Bendix Aviation Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 20, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 1281 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of BENDIx AVIATION CORPORATION, KANSAS CITY
DIVISION, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MA-
CHINISTS , LOCAL LODGE #314, PETITIONER and UNITED BROTHERHOOD
OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA, DISTRICT COUNCIL OF
KANSAS CITY AND VICINITY, A. F. L., PETITIONER
Cases Nos. 17-RC-588 and 17-RC-612.-Decided March, 20, 1950
DECISION
ORDER
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon petitions (Cases Nos. 17-RC-588 and 17-RC-612) duly filed
and consolidated, a hearing was held on January 10 and 11, 1950, be-
fore Charles F. McCoy, 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 National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Members Reynolds, Murdock, and
Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer, the Kansas City Division of Bendix Aviation
Corporation, is engaged in the production of electronic devices under
a prime contract with the Atomic Energy Commission. Its opera-
tions are conducted in a plant owned by the United States Navy.
Title to all materials, machines, and products is vested in the Atomic
Energy Commission. Although, because of security regulations,' the
total amounts, types, and values of materials arriving at and leaving
the plant could not be introduced at the hearing, the Employer con-
ceded that these volumes were substantial. The record also shows
that purchases are made outside the State of Missouri.
The Employer neither admits nor denies that it is engaged in activi-
ties that affect interstate commerce. We find, however, in conformity
with our decisions with respect to other employers engaged in the
c I A representative of the Atomic Energy Commission attended to the hearing for the pur-
pose of preserving security.
88 NLRB No. 219. 1281
1282 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
atomic energy program 2 that the Employer is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the Act.
2. The Petitioner in Case No. 17-RC-588, International Association
of Machinists, Local Lodge #314, hereinafter called the IAM; the
Petitioner in Case No. 17-RC-612, United Brotherhood of Carpenters
and Joiners,of,America, District Council of Kansas City and Vicinity,
,A. F. L., hereinafter called the Carpenters; the Intervenor, Interna-
tional Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Imple-
ment Workers of America, CIO, hereinafter called the UAW, are
labor organizations 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 TAM and the UAW are generally in agreement in seeking
establishment of a plant-wide unit of all production and maintenance
employees, excluding office clerical and supervisory employees. The
Employer, while in general agreement with this unit, sought at the
hearing and in its brief to limit the term "production ,and mainte-
nance" by the addition of the words "hourly paid" and the specific
inclusion ' and 'specific exclusion of numerous job categories unneces-
sary to rehearse in detail here. As we' have indicated in prior cases,
the method of payment is not determinative of the scope of an appro-
priate bargaining units Analysis of the inclusions and exclusions
sought by the Employer leads to the opinion that such specificity is
unnecessary and is, in those instances where no employees in the cate-
gories specified are presently employed, premature. We feel, there-
fore, that our customary general definition of the production and
maintenance unit with the following amplification will better serve
to. describe the unit hereinafter found appropriate.
All interested parties have consented to the inclusion of interior and
outside transportation employees. As the record does not reveal any
reason to disturb this arrangement, we shall specifically include this
group. Since these employees are to be included in the production
and maintenance unit, there is no basis for the exclusion of company
chauffeurs, whose duties are similar to other outside drivers and are
not confidential within the Board's interpretation of that term 4 With
respect to the exclusions sought by the Employer, all office, engineer-
ing, research, plant. protection, medical, safety, time-study,5 and super-
s See . Carbide and Carbon Chemicals Corporation , 79 NLRB 83; Monsanto Chemical Com-
pany, 76 NLRB 767; Carbide and Carbon Chemicals Corporation , 73 NLRB 134; and
General Electric Company, 85 NLRB 1316.
See General Motors Corporation, 27 NLRB 1196.
See General Electric Company, 86 NLRB 327.
See Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company, 81 NLRB 584; John Deere Dubuque Tractor
Company, 72 NLRB 656.
BENDIX AVIATION. CORPORATION 1283
visory employees as defined by the Act will be specifically excluded.
However, in accordance with previous Board precedent,6 it is found
that timekeepers and counters are in the nature of shop clerical em-
.ployees and, as such, will be included in the unit.
. The Carpenters seeks to represent all maintenance carpenters, mill-
wrights, millmen, cabinet men and helpers, and welders, excluding
all other employees. The record shows that the unit sought by the Car-
penters has in this instance none of the characteristics which call for
the establishment of a craft unit. Thus, the carpenters are not en-
gaged exclusively in craft work, but perform a variety of maintenance
tasks for which a high degree of craft skill is not required. It also
appears that the unit is heterogeneous in that the inclusion of welders.
is sought. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition in Case No.
17-RC-612 filed by the Carpenters.
We find that all production and maintenance employees, including
interior and outside transportation employees, chauffeurs, timekeep-
ers, and counters, but excluding all office, engineering, research, plant
protection, medical, safety, time-study, and supervisory employees as
defined by the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
ORDER
IT IS 'HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed in Case No. 17-RC-612
by United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Dis-
trict Council of Kansas City and Vicinity, A. F. L., be, and hereby
is, dismissed.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
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
unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were
employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work
during said payroll period because they were ill or on vacation or
temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
See Gemmer Manufacturing Company, 85 NLRB 700, factory clerical ; Aluminum Com-
pany of America , 80 NLRB 1342 , timekeeper ; Minneapolis -Moline Company , 85 NLRB 597,
shop clerical.
882191-51-82
1284 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been 'rehired -or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election , and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement , to determine whether
they desire to be represented , for purposes of collective bargaining,
by International Association of Machinists, Local Lodge, #314, or
International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural
Implement Workers of America, CIO , or by neither.