Consolidated Papers, Inc.

CONSOLIDATED PAPERS, INC. 165 Consolidated Papers, Inc. and Office & Professional Employees International Union , Local No. 95, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Consolidated Papers, Inc., Employer-Petitioner and Office & Professional Employees International Union, Local No. 95, AFL-CIO. Case 30-UC-47 and 30-UC-50 October 15, 1969 DECISION AND ORDER BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS BROWN AND ZAGORIA Upon petitions of Office & Professional Employees International Union, Local No 95, AFL-CIO, and Consolidated Papers, Inc , for clarification of unit duly filed under Section 9 of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing' was held on various dates in May and June 1969, before Cecil Sutphen, Hearing Officer. At the hearing, the Petitioner in Case 30-UC-47 (the Union) moved to amend its petition, and the Petitioner in Case 30-UC-50 (the Employer) moved to withdraw its petition in its entirety The Hearing Officer granted both motions. Following the hearing and pursuant to Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended, the Regional Director for Region 30 issued an Order transferring the cases to the National Labor Relations Board for decision. Thereafter, briefs were timely filed by the Union and the Employer, which have been duly considered. 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 reviewed the Hearing Officer's rulings made at the hearing and finds that they are free from prejudicial error. They 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 purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein. 2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. The Employer is a Wisconsin corporation engaged in the manufacture of paper and related products. The Employer has recognized the Union as the bargaining representative of its office and clerical employees on an employerwide basis since about 1945 Since then, the parties have executed 'international Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO, Local 655, was allowed to intervene at the hearing on the basis of its contract covering certain employees of the Employer Toward the end of the hearing the Intervenor moved to withdraw from the proceedings The motion is hereby granted successive I-year contracts, and, more recently, 2-year agreements The current agreement, effective from June I, 1968, to May 31, 1970, contains the unit description in the following recognition clause: The Company recognizes the Union as the exclusive collective-bargaining agent as to wages, hours, working conditions, and other conditions of employment for all eligible employees engaged in office and clerical work in the offices of Wisconsin Rapids Division, Kraft Division, Paperboard Products Division, Main Office, and Consoweld Corporation, all of which are located in the city of Wisconsin Rapids, Wood County, Wisconsin; Biron Division and Research and Development Division, which are located in the Village of Biron, Wood County, Wisconsin; and Wisconsin River Division, located in the Village of Whiting, Portage County, Wisconsin The term "eligible employees" shall be defined as "hourly-paid employees engaged in office and clerical work." It is agreed that managerial, supervisory, professional, technical, and confidential employees as defined in the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, as amended, are excluded The Union's amended unit clarification petition requests that three classifications occupied by nine individuals be added to the office and clerical unit described above. These are- secretary to the director of technical services (JoAnn Teske), whom the Employer would exclude as a confidential employee; the assistant facilities supervisor (Gerald Tosch), whom the Employer would exclude as a supervisory or managerial employee, and seven maintenance work planners, whom the Employer would exclude on technical, supervisory, and community of interest grounds. The record shows that the secretary to the director of technical services, Teske, provides secretarial services for the Employer's director of technical services, Richard Bingham.' In this capacity Teske takes dictation, transcribes from notes or tapes, and composes letters and memoranda, including documents which concern certain management studies in the area of operations research, or which contain calculations or graphs for such studies. She also answers the telephone, relays messages, opens, sorts and delivers mail, maintains files, which include "confidential performance appraisal files," keeps a calendar of appointments for Bingham, performs simple calculations on a desk calculator or adding machine, indexes technical papers and reports, and provides other miscellaneous secretarial services. Bingham, for whom Teske provides these services, reports to the vice-president of operations. The technical service department, which he directs, administers the Employer's quality control for the enamel paper At the time of the hearing, Teske had held this job for less than 3 months 179 NLRB No. 21 166 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD mills and the pulp mill; provides technical department coordination for the mills and for the research and development division, provides technical project coordination, specifically in the area of the computer process control groups; and oversees operations research, which includes investigations of ways to improve the productivity and efficiency of the manufacturing and product distribution processes.' In connection with the operations research, Bingham has conducted or supervised studies of quality control and possible technological innovations in the inspection system. These studies sometimes result in recommendations made by Bingham. The recommendations, if adopted, can potentially affect the size of the work force ° In addition, Bingham prepared salary data from computers for the information of a company committee and a union committee, for their joint use in evaluating possible pay scales during the most recent contract negotiations He testified that the purpose of this computer data was to "simplify and to speed up the job of both the company and the union." His department also recommended to the Industrial Relations Department "which way they should go" in regard to how certain pay scales should be established. Although Bingham did not have a secretary when he prepared this computer data on possible pay scales, he testified that, were the same job done today, Teske would type the report. The foregoing summary of Bingham's responsibilities and duties makes clear that he is not a person who "formulate[s], determine[s] and effectuate[s] management policies in the field of labor relations."5 At most, his duties entail the reporting of factual data and recommendations which may ultimately have an impact upon employment conditions but do not in themselves constitute labor relations policy., Under these circumstances, whatever assistance Teske gives Bingham does not render her a confidential employee excludable from the unit of other clerical employees, with whom she shares a community of interest. Accordingly, we shall clarify the unit to include this recently established classification. Jerry Tosch, whom the Employer would exclude on either supervisory or managerial grounds, is the assistant facilities supervisor in the Employer's research and development division. This division is headed by Clifton Winter, the facilities supervisor, who in turn is accountable to the division's Laboratory Manager. Tosch oversees the day-to-day work of the craft employees and unskilled laborers who are assigned to the division These craft 'Bingham described the operations research work as "planning type studies " 'Bingham testified that the work force in the inspection system was reduced as a direct consequence of the introduction of electric solderers there 'B F Goodrich. 115 NLRB 722 'Chrysler Corporation . 173 NLRB No 160, Weyerhaeuser Company, 173 NLRB No 177, Vulcanized Rubber and Plastics Co. 129 NLRB 1256, 1258-59 employees (two millwrights, two pipefitters, one electrician, one instrument repairman) engage in both equipment maintenance and "project" (experimental, research, or technical production) work Tosch's supervision of their work is often performed after consultation with the engineering section - for example, in deciding how a particular job is to be done. The laborers responsible to Tosch are borrowed from another division and perform janitorial work and grounds maintenance. Tosch is responsible for his division's safety program, and initiates appropriate corrective action when a safety problem exists. He is also responsible for the division's warehousing and handling function. He assists in some of the coordination between research and development, and other division shops. He is responsible for all shipping and receiving operations in his division. He is additionally responsible for the inventory of research hardware, and for deciding whether some of that equipment is needed any longer Although some of Tosch's supervisory duties with the craftsmen and laborers are of limited scope, he approves timecards, makes preliminary approval of vacation time, schedules the work, and requisitions material needed on special jobs performed by the various craftsmen Tosch is salaried, and shares an office with the facilities supervisor. In view of the foregoing evidence, and the record as a whole, we find that - regardless whether he possesses the requisite indicia of supervisory status - Tosch clearly speaks for management, conveys and implements its policies, and has substantial discretion and authority in connection with the performance of his duties. Accordingly, we find that his interests are more closely allied with management than with unit employees, and we shall deny the Petitioning Union's request for his inclusion.' Finally, the Union seeks to add to the unit seven maintenance work planners, whose inclusion the Employer opposes on grounds that they are technical employees, that they are supervisors, and that they lack sufficient community of interest with the other unit employees The Union contends that this classification is basically an office job similar to others now included in the unit. The seven planners petitioned for include five regular planners, who are salaried, and two relief planners, who normally function as skilled craftsmen, and who are hourly paid. The maintenance work planners' basic job is to plan maintenance jobs for the Wisconsin Rapids Division. This involves deciding if the job - as described in the request - can be done under "normal" conditions, i.e., as to time, equipment, materials, and manpower. To assess this, the planner discusses the job request with its originator, and inspects the jobsite to learn the scope of the work needed. This phase of the work, on the jobsite, takes 20 to 40 percent of the planner's time. He 'Vulcanized Rubber and Plastics Company, Inc, supra at p 1261 CONSOLIDATED PAPERS, INC. 167 then analyzes the information gathered and develops a "sequence" for the work, which is the actual planning part of the job. This is done in a room occupied by all the planners, near the main shop, in the Wisconsin Rapids main office. The planning of a sequence requires judgments concerning safety, feasibility, cost, and other factors; involves synthesizing the data from the investigation, and must conform to standards published in manuals used in the office. The resulting sequence reflects a schedule for the various phrases of a given job and, accordingly, the crafts which perform them. This planning function, including the actual writing up of the sequence, occupies roughly 35-45 percent of the planner's time and, as noted, is done in the office. When the sequence, or plan, is finished, the planner gives it to a typist for typing and eventual transmittal to the chief planner. The planner then orders whatever materials are needed. The balance of the planner's time is occupied in on-site, follow-up inspections of jobs he planned and which are in progress. The employees presently classified as planners came to this position directly from the craft unions, and the chief planner characterizes them as having been "the best" of the craftsmen. One has substituted for the chief planner in his absence. They have all functioned in the recent past as assistant foremen, on a temporary basis, in the craft unions. They also perform miscellaneous "troubleshooting" functions in the plant, lending technical assistance when needed. Planners work closely and often with the craft foremen, departmental superintendents, and engineers. On the basis of the foregoing, and the record as a whole, we find that the maintenance work planners lack sufficient community of interest with the existing unit of office and clerical employees to warrant their inclusion in the unit;8 ORDER It is hereby ordered that the collective-bargaining unit of office and clerical employees of Consolidated Papers, Inc., Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, represented by Office and Professional Employees International Union, Local No. 95, AFL-CIO, be, and it hereby is, clarified by including therein the secretary to the director of technical services, and by excluding the assistant facilities supervisor and the maintenance work planners. 'Weyerhaeuser Company, 173 NLRB No 177