A. O. Smith Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 10, 1946

70 N.L.R.B. 1288 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of A. O. SMITH CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and INTERNA-
TIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, DISTRICT No. 10, PETITIONER
In the Matter of A. O. SMITH CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and SMITFI
STEEL WORKERS FEDERAL LABOR UNION, No. 19806, AFL, PETI-
TIONER
Cases Nos. 13-R-3539 and 13-R-3595, respectively. Decided
September 10,1946
Mr. E. 0. Stroessner, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Employer.
Messrs. P. L. Siemiller and Elmer Ritter, of Chicago, Ill., and Mr.
-George Gratz, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Machinists:
Padway and Goldberg, by Mr. David Previant, of Milwaukee, Wis.,
and Mr. Felix Reisdorf, of Milwaukee, Wis., for Local No. 19806.
Mr. Jack Heisdor f, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Hotel and Restaurant
Employees International Alliance, Local 122, AFL.
Mr. Harvey E. Anderson, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Carpenters.
Mr. Marshall E. Fredrick, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Engineers.
Mr. E. B. Gilman, of Milwaukee, Wis:, for the Electricians.
Mr. William E. Arndt, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Steamfitters.
Mr. W. H. Schmidt, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the International Broth-
erhood of Fireman & Oilers, Local No. 125, AFL.
Mr.. John H. Wood, Jr., of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon petitions, duly filed, a hearing was held in these consolidated
cases on June 12, 13, and 14, and July. 11, 1946, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
before Robert T. Drake, Trial Examiner. The Trial Examiner's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
A. O. Smith Corporation, a New York corporation, has its principal--
place of business at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is engaged in the
70 N. L. R. B., No. 121.
1288
A. 0. SMITH CORPORATION 1289
manufacture and sale of automobile frames and parts, and pipe,
casings, and other equipment for the petroleum and chemical indus-
tries. The value of the materials used by the Employer during a
recent annual period approximated $25,000,000, 90 percent of which
was shipped to the Employer's Milwaukee operations from outside
the State of Wisconsin. The Employer's sales during the same period
amounted to $45,000,000, 98 percent of which represented shipments
to points outside the State.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
11. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED'
International Association of Machinists, District No. 10, herein
called- the Machinists, is a labor organization claiming to represent
employees of the Employer.
Smith Steel Workers Federal Labor Union, No. 19806, herein called
Local 19806, Carpenters District Council of Milwaukee County and
Vicinity, herein called the Carpenters, Technical Engineers, Architects
& Draftsmen Union, Local 54, herein called the Engineers, Electrical
Local B-663, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, herein
called the Electricians, and Steamfitters Local 601, herein called the
Steamfitters, are all labor organizations affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, and claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize either of the Petitioners as the
exclusive bargaining representatives of the employees of the Employer
in the alleged appropriate units in the absence of Board certification.
We find that questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS
In, substantial accordance with the agreement of the parties, we
find the following units at the Employer's Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
operations to be appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act:2
(1) All journeyman machinist foreman assistants, journey-
man tool and die makers, journeyman tool inspectors, journey-
'The Hotel and Restaurant Employees International Alliance, Local 122, and Inter-
national Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers, Local 125 , both affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, appeared at the hearing but did not intervene . The organizations
presently hold separate contracts with the Employer covering employees within their
respective jurisdictions.
2 The Employer has had bargaining relations with some of the participating unions since
1935, and with all of them since 1940 . Each year the contracting unions have entered into
1290 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
man toolroom . machinists, journeyman bench machinists,
journeyman general nlachiulsts, journeyman specialists, journey-
man repair machinists, journeyman grinders, tool grinders,
cutter grinders, bench hands, specialists Class C, lubemen,
journeyman tool acid die maker apprentices, journeyman ma-
chinist apprentices, tool hardeners, journeyman toolroom 'heat'
treaters, assistant toolroom heat treaters and 'helpers, tool and
guage inspectors, master gunge and templet inspectors, journey-
man tool and die maker foreman's assistants, master guage and
templet makers, lay-out men and group leaders 3 for all,the fore-
going classifications, in the following depautmeuts of the Em-
ployer:
Department 132, flexible die; Department 202, toolroom; De-
partment 210, tool try-out; Department 211, maintenance gen-
eral; Department 223, tool hardening; Department 235, North
Plant, service No. 2; Department 237, North Plant, service No.
1; Department 247, maintenance building 114; Department 311,,
maintenance vessels; Department 312, maintenance, North Plant;
Department 313, maintenance, water heaters; Department 411,
maintenance, South plant; Department 414, South Plant, service;
Department 519, mechanical research laboratory;, Depai tment
567, research machining laboratory; Department 602, tool main-
tenance; Department 611, maintenance, tubular, excluding from
the unit employees classed as bench hands who are engaged in the
hand forming of sample frames in Department 519, mechanical
research laboratory and also excluding all other employees of
the Employer.
(2) All carpenters including foreman helpers and_ group
leaders, but- excluding supervisors with authority to hire, pro-
mote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the
status of employees, or effectively- recommend such action, and
also excluding all other employees of the Employer.
(3) All tracers, detail draftsmeA, lay-out draftsmen, designers,
plant lay-out engineers, draftsman checkers, designer checkers,
-chemists, metallurgists, laboratory technicians, laboratory as-
sistants A, laboratory assistants B, estimators, planners, time-
study men, technical clerks, welding engineers, sales engineers,
and industrial engineers, and foreman helpers and group leaders
of such classifications, but excluding clerks, stenographers, and
a,single agreement with the Employer covering their members only The agreed units are,
with certain modifications made necessary by recent reconversion changes, substantially
the same as those existing during the past few years
' The group leaders, who, in this and all the following units, are sometimes referred to,
as foremen helpers, do not have supervisory authority within the Board's customary
definition
A. O. SMITH CORPORATION 1291
supervisors with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline,
or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effec-
tively recommend such action, and also excluding all other em-
ployees of the Employer. -
(4) All journeyman electricians, electricians B, electrician
helpers, apprentice electricians, foreman helpers and group lead-
ers in such classifications, but excluding supervisory employees
with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or other-
,vise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recom-
mend such action, and also excluding all other employees of the
Employer.
(5) All journeyman steam fitters, steam fitter helpers, fore-
man helpers, and group leaders,in such classifications, excluding.
supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge,
discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees,
or effectively recommend such action, and also excluding all other
employees of the Employer.
(6) All other production, maintenance, and office employees,'
including foreman helpers and group leaders, but excluding cafe-
teria workers,5 firemen and oilers,,, confidential clerks, secretaries
and administrative assistants, working in the office of the chair-
man of the Board, the president, the, vice presidents, the secretary-
treasurer, the assistant secretary-treasurer and comptroller, the
personnel director, the industrial relations manager and his
assistant, medical personnel, employees of the legal department,'
foremen, and supervisory employees with authority to hire, pro-
mote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the
status of employees, or effectively recommend such action.
° Office employees have been included among the production and maintenance employees
represented by Local 19806 since 1937 In view of this bargaining history and the present
agreement of the parties that auch unit is appropriate, the Board approves their in(lusion
as an exception to its general practice of excluding clerical employees from a production
and maintenance unit Matte' of K M V. Inc, 65 N L R- B, 1129, 'and see Matter of
Phoenix Iron Company, 38 N L R B -1320
5 Local 19806 agreed at the hearing that the cafeteria workers included those employees
represented by the Hotel, and Restaurant Employees International Alliance , Local 122,
AFL.
6 The parties agreed at the hearing that firemen and oilers include all powerhouse em-
ployees such as engineers , opeiating engineers, compression and hydraulic pump operators,
firemen , oilers, helpers, and steam boom crane operators , now represented by the Inter-
national Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers, AFL, as the result of the recent proceeding before
the Wisconsin State Labor Board.
'Local 19806 and the Employer agreed at the hearing that the employees in these
enumerated executive or confidential positions should be excluded
1292 DECISIONS 'Oh NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with A. 0. Smith Corporation,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, elections 8 by secret ballot shall be conducted
as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date
of this Direction , under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the Thirteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for
the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, See-
tioiis 10 and 11, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regu-
lations-Series 3, as amended, among the employees in the units
found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during
the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction,
including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period
because they were ill or-on vacation or temporarily laid off , and in-
cluding employees in the armed forces of the United States who
present theinselves in person at the polls , but excluding those em-
ployees who liave since quit or been discharged for cause and have
not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the elections, to
determine whether or not :
A. The employees in unit ( 1) desire to be represented by the Inter-
national Association of Machinists, District No. 10, for the purposes
of collective bargaining;
B. The employees in unit ( 2) desire to be represented by Carpen-
ters District Council of Milwaukee County and Vicinity, AFL, for
the purposes of collective bargaining; _
C. The employees in unit ( 3) desire to be represented by the
Technical , Engineers , Architects &' Draftsmen Union , Local No. 54,
,AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining;
D. The employees in unit ( 4) desire to ' be represented by the
Electricians Local B-653, International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining;
E. The employees in unit ( 5) desire to be represented by the
Steamfitters Local No. 601, AFL, for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining; ' -
F. The employees in unit ( 6) desire to be represented by Smith
Steel Workers Federal Labor Union No. 19806, AFL, for the purposes
of collective bargaining. - '
MR. JAMES J. REYNOLDS , JR., took no part in the consideration of
the above Decision and Direction of Elections.
8 Each union desires to participate only in the election affecting the employee group for
which it has been bargaining in the past