Aluminum Co. of America

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 31, 1949

86 N.L.R.B. 1176 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of ALUMINUM COMPANY OF AMERICA, EMPLOYER and
A. F., OF L. INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF ALUMINUM WORKERS
UNIONS,' PETITIONER
Case No. 18-RC-143.-Decided October 31, 1941.9
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Max Roten-
berg, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hear-
ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Reynolds and Gray].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2'. A. F. of L. International Council of Aluminum Workers Unions,
herein called the Aluminum Workers; Local No. 2158, Tri-City Car-
penters District Council, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Join-
ers of America, A. F. L., herein called the Carpenters; International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, A. F. L., herein called the IBEW ;
United Farm Equipment and Metal Workers of America, C. I. 0.,
herein called the F. E.; United Automobile Aircraft, and Agricul-
tural Implement Workers of America, C. I. 0., herein called the
U. A. W.-C. I. 0.; United Steelworkers of America, C. I. 0., herein
called the Steelworkers; 2 and International Association of Machinists,
District 102, herein called the I. A. M., are labor organizations claim-
ing to represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
The Petitioner's name appears as amended at the hearing.
Subsequent to the hearing , the Steelworkers moved to be placed upon the ballot in any
plant-wide election that the Board might direct. As the Steelworkers submitted 55 au-
thorization cards , all dated before the hearing , we hereby grant the motion. Matter of
United Boat Service Corporation , 55 N. L. R . B. 671.
86 N. L. R. B., No. 113.
1176
ALUMINUM COMPANY OF AMERICA 1177
4. The appropriate unit ; determination of representatives :
The Aluminum Workers, the F. E., the U. A. W.-C. I. 0., and the
Steelworkers each seeks to represent a single over-all unit of produc-
tion and maintenance employees at the Employer's Bettendorf, Iowa,
plant; the I. A. M. requests a separate unit of all machinists, machin-
ists' apprentices, and welders in the machine shop ; the Carpenters
desires a unit of all employees in the mill maintenance department;
the IBEW urges a unit of all maintenance electricians, and pyrometric
and instrument repairmen. The Employer agrees with the Aluminum
Workers and those Intervenors who seek a plant-wide unit.
The plant here involved, one of three rolling mills operated by the
Employer, consists of 'multiple mill buildings covering 52 acres of
ground. At this plant, aluminum pig and scrap are remelted, the
alloy composition is adjusted, and the metal is cast into ingots which
are then hot rolled, through a continuous series of operations over a
table 1,700 feet long, into aluminum sheet or plate.3 The table is
divided into sections, each of which is electrically activated for the
operation performed upon it.
Operations at this plant began in the summer of 1948. There is no
history of collective bargaining. The integrated nature of the plant
operations and the history of bargaining at the Employer's two other
rolling mills,4 indicate the appropriateness of a plant-wide unit. On
the other hand, the record in this case, and previous Board decisions
in cases involving another aluminum rolling mill,5 indicate that craft
units may also be appropriate.
The IBEW seeks to represent a unit of electricians and pyrometric
and instrument repairmen employed respectively in the maintenance
and pyrometric subdepartments of the electrical department. The
electricians maintain and repair electrical equipment throughout the
plant. The pyrometric and instrument repairmen make and repair
equipment for recording temperatures, and make temperature surveys
of various types of furnaces. We have previously recognized that
both groups of employees together may constitute an appropriate
unit.6 Accordingly, we find that all maintenance electricians and all
pyrometric and instrument repairmen in the Employer's electrical
8 The Employer states that the operations in an aluminum rolling mill are, except in
minor particulars , like those in steel rolling mills.
4 These mills are located at Alcoa, Tennessee , and Edgewater , New Jersey , respectively.
In each, a plant-wide unit has been found appropriate, but in neither case was any sever-
ance issue raised. See Matter of Aluminum Company of America, 61 N. L. R. B. 245
( Alcoa, Tenn .) and Case No . 2-R-1275 ( consent election held at Edgewater , N. J.).
5 Matter of Reynolds Metals Company, 70 N. L. R. B. 1388; Matter of Aluminum Com-
pany of America, 54 N. L. R. B. 1043. See also Matter of Aluminum Ore Company, 85
N. L. R. B. 121; Matter of Reynolds Metals Company, 85 N. L. R. B. 110.
e Matter of Reynolds Metals Company, 70 N. L. R. B. 1338 ; Matter of Aluminum Com-
pany of America, 54 N. L. R. B. 1043.
1178 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
department , may, if they so desire , constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective , bargaining.
The Employer 's mechanical department is divided into five sub-
departments : ( 1) mill maintenance , ( 2) machine shop, ( 3) roll shop,
( 4) pipe shop , and (5 ) land and building maintenance.
The Carpenters seeks to represent a unit of all employees in the
mill maintenance subdepartment . In this subdepartment are em-
ployed 44 mill mechanics , 9 mill maintenance helpers, 2 mill main-
tenance laborers , and 1 mason . The mechanics and the laborers and
helpers work throughout the plant installing and repairing plant
equipment and machinery . They work out of 3 centers where their
foremen are located and their tools are kept. They report to the
foremen at the centers , and are then assigned to work areas where they
do "preventive maintenance ." In case of a break-down in a machine,
the mill mechanic working in the area is called by the production
foreman to make the necessary repairs. The mill mechanics are
essentially millwrights . Their work requires considerable knowledge
of assembling , dismantling and lubrication of mechanical equipment.
To acquire journeyman status requires an apprenticeship of 3 to 4
years. We have previously found appropriate separate units of mill-
wrights and their helpers.7
Apart from the fact that he also works throughout the plant, the
mason shares but one characteristic with the other employees in the
mill maintenance subdepartment-he works under the supervision of
a mill maintenance foreman. Practically all his work consists in
repairing crucible linings and refractory linings in remelting fur-
naces. As the mason has little contact with the other employees in
the mill maintenance department , and neither his skill nor his work
is comparable to theirs , we shall exclude him.
. We find that all employees in the Employer 's mill maintenance
subdepartment , excluding the mason , may, if they so desire , constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.
The I. A. M. seeks to represent a unit of machinists and their
apprentices , and welders . All these employees are employed in the
machine shop of the Employer's mechanical department . The ma-
chinists are highly skilled craftsmen who perform the usual duties
of their craft-making, forming , shaping, and maintaining dies, fix-
tures, jigs, and machine parts. The welders are located in the
machine shop and work there in conjunction with the machinists,
under the supervision of the shop foreman. Only occasionally are
they sent out of the shop to do "field" welding . Clearly, the interests
IMatter of Certain- Teed Products Corporation , 78 N. L. R. B. 910 ; Matter of Brown
and Root, Inc ., et at., 77 N. L. R. B. 1136 ; Matter of International Harvester Company,
73 N. L. R. B. 971 ; Matter of Reynolds Metals Company , 70 N. L . It. B. 1338.
ALUMINUM COMPANY OF AMERICA 1179
of the welders lie with those of the machinists." Accordingly, we
shall include them in the machinists voting group.
The Employer contends that the unit sought by the, I. A. M. is
inappropriate because, among other reasons, the employees in the
roll shop are not included in it. The roll shop is located in a build-
ing adjacent to the machine shop. There are four roll grinder and
repairmen and one helper. They work under the immediate super-
vision of the roll shop foreman. The roll grinders are skilled em-
ployees who have skills similar to those of machinists, although their
work. is more repetitive than that of journeymen machinists, who per-
form a greater variety of tasks. Grinding of smaller rolls is fre-
quently done in the machine shop by the machinists, and, when
necessity requires it, machinists grind rolls in the roll shop, or help
the roll grinders do it. Because of the similarity of skills, and the
interchange between the two shops, we are of the opinion that the
employees in the roll shop should be included in the unit of machinists
and welders sought by the I. A. M.9 Accordingly, we find that the
machinists, their apprentices, the welders in the machine shop, and
all employees in the roll shop may, if they so desire, constitute a
separate unit.
However, as we said above, the inclusion in a plant-wide unit of
the employees in the three described groups is also clearly appropriate.
We shall, therefore, make no final unit determinations until we have
first ascertained the desires of the employees as expressed in the
elections directed hereinafter.
If a majority of the employees in voting groups (2), (3), and (4)
vote for the IBEW, the Carpenters, or the I. A. M., respectively, they
will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute separate
appropriate units.
We shall direct elections among the employees of the Employer
at its Bettendorf, Iowa, plant, in the voting groups set forth below,
excluding from each guards and supervisors as defined in the Act :
(1) All production and maintenance employees, excluding those
included in voting groups (2), (3), and (4).
(2) All maintenance electricians and their apprentices, including
pyrometric and instrument repairmen;
(3) All employees in the mill maintenance subdepartment, including
mill mechanics, mill maintenance helpers and laborers, but excluding
the mason.
e Matter of International Harvester Company, 82 N. L. R. B. 190.
BMatter of Ethyl Corporation ( Sodium and Tetraethyl Lead Areas), 80 N. L. R. B.,
No. 4. Cf. Matter of International Harvester Company ( McCormick Works ), 82 N. L.
R. B. 190; Matter of Reynolds Metals Company, 70 N. L. R. B. 1338; Matter of Aluminum
Company of America, 54 N. L . R. B. 1043.
1180 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
(4) All machinists and their apprentices, and welders in the ma-
chine shop , and all roll grinders and repairmen and their helpers in
the-roll shop.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer , separate elec-
tions by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible , but not
later than 30 days from the date of this Direction , under the direction
and supervision of the Regional Director for the Region in which
this case was heard , and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations , among the
employees in the voting groups described in paragraph numbered 4,
above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately
preceding the date of this Direction of Elections , including employees
who did hot work during said pay-roll period because they were ill
or on vacation or temporarily laid off , but excluding those employees
who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been
rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the elections , and also exclud-
ing employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to
determine :
(a) Whether the employees in voting group ( 1) desire to be repre-
sented for purposes of collective bargaining by A. F. of L. Interna-
tional Council of the Aluminum Workers Unions , or by United Steel-
workers of America, C. I. 0., or by neither;
(b) Whether the employees in voting group ( 2) desire to be repre-
sented for purposes of collective bargaining by International Brother-
hood of Electrical Workers, A. F. L., or by A. F. of L. International
Council of the Aluminum Workers Unions, or by United Steelworkers.
of America , C. I. 0., or by none ;
(c) Whether the employees in voting group ( 3) desire to be repre-
sented for purposes of collective bargaining by Local No . 2158, Tri-
City Carpenters District Council, United Brotherhood of Carpenters
and Joiners of America , A. F. L., or by A . F. of L . International
Council of the Aluminum Workers Unions , or by United Steelworkers
of America , C. I. 0., or by none;
(d) Whether the employees in voting group ( 4) desire to be repre-
sented for purposes of collective bargaining by International Asso-
ciation of Machinists, District 102, or by A. F. of L. International
Council of the Aluminum Workers Unions, or by United Steelworkers
of America , C. I. 0., or by none.