Aladdin Hotel

362 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Prell Corporation d/b/a Aladdin Hotel' and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case 31-RC-1 144 October 27, 1969 DECISION AND ORDER BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS JENKINS AND ZAGORIA Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing was held on July 22, 1969, before Paul J. Driscoll, Hearing Officer of the National Labor Relations Board The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 501 intervened. Thereafter, the Employer and Petitioner filed briefs. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-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 purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein. 2. The Petitioner and Intervenor are labor organizations claiming to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation of certain employees of the Employer within the meaning of Sections 9(c)(1) and 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 4. Petitioner and Intervenor seek to represent a unit composed of slot machine mechanics, their apprentices and/or helpers. The Employer claims that this is not an appropriate unit because it does not include other unrepresented employees who are in the same department as the slot machine mechanics There are 349 electrically controlled slot machines in the Aladdin Hotel casino. The slot machine department is headed by Joseph Rubinsky. There are 27 employees in this department: 3 slot machine mechanics, 6 floormen, 4 booth cashiers, and 14 change girls. The booth cashiers and change girls are represented by the Culinary Workers Union. The slot machine mechanics and the floormen are not represented by any labor organization. The three slot machine mechanics work on 2 shifts, 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., and 5 p.m. until 1 a.m. There are two mechanics on the 9 to 5 shift, one of whom, the head mechanic, the Employer contends is a supervisor, there is one mechanic on the 5 to 1 The name of the Employer appears in the caption as amended at the hearing shift. The principal duties of the slot machine mechanics are to overhaul and repair slot machines Ninety-five percent of the problems with slot machines arise from the fact that, under heavy use, they have a tendency to jam. It is the duty of the floormen to unjam the machines on the casino floor. Whenever a more serious problem occurs, the machine is moved to a special workshop for repair. The slot machine mechanics spend 90 percent of their time in the shop repairing damaged machines and carrying out a program of preventive maintenance on each machine after a stated period of time. In overhauling the machines, the mechanics disassemble and repair the slot machines, using numerous hand tools, electric drills, grinding machines, and electrical testing equipment supplied by the slot machine manufacturers In performing this work, the slot machine mechanics wear tan smocks with "Slot Machine Mechanic" written on them. The slot machine mechanics also relieve the floormen when they go to lunch; the time spent doing this amounts to 2 to 3 hours a week. When the slot mechanics work as floormen, they take off their slot machine mechanic smocks. The Aladdin Hotel does not have an apprenticeship or training program for slot mechanics, and employs no apprentices or helpers. It is the Hotel's policy to hire only experienced mechanics. The head mechanic has had apprentice training at the Fremont Hotel, and all the Employer's mechanics have had 3 to 10 years' experience Although the slot machine mechanics receive higher pay than the other employees in the slot machine department, the slot mechanics and the floormen receive the same fringe benefits, punch the same clock, and use the same rest and eating facilities. The booth cashiers and change girls enjoy different benefits because of their union contract. The Petitioner cites Fremont Hotel, Inc , 168 NLRB No. 23, in support of its contention that slot machine mechanics constitute a craft unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Employer argues that the facts in the present case more closely fit the Board's decisions in Hotel Conquistador Inc., d/b/a Hotel Tropicana, 176 NLRB No. 44, and 105 Casino Corp., d/bla Nevada Club, 178 NLRB No. 15, in which the Board found the slot machine mechanics not to be craftsmen. We agree with the Employer. Thus, unlike the slot machine mechanics in this case, those in Fremont case were the only unrepresented group in the casino; there was a formal apprentice program for mechanics, who did not interchange with other employees; and the slot machine mechanics were the only employees who worked on the machines. As the Employer has no apprentice or training program and employs no apprentices, and as the slot machine mechanics share the work of maintenance of the slot machines, 179 NLRB No. 60 ALADDIN HOTEL 363 and common supervision, with the unrepresented ORDER floormen in the same department, we find that the Employer's slot machine mechanics, like those in It is hereby ordered that the petition be, and it the Holel Tropicana and Nevada Club cases, do not hereby is, dismissed constitute an appropriate unit on a craft, departmental, or any other basis. Accordingly, we in view of the dismissal of the petition , the Employer's request that the shall dismiss the petition herein.' record be reopened for additional testimony is denied