The Bunker Hill Co.

THE BUNKER HILL COMPANY 331 During the calendar year 1962, the Employer's gross revenues amounted to approximately $587,000, of which $365,000 represented gross annual sales of goods, products, commodities, and/or revenue from services, while $222,000 represented dues and initiation fees of members. The Employer contends that the Board should not assert jurisdic- tion because its operations do not satisfy the jurisdictional standard for retail enterprises. The Board decided in Walnut Hills Country Club i that the retail standard is the applicable standard for operations of the nature en- gaged in by the Employer. In Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (Chartiers Country Club),' the Board, in determining whether or not the gross volume of business of a nonprofit 'organization such as the Employer's herein meets the Board's retail standard, did not count the annual dues of members as income derived from its retail opera- tions. As the Employer's retail sales are less than the $500,000 required,3 we find that it will not effectuate the policies of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition.4 [The Board dismissed the petition.] 1145 NLRB 81. z 139 NLRB 741. Carolina Supplies and Cement Co., 122 NLRB 88, 89. Member Leedom , who did not participate in the decision in Walnut Hills, supra, con- curs in the result in this case as he would not under any circumstances assert jurisdiction over an operation such as this. See, e.g ., his dissenting opinion. in Walter Carl Ray, at at., d/b/a Ray, Davidson & Ray, 131 NLRB 433, 436. The Bunker Hill Company and Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers, AFL-CIO, Petitioner The Bunker Hill Company and International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, Petitioner The Bunker Hill Company and Local Lodge No. 1425, Inter- national Association of Machinists , AFL-CIO, Petitioner The Bunker Hill Company and United, Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Cases Nos. 19-RC-3317, 19-RC-3318, 19-RC-33t30, and 19-RC-3324. March 13, 1964 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon'petitions duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before Hearing Officer John N. Zimmerman. The Hearing Officer's rulings made at the hear- ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. 146 NLRB No. 43. 332 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with these cases to a three- member panel [Chairman McCulloch and Members Leedom and Fanning]. Upon the entire record in these cases, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em- ployees of the Employer.' 3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Metal Workers presently represents a unit composed of the Employer's production and maintenance employees, including those employees herein sought to be severed, under a 5-year contract executed on December 22, 1960. For 18 years prior thereto, this unit was represented by Mine-Mill. In 1953, the Board found units composed of, electricians, carpenters, and bricklayers to be appropriate craft units, permitted severance of these units from the then existing production and maintenance unit, and certified the Unions now rep- resenting these three crafts. The Employer has continued to recog- nize these latter Unions, none of which is involved here, on a craft basis since 1953. On January 5, 1961, the Board, in Case No. 19-RD- 187, certified incumbent Metal Workers as collective-bargaining repre- sentative of the Employer's production and maintenance employees, excluding therefrom the above three craft units. The Boilermakers, Plumbers, and Machinists herein seek to sever from the existing production and maintenance unit various alleged craft units.2 Mine-Milli and Steelworkers each seeks to represent ' We shall refer to the Petitioners as follows , listing them in the order in which they appear in the caption, namely, Boilermakers , Mine-Mill Machinists , and Steelworkers. Northwest Metal Workers Union, Independent, hereafter called Metal Workers, which presently represents a certified unit of production and maintenance employees at the Employer's Bunker Hill operations , intervened on the basis of its contractual interest. Local Union No. 44, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, AFL- CIO, hereafter called Plumbers, intervened in Case No . 19-RC-3317, on the basis of an adequate showing of interest. Petitioners Mine-Mill ( Case No. 19-RC-3318 ) and Steelworkers (Case No. 19-RC-3324), filed their petitions for a unit of the production and maintenance employees presently rep- resented by Metal Workers. 2 There is no contention to the contrary and we find that the existing production and maintenance unit represented by Metal Workers is an appropriate bargaining unit. 8 The Metal Workers contends that the petition of Mine-Mill should be dismissed on the ground that this Union was, on May 4, 1962, found by an order of the Subversive Activities Control Board to be a Communist-infiltrated organization . On June 29, 1962, Mine-Mill filed a petition for review of this order in the U S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and further filed a petition for redetermination before the Subversive Activities Control Board. Section 13(a) (h) of the Internal Security Act of 1950, as amended by the Communist Control Act of 1954, provides, inter alia, that when such an order becomes "final," a labor organization may not serve as an employee representative or exercise any other rights or privileges under the National Labor Relations Act. As the order is not yet "final," we find , contrary to the Metal Workers , that Mine Mill is eligible to file the petition in this case. THE BUNKER HILL COMPANY 333 the currently certified production and maintenance unit, or, in the alternative, the currently certified production and maintenance unit, excluding therefrom such craft units as the Board may herein find appropriate. The Employer's Operations The Employer operates two mines, the Bunker Hill Mine located at Kellogg, Idaho, and the Crescent Mine located some 2 miles distant from Kellogg. The crude lead and zinc ores extracted from these mines are conveyed to and processed through a single concentrator located at Kellogg in order to separate the lead ores from the zinc ores and to refine these ores to a higher percentage of lead and zinc. The lead ores are then taken by rail car to a smelter located 1 mile from the concentrator where they are subjected to a pyrometallurgical process which produces lead and related metals. The zinc ores are taken by rail car to the Employer's zinc plant, also located about 1 mile from the concentrator, where they are subjected to an electrolytic proc- ess which produces zinc and related metals. The resultant lead and zinc are further processed at the Employer's sulphuric acid and phos- phoric acid plants located in or near the zinc plant. The record fur- ther shows that, if the mine operations ceased functioning_or operat- ing, the remaining plant operations could continue for only 'a limited time, and that if the concentrator ceased operation, the Employer's operations would be required to shut down almost immediately. The Units Requested for Severance All of the employees in the units sought to be severed from the exist- ing production and maintenance unit are engaged in maintenance work and, for the most part, work straight day shifts. Production employees work three shifts daily. Case No. 19-RC-3317 The Boilermakers seeks a unit including boilermakers, blacksmiths, -maintenance mechanics (excepting maintenance mechanics known as "drill, doctors"), and riggers. With regard to the boilermakers, the record shows that, although they occasionally perform some outside maintenance work, they-nor- mally perform their duties in machine shops located in the mine sur- face plant and the smelter plant. Their work areas are shared by blacksmiths, machinists, and plumbers. The boilermakers' work area in the zinc plant is not indicated in the record. Using such tools as nibblers, presses, shears, rolls, and drills, the boilermakers fabricate from sheet and plate steel and structural shapes the various bins, chutes, car bodies, and structural members used,in the maintenance of the plants. They also read blueprints and do layout work. They 334 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD work under the supervision of a boilermaker-leadman who, in, turn, reports to a foreman in charge of several crafts. The boilermakers perform only maintenance work, and there is no interchange of tools or employees with other crafts or with production employees. In addition, there is a formal 4-year apprenticeship program recognized by the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, U.S. Department of Labor, and which follows the standards imposed by the registered Standards of Apprenticeship. The Employer contends, despite the above, that a craft unit is inappropirate because -all boilermakers are not centrally located and supervised. We find no merit in this con- tention.' We are satisfied that these employees exercise the usual skills of the boilermakers craft.' As to the blacksmiths, four of them work in a blacksmith shop lo- cated in an unidentified area. These blacksmiths are engaged in sharpening mine drill steel. The remaining blacksmiths are located in the mine surface plant, the smelter, and the zinc plant. They report to and work in the same areas as the boilermakers and ma- chinists, but work under the immediate supervision and direction of a blacksmith-leadman. Using the tools of their trade, they cut, re- shape, and otherwise fabricate steel rods and bars for all of the various tools required in the Employer's operation. There is no interchange in work, tools, or employees between blacksmiths and other craftsmen or production workers. The Employer has also adopted a formal 4-year 'apprenticeship program for blacksmiths. We find these em- ployees to be craftsmen.6 The maintenance mechanics classification sought by the Boiler- makers encompasses employees with varying skills and duties. Some of these mechanics work exclusively underground in the mines. There they do cutting, burning, welding, and repairing of mechanical equip- ment. They are also responsible for the maintenance and repair of the main underground pipe systems which go through 120 miles of tunnel. These systems consist of the main air line, the operational or process water system, and the domestic water system. In carrying out this pipework, the maintenance mechanics appear to perform'the- same duties underground as the pipefitters do on the surface. Al- though the maintenance mechanics are fully qualified to do the re- ' The Employer contends , inter alia, that craft groups.herein sought are inappropriate because the employees involved are subject to different supervision . However, the mere fact that craft employees have common supervision with employees outside their craft does not prevent craftsmen from being represented in a unit of their own craft , Kennecott Copper ' Corporation, 138 NLRB 118, 122 ; B. H. Hadley, Inc., 130 NLRB 1622, and cases cited therein. 5 Stauffer Chemical Company of Nevada, 113 NLRB 1255, 125T-1258 ; Sinclair Rubber, Inc, 96 NLRB 220, 225; International Paper Company, Southern Kraft Daviaion, 94 NLRB 483, 496. 9 Kennecott Copper Corporation , Ray Mines Division, 106 NLRB 390, 393; Kimble Glass Company, 102 NLRB , 933, 936. THE BUNKER HILL COMPANY 335 quired underground pipefitting, the maintenance mechanics are not generally so skilled as the above-ground pipefitters who go through a longer and a formal rather than an informal apprenticeship pro- gram. The maintenance mechanics assigned to the underground operation do not report to the surface maintenance mechanics' shop, but regularly report directly underground to a maintenance foreman. In addition to the above-described maintenance mechanics, other maintenance mechanics report to a centrally located maintenance mechanics' shop for assignments throughout the Employer's above- ground operations. Although these maintenance mechanics normally work under the immediate direction of a maintenance mechanic- leadman or foreman, their work at the concentrator and mine shop is performed under the direction of a production supervisor. Their principal duties consist of installing, removing, repairing, maintain- ing, inspecting, and otherwise providing general maintenance to the Employer's mechanical process equipment, and they may be required to oil, cut, weld, and burn. In addition, their duties at the zinc plant require them to take apart and clean various acid and dust control pipes, tasks which production workers also perform. All maintenance mechanics, whether above or below ground, have an informal 2- or 3-year -apprenticeship program. With the exception of the above-described pipework performed by the above-ground maintenance mechanics at the zinc plant, maintenance mechanics do no production work, and there is no interchange with any other "craft" or production employees. However, because the maintenance mechanics sought by the Petitioner are a heterogeneous group of em- ployees with differing skills and functions,7 and because in relation to the boilermakers and blacksmiths they are, under different super- vision, have an informal rather than a formal apprenticeship pro- gram, and perform different work and exercise different skills, we find that maintenance mechanics lack a special community of interest with the boilermakers and blacksmiths. Accordingly, we shall deny the Petitioner's request with respect to these employees. The riggers sought to be included by the Boilermakers spend almost 100 percent of their time working at the Employer's smelter under the supervision of a maintenance mechanic foreman. Their duties consist of moving heavy equipment with special rigging equipment. Riggers do not interchange with employees of other crafts or with the production employees, and they also have a formal 4-year ap- prenticeship training program. The work of the riggers, however, differs substantially from that of the boilermakers and blacksmiths. Moreover, the record contains 7 See Clayton cE Lambert Manufacturing Company, Ordnance Division, 111 NLRB 540, 541. 744-670-65-vol. 146-23 336 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD little or no evidence that there is any relationship, functional or other- wise, between the work of these two groups of employees, nor does it establish that there is any similarity in the skills exercised by the riggers and the boilermakers and blacksmiths." We shall, accord- ingly, deny the Petitioner's request with respect to these' employees because we perceive no justification for severing riggers from the production and maintenance unit and combining them with the boiler- - makers and blacksmiths .9 On the basis of the entire record, we find that the boilermakers and blacksmiths are craftsmen and that together, if they so desire, they may be represented as a separate unit by the Boilermakers 10 which has traditionally represented them.li Case No. 19-RC-3317 The Plumbers, who intervened in Case No. 19-RC-3317 on the basis of an adequate showing of interest, seeks a unit composed of all employees engaged in plumbing, steamfitting, pipefitting, and lead- burning work, or, in the alternative, such of the employees sought as the Board might find to constitute an appropriate unit. The Employer's pipe shops are located in partitioned-off rooms in the mine surface Land zinc plants, and also in the smelter. The pipe- fitters are supervised by a pipefitter-leadinan who, in turn, reports to the water superintendent at the mine surface plant, the maintenance superintendent at the zinc plant, and the shop foreman at the smelter. Using such tools as pipe machines, grinders, drill presses, pipe benders, and regular plumber's and pipefitter's tools, the pipefitters work throughout the Employer's surface operation. They do some soil work, a small amount of copper work, and otherwise perform ad- mittedly skilled pipefitting, steamfitting, and plumbing work on every type of pipe, except lead. Pipefitters have their own seniority group- ing, a separate, formal 4-year apprenticeship program, and do not interchange personnel, work, or tools with other crafts, nor do they do any production work. We find that these employees who are engaged in plumbing, steanifitting, and pipefitting work are craftsmen.12 s Contsnental'Oil Company, 95 NLRB 165, 166. e Continental Oil Company, supra, at 166 1s We are aware that the unit which we have found to be appropriate is smaller and, therefore, differs from the unit sought by the Boilermakers . Accordingly, if the Boiler- makers does not desire to participate in the election to be held in the smaller unit found appropriate, we shall permit it to withdraw its petition upon appropriate notice to the Regional Director. u Kennecott Copper Corporation, 138 NLRB 118, at 121 , and cases cited therein ; Stauffer Chemical Company of Nevada; suprg, at 1258. u Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation, Shipbuilding Division, San Francisco Yard, 117 NLRB 579 , 582-583. See also Kennecolt Copper Corporation, supra, at 121-122, Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation, Shipbuilding Division, San Francisco Yard, supra, at 583 ; Stauffer Chemical Company of Nevada, supra, at 1259. THE BUNKER HILL COMPANY 337 The lead burners, working primarily with lead, perform the ad- mittedly highly skilled operations of fabricating, installing, maintains ing, and repairing lead equipment throughout the Employer's surface operation. No other employees of the Employer perform lead- burning work. Some lead burners work daily in the cell room of the zinc plant forming and shaping lead necessary in the cell room opera- tion. The remainder of the lead burners work elsewhere in the Em- ployer's operation on lead pipes, lead sinks, lead-lined cell boxes, and lead steam coils; they burn lead, line lead tanks, and lay lead floors. All of these employees are directed by a lead-burner leadman under the supervision of a multicraft supervisor located in the zinc plant. The le td burners also have their own seniority grouping and a sep- arate, formal 4 -year apprenticeship program. They do not inter- change personnel, work, or tools with any other craft, nor do they do any production work. Based,on these facts, we find that the lead burners are also craftsmen.13 Accordingly, as the Plumbers is the traditional representative of the employees it seeks, we find that all of the Employer's employees engaged in the above-described plumbing, steamfitting, and pipefitting work, as well as those engaged in lead-burning work, constitute a homogeneous group of craftsmen and that together they are entitled to separate representation if they so desire.'' Case No. 19-RC-3320 The Machinists seeks a unit consisting of all machinists, mainte- nance mechanics known as "drill doctors," toolroom attendants, their helpers and apprentices working in the Employer's machine shops located in the mine surface plant, the zinc plant, and the smelter, or, in the alternative, such of the petitioned-for employees as the Board might find to constitute 'an appropriate unit. Machinists normally perform their work in standard-equipped ma- chine shops located in the mine surface and zinc plants and the smelter. Occasionally, however, machinists will set up precision equipment calling for close tolerance outside their shops. They work under the immediate supervision of 'a machinist-leadman. While the exact nature of their maintenance duties is not clear, it is undisputed that they are skilled journeyman machinists. In addition, the ma- chinists have their own seniority grouping and a separate, formal 4-year apprenticeship program. They do no production work nor do they interchange personnel, work, or tools with any other craft. We are satisfied from the record that these employees exercise the usual skills of the machinists' craft. 13 Allied Chemical & Dye Corporation, National Airline Division, 71 NLRB 1217. 14 See Stauffer Chemical Company of Nevada, supra, at 1259. 338 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The Machinists would also include those maintenance mechanics known as "drill doctors," or floor or bench mechanics. These em- ployees, two in number, are located in the machine shop in the mine surface plant, and are employed almost exclusively in repairing, re- building, and otherwise maintaining mine air drill equipment and air operating machines which are used by production workers. The record contains no evidence as to their supervision. Although they are apprenticed to the maintenance mechanics, whom the Machinists do not seek to represent, the record is not clear as to the type or dura- tion of their informal apprenticeship program. Accordingly, be- cause it appears that their work not only is limited in scope, but also because the record does not show that the "drill doctors" possess the degree or range of skills characteristic of craftsmen, we shall exclude these two employees from the unit. The toolroom attendants' job has historically been filled by incapaci- tated employees. Although the present toolroom attendants are ma- chinists, the record shows that these jobs have been filled by produc- tion workers for as long as 20 years. Toolroom attendants normally maintain an inventory of tools, dispense tools to the various crafts- men, and need very little experience to perform their work. There is no formal training program for toolroom attendants. Because they lack a special community of interest with the machinists sufficient to warrant their inclusion in this unit,15 and because of the dissimilarity in their qualifications, training, and skills, we shall exclude the tool- room attendants from the unit."' On the basis of the entire record, we find that the' machinists are craftsmen, and, as the Machinists is an organization which tradi- tionally represents such craftsmen,'' we find further that these em- ployees may constitute a separate appropriate unit if they so desire. Moreover, as the record shows that helpers and apprentices who enter the Employer's apprenticeship program are in a direct line of progres- sion to the job of machinist, we shall also include them in the unit. In view of the foregoing, we shall make no final unit determinations at this time, but shall direct that the questions concerning representa- tion that have arisen be resolved by separate elections by secret ballot among employees in the following voting groups, excluding from groups (a) through (c) all other employees and supervisors,as defined in the Act : (a) All boilermakers and blacksmiths. (b) All plumbers, pipefitters, steamfitters, and lead burners. (c) All machinists and their helpers and apprentices. 1 Armstrong Tire and Rubber Company, 104 NLRB 892, 895. 16 American Cyanamid Company, Organic Chemicals D,vision, 110 NLRB 89, 91. 17 %ennecott Copper Corporation, supra, at 120-121. INT'L BROTHERHOOD ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL 5 339 (d) All production and maintenance employees excluding any craft units heretofore certified by the National Labor Relations Board (such as electricians, carpenters, and bricklayers), employees in vot- ing groups (a) through (c), and all supervisory, technical and clerical employees, gatemen, office clerical employees, guards, and watchmen as defined in the Act. If a majority of the employees in any of voting groups (a) through (c) select the union seeking that group as a separate unit, those em- ployees will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bargaining unit, and the Regional Director conducting the elections is hereby instructed to issue a certification of representation to such union for such voting group, which the Board under the circumstances finds to be an appropriate unit for purposes of collec- tive bargaining. If a majority in all the foregoing voting groups vote for separate representation, and if a majority in voting group (d) vote for Metal Workers, Mine-Mill, or for the Steelworkers, the union winning the election shall be certified as the representative of the employees in such group, which under these circumstances the Board finds to be an appropriate unit. However, if the majority of the employees in voting groups (a), (b), or (c) do not vote for the union which is seeking to represent them in a separate unit,'their ballots shall be pooled with those for group (d).18 If a majority in the pooled group vote for Metal Workers, Mine-Mill, or the Steelworkers, the winning union shall be certified as the representative of employees in the pooled group, which under those circumstances the Board finds to be an appropriate unit. [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.] CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH, concurring : I concur in the result. 18 If the votes are pooled , they are to be tallied in the following manner: The votes for the labor organizations seeking separate units in any of the groups shall be counted as valid votes but neither for nor against the labor organizations seeking to represent the production and maintenance unit. All other votes are to be accorded their face value. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers , Local No. 5, AFL-CIO and Jack C. Stemnock, Robert A. Stemnock and Alex Stemnock, a Partnership, d/b/a Bethel Electric. Case No. 6-CC-300. March 16, 1964 DECISION AND ORDER On October 1, 1963, Trial Examiner Arthur E. Reyman issued his Decision in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that the Respond- 146 NLRB No. 41.