Byron Jackson Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 1, 1949

83 N.L.R.B. 1012 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of BYRON JACKSON CODIFANY, EMPLOYER, and INTER-
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACmNISTS, DISTRICT No. 37, Lon E No:
12, PETITIoIQER
Case No. 39-RC-57.Decided June 1, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed , a hearing was held before Clifford W.
Potter, hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The
hearing officer's ruling 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 Houston, 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
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organization named below claims 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 a unit composed of all production and mainte-
-uance employees in the Employer 's plant at 6247 Navigation Boule-
vard, Houston, Texas , including tool makers , machinists , machinist
.apprentices, machine operators , welders , inspectors , leadmen, helpers
and laborers , and all employees engaged in the erection , assembling,
dismantling , and/or repairing of machinery at said plant , but exclu'd-
ing guards , janitors, office and clerical employees , professional em-
ployees, and all supervisors as defined in the Act." The parties are in
1 Employer contends that it is inappropriate in the description of the unit to designate
-certain specific job classifications inasmuch as such specifications are not all-inclusive and
do not embrace every job classification at the Employer 's plant properly falling within the
.description of production and maintenance , and that by specifically including certain job
83 N. L. R. B., No. 145.
1012
BYRON JACKSON COMPANY 1013
dispute as to the following job classifications, which the Employer
would include in the proposed unit and the Petitioner would exclude :
custodians, dispatcher, janitor, material movers, shipping and receiv-
ing clerk, yardman, and stockroom attendant.
Custodians: The plant operates on one 8-hour shift. The Employer
employs two custodians, who come on duty in the shop on two 8-hour
shifts, in order that there may be someone in the shop 24 hours a day.
The duties of the custodians are : (1) to make the rounds of the plant
at regular intervals punching time clocks at various stations, a task
that takes "not over fifteen minutes to the hour, at most"; (2) receive
and unload incoming shipments which come to the shop during the
hours they are on duty; (3) load and ship out of the shop any mate-
rials scheduled to leave after the end of the regular shift; (4) clean
and pick up and move to its proper place material left in the aisles or
at the machines. These custodians are not armed, have no authority
to discipline other employees, and have no particular responsibility
for the-enforcement of rules. They are hourly paid employees, punch
the same time clock, work in the same place, and have the same eco-
nomic benefits and working conditions as the production and mainte-
nance employees. As these individuals spend a majority of their work-
ing time doing maintenance work, we find that they are not "guards"
within the meaning of the Act and shall include them in the unit.2
Dispatcher: The dispatcher gathers up the raw materials assigned
for stock lot, and delivers that material to the particular machine for
the first operation in the production process. When the first operation
is completed on such material, the dispatcher physically moves the
material on to the next step, and continues to move it from one pro-
duction step to the next, until it is completed; then, he moves the
finished product into the paint room where it is painted preparatory
to going into stock or being shipped. He has no supervisory authority
and performs no clerical function. From the record, it is clear that
this employee is a manual worker whose work forms an integral part
of the actual manufacturing process. We shall therefore include him
in the unit as a production employee.
classifications other job classifications are impliedly excluded . We do not construe the
language used by the Petitioner in describing the unit requested , as excluding all those not
specifically enumerated . Rather, the singling out of specific job classifications is only done
for purposes of erasing any doubt or question as to such job classifications not obviously
included in the terms "production and maintenance ." Thus, other job classifications not
so mentioned cannot be said to be excluded , either expressly or Impliedly.
The Employer further objects to that portion of the description referring to "the erection,
assembling , dismantling , and/or repairing of machinery " on the ground that such a descrip-
tion might well be construed to embrace work normally performed by outside independent
contractors. Petitioner seeks only employees of the Employer to constitute the proposed
omit. All other type workers , including independent contractors and employees of such
contractors , are necessarily excluded from the unit sought.
8 Matter of Binswanger Mirror Company, 82 N. L . It. B. 431.
844340-50--vol. 83-65
1014 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Janitor: There is a separate office building near the shop building
in which this janitor performs part of his work. In addition to clean-
ing this main office building, he keeps the yard adjacent to the office
building clean and does the watering and gardening in front of the
main office building. The janitor works under the direct supervision
of the shop superintendent just as do the production and maintenance
employees. This shop superintendent testified that he has "complete
jurisdiction to give him any job I may see fit." All other employees
in the main office building work under different supervision. The
janitor punches the time clock in the shop building and is hourly paid
while the employees in the main office building punch a time clock
and are salaried employees. He has the same holiday and vacation
benefits, and other economic benefits as the maintenance and pro-
duction employees, which are different in some important respects
from those of the clerical employees in the main office building. Be-
cause his duties and interests lie with the production and maintenance
group rather than with the employees of the main office building, we
shall include him in the unit.8
Material movers: Material movers are hourly paid shop employees
who physically handle both raw materials used in the manufacture
of the Employer's products and the finished products after manu-
facture. The raw materials are stacked at locations where such ma-
terials will be available to the dispatcher at the times that he needs
them for use in the shop. These employees work under the supervision
of the shop superintendent and the general shop foreman. Petitioner
seeks to exclude these employees as clerical employees, but it is clear
from the record that the material movers do no clerical work and
that their work is an essential part of the production operation. We
shall include these employees in the unit.
Shipping and receiving clerk: This employee receives and checks
incoming materials destined for use in shop production, and crates
for shipment products manufactured in the shop. He works at one
end of the shop building floor in an area not physically separated from
the main machine shop. He is an hourly paid employee, works under
the supervision of the shop superintendent and the general shop fore-
man, punches the same time clock, and is subject to the same benefits
as the shop employees. Though this employee performs a small
amount of paper work, the bulk of his work is manual. He operates
a crane in loading and unloading material and does manual crating
and, boxing in connection with the preparation of the Employer's
a Matter of Sheffield Iron and, (Steel Company, 77 N. L. R. B. 998.
BYRON JACKSON COMPANY 1015
products for shipment. We shall include the shipping and receiving
clerk in the unit.4
Stockroom attendant: The function of the stockroom attendant is
to keep track of the incoming and outgoing stock, and to disburse
the stock as it is ordered out. His duties consist primarily of physi-
cally handling the raw materials and finished products. His, paper
work is confined to receiving requisitions and filling orders pursuant
to such requisitions. He is in contact with all shop employees while
carrying out his duties. He works under the supervision of the shop
superintendent and the general shop foreman just as do the other
shop employees. His interests, we find, are closely allied with those
of the production and maintenance employees. We shall therefore
include him in the proposed unit.'
Yardman: The Petitioner also seeks to exclude this employee as
a clerical employee. The record shows that this employee spends
65 to 70 percent of his working time performing manual work in the
shipping and receiving department area which is on the shop floor
in the shop building and that the remainder of his time is spent in
checking material in and out, and making simple record-keeping no-
tations in connection with production. He has a close community of
interest with the other employees in the unit, works in close connection
with them under the same supervision, and is subject to the same bene-
fits and working conditions. We shall include him in the unit .6
We find that all production and maintenance employees in the
Employer's Houston, Texas, plant, including tool makers, machinists,
machinist apprentices, machine operators, welders, inspectors, lead-
men, helpers and laborers, custodians, dispatchers, janitors, material
movers, shipping and receiving clerks, stockroom attendants, yardmen,
and all employees engaged in the erection, assembling, dismantling,
and/or repairing of machinery at said plant, but excluding guards,
office and clerical employees, professional employees, and all super-
visors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b)
of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses 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 supervision
+ Matter of Sampsei Time Control, Inc., 80 N. L. R. B. 1250.
Matter of General Electric Company , 80 N. L. It. B. 174.
0 Cf. Matter of Burnet -Binford Lumber Company, Inc., 75 N. L. R B. 421.
1016 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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-Series 5, as amended, among the em-
ployees in the voting groups described 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 vaca-
tion or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have
since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or
reinstated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding em-
ployees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective
bargaining, by International Association of Machinists, District No.
37, Lodge No. 12.