S. D. Warren Co.

S. D. WARREN CO. S. D. Warren Company and International Association of Machinists , AFL-CIO; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO; United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America, AFL-CIO; and International Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers, AFL-CIO. Case 1-UC-21. May 9,1967 DECISION AND ORDER BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS FANNING AND ZAGORIA On September 7, 1966, the Employer and the Joint Representative, which was certified by the National Labor Relations Board in October 1963, in the unit found appropriate by the Board,' filed a joint petition for unit clarification and a stipulation as to the relevant facts which the parties agreed made a hearing unnecessary. Thereafter, the Employer and the Joint Representative filed briefs in support of their respective positions.z 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 joint petition, the parties' stipulated statement of facts, the briefs, and the entire record in this proceeding, and makes the following findings: This proceeding involves the Employer's plant in Westbrook, Maine, where it is engaged in the manufacture and distribution of paper and paper products. The Joint Representative was certified on October 8, 1963, as the bargaining representative of a unit described as follows: All employees in the following departments of the engineering division of the Employer's Cumberland Mill, Westbrook, Maine, plant: instrumentation and steam distribution; power boilers and new boiler house; bark burner boiler; chemical, smelting, and recovery unit; mechanical power maintenance; steam engineers; oilers; electrical stations; paint shop; belt shop; machine shop; electrical shop; grinder room; rigger shop; carpenter shop; piping shop; mason shop; tin shop; welding shop; laborers; and truckmen; and employees located at the Dundee, Eel Weir, and See S D. Warren Company, 144 NLRB 204 e On January 13, 1967, the Employer filed a request for permission to file a further brief in which it seeks permission to discuss the effect on the instant petition of the Board's recent craft severance decisions Thereafter, the Joint Representative filed an opposition to the Employer's request As the Board decisions referred to by the Employer involve different issues than those involved herein, the Employer's request is hereby denied i The parties agree that laborers and truckdrivers, comprising the Employer's "Outside Crew," and employees operating power 489 Saccarappa hydroelectric stations, janitorial and custodial employees of the engineering division, and leadmen in the respective departments and locations listed above, exclusive of all other employees; employees of the engineering division permanently assigned to other divisions of the mill, research division employees, dispatcher, assistant dispatchers, telephone operators, office clerical and plant clerical employees, technical employees, professional employees, foremen, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. At that time the Board found that the Employer's engineering division was one of 10 distinct administrative subdivisions of the Employer's mill, "having a functional base of maintenance, construction, and utility work and employing primarily skilled employees who work out of their respective craft shops and do not work directly in the productive process." Engineering division employees were assigned to shops located in various parts of the mill, and were separately supervised by the engineering division except when working in production areas, when they were under the nominal supervision of production supervisors. Among the employees excluded from the unit were "employees of the engineering division permanently assigned to other divisions of the mill," of whom there were 23 at the time of the election. These skilled maintenance employees reported directly to their stations in production areas and received minimal supervision, if any, from the engineering division. The Board, accordingly, concluded that, "For all practical purposes, these assigned employees are not part of the Engineering Division." A recent reorganization of the Employer's engineering division, as described by the stipulation of the parties, has resulted in two major changes:3 (1) A "Master Journeymen's Development Program" has been instituted through which craft maintenance and construction employees are trained to do work of other crafts with an object of developing, in addition to the primary skill of each employee, a broad knowledge of related jobs;4 and (2) former single-craft shops have been eliminated or reorganized into multicraft shops, and some craft shop employees have been reassigned to newly created "area" and "floating"5 crews. The Employer contends that, inasmuch as the three new area crews are assigned to "shops" located in production areas of its mill, the 62 area boilers, recovery boilers, turbines, and steam engines, comprising its "Utilities Group," all of whom are included in the unit, have not been materially affected by the reorganization 4 Inasmuch as employees eligible for this program exercise essentially the same function as before, with continuing emphasis on the "primary skill" of each, we find that this new program does not in itself alter the bargaining unit sufficiently to warrant clarification of the unit 5 Floating crews are sometimes referred to by the parties as "pool" crews 164 NLRB No. 66 490 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD crew employees should be excluded under the original unit description as "employees of the engineering division permanently assigned to other divisions of the mill." The Employer makes no contention with regard to employees in the three new floating crews who, unlike the area crews, as described below, do not work out of shops located in production areas. The Joint Representative contends that employees in the area crews, as well as those in the floating crews, should remain within the unit notwithstanding the fact that area crews are now based in production areas. The Joint Representative also contends that those engineering division employees previously excluded from the unit because they were permanently assigned to production areas should now be included as their functions have been "absorbed" by the area crews. This latter contention, however, raises a question concerning representation. Although, in light of changed circumstances, these previously excluded employees might be added to the existing unit, we find that the instant petition for clarification is not the appropriate procedure for resolving this issue. The parties agree that employees assigned to the reorganized multicraft shops remain within the scope of the original unit description. The remaining issues as to which the parties seek clarification involve the unit placement of the floating crews and the area crews. The stipulated facts indicate that floating crews are essentially multicraft, maintenance-construction groups which may be assigned wherever needed throughout the mill. These crews are composed of skilled engineering division employees who were formerly assigned to specific craft shops and who continue to exercise the same skilled maintenance- construction function as they did before the reorganization. Although these crews are now based in "shops" located apart from reorganized craft shops, the shops of floating crews, unlike those of area crews, are located outside production areas of the mill. The floating crew employees are supervised, as they were before the reorganization, by engineering division foremen. Based on all the stipulated facts, and as neither the Employer nor the Joint Representative contends that floating crew employees should be excluded from the unit, we conclude that the floating crew employees remain in the unit. The newly created area crews, like the floating crews, are composed essentially of skilled engineering division employees who were formerly assigned to specific craft shops and who, since their assignment to area crews,6 continue to exercise the same skilled maintenance-construction functions as they did before the reorganization. Area crew employees are assigned to various maintenance and construction projects from area shops which, unlike floating crew shops, are located in production areas of the Employer's mill, where they share locker, canteen, and other facilities with other employees working in production areas. Like the floating crews, area crew employees are supervised by engineering division foremen, as they were prior to the reorganization. Their supervision, while they are performing maintenance and construction work in production areas, is coordinated with that of the production employees, as was the case prior to the reorganization. The Employer contends that, inasmuch as area crew employees are now based in shops located in production areas, they are "permanently assigned to other divisions of the mill" and should be excluded from the unit on that basis. We find, however, based on the foregoing, particularly the similarity of their functions and supervision before and after the instant reorganization, that area crew employees are still in fact part of the Employer's engineering division, that they are not "permanently assigned to other divisions of the mill," and we conclude, therefore, that they should not be excluded from the unit. Accordingly, we will clarify the certified unit by specifically including engineering division employees assigned to floating and area crews. ORDER It is hereby ordered that the certification heretofore issued in Case 1-RC-7215 be, and it hereby is, clarified by specifically including in the appropriate unit all employees in the engineering division assigned to floating crews and area crews. 6 The stipulated facts state that engineering division employees any one area, and that, after 1 year, an employee assigned to an are assigned by the Employer to one of the three area crews on a area crew may request assignment to "other unit positions rotating basis with an average period of assignment of 6 months in