Parke Davis & Co.

PARKE DAVIS & CO. Parke Davis & Company and Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union , AFL-CIO, Petitioner, and Local 547 , International Union of Operating Engineers, AFL-CIO, Intervenor.' Case 7-RC-8860 October 24, 1968 DECISION ON REVIEW By CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS FANNING, JENKINS, AND ZAGORIA On May 31, 1968, the Acting Regional Director for Region 7 issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-entitled proceeding in which he found appropriate a unit of service employees, powerhouse employees, and laboratory technicians, employed at the Employer's Ann Arbor, Michigan, plant. The Acting Regional Director rejected the Intervenor's contention that a separate unit of powerhouse em- ployees was also appropriate. Thereafter, in accordance with Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regu- lations, Series 8, as amended, the Intervenor filed a timely request for review, contending that the Acting Regional Director erred in failing to find appropriate a separate unit of all powerhouse employees. The Employer filed a statement in opposition. By tele- graphic order dated July 15, 1968, the National Labor Relations Board granted the request for review and stayed the election.' Thereafter, the Employer filed a brief on review. The Board has considered the entire record in this case with respect to the Acting Regional Director's determination under review, and hereby fords as follows. The Petitioner seeks a unit of all service and maintenance employees (including power plant engi- neers and maintenance mechanics), and all laboratory technicians. In the alternative, the Petitioner will accept a unit excluding powerhouse employees.' The Intervenor, over the objection of the Employer, seeks a separate unit consisting of the powerhouse em- ployees. The Acting Regional Director, in essential agree- ment with the Employer, found a separate unit of t The Acting Regional Director properly treated the Intervenor as a cross-petitioner , on the basis of a sufficient showing of interest in the powerhouse unit it requested. 2 As no request for review has been filed with respect thereto, other unit findings made by the Acting Regional Director are hereby adopted. 3 The Petitioner does not wish to appear on the ballot for a separate powerhouse unit, if found appropriate. 4 Of the nine powerhouse employees, five are classified as power 173 NLRB No. 53 313 powerhouse employees to be inappropriate on the ground that the powerhouse employees are opera- tionally highly integrated with the other service- maintenance employees and work in close conjunction with them, are under the same overall supervision, and operate under basically identical employment conditions. Intervenor argues on review that the powerhouse employees it seeks constitute a separate and homogeneous functional grouping of the type to which the Board normally accords separate representation. We find merit in this contention. At its Ann Arbor, Michigan, installation, the only location involved herein, the Employer is engaged in scientific and medical research. Most of the em- ployees perform some type of work in the chemistry and experimental therapeutics laboratory and the pathology and toxicology laboratory. The unit sought by Petitioner includes power plant engineers, their assistants, and the power plant maintenance mechanic 4 The powerhouse is located in a building separate from the laboratories. There is no history of collective bargaining at this plant. The record shows that the five power plant engineers have first-class high pressure steam licenses which were acquired after 6 or 7 years of training and qualification. Serving on different shifts, these five power plant engineers operate the powerhouse 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The power plant engineer on duty is in charge of the shift and spends his entire time in the powerhouse. He is responsible for the operation and the maintenance of the three steam boilers, the turbine, several refrigeration units, and auxiliary water pumps, which are all located in the powerhouse. His duties include observing gauges and controls to determine the operating efficiency of the equipment, keeping log sheets of temperatures and fuel consumption, and analyzing boiler water and preparing solutions to meet required standards. Of the three assistant power plant engineers, one has a first-class license; one has a third-class license; and one has a boiler operator's license. They assist the power plant engineers, when so required. They also make regular visits to the other four buildings, checking and performing maintenance on the heating and ventilating equipment, cleaning and changing filters, exchanging motors, replacing bearings and bolts, changing and repairing valves, overhauling plant engineers, three are referred to as "assistants"; and one is classified as a maintenance mechanic . While the Intervenor originally requested a nine-man unit , encompassing all employees assigned to the powerhouse, its request for review claims only eight powerhouse employees and makes no reference to the maintenance mechanic. Because of the nature of his duties, which will be discussed more fully hereinafter , we include the maintenance mechanic in the powerhouse unit. 314 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD pumps and air compressors, cleaning refrigeration condensors and evaporators, and performing scheduled lubrication of fans, motors, and pumps.' The maintenance mechanic, who is assigned to the powerhouse and who works exclusively under the powerhouse supervisor, is primarily utilized as the maintenance man for the power plant; he likewise fills in for the power plant engineers.' The amount of time spent outside the power plant by assistant engineers and the power plant maintenance mechanic vanes. One spends a great deal of his time in the laboratory. Another spends practically all of his time in the power plant. The plant engineer estimated that, on the average, the work time of the assistant engineers and the maintenance mechanic was about evenly divided between work inside the powerhouse and work in the laboratories. The powerhouse engineer is the highest hourly paid employee in the plant Powerhouse employees have a separate seniority system for promotion and shift preferences, have separate immediate supervision and rare contact, if any, with other supervisory person- nel.' They work different shifts and also receive shift differential premiums-the afternoon shift receives a 5-cent hourly bonus, the midnight and the swing shifts 71/2 cents. Power plant employees likewise receive a different schedule of overtime pay for Saturday and Sunday work. The company policy is to promote assistant engineers, whenever possible, to the status of engineers and two of the incumbent engi- neers were so promoted. The plant engineer estimated that, unlike other maintenance mechanics who work in the shop and take care of the entire facility, the assistant plant engineers and the powerhouse mainte- nance mechanic perform essentially preventive maintenance work outside of the power plant. No employees other than the powerhouse employees operate turbines or heavy machinery.' 5 The assistant power plant engineers do preventive maintenance work and some repair work . Much of the repair work which they perform occurs during the late shift when the general maintenance personnel are not working. However, when repairs are made during the regular shift , maintenance employees not assigned to the powerhouse frequently assist. When highly intricate mechanical problems develop, a mechanical specialist employed by the Employer or an outside contractor is called in to make the repair. 6 Because all of his experience has been in the British merchant marine and the Canadian navy , he has not been accepted for a Detroit first class license, but in the opinion of the Employer he is a highly competent employee and does the same work as the operating engineer in some cases. 7 General maintenance employees have different immediate super- vision 8 Two employees classified as security service workers do some work in the powerhouse between their regular security tours, if there is any free time . The powerhouse supervisor normally assigns them some minor jobs to fill in their time on these occasions However they never perform any work in connection with the operation of machinery These security employees were excluded by the Acting Regional In view of the foregoing, and the entire record, we disagree with the Acting Regional Director's conclu- sion that the powerhouse employees may not consti- tute a separate appropriate unit. Their work is functionally distinct and their supervision is separate from that of other employees. They are licensed in their skills and have a separate line of seniority and job progression. They share separate locker facilities and work shifts, and receive a different pay scale. The power plant engineers work exclusively in a separate powerhouse building. The maintenance functions which the assistant power plant engineers and the powerhouse maintenance mechanic perform outside the power plant is essentially preventive maintenance or repair work related to the powerhouse equipment located either in the power plant or throughout the laboratories which it serves. In these circumstances and since there is no history of collective bargaining in a broader unit, we find contrary to the Acting Regional Director that powerhouse employees may, if they so desire, constitute a separate appropriate unit for collective bargaining.' In view of our determination that the powerhouse employees may constitute a separate unit if they so desire, and as the broader unit including the power- house employees is also appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining, we shall make no final unit determination at this time, but shall direct separate elections among the following employees of the Employer:' 0 Voting Group (A) All full-time and regular part-time general service employees, including re- ceiving dock employees, glass washing employees, animal care employees, special service employees, and storekeepers; all service maintenance em- ployees including general maintenance mechanics, and all laboratory technicians, including senior Director for the reason that they are guards as defined by the Act. 9 Georgia-Pacific Corporation, 156 NLRB 946 , 948, Mesta Machine Company, 167 NLRB No. 10, International Paper Company, 171 NLRB No. 89 10 Employees in Voting Group (A) shall vote whether they desire to be represented for collective bargaining by Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union , AFL-CIO, or by no union . Employees in Voting Group (B) shall vote whether they desire to be represented by Local 547, International Union of Operating Engineers , AFL-CIO, or by Oil , Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union, AFL-CIO; or by no union . We are not unmindful that Petitioner stated on the record that it did not wish to appear on the ballot for a separate powerhouse unit , if such unit were found to be appropriate . But, since we are not now finally determining the appropriateness of such a unit (the final determination will be made on the basis of the vote of the employees in Voting Group ( B)), and since the powerhouse employees, among others , were sought by Petitioner and have the right to vote and be represented by it in the comprehensive unit, we are placing both Petitioner and Intervenor on the ballot in Voting Group (A). See General Electric Company, 122 NLRB 165. PARKE DAVIS & CO. laboratory technicians, employed at the Em- ployer's Ann Arbor, Michigan plant, but excluding power plant engineers, assistant power plant engi- neers, and the power plant maintenance mechanic, office clerical employees, security employees, and all guards, professional employees and supervisors as defined in the Act; and Voting Group (B) All employees in the power- house, including power plant engineers, assistant power plant engineers, and the powerhouse mainte- nance mechanic at the Employer's Ann Arbor, Michigan plant, but excluding all other employees, supervisors and professional employees as defined in the Act. If a majority of the employees in Voting Group B select the Intervenor, Local 547, International Union of Operating Engineers, AFL-CIO, they will be deemed to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bargaining unit, and the Regional Director conducting the election is hereby instructed to issue a Certificate of Representative to Local 547 for such unit which the Board under the circumstances finds to be appropriate for the purposes of collective bar- gaining. If, in those circumstances, a majority of the employees in Voting Group A elect to be represented I I Pooled votes shall be tallied as follows Votes for Local 547 shall be counted as valid votes , but neither for nor against Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union , AFL-CIO. All other votes are to be accorded their face value , whether for representation by Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, or for no union 12 An amended eligibility list, containing the names and addresses of all the eligible voters in Voting Group A, and an amended eligibility list 315 by the Oll, Chemical and Atomic Workers Inter- national Union, AFL-CIO, then the Regional Di- rector is instructed to issue a Certification of Repre- sentative for such unit which under the circumstances the Board finds to be an appropriate unit for purposes of collective bargaining. However, if a majority of the employees in Voting, Group B do not vote for Local 547, such group shall be included in the unit with the employees in Voting Group A and their votes will be pooled with those of Voting Group A.I I The Regional Director conducting the elections is instructed to issue a Certificate of Representative to the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, if selected by a majority of the employees in the pooled group, which the Board in such circumstances finds to be appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. Accordingly, the case is hereby remanded to the Regional Director for Region 7 for the purpose of holding elections in the aforesaid two voting groups pursuant to the Decision and Direction of Election, as modified by this Decision, except that the payroll period for determining eligibility shall be that im- mediately preceding the date below.I 2 containing the names and addresses of all the el igible employees in Voting Group B, must be filed with the Regional Director for Region 7 within 7 days after the date of this Decision on Review . The Regional Director shall make the lists available to all parties to the elections No extension of time to file each list shall be granted by the Regional Director except in extraordinary circumstances. Failure to comply with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside the election whenever proper objections are filed. Excelsior Underwear Inc , 156 NLRB 1236