Bell Aircraft Corp.Download PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsOct 31, 195196 N.L.R.B. 1211 (N.L.R.B. 1951) Copy Citation BELL AIRCRAFT CORPORATION 1211 We find that all production and maintenance employees at the Em- ployer's Decatur, Georgia, plant, including truck drivers, but exclud- ing receiving and shipping clerks, office-clerical employees, and all supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act 12 [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this volume.] 12 Although the parties agree as to the exclusion of professional employees and guards, we shall make no findings regarding their unit placement because there are no individuals in these categories. BELL AIRCRAFT CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE AIRCRAFT AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, UAW-CIO, PETITIONER. Case No. 16-RC-772. October 31,1951 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 Joseph A. Jenkins, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Murdock]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em- ployees 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. The Employer is engaged in the manufacture of aircraft in the city of Fort Worth, Texas. All parties agreed that the appropriate unit should include all production and maintenance employees of the Em- ployer's plants No. 1 and No. 2, with the usual exclusions. The parties disagreed as to the inclusion of timekeepers and inspectors. The Em- ployer and the IAM also urged that the election, if ordered, be post- poned because of an expanding unit. 1 The International Association of Machinists, herein called the IAM , and the Independent Aircraft Workers Union , herein called the Independent , were permitted to intervene upon a showing of interest in the claimed appropriate unit. 96 NLRB No. 188. 1212 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The timekeepers. The Petitioner and Intervenors contend that the timekeepers be included. The Employer urges that they be excluded as confidential employees on the ground that their main task is to keep records which form the basis of the pay checks and possible grievances of the production workers. There are four timekeepers, whose duties consist of keeping and checking the time records punched by the employees and tabulating all time worked for payroll and other purposes. It is also their respon- sibility to see to it that the time cards on the clocks are properly handled and punched. The timekeepers spend about half their time in the shop and the other half in the office where they do their tabulat- ing. They report to the payroll clerk. They are hourly paid on a weekly basis like the production workers and they have the same vaca- tion and insurance benefits. On the basis of the above, we find that the timekeepers are plant clericals, and, in accordance with the established practice of the Board,2 we shall include them in the unit. The inspectors. The Employer, in opposition to the Unions, would exclude the inspectors on the ground that they are supervisors. There are 23 inspectors divided into 3 classes, lower, middle, and top grades, who, together with the chief and assistant inspectors, constitute the inspection department. The duties of the inspectors are to check the work of the production employees against the blueprint specifica- tions. If the work is not satisfactory, they may send it back; or if the defect is a minor one, they' may instruct the employee how to correct it. If there are numerous defects, the inspector makes out a check sheet indicating the corrections to be made. The check sheet is then sent to the chief inspector and thence to the production fore- man and the employee involved. The inspectors do not have the au- thority to hire and discharge; nor do they make recommendations concerning the status of employees. No special training or background is required for the inspector's job. The lower grade inspectors learn their tasks from the higher grades, they punch time clocks, are hourly paid, use the same rest rooms, have the same vacations and insurance benefits, and work in the same general area as the production workers. Under these circumstances, as the inspectors in the inspection depart- ment have a community of interest with the production workers and are not supervisors, we shall include them with the production and maintenance employees in accordance with our usual policy 3 5. At the hearing and in its brief, the Employer, in support of its 2 Radio Corporation of America, 96 NLRB No. 130 ; Northwest Engineering Company, 73 NLRB 40; Westelom, Division of General Time Instruments Corporation , 82 NLRB 198; Electrical Reactance Corporation , 92 NLRB 1256 ; Wilson Athletic Goods Mfg. Co., Inc., 93 NLRB No. 90. a Clayton Mark i Company, 76 NLRB 230; Boeing Airplane Company (Wichita Division), 92 NLRB No. 263. BELL AIRCRAFT CORPORATION 1213 contention that the petition was premature and should be dismissed, contended that no election should be held at the present time, on the ground that the unit is expanding and that the present complement is not sufficient to form the basis for stable collective bargaining. The IAM, in its motion to intervene, also urges that the petition is pre- mature and should be dismissed because the present complement of employees is merely a training ground for the Employer's supervisory personnel. The Petitioner urges that the present force is adequate and representative. In support of this contention, it points out that com- pleted aircraft products are actually being turned out at the plants herein involved. The evidence shows there are now some 200 employees in the unit sought. At the hearing, which took place late in August 1951, the Employer's representative testified that, because the expansion will be gradual until the end of 1951, it is expected that by January 1952 there will be some 500 employees in the unit and that by the spring of 1952 there will possibly be 1,300 employees 4 As the evidence shows that the present complement of employees constitutes 40 percent of the force to be employed by the end of 1951, we find that the present force is a substantial and representative segment of employees to be employed by January 1, 1952. Under these cir- cumstances and upon the basis of the entire record, we see no reason for departing from the Board's usual policy of directing an immediate election; accordingly, we shall deny the Employer's and the IAM's motion to postpone the election or dismiss the petition 5 We find that all production and maintenance employees at the Em- ployer's plants at Blue Mound Road and 2600 North Main Street, Fort North, Texas, including inspectors, timekeepers, production control employees with shop duties,(' factory clericals, truck drivers, leadmen, but excluding office clerical employees, professional employees, watch- men, guards, and all supervisors 7 as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this volume.] 4 The Employer's representative also testified that the maximum employment will be reached in the spring of 1953 when it is expected there will be some 3,800 employees. This number, however , will include a third plant which will be completed late in 1952. That plant is not involved in this proceeding and will manufacture a different product. 8 Cadillac Motor Car Division, Cleveland Tank Plant, 94 NLRB 217. 6 The parties stipulated that production control employees whose normal duties are confined to the shop floor should be included and that production control employees, whose duties fall within the office, should be excluded. i The parties stipulated that the chief inspector and the assistant inspector are super visors within the meaning of the Act and should be excluded. Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation