Lianco Container Corp.

LIANCO CONTAINER CORP. Lianco Container Corporation and District No. 9, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO, Petitioner and Teamsters, Local Union No. 688, affiliated with International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Petitioner and Lithographers and Photoengravers International Union, AFL-CIO, Local 252,' Petitioner and Local 1 , International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, Petitioner and United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Cases 14-RC-6091, 14-RC-6093, 14-RC-6117, and 14-RC-6145 July 9, 1969 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS BROWN AND ZAGORIA Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9(c) of the national Labor Relations Act, as amended, a leafing was held in these consolidated cases before -learing Officer Neil E. McDarby. Thereafter, briefs vere filed by the Employer and by each Petitioner :xcept the Petitioner in Case 14-RC-6091. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the 4ational Labor Relations Act, as amended, the national Labor Relations Board has delegated its )owers in connection with this case to a .hree-member panel. The Hearing Officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds: 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act and it will effectuate the purpose of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein. 2. The Petitioners are labor organizations claiming to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Sections 9(c)(1) and 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Employer is engaged exclusively in the production of four types of Budweiser Beer cans at its new plant in Bridgeton, Missouri. The plant is designed as an integrated, partially automated facility wherein metal plate in coil form comes in, is cut into plates, coated with shellac or paint, 'Name appears as amended at hearing. 907 lithographed , formed and assembled into cans, and shipped out. Production in the plant began in October 1967, but coating and lithographing were contracted out. Later coating operations were begun and still later lithographic operations were added. All the employees have similar working conditions and fringe benefits. There is no relevant history of collective bargaining.' Lithographers and Photoengravers International Union, AFL-CIO, Local 252, seeks a unit including all employees in the litho -coater department. District No. 9, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO, seeks a unit including all tool-and-die makers and machinists . Local 1, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, seeks a unit including all electricians . Teamsters, Local Union No. 688, affiliated with International Brotherhood of Teamsters , Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America , and United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO, seeks a unit including all production and maintenance employees. The Employer and the Steelworkers opposed the foregoing separate unit requests and take the position that the only appropriate unit is one consisting of all production and maintenance employees. For the reasons set out below we find that the departmental unit and both craft units may be appropriate units, if the employees desire to be represented separately. A. The Litho-Coater Department Although the litho-coater and coil departments are under the same supervision, they are located in opposite corners of the plant. The litho-coater department has a coating line, which is a one color process, and a lithographic line, which is a standard wet offset metal decorating type with continuous flow. The lithographic line is also used at times for coating. On each of three shifts the lithographic line is manned by a litho-pressman, a press feeder, and a stacker tender, and the coater line is manned by a coater operator, a coater maintainer, and a stacker tender. The stacker tender is the least skilled position in the department. The litho-pressman is the highest paid employee classification in the plant. Although nearly half the present employees in the department transferred from other departments, all but one transferred in as a stacker tender, the lowest position. There have been occasional temporary substitutions of a stacker tender due to absenteeism. We note that this department was the last in the 'The Board found in Lianco Container Corp, 173 NLRB No. 219, that a collective-bargaining contract entered into by the Employer and the United Steelworkers of America was in violation of the Act, because a representative complement of employees did not exist at the time of execution. 177 NLRB No. 116 908 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD plant to begin operations, the function thereof having previously been contracted out, and that the Employer has a plantwide bidding system for openings in this and other departments. The record establishes that the employees in the department utilize standard lithographic equipment, perform usual lithographic duties, and exercise the customary skills utilized in the traditional lithographic process. The Board has held that employees engaged in the lithographic process form a distinct and cohesive unit appropriate for collective-bargaining purposes. Furthermore, neither the permanent transfers nor the occasional interchanges, affecting only the least skilled position in the department , are sufficient to render inappropriate or to defeat the separate identity of employees within the departmental unit sought. In Sherwin- Williams Co., 173 NLRB No. 54, the Board found that a similar department doing similar work on similar equipment in a similar plant was an appropriate departmental unit .' Accordingly, we find that a separate unit of the litho-coater department employees may be appropriate if these employees desire to be represented separately. B. The Diemakers and Machinists The machine shop is separated from the rest of the plant and serves principally as work station for tool-and-die makers and machinists. Although maintenance mechanics and others use the shop on occasion, they use the drill, saw or bench grinder and not the more sophisticated equipment. The diemakers and machinists are the only employees who work on precision parts. They are not directly engaged in production. Although the Employer does not require that machine shop employees have journeyman status, it seeks persons with prior training and experience in the field. The record establishes that at least one of the shop employees is a journeyman and that the others perform comparable work. The die work at the plant involves repairing and rebuilding dies, which are purchased outside. Machinists are engaged primarily in repair work. The work of the diemakers and machinists involves very close tolerances, the reading of blue prints, and the use of gauges and indicators. They use independent judgment in the performances of their work; there is no interchange affecting the classification sought; and the machine shop personnel are subject to separate, immediate supervision. The shop employees form a distinct group and exercise special skills associated with their craft. The record establishes that the Petitioner is a labor organization qualified to represent such a group. Accordingly, and as there is no history of bargaining on a broader basis, we find that a separate craft unit 'We find that Continental Can Co, 171 NLRB No. 99, is distinguishable from the instant case for the reasons stated in Sherwin- Williams Co, 173 NLRB No. 54. of the tool-and-die makers and machinists may be appropriate if these employees desire to be represented separately. C. The Electricians The three electricians employed in the plant at the time of the hearing were classified as maintenance electronic electricians. One was assigned to each of three shifts, which overlap to permit the interchange of information about what has been and needs to be done. The electricians have a shop area which is to be enclosed and in which they store their tools and perform some work. The electricians spend about 80 percent of their time outside the shop area and at times work with other employees. However, the actual electrical work is performed solely by the electricians and they perform only electrical work. No other employees exercise electrical skills or do electrical work, although such work has on occasion been performed by outsiders. Lianco has no apprenticeship or training program and does not require that an electrician have formal journeyman status, but it seeks men with electrical experience. Local law requires that the Employer have someone responsible for all electrical work in the plant and that he be licensed. At the Employer's request Roger Eckelkamp, a journeyman electrician, obtained the license, which means he passed a written and oral examination. The other electricians, although not license holders, perform comparable electrical work. The record establishes that the electricians are required to exercise the usual and recognized skills of the craft. All must read electrical blue prints and use various electrical gauges and instruments. They have worked on hot lines with voltages as high as 480. They have fabricated, assembled and wired fixtures, and performed various types of conduit work. They have repaired control panel circuits and electric motors and have done other electrical maintenance work. The electrical work is varied and requires independent judgment and a wide range of skills. The electricians possess and exercise the skills of craft electricians and enjoy a separate community of interest as such. The Petitioner is a labor organization qualified to represent such a craft group. Accordingly, in the absence of a bargaining history on a broader basis, we find that a separate craft unit of the electricians may be appropriate if these employees desire to be represented separately. 5. There remains for determination the unit placement of the tool crib attendants and the warehouse shipping clerk. The Teamsters takes the position that they should be included in the production and maintenance unit; the Employer takes the position that they should be excluded because they are supervisors or allied with management. LIANCO CONTAINER CORP. 909 The toolcrib attendants are salaried employees who work in the production area away from the plant office. Their duties include purchasing, receiving, examining, cleaning, storing, and controlling the issuance of machine parts and tools. In purchasing they deal directly with local suppliers and commit the plant's credit; although the record is not wholly clear, it appears that they exercise only limited discretion in connection therewith. With respect to these duties they report to the master mechanic. Tool crib attendants also maintain a stock inventory and with respect to this activity report to the comptroller. The record contains no evidence indicating that they exercise or possess supervisory authority. It appears from the record that the tool crib attendants have frequent contact with production and maintenance employees, that their work is related to production and maintenance, and that their day-to-day supervision is by maintenance supervisors. In view of these facts, we find that they are plant clericals with a community of interest with the production and maintenance employees. Accordingly, we shall include the tool crib attendants in the unit of production and maintenance employees. The warehouse shipping clerk, a salaried employee, works in the warehouse supervisor's office near the shipping dock. Among other duties, the shipping clerk directs the warehouse employees during the absence of the warehouse foreman and the supervisor. The foreman and the supervisor are regularly absent at lunch time and sporadically at other times. During these absences, the shipping clerk's authority is limited to routine direction such as determining what items should be handled first. He does not exercise all the duties and responsibilities of the regular foreman or supervisor. In view of the fact that his direction of other employees is routine, we find that he is not a supervisor within the meaning of the Act. The shipping clerk' s regular duties include completing reports on incoming and outgoing materials, verifying the correctness of bills and shipments, making arrangements with local carriers and forklift drivers, and other such activity. The shipping clerk works in the warehouse area, has frequent contact with the warehouse employees, and reports to the warehouse supervisor. Under these circumstances, we find that he is a plant clerical and shall include him in the unit of production and maintenance employees. 6. Having found that the litho-coater employees, the tool-and-die makers and machinists, and the electricians may, if they so desire, constitute separate appropriate units, we shall not make any final unit determinations at this time, but shall first ascertain the desires of the employees, by directing elections in the following voting groups: (a) All lithographic and coating production employees of the Employer at its Bridgeton plant, including all litho-pressmen, coater operators, coater maintainers, feeders, and stacker tenders, but excluding all other employees, office and clerical employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. (b) All tool-and-die makers and maintenance machinists and their trainees and apprentices employed by the Employer at its Bridgeton plant, excluding all other employees, office and clerical employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. (c) All employees engaged in electrical installation and maintenance at the Employer' s plant, including all maintenance electronic electricians , maintenance electricians and their trainees or apprentices, but excluding all other employees, office and clerical employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. (d) All production and maintenance employees of the Employer at its Bridgeton plant, including all plant clericals, but excluding all employees voting in group (a), group (b), or group (c) and office employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. If the majority of employees voting in group (a), group (b), or group (c) select the union seeking to represent them separately, those employees will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bargaining unit and the Regional Director conducting the election is instructed to issue a certification of representative to the labor organization seeking and selected by the employees in each group for such unit, which the Board finds appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining . However, if a majority of the employees voting in group (a), group (b), or group (c) do not vote for the union which is seeking to represent them in a separate unit, that group will appropriately be included in the production and maintenance unit and their votes shall be pooled with those in voting group (d).° If a majority in voting group (d), including any pooled group, vote for either the Teamsters or the Steelworkers that labor organization shall be certified as the representative of employees in that group, which under the circumstances the Board finds to be an appropriate unit for purposes of collective bargaining. [Direction of Elections omitted from publication.] 'If the votes are pooled, they are to be tallied in the following manner The votes for the labor organization seeking a separate unit in group (a), group (b), or group (c), 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 'In order to assure that all eligible voters may have the opportunity to be informed of the issues in the exercise of their statutory right to vote, all parties to the election should have access to fists of voters and their addresses which may be used to communicate with them Excelsior Underwear Inc, 156 NLRB 1236; N L R.B V. Wyman-Gordon Company, 394 U S 759. Accordingly, it is hereby directed that election eligibility lists, containing the names and addresses of all the eligible voters, must be filed by the Employer with the Regional Director for Region 14 within 7 days of the date of this Decision and Direction of 910 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Elections The Regional Director shall make these lists available to all Failure to comply with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside parties to the elections No extension of time to file these lists shall be the elections whenever proper objections are filed granted by the Regional Director except in extraordinary circumstances