American Home Foods, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 13, 1955

114 N.L.R.B. 1352 (N.L.R.B. 1955)

1352 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
results of the election, a hearing be held to determine the issues raised
by the Employer's exceptions to the Regional Director's supplemental
report.
[The Board directed that the Regional Director for the First Region
shall, within ten (10) days from the date of this Direction, open and
count the ballots of Edward Hassell and Percy R. Garbett and serve
upon the parties a revised tally of ballots.]
[The Board ordered that, in the event the ballots of Edward Has-
sell and Percy R. Garbett do not determine the results of the election,
a hearing be held to determine the issues raised by the Employer's,
exceptions to the Regional Director's supplemental report on chal-
lenged ballots and further ordered that, in the event a hearing is held,
the hearing officer serve upon the parties a report containing resolu-
tions of the credibility of witnesses, findings of fact, and recommenda-
tions to the Board as to the disposition of said exceptions. Within ten
(10) days of receipt of such report, any party may file with the Board
in Wash ington, D. C, an original and six copies of exceptions thereto.
Immediately upon the filing of such exceptions, the party filing shall
serve a copy thereof upon each of the other parties, and shall file a
copy with the Regional Director. If no exceptions are filed thereto,
the Board will adopt the recommendations of the hearing officer. The
Board also ordered that the above-entitled matter be, and it hereby is,.
referred to the Regional Director for the First Region for disposition
as provided for herein, and in the event a hearing is held, the Regional
Director is hereby authorized to issue early notice thereof.]
MEMBERS MURDOCK and BEAN took no part in the consideration of
the above Decision, Direction, and Order.
G. Washington and Burnetts Division of American Home Foods,
Inc.' and Local 68, International Union of Operating Engineers,
AFL-CIO,2 Petitioner . Case No. 4-RC-2824. December 13, 1955'
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act a hearing was held before Alan Zurlnick, hearing offi-
cer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.3
I The name of the Employer appears as amended at the hearing.
2 The AFL and CIO having merged after the hearing in the case, we are amending the
identification of the affiliation of the Unions.
8 Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union, CIO, and Local 13-272 were
permitted to intervene on the basis of their contractual interest.
114 NLRB No. 212.
G. WASHINGTON AND BURNETTS DIVISION, ETC. 1353
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 Leedom and Members
Murdock and Peterson].
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. The labor organization named below claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of certain employees of the Employer, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner seeks to sever from the existing production and
maintenance unit represented by the Intervenor a unit of four full-
time firemen. The Employer opposes severance on the ground that the
firemen do not constitute a craft and have duties which are closely in-
tegrated with those carried on in the rest of the plant. The Inter-
venor also contends that the proposed unit is inappropriate. The fire-
men sought by the Petitioner-Henry Nurge, Charles Lojum, John
Lynch, Woodrow W. Byram-are licensed under State law and work
principally in the boilerroom where they perform the typical power-
house functions required to maintain steam in a plant. While there is
conflicting evidence as to whether the relief fireman, Frank Denike,
serves in this capacity only in emergencies and during vacation
periods or 1 day a week, the record reveals that he spends most of his
time at general maintenance tasks in the plant. One other employee,
Anthony Cornell, appears to devote all of his time to the job of boiler-
room helper. Although the four full-time firemen are under the gen-
eral direction of a plant supervisor on each shift, it is clear that they
constitute a functionally distinct group with related duties and inter-
ests and are entitled to a self-determination election despite a history
of bargaining on a broader basis. Moreover, the Petitioner is affiliated
with a union which historically represents such powerhouse units.
Baldwinville Products, Inc., 111 NLRB 752. The fact that the fire-
men prepare steam for use in the Employer's production processes does
not militate against the propriety of this unit. General Electric Com-
pany (Fitchburg Works), 110 NLRB 744, 745-746. As Cornell's
boilerroom duties link him with the full-time firemen, we shall in-
clude him in the unit. However, we shall exclude Denike from the unit
because we find that his interests are substantially allied with the
maintenance employees rather than the full-time firemen.
The following employees of the Employer may constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act :
1354 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
All boilerroom employees at the Employer's Morris Plains, New
Jersey, plant, including full-time firemen and boilerroom helper, but
excluding relief fireman, all other employees, and supervisors as defined
in the Act.
5. If a majority vote for the Petitioner they will be taken to have
indicated their desire to constitute a separate appropriate unit, and the
Regional Director conducting the election directed herein is instructed
to issue a certification of representatives to the Petitioner for the unit
described in paragraph numbered 4, which the Board, under such
circumstances, finds to be appropriate for purposes of collective bar-
gaining. In the event a majority vote for the Intervenor, the Board
finds the existing unit to be appropriate and the Regional Director
will issue a certification of results of election to such effect.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
MEMBERS RODGERS and BEAN took no part in the consideration of
the above Decision and Direction of Election.
Radio & Television Broadcast Engineers Union , Local 1212,
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers , AFL-CIO I
and Columbia Broadcasting System , Inc. Case No. 2-CD-102.
December 14, 1955
DECISION AND DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE
This proceeding arises under Section 10 (k) of the Act, which pro-
vides that "Whenever it is charged that any person has engaged in an
unfair labor practice within the meaning of paragraph 4 (D) of Sec-
tion 8 (b), the Board is empowered and directed to hear and determine
the dispute out of which such unfair labor practice shall have
arisen. ..."
On April 18, 1955, Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., herein
called CBS or Employer, filed with the Regional Director for the Sec-
ond Region a charge against Radio & Television Broadcast Engineers
Union, Local 1212, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
AFL-CIO, herein called IBEW or Respondent, alleging that the lat-
ter had engaged in and was engaging in certain activities proscribed
by Section 8 (b) (4) (D) of the amended Act. It was charged, in sub-
stance, that IBEW had induced and encouraged employees of CI3S to
engage in a strike or a concerted refusal to work in the course of their
employment with an object of forcing or requiring CBS to assign par-
I The AFL and CIO having merged, we are amending the identification of the Unions
affiliations.
114 NLRB No. 209.