Capitol Records, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 23, 1950

89 N.L.R.B. 1545 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of CAPITOL RECORDS, INC., EMPLOYER and UNITED ELEC-
TRICAL , RADIO & MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, PETITIONER
Case No. 4-RC-598.Decided May 23,1950
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 E. Don Wilson, 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 [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
Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain
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 UE and the IAM contend that all the Employer's production
and maintenance employees, excluding office, sales, and clerical and
engineering employees, and all supervisors constitute an appropriate
unit. The Teamsters and the Employer oppose the establishment of
the unit proposed by the UE and the IAM insofar as it includes the
employees in the warehouse and shipping department, and contend
that these employees constitute a separate appropriate unit. There
3 These labor organizations are United Electrical , Radio & Machine Workers of America,
herein called the UE ; International Association of Machinists, District 128, herein called
the Machinists ; and General Drivers & Helpers Local Union No. 229, International Brother-
hood of Teamsters , Chauffeurs , Warehousemen & Helpers of America, AFL, herein called
the Teamsters.
89 NLRB No. 202.
1545
1546 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
is also disagreement with respect to the unit placement of certain
categories of employees.
The Employer is engaged at its Scranton, Pennsylvania, plant in
the manufacture of phonograph records. Its operations are con-
ducted in several departments,? which are housed in 6 interconnecting
buildings. Production operations are carried on in all 6 buildings
except Building No. 2 which houses the office force. The warehouse
and shipping department-is located on the first floor of Building No. 1
or the main building which is a 6 storied structure. Raw materials are
delivered to this department and moved to production departments
or storage areas. The storage areas are located on the upper floors of
Building Nos. 4 and 6 and on a part of the first and sixth floors of the
main building. The last steps in processing phonograph records are
performed in the collating and finishing departments, both of which
are located on the sixth floor of the main building. Here, records are
edged, inspected, placed in albums or single sleeves, wrapped in cello-
phane, and packaged in shipping containers. The records are then
routed to the storage area in the warehouse and shipping department
if sold singly, or otherwise to an album storage area. The employees
who move materials from one department to another are classified as
material handlers. There are between 20 or 30 such employees as-
signed to the various departments.
The warehouse and shipping department, whose employees the
Teamsters seeks, has assigned to it 1 receiving clerk, about. 6 material
handlers, 14 shippers, and 2 truck drivers. The receiving clerk re-
ceives and helps to unload raw materials that are delivered to the
plant. The material handlers unload raw materials and move them
to other departments or-to storage. The shippers' primary function
is to prepare packages of finished records for shipment to customers.
They stencil the packages, repack them if necessary, and also store
rrecords. The duties of the truck drivers are discussed below. All
the requested employees work under the warehouse foreman. He also
supervises the employees in the finishing department who package
records and the material handlers assigned to production departments
except those attached to the press room and the finishing department.
It appears that the Employer's warehouse and shipping department
is closely integrated with the production operations and that in general
the skills required of the employees in this department in the perform-
ance of their duties do not differ to any substantial degree from those
of various other production and maintenance employees. While the
Board has, on occasion, found units limited to warehousing and ship-
2 The departments are known as the pressroom, collating, finishing, maintenance, plant
service , mixing, plating , machine shop , and warehouse and shipping departments.
CAPITOL RECORDS, INC. 1547
ping employees appropriate, in view of the integrated character of the
Employer's operations, the lack of distinguishing skills on the part of
the employees requested and the fact that two unions are seeking to
represent the employees on a plant-wide basis, we are of the opinion
that a unit limited to employees of the warehouse and shipping de-
partment would be inappropriate.' Accordingly, we shall include these
employees in the production and maintenance unit hereinafter found
appropriate.
There remains for consideration the issues as to the unit placement
of the truck drivers, junior engineers, and watchmen within the pro-
duction and maintenance unit.
The truclc drivers: Both the UE and the IAM would include the
Employer's two truck drivers although the Employer would exclude
them. These two individuals drive the Employer's trucks principally
in and about the local area. One of the drivers, however, spends a
large portion of his time driving a lift truck on the storage floors. We
are of the opinion that the truck drivers may appropriately be in-
cluded.'
Junior engineers: There are three junior engineers in the engineer-
ing department which is under the supervision of the plant engineer.
The balance of the employees in this department are college graduate
engineers. All parties agree that the graduate engineers should be
excluded. The junior engineers have all had either a specialized edu-
cation or training within the industry. Of this group, one maintains
the electronic equipment, another is in charge of the quality control of
the output of the plating department, while the third does drafting
work and assists engineers in planning plant layouts, additions, and
changes in equipment. Like the graduate engineers, the junior engi-
neers are paid on a salary basis. We are of the opinion that the inter-
ests of the junior engineers are more closely allied with those of the
engineers than those of the production and maintenance employees,
and shall therefore, exclude them.
The watchmen: The UE would include these individuals while the
Employer and the TAM would exclude them. There are four full-
time watchmen employed at the plant who are engaged in enforcing
rules designed to prevent thefts, fire, and other damage to the Em-
3 The Peat Manufacturing Company, 80 NLRB 287; K-D Lamp Division, Noma Electric
Corporation of Maryland, 71 NLRB 704.
"Veneer Products , Inc., 81 NLRB 492; Glazer Steel Corporation , 81 NLRB 530. Ordi-
narily, before determining the unit placement of truck drivers , we would, if requested,
direct a separate election among them . In this case , however , no union is seeking to
represent the truck drivers as a separate unit . Moreover , the interests of the one driver
who spends a large portion of his time working inside the plant lie with the production
and maintenance employees . A unit of the one remaining truck driver would be inappro-
priate because it contained only one employee.
1548 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ployer's property. We find that these persons are employed as guards
and shall therefore exclude them.5
We find that all the production and maintenance employees em-
ployed at the Employer's Scranton, Pennsylvania, plant, including
janitors, elevator operators, truck drivers, but excluding office, sales,
and clerical employees, engineers, junior engineers, watchmen, and all
supervisors as defined in the Act constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes 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 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
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, District 128, or by General
Drivers & Helpers Local Union No. 229, International Brotherhood
of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America, AFL,
or by neither.
6 C. V. Hill d Co., 76 NLRB 159.
"Any participant in the election directed herein, may, upon its prompt request to, and
approval thereof by, the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot.
[By Order dated June 6, 1950, the Board granted United Electrical, Radio & Machine
Workers of America permission to withdraw its name from the ballot.]