Kimball Systems, Inc.

290 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Kimball Systems, Inc. and Essex County Printing Pressmen and Assistants Union Local31 of the International Printing Pressmen and Assistants Union of North America, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case 22-RC-3483. May 2,1967 DECISION ON REVIEW AND ORDER BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS BROWN AND JENKINS On December 23, 1966, the Regional Director for Region 22 issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-entitled proceeding, finding the setup and operator-setup employees in five departments of the Employer's operations to be an appropriate craft unit. Thereafter, the Employer, in accordance with Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended, filed a timely request for review on the ground that the Regional Director erred in his unit determination. The National Labor Relations Board, by telegraphic order dated January 17, 1967, granted the request for review and stayed the election. Thereafter, the Employer filed a brief on review, captioned "Request to Vacate Decision and Direction of Election,"' and a request for oral argument. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three- member panel. The Board has considered the entire record in this case with respect to the Regional Director's determination under reviewz and makes the following findings: At its Belleville, New Jersey, plant, the Employer is engaged in the manufacture of die cut or knife cut, blank or printed, paper and cloth specialties. There, it has approximately 150 production and maintenance employees in 13 departments. There is no bargaining history for any of these employees. The Petitioner seeks to represent, on a craft basis, the approximately 20 setup and 30 operator-setup employees who work in the luster line, merchandise tag machine, shipping tag machine, and rotary departments. The Regional Director found that employees so classified in these four departments, plus the string and wire department, exercise the usual skills of the printing pressmen's craft and constitute an appropriate craft unit.3 The Employer contends that: (a) the employees sought do not exercise the skills of a traditional pressmen's craft; (b) the printing functions performed by these employees constitute a minor portion of their work; (c) the printing functions are so integrated with the mechanical setup functions performed by them as to preclude the establishment of a separate unit of setup and operator-setup employees; and (d) the Regional Director failed to accord proper weight to the community of interest between employees sought and other employees, by reason of the degree of employee interchange, common supervision, integration of functions, and common working conditions and benefits. The Employer's products feature various attachments' (i.e., wiring, stringing, hooking), and special punching, looping, perforation, eyeletting, and patching. Its products are used for a variety of operations in shipping, manufacturing, marketing, sales, and production control. Thirteen departments, under the overall supervision of a plant manager and the immediate supervision of seven salaried supervisors, are involved in the production and maintenance process. Initially, all orders are referred to the slitting stock department where the paper or cloth stock is slit and cut to size. Then, depending upon specifications, the order is referred to one of several departments. An order for shipping or production tags is referred to the shipping tag machine department; for sales or marketing tags, to the merchandise tag machine department; for other specialties such as tea tags, oil filter bodies, or special die cut shapes, to the rotary department. If printing is involved, before being referred to one of the production departments, the order is first handled by the composing room, where the type is set and the plate made, and then by the luster line department where the necessary ink is obtained. If the order calls for either a quality printed or miniature label tag, it is referred to the luster line or micro-label departments, rather than the shipping tag, merchandise tag, or rotary departments. Once in the proper department, the job is set up by setup or operator-setup employees on "all-in-one machines." Setting up consists of making the proper adjustments on the paper guides, feeders, slitters, cutting attachments, and the printing, punching, patching, looping, knotting, eyeletting, wiring, i The Employer also submitted its brief previously filed with the Regional Director L As the record and briefs adequately present the issues and positions of the parties, the request for oral argument is denied 9 The Regional Director included the setup and operator-setup employees in the string and wire department on the ground that they are regularly interchanged with the operator-setup employees working in the requested four departments Although there were employees in the micro-label department who were similarly classified, the Regional Director excluded them as they required no specialized training, and possess little of the skilled attributes of, and do not interchange with , the employees found to be craftsmen ' The Employer owns various patents in connection therewith. 164 NLRB No. 33 KIMBALL SYSTEMS, INC. stringing, and perforating units which are parts of the machines.5 If any major changes or repairs are necessary, they are made by machinists and model makers, with or without the aid of the setup or operator-setup employees. Minor changes and repairs are performed by the setup or operator-setup employees without assistance. After the machines are set up, samples are run off and forwarded to the composing room for checking against specifications. If specifications are met, a setup man, an operator-setup man, or an operator (or a combination of these classifications) is assigned to operate the machinery, which entails picking up the tags from a conveyor, chute, or hopper, inspecting and boxing them, marking, labeling, and sealing the boxes, loading them on to pallets or into cartons, and maintaining production records in connection therewith. If additional specifications must be met, the work is removed by material handlers and taken to the string and wire department where rerolling, folding, stripping, and inspecting is done, or where additional strings, wires, hooks, backing, or other attachments are put on by hand or machine-all through the coordinated efforts of a machine adjuster, operators, and operator-setup employees assigned thereto. When all specifications have been met, the work is moved by material handlers to the shipping and receiving department where it is prepared for shipping by the shipping clerk. In the shipping tag and the merchandise tag departments, the Employer maintains approximately 18 paper converting machines containing in-line units for punching, diecutting, printing, patching, eyeletting, stringing, wiring, looping, knoting, perforating, slitting, folding, and laminating. In the luster line department, there are nine Miehle vertical printing machines, one paper sheeting machine used for proofing, and papercutting, diecutting, imprinting, and folding machines. The rotary department has one web press equipped with printing, cutting, punching, slitting, perforating, reinforcing, rerolling, and shear cutting units. The Micro-label department has diecutting machines, a Davidson offset machine, a camera, and a New Era letterpress head. With the exception of the Miehle presses in the luster line department, the machines containing printing units may be and have been used for manufacturing or converting blank tags.6 When used for this purpose, the printing head is either completely disengaged or converted into a diecutting or perforating unit. All of the setup employees are capable of being interchanged on all but the Miehle presses and the one rotary gravure press unit. A Miehle setup 5 Many of the functions now performed on the all-in-one machines were originally performed on individual machines as separate operations in the string and wire department By adapting these individual operations and units , the Employer now combines them into single , coordinated in-line operations Nevertheless, there are situations where one portion of a job will be strung in the shipping tag or merchandise tag departments, 291 employee, while not always able to function as a setup man in some of the other departments, is able to, and does, function well in those departments as an operator-setup employee. There is testimony that this situation presently exists because of the reduced workload in the luster line department. The record shows that 60 percent of the average operator-setup man's time, and 10 percent of the average setup man's time is devoted purely to above- described duties performed by the operators. Of the remainder of the operator-setup man's time, only about one-third (or 13 percent of his total time) is devoted to printing setup functions, such as simple line changes, washing the presses, etc. The balance (or 27 percent of his total time) is devoted to mechanical setup functions, such as putting on stock and rolls of patch, placing glue in the glue box, and making adjustments of the punching, eyeletting, stringing, wiring, reinforcing, and other units. Likewise, only about one-third of the setup work done by the setup man involves the printing function; the remainder relates to the mechanical setup functions previously described, assisting in training, and aiding in repairs and changes in connection with the various units. Setup and operator-setup men do not have separate supervision. Some (those in the merchandise tag machine, shipping tag machine, and rotary departments) are supervised by the first shift, first floor, production supervisor; those in the luster line department are supervised by the first shift, second floor supervisor (who also supervises the micro-label department); the string and wire department employees and the composing room employees share the same supervision; others are supervised by the second-shift and third-shift supervisors, respectively. The work on the second and third shifts is not departmentalized. When interchanged, employees are subject to supervision by the supervisor of the department in which they are working. The Employer's practice is to move setup and operator-setup employees, as well as operators, from department to department, machine to machine, and supervisor to supervisor depending upon the workload, in order to adjust to the peaks and valleys of production needs in each department. For this reason, employees may find themselves on the same day in two or three departments (including the string and wire department which has no printing units), performing different and varied functions. In filling vacant positions, the Employer utilizes various sources: plant bulletin board notices, commercial and State employment agencies, "off- while another portion of the same job will be strung later, as a secondary operation, in the stung and wire department either by the operators and operator-setup employees in that department or by employees assigned from the requested departments to assist in the workload 6 Approximately 20 percent of the Employer's business consists of these blank tags 298-668 0-69-20 292 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the-street" applicants, and referrals from the Essex County Vocational School. The Employer never specifies that a printing background is required. Usually, it specifies a preference for mechanically inclined people with practical experience, where possible, in punch press work or other manufacturing operations. Only eight or nine of those presently employed had any prior experience in the printing field. The Employer's acting plant manager testified that unless there is an opening in the luster line department on the Miehle machines, those with printing background and interested in printing as a trade do not stay long in its employ. The setup classification is attained, not through new hires but via progression from lower classifications. All employees, including packers, material handlers, laborers, and helpers, are encouraged to move up the scale, depending upon their initiative and ability. The period of progression is about 4 to 5 years, depending upon the individual's ability and the availability of openings. There is no formal apprenticeship program. Training is informal, on an individual basis, by exposure to different phases of the total operation. Similarly, any of the employees may advance not only to setup classification but to such classifications as platemaker, inspector-trainer, stockroom clerk, proofreader, and machinist. All employees receive the same benefits, such as insurance, vacations, holidays, stock purchase, bereavement pay, rest periods, etc. Vacations are afforded on a sliding scale, depending on length of T Male operators (due to demand for greater physical strength in lifting some of the attachments ) start at 5 cents per hour higher than females The "red circle" rates, earned by approximately 10 employees when the plant was operated by another employer, apply to specific individuals, not to the job classifications, and, in any event , it seems none of the employees receiving the "red circle " rates are in the proposed unit s See Universal Form Clamp Co, 163 NLRB 184, see also service. All are insured in the same amount; the same medical plan is available to everyone. All employees in the same labor grades are subject to the same pay scale, with certain minor exceptions.' Even assuming that the setup men and operator- setup men spend a part of their time doing the work of printing pressmen, it is clear from the foregoing that they are not predominantly engaged in such function. For this reason, they do not constitute a craft unit of printing pressmen.8 With respect to the mechanical functions performed by the setup men and the operator-setup men, it appears, and we find, that such functions do not require the possession or exercise of the skills of any recognized craft. Furthermore, in view of the close relationship between them and other employees, by reason of common supervision, work integration, and substantial employee interchange, we find that the setup and operator-setup men involved do not constitute a distinct and homogeneous group of employees with a separate community of interest apart from operators and other production and maintenance employees. Accordingly, we find that the requested unit is inappropriate on either a craft or departmental basis. As the Petitioner does not seek to represent a broader unit, we shall dismiss the petition. ORDER It is hereby ordered that the petition filed herein be, and it hereby is, dismissed. Employing Printers of Peoria, 130 NLRB 1511, 1514, Printing Industry of Delaware , 131 NLRB 1100, 1102, Packaging Corporation of America, 146 NLRB 1620 In determining whether or not an alleged craft unit is appropriate , the Board applies the same tests in the absence of bargaining history as it does in cases where craft severance is sought See E I DuPont de Nemours and Company, 116 NLRB 286, 288, E I Dupont de Nemours and Company (May Plant, Camden, South Carolina), 162 NLRB 413