A. O. Smith Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 20, 1972

195 N.L.R.B. 955 (N.L.R.B. 1972)

A. 0. SMITH CORPORATION 955
A. O. Smith Corporation, Electric Motor Division and
General Drivers , Warehousemen & Helpers Local
Union # 89, affiliated with the International Broth-
erhood of Teamsters , Chauffeurs, Warehousemen &
Helpers of America , Petitioner . Case 9-RC-9088
March 20, 1972
DECISION ON REVIEW AND ORDER
BY MEMBERS FANNING, JENKINS, AND KENNEDY
On October 6, 1971, the Regional Director for Re-
gion 9 issued a Decision and Direction of Election in
the above-entitled proceeding in which he found the
Petitioner's requested unit of truckdrivers to be appro-
priate for severance from an established production
and maintenance unit. Thereafter, the Employer filed a
timely request for review of the Regional Director's
Decision on the grounds that he made findings of fact
which are clearly erroneous and departed from estab-
lished policy. The Employer also filed a motion for stay
of election and to reopen the hearing. On November 1,
1971, by telegraphic order the request for review was
granted and the election stayed pending decision on
review. Thereafter, the Employer filed a supplemental
brief and a motion for oral argument.'
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 issues under review, including
the Employer's brief, and makes the following findings:
The Employer's motor division has plants in Tipp
City, Ohio, and Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, and a ware-
house in Piqua, Ohio. The Mt. Sterling plant, the sole
plant involved herein, has been in existence since 1964.
It employs approximately 550 employees. The Inter-
venor, International Brotherhood of Electrical Work-
ers, AFL-CIO, Local 2246, since its certification in
1965, has represented a unit of the plant's production
and maintenance employees, including truckdrivers.
The number of truckdrivers has fluctuated from one to
six during this period. The Petitioner seeks to sever a
unit of the truckdrivers, comprising three currently
employed and three alleged to be in temporary layoff
status.
The Regional Director granted the requested sever-
ance, finding in support thereof, inter alia, that the
amount of work done in the plant by the truckdrivers
is not significant when compared with their total hours
' As the record and the brief, in our opinion, adequately set forth the
issues and the positions of the parties, the Employer's request for oral
argument is denied In view of our disposition herein, no ruling is made on
the Employer's motion to reopen the hearing
of work. The Employer contends that the Regional
Director erred in his assessment of the evidence bearing
on the factors relevant to the severance issue, as set
forth in Kalamazoo Paper Box Corporation, 136 NLRB
134, and Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, Uranium Divi-
sion, 162 NLRB 387; especially with regard to the
above finding as to the amount of inpiant work done by
the truckdrivers. We find merit in this contention.
The truckdrivers haul finished products from the Mt.
Sterling plant to customers located primarily in Sidney,
Ohio, and Tecumseh, Michigan, and to the Employer's
warehouse located at Piqua, Ohio. They also backhaul
raw materials from Sidney, Toledo, and Cincinnati,
Ohio. On occasions, Mt. Sterling trucks may make
pickups and deliveries for the Tipp City plant.
The foreman of the Mt. Sterling plant's shipping and
warehousing department has the responsibility of
supervising and assigning work to the truckdrivers and
to six shipping clerks and "motor salvage" employees.
The manager of materials testified that the Employer
preferred to hire truckdrivers from among its inplant
employees, and, in fact, 10 of the 16 drivers employed
at Mt. Sterling since 1964 had previously been inplant
employees.
The Employer's need for truckdrivers has decreased
substantially. In the first half of 1971, because of declin-
ing production, three of the six truckdrivers then em-
ployed were laid off. Although three drivers continued
to be employed at the time of the hearing, there was
testimony that the Employer had only enough driving
work for one and one-third truckdrivers but retained a
complement of three drivers to provide for an immedi-
ately available replacement whenever one driver was
absent. Under the current work schedule, each driver
works in the plant for 8 hours every third day. All the
drivers admitted to performing some inplant work at
all times, except during the unusually busy period be-
tween March and May of 1971.2 This inplant time is
spent loading trucks, operating tow motors, moving
skids, helping to take inventory, moving cardboard,
and sweeping the dock.
During the history of collective bargaining, the driv-
ers have had their own shop steward who has filed
grievances (twice for drivers and once for a material
handler). The Tipp City production and maintenance
employees, including truckdrivers, have been repre-
sented by another local of the IBEW since 195,8.
i It may be noted that during this period considerable driving was done
in the movement of inventory from the Tipp City and Mt Sterling plants
to the new warehouse at Piqua. Illustrative of the amount of inplant work
done by the drivers are weekly totals (during the period January 1970 to
March 1971) as high as 24.3, 25.2, 25 9, 47 0, 26,8, 34 4, 30 4, 28.5, 24 0,
23.4, 27 6, 54 6, 34 6, 29 6, 31 0, 42 0, 24.4, 24 0 hours, etc During the
period, however, the average weekly total of inpiant work was 7 hours per
week and the weekly total, both inplant and driving, was 55-60 hours In
April and May 1971 there was no inpiant work. The record contains no
statistics for hourly totals after May 1971
195 NLRB No. 175
956 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon the facts set forth above and our review of the ORDER
entire record, we find that the requested unit of truck-
drivers is hereby ordered that the petition herein be, andis inappropriate for severance . In so concluding , It
it It is ie dismissed.we rely especially on the facts that the drivers spend a hereby
substantial amount of time performing inplant work
and share the same immediate supervision as other
employees .' Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition . 3 See Dura-Containers, Inc., 164 NLRB 293.