American Optical Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 17, 1945

63 N.L.R.B. 924 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of AMERICAN OPTICAL COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS (AFL)
Case No.1-R-54.0.Deeided September 17,1945
Mr. Gilman Wallace , of Southbridge , Mass., for the Company.
Mr. Harold F. Reardon, of Boston , Mass., for the AFL.
Grant & Ango ff, by Mr. Harold B. Roit?nan , of Boston , Mass., for
District 50.
Messrs. Joseph Duggan, James O'Reilly, and John F. Nowak, of
Brattleboro, Vt., for the CIO.
Mr. Mozart G. Ratner, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Association of Machin-
ists (AFL), herein called the A. F. of L., alleging that a question affect-
ing commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees
of American Optical Company, herein called the Company, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing
upon due notice before John W. Coddaire , Jr., Trial Examiner. The
hearing was held at Brattleboro , Vermont, on July 18, 1945. The
Company, the A. F. of L., the United Mine Workers of America, Dis-
trict 50, herein called District 50, and Optical and Instrument Work-
ers Organizing Committee (CIO), herein called the C. I. 0., appeared
and participated . All parties were afforded full opportunity to be
heard, to examine and cross -examine witnesses , and to introduce evi-
' dence bearing on the issues . The Trial Examiner's rulings made at
the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby'affirmed.
All parties were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
American Optical Company, a Massachusetts business trust engaged
in the manufacture and sale of lenses, frames, mountings , optical sup-
63 N. L . R. B., No. 146.
924
AMERICAN OPTICAL COMPANY 925
plies and optical materials and equipment , maintains its general office
and main plant in Southbridge, Massachusetts. The Company oper-
ates a branch factory at Brattleboro, Vermont, which is alone involved
in the proceeding, at which it manufactures ophthalmic, industrial
safety, and vision lenses . The principal raw material utilized in the
operations of the Brattleboro plant is glass, all of which is shipped
to the plant from points outside the State of Vermont. The finished
products of the plant, valued in excess of $1,250,000 annually, are all
shipped to points outside the State of Vermont.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Association of Machinists, affiliated with the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to mem-
bership employees of the Company.
Optical and Instrument Workers Organizing Committee, affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization
admitting to membership employees of the Company.
United Mine Workers of America, District 50, is a labor organiza-
tion admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company at the hearing refused to grant recognition to the
A. F. of L. as the exclusive bargaining representative of the employees
named in the petition until the Board had certified an exclusive repre-
sentative for the employees in an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the A. F. of L., the C. I. 0., and District 50 each
represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter
found appropriate
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the
representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
'The Field Examiner reported that the A. P. of L. submitted 141 authorization cards,
all of which bore apparently genuine original signatures ; that the names of 129 persons
appearing on the cards were listed on the Company' s pay roll of June 22, 1945, which con-
tained the names of 432 employees in the appropriate unit ; and that the cards were
undated
The C. I O. submitted 60 authorization cards, all of which bore apparently genuine
original signatures The names of 50 persons appearing on the cards were contained in
the aforesaid pay roll The cards were all dated in May and June 1945.
District 50 submitted 57 authorization cards, all of which bore apparently genuine origi-
nal signatures . The names of 35 persons appealing on the cards were contained in the
aforesaid pay roll The cards were dated in 1944 and 1945.
926 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The A. F. of L . seeks a unit composed of "all employees of the Com-
pany at its Brattleboro , Vermont, plant , but excluding executives, office
and clerical employees , foremen, and all other supervisory employees,
with authority to hire, promote , discharge , discipline , or otherwise
effect changes in the status of employees or effectively recommend such
action." While all parties were in agreement concerning the general
composition of the unit , it developed at the hearing that there was dis-
agreement with respect to whether or not certain specific groups of
employees were to be included in the unit as so defined.
The Company contends that those office employees whose duties
entail summarization of production and pay-roll records and are thus
related to the production process should be included in the unit. All
three labor organizations disagree and seek to have these office em-
ployees excluded. The duties of the employees involved are wholly
clerical , they work in the main office, their hours differ from those of
the production force as does the length of their vacation period. We
find that the interests of these office employees are more closely allied
to those of the balance of the office force than to those of the production
employees and shall therefore exclude them from the unit.
The shipping department of the plant employs a head shipper and a
stockkeeper . The A. F. of L. and the Company seek to include the
shipping department employees , while the intervenors take no position
on the question . These employees work in a separate room near the
office, assemble the finished products for shipment , and keep records
of shipments made. Although they are listed on the office pay roll
and, like office employees , receive a 2-week vacation , their working
hours are the same as those of the production employees and the nature
of their duties indicates the propriety of grouping them together with
the production employees rather than with the office force. We shall
include them in the unit.
,A large proportion of the Company's working force consists of in-
spectors whose duties entail checking the product at various stages of
production to discover defects. Defects, whether due to imperfection
in the glass , maladjustment of machines , or poor workmanship, are
reported to the foremen who take steps to correct the situation. In-
spectors possess no supervisory authority , and, in accordance with the
position taken by the parties, we shall include them in the unit.
In several departments , including inspection , wash room, pitch mak-
ing, and polishing , the Company employs leadmen, who are termed
"head" men, e. g., head inspectors , head washers , etc. The A. F. of L.
and the Company seek to include the "head" men in the unit; the inter-
venors take no position on the question . These employees , during
part of the time, perform the same work as do the employees in the
AMERICAN OPTICAL COMPANY 927
categories they head; they also check on the work of such employees.
They receive 5 cents per hour more than the ordinary employees but
possess no power to discipline them or otherwise affect their status.
"Heads" report to the foremen or the superintendent concerning the
quality of the product but make no effective recommendations. We
shall include the head inspectors, head washer, head polisher maker,
and head of the pitch room in the unit.
The C. I. 0. seeks to exclude from the unit employees in the mainte-
nance stores department, whereas the A. F. of L., District 50, and the
Company desire their inclusion. These employees handle and dis-
tribute manufacturing and maintenance supplies under the super-
vision of the plant engineer, the head of the maintenance department.
They are hourly paid and are not carried on the office pay roll. We
shall include them in the unit.
All parties agree that factory clerks are to be included in the unit.
These employees, who work in the various production departments
under the supervision of the departmental foremen, handle production
slips and other production information and share identical working
conditions with the production employees. We shall include the fac-
tory clerks in the unit. Likewise, in accordance with the desire of the
parties, we shall include the set-up and control machinist in the edging
department, a non-supervisory employee who controls the accuracy
of the gauges used in production.
We find that all employees of the Company at its Brattleboro,
Vermont, plant, including the head shipper, the -stockkeeper, inspec-
tors, head inspectors, head washer, head polisher maker, head of the
pitch room, employees in the maintenance stores department, factory
clerks, and the set-up and control machinist in the edging department,
but excluding executives, office and clerical employees, foremen and
all or any other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote,
discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of
employees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election
herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction 2
2 During the summer the Company employs high school and college students in addition
to its regular working force. The parties agree that these temporary employees who leave
the Company in the fall to return to school should not be included in the "unit." In ac-
cordance with our usual policy, we rule that they are ineligible to vote in the election.
928 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act,
and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that , as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with American Optical
Company an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as
possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Di-
rection, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director
for the First Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National
Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11,
of said Rules and Regulations , among the employees in the unit 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 the pay-roll period because they
were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including employees
in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in
person at the polls, 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 election, to determine whether they desire
to be represented by International Association of Machinists , affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor, or by Optical and Instrument
Workers Organizing Committee, affiliated with the Congress of Indus-
trial Organizations , or by United Mine Workers of America, District
50, for the purposes of collective bargaining , or by neither.
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