Florida Steel Corp.

546 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Florida Steel Corporation and United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case 12-RC-4844 January 23, 1976 DECISION ON REVIEW By CHAIRMAN MURPHY AND MEMBERS FANNING AND PENELLO On July 11, 1975, the Regional Director for Region 12 issued his Decision and Direction of Election in the above-entitled proceeding, relevant portions of which are attached. The Regional Director found Petitioner's requested three-plant unit inappropriate, as it failed to include similar employees at the Employer's two other plants in Tampa. The Regional Director further found the community of interest shared by employees at all five Tampa divisions "so close in the unique circumstances present herein as to overcome any presumption favoring appropriate- ness of any single plant unit located at the Orient Road complex." The Regional Director accordingly found that a unit of all production and maintenance employees, including truckdrivers, employed at Employer's five Tampa divisions, is alone appropri- ate. Thereafter, in accordance with Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board's Rules and Re- gulations, Series 8, as amended, the Petitioner filed a timely request for review on the question of the ap- propriate unit. By telegraphic order dated August 8, 1975, the Board granted the request for review and stayed the election pending Decision on Review. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na- tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au- thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. The Board has considered the entire record in this case with respect to the issue under review and con- cludes that the record in this case does not support the Regional Director's finding that a unit of all pro- duction and maintenance employees at the Employer's five Tampa divisions is alone appropri- ate. A single plant unit is presumptively appropriate. Here, at the Employer's Orient Road complex,' this 1 Petitioner requested a unit of all production and maintenance employ- ees at the Employer 's Orient Road complex in Tampa, which consists of the Steel Mill, the Fabrication or Rebar shop , and the Transportation division These three facilities are located on a fenced contiguous property whereas the Employer's Culvert and Structural divisions are separately located some 4 miles distant At the hearing the Employer contended that the Orient Road complex was appropriate only on the basis of three separate units The Petitioner was agreeable to that approach The five-facility unit found appropriate by the Regional Director apparently represents his interpreta- tion of Employer's posthearing brief to the effect that any multiplant unit in Tampa, "if appropriate," should include all five divisions Although Em- Board since 1960 has issued five certifications on a single facility basis in three separate units; two each for production and maintenance employees at the Steel Mill and the Rebar shop, and one for a unit of all drivers. No bargaining contracts resulted. Thus, the history of collective-bargaining attempts in the Tampa area, as correctly related by the Regional Di- rector, has heretofore been consistently on the basis of separate units. While it may be that a multiplant unit could be appropriate, nothing in this record compels the conclusion that the five-plant unit is alone appropriate or that those separate units ac- quiesced in by the Employer can no longer be appro- priate. The record here discloses that the different divi- sions in Tampa utilize a number of different job clas- sifications and that pay rates for the same job classi- fications vary between plants. Each of the five is separately supervised and, despite central personnel office recruiting and screening, the various divisions do their own actual hiring. Actual interchange among employees is extremely limited, and the rec- ord establishes that as a matter of corporate policy there are no transfers of employees between divisions in Tampa. Each has its own safety meetings even though Tampa has but one safety supervisor. Hours and schedules vary between divisions. Employees necessarily punch different timeclocks, and generally use separate parking lots, even within the Orient Road complex. Employees' social and sports events at the various divisions exclude employees of other divisions. In short, not only have the different divi- sions at Tampa been treated separately by the parties with respect to collective bargaining, but the comple- ment at each plant or facility has its own recognized community of interest. The Employer has explicitly conceded the appropriateness of each division as a separate unit, as witness its brief to the Regional Di- rector refiled in support of its opposition to the Re- quest for Review.' ployer in its more recent brief now indicates support of the Regional Director's Decision as based on ample Board precedent, it has assisted 'in making a record that strongly supports the presumptive appropriateness of single plant units f For example , the Employer there states that the three divisions at Orient Road "are not so integrated as to lose their identity as three separate ap- propriate bargaining units " "Each of the three divisions have (sic] a distinct and different functional operation The relationship between the Mill and Rebar Shop is essentially one of supplier to manufacturer The only advan- tage of having the Rebar Shop next to the Mill, is in the savings in transpor- tation costs As far as the individual mill employees are concerned, their working relationship with the Rebar employees is the same as with an employee working in the Orlando Rebar Shop The relationship between the Traffic Division and the mill or Rebar operations is essentially one of a commercial carrier to its customers In fact, the various differences between the three divisions far surpass any common interest the employees may have Because the divisions are organized along functional lines, this means that any community of interest among the employees is virtually non-exis- tent There is very little similarity between the job classification between the divisions " and "the record clearly establishes that the duties and skills 222 NLRB No. 85 FLORIDA STEEL CORPORATION 547 The Regional Director discounted, as only one factor to be considered, the Employer's and Petitioner's agreement at the hearing to three sepa- rate units at Orient Road. He found significant the fact that prior certifications have not resulted in col- lective-bargaining agreements We do not view this as relevant to his finding that all five divisions must be combined in one unit. He concluded that the sole appropriate unit was Tampa-wide, one that neither party then sought nor urged We believe this is total- ly inconsistent with the "different supervision, differ- ent jobs, different wages, no transfers, little inter- change of employees" concededly characteristic of the three divisions at Orient Road, and apparently of all five Tampa divisions. Thus we find, contrary to the Regional Director, that the record herein does not present facts suffi- cient to overcome the appropriateness of single divi- sion units of this Employer at Tampa. Rather, we find that this record sustains their separate appropri- ateness. We shall direct that elections be held in the three divisions covered by the petition herein, but in three separate units, consistent with the positions of the parties at the hearing, at which time Petitioner took the alternative position of agreeing to proceed on that basis.' We find that the following employees of the Em- ployer constitute units appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Sec- tion 9(b) of the Act: 1. All production and maintenance employ- ees at the Tampa Steel Mill, excluding office clerical employees, professional employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. 2. All production and maintenance employ- ees at the Tampa Rebar shop, excluding office clerical employees, professional employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. 3. All truck drivers and mechanics of the Tampa Traffic division, excluding office clerical employees, professional employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. Accordingly, we shall remand the case to the Re- gional Director for Region 12 for the purpose of con- are so different so as to deny a finding of community of interest - "the employees of the various divisions do not come in contact with each other The Union in the past always petitioned for separate units for each division just like what the company is now contending should be done The compa- ny has been consistent in its position that each of these divisions are sepa- rate units " J While Petitioner 's brief on review is not entirely unambiguous we do not view it as now disclaiming interest in seeking to represent these employ- ees on the basis of three separate units However , if it does not wish to do so it has the option of withdrawing the petition without prejudice within 10 days of the date of this Decision ducting elections in the above-found units, pursuant to the Regional Director's applicable unit inclusion and exclusion findings, except that the period for de- termining eligibility shall be the payroll period end- ing immediately preceding the date of this Decision on Review. [Excelsior footnote omitted from publica- tion.] APPENDIX Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before a hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connec- tion with this case to the undersigned Regional Di- rector. Upon the entire record in this case, the Regional Director finds: 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act and it will effectuate the pur- poses of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein., 2 The labor organization involved claims to rep- resent certain employees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concern- ing the representation of certain employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(l) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act 4. The following employees of the Employer con- stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collec- tive bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act:' 1 Florida Steel Corporation is a Florida Corporation engaged in the man- ufacture and fabrication of steel products at various locations in the State of Florida Employer has received at its Tampa Florida locations goods sup- plies and materials valued in excess of $50,000 which were shipped directly from points located outside the State of Florida I find employer is an employer engaged in commerce Sienion'r Mailing Service. 122 NLRB 81 (1958) 2 Petitioner seeks a multiplant unit of production and maintenance em- ployees including truck drivers working in a complex of Employer's facili- ties located at Orient Road, Tampa. Florida Employer contends Petitioner's requested unit is inappropriate as it fails to include similar em- ployees at Employer's two other plants in Tampa It asserts that Section 9(c)(5) of the Act prohibits Petitioner thus carving out from what may otherwise be an appropriate multiplant unit only those plants where Peti- tioner has made an organizational attempt Employer contends three sepa- rate units at the Orient Road complex are appropriate At the end of the hearing Petitioner indicated a willingness to pioceed to elections in three separate units if directed by the Board However, in its brief, Petitioner asserts the Board has long recognized in unit determinations that a steel company involves a highly integrated operation , and that it is common in the steel industry that employees employed at one location he included in one unit Petitioner takes no position on appropriateness of a more inclusive multiplant unit All production and maintenance employees including truckdnvers em- ployed at Employer's Orient Road complex (Steel Mill, "Rehar Shop' and 548 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Traffic) and in Employer's Tampa Structural Division and Culvert Division in Tampa. Florida, excluding all office clerical employees, professional em- ployees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act Employer conducts various steel production and fabrication operations throughout the State of Florida and elsewhere in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina Employer is operationally and administratively struc- tured by function in four corporate units Steel Mills, Reinforcing Steel Florida Region, Reinforcing Steel South Atlantic Region and Structural Steel Each Corporate unit is composed of several divisions (plants) and each unit is under direction of a separate vice president who reports through an executive vice president to the president of the Company Individual division managers within a unit are in charge of their own plant and report to their respective unit vice president Employer has three steel mills currently in operation, viz, at Tampa and Indiantown, Florida, and at Charlotte, North Carolina (A fourth steel mill is under construction at Jacksonville, Florida) Employer's Reinforcing Steel Florida Region is composed of five reinforcing steel fabricating plants, viz, at Tampa, Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, and Orlando, Florida Within the same corporate unit is Employer's Culvert Division and Transportation (herein Traffic) Division, both located in Tampa, Florida Employer's Reinforcing Steel South Atlantic Region unit is composed of four "Rebar Shops", viz, at Atlanta, Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina, and Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina Employer's Structural Steel corpo- rate unit is composed of Structural Steel divisions at Tampa, Miami and Jacksonville , Florida. (There is also a Structural Steel facility in Orlando which although reporting ultimately to the Tampa Structural Steel manager also has its own local supervision ) Located at Employer's Orient Road complex in Tampa. Florida and sought by Petitioner to be included in one overall unit are production and maintenance employees numbering approximately as follows (I) at the steel mill , 310, and (2) at the "Rebar Shop." 60, as well as (3) in Traffic, drivers and mechanics, 100 Also, located in Tampa approximately four miles away from the Orient Road complex are production and maintenance employees both at (4) the Culvert plant, 18 and (5) at Employer's Structural Steel shop and warehouse facilities, 50 plus The Parties stipulated that in 1960, and again in 1963, elections were conducted in separate production and maintenance units of the Tampa Steel Mill, and of the Tampa "Rebar Shop". and that Petitioner herein obtained certifications No collective-bar- gaining contract resulted although work stoppages occurred In 1969 anoth- er union obtained certification following a Stipulation for Consent Election held in a unit of all truckdrivers employed in Employer's Traffic Division at Orient Road, excluding mechanics No contract resulted The foregoing his- tory of collective bargaining is not all inclusive, but rather illustrative of the fact that a number of elections in separate units of involved Tampa plants have heretofore been held, some of which have resulted in certifications, but that no collective-bargaining agreement has resulted More recently, on January 16, 1974, pursuant to Decision and Direction of Election in Case I i-RC-3725, Petitioner obtained certification of repre- sentative in a combined production and maintenance unit including truck- drivers, employed by Employer in its steel mill and "Rebar Shop" at Char- lotte, North Carolina (The Charlotte steel mill basically supplies the "Rebar Shop" in Charlotte and also the other "Rebar Shops" in Employer's South Atlantic Region Drivers, regularly assigned to the Charlotte Rebar Shop, report to that divisional manager) The parties also stipulated in Case 12-RC-4461 to appropriateness of a unit of production and maintenance employees employed at Employer's steel mill at Indiantown, including truckdrrvers (Indiantown drivers are regularly assigned to that steel mill and primarily service "Rebar Shops" located in Southeast Florida As noted previously there is no Rebar Shop at Indiantown ) The Board has certified Petitioner as representative of that unit on June 13, 1975 In Case 12-RC-4845, the parties herein were in basic agreement on appropriateness of a production and maintenance unit of employees employed at Employer's Structural Steel plant at Jacksonville, Florida, including truck- drivers regularly assigned thereto Included also are three mechanics who perform some maintenance work on vehicles at that location (There is a Rebar Shop in Jacksonville apparently unrepresented.) Following Decision and Direction of Election in Case 12-RC-4845, an election has been con- ducted on June 27, 1975 However, ballots have been impounded pending investigation of certain unfair labor practice charges theretofore filed Petitioner cites the appropriateness of the combined production and maintenance units including truckdrivers at Charlotte, North Carolina, and at Indiantown, Florida, in support of its contentions for appropriateness of such a combined unit of Employer's employees working at the Orient Road complex However, Employer contends the divisional plants at Orient Road are entirely different in nature and scope than the other more recently com- bined employees and do not lend themselves to an appropriate unit as sought by Petitioner (Employer notes that although elections have been directed heretofore, the parties have always been in basic agreement as to appropriate unit and thus the Board has not previously determined the basic issue presented Additionally, Employer contends that operational and functional relationships between employees in all five divisions in Tampa are in no way different than those which exist between the employees in the three divisions at the Orient Road complex The Tampa Steel Mill at Orient Road is Employer's largest mill opera- tion It has three electric furnaces which produce steel billets in a Melt Department Billets produced are sold in export market or further processed into various sizes of steel bars in the Mill's Rolling Department This mill not only supplies reinforcing steel basically for Employer's "Rebar Shops", but also in large quantities for sale to competitor fabricating plants The Tampa mill also produces steel for Employer's structural steel facilities The mill, unlike other (corporate) unit divisions, is operated as a cost cen- ter Sales of its product are made the responsibility of the vice president in charge of Reinforcing Steel Florida Region The Tampa "Rebar Shop" at Orient Road basically fabricates (cuts. bends and shapes) concrete reinforcing steel to ordered configurations and involves also a warehouse function which includes support sales or other products related to the use of its fabricated steel products The Tampa "Rebar Shop" is also larger than others and has a capability to perform heavier and more complicated fabricating work by virtue of the kind of equipment located at that facility It is operated as a profit center Employer's Transportation (Traffic) Division is headquartered in Tampa at Orient Road It is primarily responsible for transport of the Company's products to customers, whether mtracorporate or otherwise At Tampa. Em- ployer centrally controls and provides transportation for all of its divisional operations (It thus services not only Tampa locations, but other Florida locations supplementing drivers who are regularly assigned to certain of those locations, as well as servicing Employer's locations outside Florida as necessary ) It also moves raw material to the enterprise from several sources Traffic has a central garage and maintenance facility at Orient Road at which mechanics are employed who perform the major maintenance for all vehicles in the State of Florida Traffic Division is also operated as a profit center Employer's Tampa Structural Division is located in Tampa approximate- ly four miles from the Orient Road complex and is composed of a Structural Fabricating Plant, a Miscellaneous Fabricating Plant, a Structural Steel Center and a Tampa Depot The Structural Fabricating Plant fabricates structural steel primarily for the construction market in the State of Florida The Structural Steel Service Center and the Tampa Depot are both located directly across the street from the Structural Fabricating Plant and there provide warehousing for retail and wholesale sales of structural steel re- spectively Several blocks away from the above is the Miscellaneous Fabri- cating Plant which fabricates primarily architectural metal products for the construction industry The Tampa Structural Division is operated as a sepa- rate profit Center Also located four miles from the Orient Road divisions is Employer's Culvert Division which fabricates steel culvert pipe for use in the construc- tion industry primarily in Florida The Culvert Division plant is located a half block from the Structural Steel Miscellaneous Fabricating Plant It is operated as a separate profit Center Employer's Tampa Steel Mill, "Rebar Shop" and Traffic Divisions at Orient Road are located on a enclosed contiguous property owned by Em- ployer Below divisional level each has separate supervision (as do Structu- ral and Culvert Divisions), and each has utilized a number of different job classifications and skills Employees of each punch different timeclocks (Hours and schedules vary even within division , e g , Steel Mill ) Though not required to do so, as a practical matter, employees of each utilize their own employee facilities although many use a common employee parking lot On the other hand the record reveals there is present a high degree of divisional interdependence and significant product integration between the five Tampa divisions Thus, while the Tampa Steel Mill's production and market is more extensive than just supplying other Tampa fabricating divi- sions, employer concedes it supplies 90% of the raw material to the Tampa "Rebar Shop" which alone accounts for 28% of that steel mill's total pro- duction The mill also provides product for the Tampa structural steel fabri- cating and warehouse operation Similarly, while the Tampa Traffic Divi- sion provides services for divisions located elsewhere than in Tampa, the record reveals that approximately 40% of its total driver mileage and opera- tional working time is consumed in servicing the Orient Road divisions alone Traffic also services the needs of Tampa Structural Steel and Culvert Divisions Wage increments and benefits have significant history of uniform appli- cation in Tampa Since 1964 all employees in the Tampa area have received FLORIDA STEEL CORPORATION 549 the same wage increases at the same time. More recently employer has initiated a program of wage surveys every 3 months. Wages for all hourly employees in the Tampa area have been resultingly twice increased in the same amount at the same time Employer's fringe benefit program is corpo- rate-wide and standard Although skills of employees working at Orient Road vary, Employer has established, corporate-wide, 12 job classification levels, and the majority of the employees working at Orient Road are in grades 1-5 where wage levels are the same There is one credit union for employees. Employer has a corporate-wide grievance policy There is a common personnel office at Tampa which services the personnel needs of all five Tampa divisions. Thus while actual hiring is done at a divisional plant, city-wide recruiting, screening, and initial interview by an employ- ment supervisor is done by the personnel department for all five Tampa divisions. While in the last 2 years there has been little transfer of employees between divisions, the record reveals that in those instances wherein trans- fers have been affected the Employer has applied a uniform policy of corpo- rate seniority for fringe benefit purposes and divisional seniority for promo- tion, layoff, and recall purposes. While the mill has its own newspaper, another newspaper services all the other Tampa divisions. Though division- al units take part in sport and social activities separately they have in many respects activities common in nature. While divisions ( or segments thereof) may have their own safety meetings and safety programs because of differ- ing functions, they are accomplished by the same personnel. There is one safety supervisor for all five Tampa divisions The record reveals that there is also significant employee interface and functional integration particularly at the Orient Road complex Thus Tam- pa "Rebar Shop" will call the mill for additional raw material Mill employ- ees load the ordered steel on rail cars and move the cars to the adjacent premises of the "Rebar shop." Rebar shop employees unload the cars. "Re- bar Shop" trailer shifters pick up trailers from traffic and drop them at the "Rebar Shop" for loading. "Rebar Shop" employees load the trailers Sche- duling and ticketing for delivery by traffic is done by "Rebar Shop" em- ployees. "Rebar Shop" trailer shifters haul loaded and ticketed trailers to Traffic's yard 1-1/2 blocks away and drop them for delivery. However, if "Rebar Shop" is late a traffic employee will go to the Rebar shop to pick up the trailers, which the record reveals is a daily occurrence. Traffic also drops trailers at the mill. Mill employees similarly load these trailers. Mill employ- ees may also pull the loaded trailers to traffic or traffic employees may pick them up at the mill. Mill maintenance employees (1-5) perform maintenance of overhead cranes for the "Rebar Shop" 1-2 times a week depending on whether repairs are minor, major or regular preventive maintenance Traffic's mechanics perform maintenance on diesel cranes out on the Rail Road tracks Garage mechanics perform maintenance on all vehicles. Finally, the record reveals that interdivisional staff meetings have been held in which employer has discussed at the divisional level a common labor policy in regards to the Union On the basis of the above it is apparent that a grouping of the three divisional units at Orient Road Complex alone meets neither a geographical or corporate administrative standard Equally significant, the factors sup- porting appropriateness of a multiplant unit of three divisions at Orient Road basically apply as well to all Tampa divisions I find that the multi- plant unit sought by Petitioner does not have a community of interest suffi- ciently distinct and separate from that enjoyed by employees of other plants in Tampa, Florida, and is thus inappropriate, though a similar unit of em- ployees in all five Tampa divisions I find would be appropriate Norwock Shoe, Division of SCOA Industries, Inc., 209 NLRB 843 (1974) A single plant unit is presumptively appropriate, cf, Dixie Belle Mills, 139 NLRB 629 (1962). Assuming that Petitioner and Employer may be regarded as in agreement on separate units herein such is only one factor to be weighed with the other factors present. As revealed above, there is herein present a high degree of interdependence and significant product and service integra- tion between the five Tampa divisions. There is substantial interface and functional integration between several divisions covering wages and fringe benefits. There is a common policy on grievance procedure and seniority. Administrative services are provided by a central personnel office There is a common safety officer and a central credit union All divisions herein substantially interrelate in services as is commonly the case in an integrated steel industry There is also a corporately established base for substantial wage level comparisons I note as additionally significant the history herein that separate unit elections have not heretofore resulted in any collective- bargaining agreement, and particulary note also the circumstance that Petitioner's organizational effort is employer-wide, on-going, and has been by agreement in most recent years elsewhere, basically of combined units or groups at geographical locations. Under all of these circumstances I find that the community of interest independently shared by employees at all five Tampa divisions is so close in the unique circumstances present herein as to overcome any presumption favoring appropriateness of any single plant unit located at the Orient Road complex Accordingly, I find that separate units of the three divisions at Orient Road are not appropriate herein and in the above circumstances that a unit of all production and maintenance employees including truckdrivers employed at Employer's five Tampa divisions herein is alone appropriate Cf. Tungsten Contact Manufac- turing Company, Incorporated, 189 NLRB 22 (1971), The Kendall Company, 184 NLRB 847 (1970), Georgia-Pacific Corporation, 195 NLRB 258 (1972). The extent of petitioner's organizational efforts may not be a determinative factor. Compare H. P Hood & Sons, Inc., 114 NLRB 978, 981 (1955). The parties appear otherwise in general agreement as to the composition of the unit except that. in Transportation, Petitioner would exclude the dis- patcher as a supervisor, and exclude the load scheduler, traffic office clerk, and administrative clerk, and parts room clerk as office clerical employees, in the Mill petitioner contends that two plant office clericals and the mill- shop clerk are office clerical employees and should be excluded Petitioner also would exclude (8) quality control technicians or leave their placement to the Board Finally in "Rebar Shop," Petitioner would exclude a produc- tion scheduler and plant office clerk as office clericals. Employer contends the dispatcher is not a supervisor and that all of the above employees are plant clericals and/or share community of interest with other unit employ- ees and should be thus included. In its Transporation division, Employer employs a transportation coordi- nator, a stipulated supervisor, who works in a general office area outside the manager's office. The coordinator supervises two clericals (administrative clerk and transportation clerk) who work in the office with the coordinator, as well as the load scheduler and the dispatcher who work on second and third shift, respectively, but in a separate (dispatch) office to which drivers report The Administrative clerk primarily processes invoices The transportation clerk keeps time and attendance cards of the drivers and also records mileages by cost center Either clerk or both compile daily by 5 00 p in a list of drivers in order of least hours worked Both spend approximately 85% of their worktime in the general office I find the admin- istrative clerk and transportation clerk are office clerical employees and shall exclude them The load scheduler matches a master plan of scheduled deliveries for each location with the driver list and thus routinely effects daily by 7:30 p.m a consolidated central dispatch board. He thereafter informs drivers who call in about their next dispatch and prepares the trip reports for the drivers The dispatcher carries out the format of the dispatch board as established by others Although the dispatcher has a responsibility to arrange a replace- ment if a driver fails to show for a dispatch, the record reveals replacement is accomplished pursuant to a prearranged procedure and that the dispatch- er has no authority to hire or fire, effectively recommend same, or to other- wise exercise supervisory authority I find the dispatcher is not a supervisor within the meaning of the Act. As both the dispatcher and the load schedul- er have daily and frequent contact with the drivers in their dispatch and returns, I find the dispatcher and load scheduler share community of inter- est with unit employees and shall include them Employer's Parts room clerk works in a separate room out in the maintenance area, issues parts to the mechanics, maintains inventory and parts-form records I find the parts room clerk is essentially a plant clerk and shall include him. Located in the Mill office outside the division manager's office but next to the production area are two plant office clerks who are supervised by the Chief Clerk, a stipulated supervisor, with whom, inter alto, they share an, office One clerk handles the timecards for the Rolling Mill and works on other records The other clerks works on invoices Both clerks spend approximately 85% of their time in the Mill office and are carried on the office payroll (The parties agree that a production scheduler located in the same office but who spends 90% of his time out in the plant should be included as a plant clerical.) Located in the Melt Shop also in an office shared by supervisors is the melt shop clerk The latter also spends most of his time in the office and does the same type work on timecards I find the two plant office clericals in the Rolling Mill and the melt shop clerk are essentially office clerical em- ployees and shall exclude them (However as the record is not sufficiently clear as to the work responsibilities of the "Rebar Shop" plant office clerk and production scheduler, I shall allow them to vote subject to challenge) In the Mill, Employer also employs eight quality control technicians who are under the supervision of the Quality Assurance Supervisor. They are located in their own office in the melt shop or in a quality control station in the Rolling Mill. Their basic job is to inspect Employer's product in the melt shop and in the Mill Occasionally they go out in the plant areas and obtain samples and take tests as in the melt shop. Although they spend most of their time in a laboratory, they spend 5% of their time in the melt shop and 15 to 20% of their time in the rolling mill They have frequent contact by phone, teletype, etc, with various production employees No special educa- 550 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD tional background is required They work'and rotate on shifts similar to hourly unit employees. I find the quality control technicians share sufficient community of interest with other production employees and I shall include them. In addition to the exclusion of Employer's president, executive vice presi- dent, vice presidents, divisional managers, production and other managers and superintendents in the five divisions and in agreement with the parties, and upon the record evidence that they can hire and fire, or effectively recommend same, I shall exclude also as supervisors- in the Mill, the assis- tant to the superintendent, plant engineer, general foreman, -melter foremen, casting foremen, mason foreman, quality assurance supervisor, chief clerk, yard foreman, industrial yard master, mill roller supervisors and foremen mainte- nance general foreman and foremen, machine shop foreman, purchasing direc- tor, store keeper buyer, in the "Rebar Shop"; all fabricating and shipping fore- men, in Transportation, garage foremen, driver foreman and the transportation coordinator, and in Culvert Division, the shop foreman, fabricating foreman and the inventory controller It is noted that Petitioner has not disclaimed interest in representing employees in the broadened unit herein found ap- propriate I shall nevertheless permit petitioner to withdraw its petition without prejudice within 10 days from the date of issuance of this Decision Petitioner shall also within 10 days from the issuance of this Decision make an appropriate showing of interest in the broader unit found appropriate or the Petition shall be subject to dismissal.