AMF Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 27, 1973

205 N.L.R.B. 984 (N.L.R.B. 1973)

984 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
AMF Cuno Division, AMF Incorporated and Interna- but found that the town did not have the utility facili-
tional Union , Allied Industrial Workers of America, ties necessary to accommodate the planned immedi-
AFL-CIO. Case 1-RC-12669 ate expansion. It then decided to use an existing
building in Talcottville which would meet its needs
August 27, 1973 for expansion. Although located 18 miles from Staf-
ford Springs, the approximate driving time was only
DECISION ON REVIEW 20 minutes between plants.
Prior to the opening of the Talcottville plant, the
BY CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS FANNING Stafford Springs plant had five production lines en-
AND JENKINS gaged in Micro-Klean products, in addition to Micro-
Wynd, Cuno-Pore, and Poro-Klean lines. When the
On May 18, 1973, the Regional Director for Region Talcottville plant opened, two production lines were
1 issued his Decision and Direction of Election in the set up for Micro-Klean products; and the Micro-
above-entitled proceeding in which he found appro- Wynd product line and the filter and cartridge assem-
priate a unit limited to production and maintenance bly operation for Micro-Klean products were trans-
employees, including dispatchers, shipping clerk, re- ferred from Stafford Springs to Talcottville. The
ceiving clerk, senior shipping and receiving clerk at Stafford Springs plant continued to operate five Mi-
the Employer's Stafford Springs, Connecticut, plant, cro-Klean lines and the Cuno-Pore and Poro-Klean
but excluding office clerical employees, professional product lines. With the opening of the Talcottville
employees, technical employees, quality control tech- plant, and the transfer of the above-mentioned opera-
nicians, laboratory testers, guards and supervisors as tions, employees were given an opportunity to follow
defined in the Act.' Thereafter, in accordance with their work on jobs at the Talcottville plant. At the
Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board time of the hearing herein, there were 22 former Staf-
Rules and Regulations, the Employer filed a timely ford Springs employees in the Talcottville plant which
request for review of the Regional Director's Decision has a total of less than 100 employees.
contending, inter alia, that a unit limited to the Staf- In the manufacture of some products, certain com-
ford Springs plant is inappropriate, that the only ap- ponents made at Stafford Springs are either assem-
propriate unit for the employees involved must also bled or otherwise used at the Talcottville plant. The
include its plant located at Talcottville, Connecticut, same raw and other materials are used at both plants,
and that the petition should therefore be dismissed. some of which are stored at one plant and transferred
On June 28, 1973, the National Labor Relations for use to the other plant.
Board by telegraphic Order granted the request for Administratively, the Talcottville plant is consid-
review and stayed the election pending decision on ered as a department of the Stafford Springs opera-
review. tion with a common personnel policy, labor relations
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the policy, payroll, and purchasing system. Thus, there
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na- are common job classifications, rate structures, and
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au- fringe benefits, including pension programs, insur-
thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. ance benefits, as well as others. In addition there is an
The Board has reviewed the entire record in this integrated hourly payroll and clock numbers system
case with respect to the issues under review and makes for both plants.
the following findings: The production process at both locations is under
The Employer is engaged in the manufacture, as- the direction of a single plant manager who spends
sembly, and distribution of various disposable filter about equal time at each of the two plants. Both
media at its two locations. Prior to June 1971, all plants operate on three shifts, each shift having a shift
manufacturing operations were performed at its Staf- foreman, six in all, who reports directly to the plant
ford Springs plant. In the early part of 1970, the manager. Both plants have a common manager of
Employer's Stafford Springs plant was operating at manufacturing engineering, personnel manager, qual-
capacity, its inventories were declining and it was hav- ity control manager, and "buyer."
ing difficulty meeting production schedules. A deter- Upon the foregoing, we conclude, contrary to the
mination was made that additional production Regional Director, that a unit limited to the Stafford
capacity was immediately needed. The Employer ini- Springs plant is inappropriate and that the unit must
tially planned to expand its Stafford Springs plant, be broadened to include the production and mainte-
nance employees at the Talcottville plant. In so con-
On June 6, 1973, the Regional Director issued an amendment to his cluding, we rely especially on the fact that both plants
Decision and Direction of Election, clarifying certain matters raised in the are highly integrated and engaged in manufacture,
Employer's request for review
205 NLRB No. 160
AMF INCORPORATED
assembly , and distribution of various disposable filter
media ; and that notwithstanding an 18-mile geo-
graphic separation , both plants have the same plant
manager and personnel manager who divide their
time between the plants and administer common op-
erational and labor relations policy.' Accordingly, we
shall remand the case to the Regional Director in
2 The Kendall Company, 181 NLRB 1130, Halstead & Mitchell Co, 151
NLRB 1460
985
order that he may conduct an election pursuant to his
Decision and Direction of Election, as modified here-
in, subject to his ascertaining that the Petitioner has
made an adequate showing of interest among the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit, and with this further
exception that the eligibility date for the election shall
be that immediately preceding the date of issuance.'
3 If the Petitioner does not now desire to participate in an election in the
unit we find appropriate herein , we shall permit it to withdraw its petition
without prejudice upon written notice to the Regional Director within 10
days from the date of this Decision