Aluminum Ore Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 8, 1949

85 N.L.R.B. 121 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of ALUIIINUN ORE COMPANY, EMPLOYER and LOCAL
UNION 505 INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL'WORI FRS,
AFL, PETITIONER
Cases Nos. 15-RC-.312 and 15-RCD23. Decided July 8, 1949
DECISION.
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing was held before
C . Paul Barker, hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju-
dicial error and are hereby affirmed. At the Intervenor's request, the
Board heard oral argument," in which all parties participated.
Upon the entire record in these cases, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent employees
of the Employer.'
3. The Intervenor and the Employer contend that their current
collective bargaining agreement, dated May 8, 1947, and effective until
May 31, 1949, but extended to May 31, 1950, by separate agreement
dated June 25, 1948, constitutes a bar to a present determination of
representatives. Although the petitions in this proceeding were timely
filed on February 16, 1949, the Employer and Intervenor argue that
the original agreement was not prematurely extended so as to pre-
clude its operating as a bar, because it was executed during the cer-
tification year.
Assuming, arguendo, the validity of this contention, the record dis-
closes that the contract provides, among other things,' that all Iem-
ployees. who are members of the Intervenor in good standing 15 days
' Oral argument was heard simultaneously in the instant case and in Matter of Reynolds
Metals Company, 85 N. L. R. B. 110.
United Steel Workers of America, CIO, Local 320, and United Steel Workers of America,
CIO, District 36, were permitted to intervene on the basis of current contractual interests.
•'3 The agreement contains a compulsory check -off provision which is proscribed by Section
302 of the Act. See Matter of C. Hager ct Sons Hinge Manufacturing Company, 80
N. L. R. B. 163.
85 N. L. R. B., No. 18.
121
122 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
after the, execution of the agreement and all employees who become
members thereafter shall, as a condition of employment, maintain in
good standing their membership in the Intervenor. The Intervenor,
however, has not been certified by the Board under Section 9 (e) (1)
of the Act as being authorized to execute such a union-security pro-
vision, and, in fact, cannot be so certified because it has failed to com-
ply with the filing requirements of Section 9 (f), (g), and (h) of
the Act. Although the absence of Board authorization for a union-
security provision in a contract executed before enactment of the
Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 would not prevent such
contract from operating as a bar during its original term,' any re-
newal of the original contract after the effective date of the Act, is
subject to the requirement of Board authorization of a union- security
provision.5 Because the contract, as renewed on June 25, 1948, con-
tains an unauthorized union-security provision, we find, for this reason
and without regard to other considerations, that the contract, even as
renewed during certification year, cannot serve as a bar to a present
determination of representatives.6 Nor is our conclusion with respect
to the validity of the contract as a bar affected by the language of the
saving provisions therein.'
We. find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner, in Case No. 15-RC-21.2, seeks a unit of all main-
tenance electricians, helpers, and apprentices, excluding all other
employees. In Case No. 15-RC-223, the same Petitioner asks for a
unit of all switchboard operators and turbine operators, all boiler
operators, all operators and assistant helpers employed in the power-
house, excluding all other employees. The Employer and. the Inter-
venor oppose. the severance of these units primarily upon the basis
of the Employer's history of collective bargaining," upon the ground
that the work performed by these employees is an essential and integral
* Matter of Cribben & Sexton Company, 82 N. L. R. B. 1409.
E Matter of Joseph A. Goddard Company, 83 N. L. R. B. 605.
6 Matter of General Electric Company, 80 N. L. R. B. 169 ; Matter of General Electric
Company, Plastic Division of the Chemical Department, 81 N. L. R. B. 476; Matter of
Joseph. A. Goddard Company, supra.
7 The language of these provisions, reasonably construed, cannot be said to defer the
applicability of the unauthorized union-security provision, nor to negative the restraint
exercised by such provision. These provisions, therefore, cannot 'serve to validate the
agreement as a bar to a present determination of representatives. See Matter of Lykens
Hosiery Mills, Inc., 82 N. L. R. B. 981 ; Matter of Unique Art Manufacting Company,
83 N. L. R. B. 1250.
s In 1941, upon a plant-wide basis, Aluminum Workers Union, AFL, was first certified
as a bargaining representative for a unit of production and maintenance employees, to be
ultimately succeeded by the Intervenor as the unit representative.
ALUMINUM ORE COMPANY 123
part of the Employer's production process,' and, more particularly,
that the Employer's production process is a continuous one which
cannot be interrupted without serious consequences to the Employer's
operations.
. The Employer is a subsidiary of the Aluminum Company of Amer-
ica, with plants at East St. Louis, Illinois, and Mobile, Alabama.
Only its plant at Mobile, Alabama, is involved in this proceeding.
The Employer is engaged in the processing and conversion.of bauxite
ore into alumina, which is an intermediate product in the manufac-
ture of aluminum. The process used involves the chemical treatment
of the bauxite ore under the application of pressure, and heat in the
form of steam furnished by the powerhouse. The resultant mass of
the initial reaction, liquid in form, circulates through a series of pipes,
tanks, and containers until the various phases of the process are all
completed and the alumina in hydrous form is removed at one point
and converted into powder by calcination in kilns. As previously
stated, the process is a continuous one. The materials are kept in
circulation by means of pumps and conveyors that are electrically
driven with current principally supplied by the powerhouse. The
powerhouse also produces the compressed air used to agitate the, ma-
terials at one stage of the process.
Employed throughout the plant are approximately 500 production
and maintenance employees, of whom 200 are classified as maintenance
employees distributed principally among various craft groups.
Among these employees, and constituting the electrical department,
are approximately 19 electricians, apprentices, and helpers. It is
conceded that the electricians serve the regular 4-year apprenticeship
and possess all of the requisite skills customarily exercised by members
of their craft. The electricians are primarily responsible for the
maintenance and repair of all electrical equipment not only at the
Employer's plant but also at a waste disposal area located across the
river. As the Intervenor itself points out, the electricians as such
are not assigned to any particular piece of equipment or to any sin-
gle department of the plant. The electricians spend approximately
one-third of their time in the electrical shop which is separately
located. They work under the immediate and separate supervision
of an electrical department foreman and assistant foreman. Al-
though they may, on occasion, work on some particular piece of elec-
trical equipment in close connection with other maintenance or pro-
6 The further contention of the Employer and the Intervenor that the powerhouse em-
ployees do not constitute a separate craft is irrelevant, because the Board has frequently
permitted severance of powerhouse employees without requiring that they constitute a
group of craft employees. See Matter of Baugh and Sons Company, 82 N. L. R. B. 1399.
124 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
duction employees, the work of the electricians is restricted to the exer-
cise of their craft skills. Moreover, there is no interchange between
other employees and the electricians, who remain subject only to the
authority of their own supervisors throughout their association with
the production and maintenance groups.
Although the facts in this case show the normal degree of integra-
tion of the work of the electricians with the production process, it
does not -appear, as was true in the National Tube Company 10 and
Ford Motor Company 11 cases, that their function is so intimately re-
lated with that of the production workers or so confused to indispen-
sable assembly line operations that such integration should preclude
the severance or separation of the craft groups.12 Nor is the fact that
the process is a continuous one necessarily determinative of the issue of
craft severance.13 Accordingly, We find that the electricians involved
herein are a skilled, well-defined, and homogeneous craft group, who,
notwithstanding a history of collective bargaining on a broader basis 14
and other factors previously considered, may constitute a separate
unit for the purposes of collective bargaining.
The Employer and the Intervenor, in opposing a separate unit for
powerhouse employees, contend that the latter are highly integrated
with the production process because steam and compressed air supplied
by the powerhouse in substantial amounts are an essential part of the
production process itself 15
Approximately 14 powerhouse employees, 1e consisting of 4 switch-
board and turbine operators, 4 boiler operators, 4 boiler operator as-
sistants, 1 swing operator, and 1 helper are under the immediate and
separate supervision of the shift engineer, and work only in the power-
house which is located in a. separate building. In addition to their
customary duties, they may on occasions perform minor repair jobs
10 Matter of National Tube Company , 76 N. L . R. B. 1199.
Matter of Ford Motor Company (Maywood Plant), et al., 78 N. L. R. B. 887.
" See Matter of Tin. Processing Corporation , 80 N. L . R. B. 1369 ; Matter of Roane-
Anderson Company, 83 N. L. R. B. 30; Matter of Aluminum Company of America, 83
N. L. It. B. 389 ; Matter of Eagle Pencil Company, 82 N. L. R. B. 263 ; Matter of United
States Rubber Company, 81 N. L. Ti. B. 17.
13 See Matter of B. F. Goodrich Chemical Company, 84 N. L. R. B. 429.
14 The bargaining history in the present instance does not present as complete an industry
pattern as was found in the National Tube Company case ; we note that in several instances
there has been craft bargaining in the reduction branch of the aluminum industry. See
Matter of ' Aluminum Company of America , 50 N. L . R. B. 380 . See also Matter of Reynolds
Metals Company, supra note 1, wherein it appears that craft bargaining has existed for
several years at the Sheffield, Alabama, plant of the Reynolds Metals Company.
13 In support of their contention that the powerhouse employees are a highly integrated
part of the production process, the Employer and Intervenor emphasized both in their
briefs and at the oral argument that any interruption in the supply of compressed air to
the production department would result in extensive damage to plant equipment and cause
serious delay in the resumption of operations.
16 The petition was amended at the hearing to include the janitor at the powerhouse.
ALUMINUM ORE COMPANY 125
on the equipment in the powerhouse; however, major repairs are per-
formed by representatives of the manufacturers of the equipment or
by the skilled employees among the maintenance employees. It ap-
pears that these employees are a distinct and homogeneous group and
their work is essentially the same as that generally performed by
powerhouse employees in other industrial plants: Although large
quantities of steam and compressed air supplied by the powerhouse are
used directly in the production process, neither steam nor compressed
air is a component of the end product itself. This fact has served to
distinguish such cases as Matter of Lynn Gas & Electric Company "
and platter of Boston Consolidated Gas Company,1' relied upon by
the Employer and the Intervenor. Therefore, despite such factors
of integration, we do not consider the powerhouse employees to be an
inseparable part of the over-all production unit 19
Upon the basis of the foregoing facts and upon the entire record
in the case, we find that the electricians and the powerhouse employees
may, if they so desire, constitute separate bargaining units. We shall,
however, make no final determination with respect to the appropriate
unit or units pending the outcome of the elections hereinafter directed.
We shall direct separate elections among the following groups of
employees at the Employer's Mobile, Alabama, plant, excluding all
other employees and supervisors as defined in the Act :
(a) All maintenance electricians, helpers, and apprentices;
fib) All switchboard operators and turbine operators, all boiler oper-
ators, all operators and assistant helpers, and the janitor employed
at the powerhouse.
If in these elections a majority of the employees in either of the
voting groups select the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated
their desire to constitute a separate bargaining unit.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS 20
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 Na-
11 78 N. L. It. B. 3.
11 79 N . L. R. B. 337.
10 Matter of Swift and Company. d/b/a H. L. Handy Company, 81 N. L. R. B. 425;
Matter of Crocker Burbank & Co., Asscn., 80 N. L. It. B. 774 ; Matter of Worthy Paper
Company Association, 80 N. L. It. B. 19.
2° We shall omit the name of the Intervenor because of its failure to comply with the
filing requirements of Section 9 (f), (g), and ( h) of the Act.
126 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tional Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as
amended, among the employees in the voting groups described in para-
graph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Elections,
including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period
because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, but exclud-
ing those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause
,and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the elec-
tions, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to
reinstatement to determine whether or not, in each group, they desire
to be represented, for the purposes of collective bargaining, by Local
Union 505,'International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL.