- ber 27, 1959 DECISION AND ORDER Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before William H. Renkel, Jr.,. hearing officer. The hearing officer's ruling 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 power in connection with this case to a three-member- panel [Chairman Leedom and Members 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. 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 all photographers "A" and "B," and all photographic laboratory men "A" and "B" in departments 17-2 and 17-3 at the Employer's Fort Worth, Texas, plant. The Employer moved to dismiss the petition, and contends that the unit is, inappropriate, (1) because it does not constitute a craft or depart- mental unit or all the technical employees of the Employer, (2) be- cause it alone does not constitute a functionally distinct homogeneous group with a community of interests, and (3) because the unit requested by the Petitioner is based on extent of organization among- the Employer's technical employees. The Employer contends that the appropriate unit consists of all its hourly paid, nonrepresented' technical employees. There is no history of collective bargaining at this plant of the Employer in behalf of the employees sought by the- Petitioner or for the employees in the unit which the Employer asserts to be appropriate. The Employer's Fort Worth plant is located on a tract of land 600, acres in area and its operations are conducted in a main building 1 mile in length and one-fourth mile in width and in numerous out- lying buildings. The record does not show what products are manu -factured at this plant or the job clasifications or tasks of its employ ees, except that photography is widely used in its operations and that. cameras and other photographic equipment are used in many depart- ments throughout the plant. The Employer was unable to state with 125 NLRB No. 37. 398 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD exactness the number of its departments or the classifications of its employees utilizing photographic equipment. Employees classified as photographers "A" and "B" and photographic laboratory tech- nicians "A" and "B" are assigned to the administrative photo group and the optical instrument group (both in department 17-2) and to the process camera group (department 17-3). They perform photo- graphic and photographic laboratory tasks all the time. In addition, the record shows that employees in the Employer's engineering motion picture group, the tool reproduction group of department 82, and the silk screen processing department, while not classified as pho- tographers or photographic laboratory technicians, perform photo- graphic and allied tasks all the time. In addition, photographic work is performed by employees in other of the Employers' departments part of the time.' However, the record does not show the classifica- tions of these employees or the amount of time they spend in photo- graphic work. The Employer has issued 269 cameras to 18 of its departments, of which 46 cameras are issued to the departments to which the employees sought by the Petitioner are assigned; and the Employer utilizes 19 darkrooms in its photographic operations, of which 4 are utilized by the employees sought by the Petitioner. The employees sought by the Petitioner work in three separate plant locations and are the only employees classified as photographers "A" and "B" or photographic laboratory man "A" and "B." They work in the administrative photo group, the optical instrument group, and the process camera group? Other employee classifications are assigned to these groups.3 The administrative photo group, consisting of five photographers and eight photographic laboratory men, is located in the center of the main building and is about one block from the process camera group and about one mile from the optical instrument group. The administrative photo group takes still photographs, make photo- graphic prints, enlargements, and reductions of photographs, and processes and mounts color slides. This section works on photo- graphic requisitions from many departments, but principally from requisitions submitted by the engineering department.4 These em- ployees perform photographic and allied tasks exclusively. All photographers "A," assigned to the administrative photo group, have 1 These groups are the process control group ; the medical section of the personnel de- partment , the inspection department , the engineering department , the engineering service department , the engineering test laboratory department , and the nuclear engineer group. 2 Also called the still photo group , flight test section, and copy camera group, respectively. 3 The Petitioner, however, does not seek to include in the unit all employees in these groups. *Approximately 66 percent of the requisitions of the administrative photo group are received from this department. CONVAIR, A DIVISION OF GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP. 399 at least 4 years' training or photographic experience and all employees in this group possess about the same skills. The optical instrument group, consisting of four photographers land six photographic laboratory men, is located about 1 mile mile from the administrative photo group. Its employees, who do not work in response to photographic requisitions, load and unload cameras and films on board airplanes. When a plane returns from flight, the camera is unloaded and the film, which has been exposed by aircraft personnel, is processed by the photographic laboratory men. An estimated 15 percent of the time of the employees in this group is spent taking pictures. The optical instrument group has different supervision from that of the administrative photo group and the process camera group. In the 2 years prior to the hearing herein, four employees were transferred from the administrative photo group to the optical instrument group. The process camera group, consisting of one photographic labora- tory man, "A," and two photographers, "B," is located a block from the administrative photo lab. This group operates process cameras which are used to produce pictures used in publications issued by the Employer. The employees in this group are separately supervised and have not been interchanged with employees in the administrative photo group or in the optical instrument group. The record does not show that the employees in the process camera group take pictures. From the foregoing, it appears that the employees sought by the Petitioner are separately located, separately supervised, and perform different photographic functions. They are not interchanged or trans- ferred generally from one group to another. Although they perform photographic and allied tasks, they are not the only employees of the Employer performing these duties.' While the parties agree that they are technical employees, the record does not contain any specific evidence of any training or experience of the photographers or photo- graphic laboratory men sought by the Petitioner. As the employees sought by the Petitioner are not the only employees who perform photographic or other technical work 6 and as there is no showing that the unit requested by the Petitioner is appropriate on any craft, 'departmental, or residual basis, we find that the employees sought by .the Petitioner do not constitute an appropriate unit. We shall, there- fore, on the basis of this record, grant the Employer's motion and dismiss the petition herein. [The Board dismissed the petition.] 6 For example , the Petitioner does not seek to represent any of the 19 employees in the engineering motion picture group who do photographic work in connection with motion pictures and still pictures. Cf. Boeing Airplane Company, 116 NLRB 1101.