Litton Industries

576 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD rector for the Twenty-fifth Region, shall, after being duly signed by an official rep- resentative of the Respondent, be posted by the Respondent immediately upon receipt thereof, and be maintained by it for 60 consecutive days thereafter, in con- spicuous places, including all other places where notices to its members are cus- tomarily posted. Reasonable steps shall be taken by the Respondent to insure that said notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by any other material. (b) Mail signed copies of the said notice to the Regional Director for the Twenty- fifth Region for posting, the Charging Employer willing, at all locations where notices to its employees are customarily posted. Copies of said notice, to be fur- nished by the said Regional Director, after being duly signed by an authorized repre- sentative of the Respondent, shall be forthwith returned to the said Regional Director for such posting. (c) Notify the Regional Director for the Twenty-fifth Region, in writing, within 20 days from the date of receipt of this Intermediate Report, what steps the Respondent has taken to comply herewith. It is further recommended that, unless the Respondent shall within the prescribed period notify the said Regional Director that it will comply with the foregoing recommendations, the National Labor Relations Board issue its order requiring com- pliance. APPENDIX NOTICE TO ALL MEMBERS OF CHAUFFEURS, TEAMSTERS AND HELPERS LOCAL UNION 215, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, AND TO ALL EMPLOYEES OF THE BEDFORD-NUGENT CORP. Pursuant to the recommendations of a Trial Examiner of the National Labor Re- lations Board, and in order to effectuate the policies of the National Labor Rela- tions Act, as amended, we hereby notify you that: WE WILL NOT in any manner restrain or coerce employees of The Bedford- Nugent Corp., or any other employer, in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act. CHAUFFEURS, TEAMSTERS AND HELPERS LOCAL UNION 215, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, Labor Organization. Dated------------------- By------------------------------------------- (Representative) (Title) This notice must remain posted for 60 days from the date hereof, and must not be altered, defaced, or covered by any other material. Employees may communicate directly with the Board's Regional Office, 614 ISTA Center, 150 West Market Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, Telephone Number, Melrose 2-1551, if they have any question concerning this notice or compliance with its provision. The Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation,' division of Litton Indus- tries and International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers, AFL-CIO, Local Lodge No. 693 . Case No. 15-RC-24 5. June 11, 1962 DECISION AND ORDER Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before John T. Lacey, hearing offi- cer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. ' The name of the Employer appears as amended at the hearing. 137 NLRB No. 61. THE INGALLS SHIPBUILDING CORPORATION, ETC. 577 Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this proceedng to a three- member panel [Members Leedom, Fanning, and Brown]. 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. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tion of certain employees of the Employer for the following reasons: The Petitioner, by virtue of its membership in the Pascagoula Metal Trades Council, is party to a contract between the Employer and the Council covering production and maintenance employees. It now seeks a unit of unrepresented ratesetters of department 2. In addition to the 10 ratesetters sought by the Petitioner, department 2 includes 2 pro- duction progressors and 30 production checkers. Production checkers are presently represented by Pascagoula Metal Trades Council pur- suant to a Board certification issued in 1944. The Employer contends that the petition should be dismissed because the employees sought are technical employees and, as such, are but a small segment of a large group of unrepresented technical employees performing related func- tions in its shipyard. Department 2 is one of two sections under production and cost con- trol, a subdivision of the production manager's division, and is under the general supervision of the chief of production and cost control, who also exercises immediate supervision over the industrial engineers in department 50. Ratesetters, in order to determine employees' bonus and incentive pay, analyze work in progress and apply predetermined incentive rates from a rate book, where feasible, and insure that the working method and procedure are the same as those for which the rate is established; make handicap allowances where work is performed under abnormal conditions; review piecework tickets prepared by pro- duction checkers; make time studies where basic rates are inapplicable; and, when assigned, assist industrial engineers in time-study and methods work. They are required to have a high school education and previous experience as a production checker. Their work is thus of a technical nature requiring the exercise of independent judgment and specialized skills.2 We find them to be technical employees.' In addition to the ratesetters and production checkers, the record discloses a number of other unrepresented employees whose interests do not appear to be distinguishable from those of the employees sought in the petition. In fact, the Board has previously found that em- 2 L2tton industries of Maryland, Incorporated, 125 NLRB 722, 725. s Bethlehem Steel Company, 97 NLRB 1072, 1075. 649856-63-vol. 137-38 578 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ployees of the quality control department in the classifications of quality control helper apprentice, quality control mechanic, laboratory technician, and engineering technician were technical employees whose interests were not distinguishable for bargaining purposes from those ,of other unrepresented technical employees in the shipyard .4 The ratesetters appear to have a close community of interest with produc- tion checkers as in most instances they have worked in this capacity and they retain seniority in the production checkers unit. Under cur- ,rent Board policy as set forth in Shegeld 5 they might appropriately be included in a unit with the production checkers.6 However, no labor organization seeks a unit consisting of ratesetters and produc- tion checkers. Additionally, it appears that production progressors in department 2 do similar or related work to ratesetters and are not included in the petition. From the foregoing and from the entire record, we find that the employees sought in the instant petition do not constitute a unit ap- propriate for collective bargaining under established Board standards. We shall, accordingly, dismiss the petition. [The Board dismissed the petition.] * Case No 15-RC-2356, issued October 22, 1961 ( not published in NLRB volumes), dis- missing a petition for employees of the quality control department. 5 The Sheffield Corporation, 134 NLRB 1101. 9 The Employer' s motion at the close of the hearing requesting the Board to rescind the certification of representatives in the production checkers unit hitherto issued in Case No 15-R-1077 ( not published in NLRB volumes ), is herewith denied, inasmuch as that question cannot be said to have been adequately litigated herein. -'United States Welding Works Company, Inc. and International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local No. 452. Case No. 27-CA-1152. June 12, 1962 DECISION AND ORDER Upon charges duly filed on January 17, 1962, by International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local No. 452, herein called the Union, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the General Counsel, by the Regional Director for the Twenty-seventh Region, issued a complaint dated March 7, 1962, against United 'States Welding Works Company, Inc., herein called the Respondent. The complaint alleged that the Respondent violated Section 8 (a) (1) of the Act by promising certain benefits to employees if they would abandon the Union. On March 15, 1962, Respondent filed its answer to the complaint denying the allegation and alleging as an affirmative defense that its 137 NLRB No. 63_