Beaumont Mills, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 21, 1949

85 N.L.R.B. 316 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of BEAUMONT MILLS, INC., EMPLOYER and LOCAL UNION
No. 136, INTERNATIONAL BROTI3ERI-IOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS,
PETITIONER
Case No. 10-RC-54.4.Decided July 21 , 19.19
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Shally O. Wise,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed with the exception
noted below.'
Upon the entire record in this case the Board 2 finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent
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.
4. The appropriate unit :
The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit of all employees in the Em-
ployer's power plant and water filter plant at Childersburg, Ala-
bama, including turbine, switchboard, condenser, bulldozer, and filter
plant operators, the chief electrician, and the shift electricians.
This proceeding 'concerns the Employer's rayon manufacturing
operations at Childersburg, Alabama. As of April 21, 1949, the date
of the hearing in this case, the Employer's main plant was still under
1 At the hearing, the United Textile Workers of America, AFL, herein called the Textile
Workers , moved to intervene on the basis of its representation in other plants of
the Employer, and its general interest in organizing employees in the rayon industry.
The hearing officer granted the motion. As the Textile Workers offered no proof of rep-
resentation , nor showed any other valid basis for its intervention , we find that its partici-
pation in the hearing was improper. Accordingly, we hereby reverse the hearing officer
and deny the Textile Workers' motion for intervention . See Matter of Bank of America,
N. T. & S. A., 71 N. L. R. B. 342.
2 Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as
amended, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-
member panel [ Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Gray].
85 N. L . R. B., No. 62.
316
BEAUNIT MILLS, INC. 317
construction. However, the power and water filter plants, which are
separate buildings located some distance from the main plant, were
in operation and, with minor exceptions, already fully staffed with
permanent employees.3 When production starts, the power and water
filter plants will supply the Employer's main plant with compressed
air, steam, electricity, water, and similar elements, all of which will be
used in the process of manufacturing rayon.
The Employer contends that the unit sought by the Petitioner is in-
appropriate because the bargaining pattern in the industry is on a
plant-wide basis, its other plants are likewise organized on a plant-
wide:basis, and its manufacturing operations will later be highly inte-
grated with the operations of the power and water filter plants. We
find no merit in these contentions.
With the exception of the employees noted below, the Petitioner
seeks to represent a conventional powerhouse unit. The employees in
the powerhouse are separately supervised and perform the usual duties
relating to powerhouse operations. The Board has frequently found
that power plant employees constitute an appropriate unit for col-
lective bargaining purposes, because they are a homogeneous and
clearly identifiable group .4
The Petitioner would include in the unit the chief electrician and
the shift electricians. When manufacturing operations commencer
these employees, under the supervision of the plant engineer, will do
electrical maintenance work throughout the plants. It was estimated
that 95 percent of their time would be spent working in the main plant,
the remaining 5 percent in the powerhouse. At no time would they
be under the supervision of the power plant superintendent. As their
duties are separate and distinct from the powerhouse employees, and
as they are separately supervised, we shall exclude them from the unit.
The Petitioner would also include the bulldozer operator in the unit.
At the time of the hearing, there was one bulldozer operator, who did
not work in the powerhouse although he helped unload coal from rail-
road cars and bulldozed it into large piles for eventual use in the
powerhouse. He is currently under the supervision of the power plant
superintendent. The record indicates, however, that when manufac-
turing operations start, the bulldozer operator will also be assigned
tasks that are not connected with the operations of the powerhouse,
although he may continue to be supervised by the power plant super-
intendent. As the bulldozer operator is not a traditional member of
' The Employer expected that the main plant would start producing rayon in the first
week of May 1949, and that within 6 months thereafter the plant would be in full
production.
4 Matter of General Motors Corporation , 76 N. L. It. B. 879, and cases cited therein.
See also Matter of Celanese Corporation of America, 78 N. L. It. B. 1047; Matter of Mal-
linckrodt Chemical Works, 84 N. L. It. B. 291.
318 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the powerhouse unit, and as he does not share the close community of
interest among powerhouse employees, we shall exclude him from the
unit.
Finally, the Petitioner would include in the unit the water filter
plant operators.5 These employees, under the supervision of the
power plant superintendent, are in charge of three closely related
operations : the river pumping station, the water reservoir, and the
water filter plant. During the course of these three operations, water
is pumped from the river, filtered, softened, chlorinated, and then
stored for use either in the power plant or the main plant. The duties
of these operators involve the starting and stopping of pumps and
performing minor maintenance work. Although the water filter
plant operators are not a part of the traditional powerhouse unit, they
share common supervision with the powerhouse employees and per-
form functions closely integrated with the operations of the power
plant. As it appears that their interests are more closely allied to
the power plant employees than -to the production and maintenance
employees, we shall include them in the unit.
Accordingly, we find that all employees in the Employer's power
and water filter plants at Childersburg, Alabama, including the tur-
bine, switchboard, condenser, and water filter plant operators, but
excluding the chief electrician, shift electricians, the bulldozer op-
erator, guards, professional employees, and all supervisors as defined
in the Act, constitute an appropriate unit for the purposes of collective
bargaining.6
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 7
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election 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 super-
vision 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
5 At the time of the hearing there was one such employee . The Employer expected,
however, to hire three more when manufacturing operations commenced.
6 Cf. Matter of Celanese Corporation of America , 84 N. L . R. B. 207, where the Board
found that an alleged powerhouse unit in this same industry was inappropriate because
it consisted of a heterogeneous group of variously supervised employees performing diverse
and unrelated duties.
T The compliance status of Local Union No. 136 has lapsed since the hearing in this
matter . In the event it fails to renew its compliance with Section 9 (h) within 2
weeks from the (late of this Direction , the Regional Director is to advise the Board
to that effect . No election shall be conducted unless and until compliance has been
renewed.
BEAUNIT MILLS , INC. 319
unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4 , above, who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election , including employees who did not 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 re-
instated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement , to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented , for purposes of collective bargain-
ing, by Local Union No. 136; International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers.