Bethlehem Steel Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 8, 1944

55 N.L.R.B. 316 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of BETHLEHEM STEEL COMPANY. SHIPBUILDING DIvisION,
56TH STREET YARD and INDUSTRIAL UNION OF MARINE & SHIPBUILDING
WORKERS OF ADIERICA , LOCAL 13, CIO
Case No. 2-R-44641.Decided March 8, 1944
Mr. E. E. Kirwan, of New York City, and Messrs. Mortimer 117.
Meade and Francis F. Hanigan, of Brooklyn, N. Y., for the Company.
Mr. I. C. Velson, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and Mr. William Phillips, of
Jamaica, N. Y., for the Union.
Mr. William?, C. Baisinger, Jr., of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STA'IE]NENT OF 'IHE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by Industrial Union of Marine & Ship-
building Workers of America, Local 13, CIO, herein called the Union,
alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the
representation of employees of Bethlehem Steel Company, Shipbuild-
ing Division, 56th Street Yard, Brooklyn, New York, herein called the
Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appro-
priate hearing upon clue notice before David H. Werther, Trial Exam-
iner. Said hearing was held at New York City on January 28. 1944.
The Company and the Union appeared, participated, and were afforded
full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses,
to introduce evidence bearing upon the issues, and to file briefs with
the Board. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Bethlehem Steel Company is a Pennsylvania corporation having
offices for its shipbuilding division at No. 25 Broadway, New York
City. The shipbuilding division of the Company is engaged at its
55 N. L R B, No 57.
316
BETHLEHEM STEEL COMPANY 317
shipyard located at 56th Street and First Avenue, Brooklyn, New York,
in the repair, alteration, and conversion of ships. During the calen-
dar year 1943, the approximate value of all materials used by the
Company in such work at its 56th Street Yard was lit excess of
$1,000,000, of which more than 90 percent was delivered to said yard
from points outside the State of New Yolk. During the same year,
the aggregate amount billed by the Company for such work at the 56th
Street Yard was in excess of $1,000,000, of which more than 90 percent
was with respect to work on ships which were destined for use in
interstate and foreign commerce or for the United States Govern-
ment. The Company admits and we find that at its 56th Street Yard
it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor
Relations Act.
II. TIIE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Industrial Union of Marine & Shipbuilding Workers of America,
Local 13, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Inclus-
trial Organizations, admitting to membership employees of the ConT-
pany.
III. TIIE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
At the hearing the parties stipulated that on or about November
29, 1943, the Union requested the Company to recognize it as the
exclusive bargaining representative of the employees within an alleged
appropriate unit and that the Company refused to accord the Union
such recognition unless and until it is certified by the Board.
A statement prepared by a Field Examiner of the Board, introduced
into evidence at the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a
substantial number of employees within the unit hereinafter found
to be 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.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union contends that all fire inspectors in the Fire Department
of the Company 's 56th Street Yard, excluding the fire chief , captains,
lieutenants , and any other supervisory employees within our customary
definition , constitute an appropriate bargaining unit. In denying
'The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 9 authorization cards bearing
apparently genuine original signatures of persons whose navies appear on the Company's
pay roll of January 1, 1944, which contains the names of 10 employees wrthm the alleged
appropriate unit.
318 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the appropriateness of such a unit, the Company takes the position
that the fire inspectors function as representatives of management and
therefore are not employees within the meaning of the Act.
The Company's fire department is comprised of a fire chief, 3 cap-
tains, 3 lieutenants, 8 fire inspectors, and approximately 275 fire watch-
men. The department is under the general supervision of the fire
chief. A captain is directly in charge of each of the 3 shifts, and the
lieutenants are immediately below the captains in authority.
Upon the arrival of a ship which is to be repaired, a lieutenant or a
fire inspector is assigned the task of inspecting it for fire hazards.
The lieutenant or inspector is provided with a special chart of the ship
on which he indicates the areas containing combustible materials.
When repair work is begun, fire watchmen are stationed by the fire in-
spectors at the areas designated on the chart. The watchmen then
work' on board the ship in conjunction with the various production
groups engaged in repairing it. In addition to these functions, the
fire inspectors, eight of whom were employed by the Company at the
56th Street Yard at the time of the hearing, patrol areas to which they
are assigned for the purpose of discovering and eliminating fire haz-
ards. In the event of a fire, they assist in extinguishing it with the
aid of hose lines, water and fire extinguishers. Another function they
perform is the inspection of fire fighting equipment in order to insure
its fitness.
At the date of the hearing the fire depart nient employed 12 tem-
porary fire inspectors in addition to the 8 regular fire inspectors.
These employees were promoted from the position of fire watchman
to their present classification in order to augment the group of fire
inspectors while the yard is operating at peak-load. In the event that
the work load is reduced the complement of temporary fire inspectors
will similarly be reduced and thus some of these employees will return
to their former positions as fire watchmen.2 However, while acting
as temporary fire inspectors they exercise authority similar to that
possessed by the fire inspectors.
The preponderance of evidence indicates that fire inspectors have
no direct authority to discharge or discipline the fire watchmen, their
authority being limited to the right to report neglect or derelictions
on the part of the fire watchmen to the captain in charge of their par-
ticular shift. The captain alone has the authority to discipline the
fire watchmen or to recommend them for promotion or demotion.-'
Although the Company contends that fire inspectors are supervisory
employees because they are authorized to stop welders and burners
2 Both fire watchmen and temporary fire inspectors are part of the industrial bargaining
unit covered by a current contract between the Company and the Union.
B The parties are in agreement with respect to the exclusion of the fire chief, captains,
and lieutenants from the unit.
BETHLEHEM STEEL COMPANY 319
who may be working under conditions which the fire inspectors deem
to be unsafe, it is apparent that such action is merely taken in the
interests of safety. Moreover, the employees ordered to stop work
lose no time or pay and no material change in their status is effected.
We consequently find no merit in the Company's contention.
In a prior representation case involving another of its shipyards,
the Company made the same contentions. In that case we found that
fire inspectors were "employees within the meaning of the Act" and
constituted a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining.4 Accordingly, in view of all the foregoing facts, we find
that all fire inspectors employed in the Fire Department of the Com-
pany's 56th Street Yard, excluding the fire chief, captains, lieuten-
ants, and 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 means of an election by secret ballot among
the employees 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.5
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 Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Bethlehem Steel
Company, Shipbuilding Division, 56th Street Yard, Brooklyn, New
York, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as pos-
sible, 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 Second 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
4 See Matter of Bethlehem Steel Company, Staten Island Yard, 50 N. L. R. B. 790.
At the hearing the Union requested that its name appear on the ballot as hereinafter set
forth in the Direction of Election.
320 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction,
including employees who did not work during said 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 any 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 or
not they desire to be represented by Local 13, Industrial Union of
Marine & Shipbuilding Workers of America, affiliated with the Con-
gress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining.
MR. JOHN M. HousToN took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Direction of Election.