Carbide & Carbon Chemicals Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 1, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 437 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter Of CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION, EM-
PLOYER and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, DISTRICT
LODGE No. 167, PETITIONER
In the Matter of CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION, EM-
PLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS,
LOCAL 760, AFL, PETITIONER
In the Matter of CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION, EM-
PLOYER and TJNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS & JOINERS OF
AMERICA, LOCAL 50, AND MILLWRIGHT' AND MACHINERY ERECTORS
LOCAL 1002, AFL, PETITIONER
In the Matter of CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION, EM-
PLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BOILERMAKERS, IRON
SHIP BuaLDERS AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 350, AFL,
PETITIONER
In the Matter of CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION, EM-
PLOYER and UNITED GAS, COKE AND CHEMICAL WORKERS OF AMERICA,
CIO, PETITIONER
Cases Nos. 10-RCD01, 10-RC-636, 10-RC-570, 10-RC-571, 10-RC-
624,10-RC-626, and 10-RC-694.-Decided February 1, 1950
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon separate petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing 2 Was
held before James W. Mackle, hearing officer. The hearing officer's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed.3 All parties have requested permission to present
I Amended at the hearing to include the Millwrights as joint petitioner.
2 The petitions as consolidated for hearing did not include the one involved in Case
No. 10-RC-694, which was filed during the course of the hearing. As the facts necessary
for a decision of the issues raised by that petition are fully covered in the record, it is
hereby consolidated for decision with the other petitions involved herein.
3 The IAM contends that it was prejudiced and denied due process in that its representa-
tives were excluded from a tour of part of the Employer's operations made by the hearing
officer before the hearing commenced in order to familiarize himself with the work classifi-
cations and duties of the employees herein involved. The IAM contends that as a result
of this tour the hearing officer became convinced that only a plant-wide bargaining unit
was appropriate . We find no merit in this contention . Representation proceedings are
88 NLRB No. 98. 437
438 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
oral argument before the Board. These requests are denied because,
in our opinion, the record and the briefs submitted adequately present
the issues and the positions of all the parties.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, the Board has delegated its powers in
connection with this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog
and Members Houston and Murdock].
Upon the entire record 4 in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer, a New York corporation, operates several Gov-
ernment-owned plants in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, under a cost-plus-a-
fixed-fee contract with the United States Government. We are here
concerned only with two plants designated K-25 and Y-12. All raw
materials used by the Employer in these plants are delivered to it by
the Government in Oak Ridge, and after certain processing opera-
tions have been performed, the products are turned over to the Gov-
ernment in Oak Ridge. For security reasons detailed information
relating to the scope of the Employer's operations were not disclosed
at the hearing, Without conceding that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the Act, the Employer admits that the com-
merce facts submitted in a confidential report to the Board in an
earlier case 6 are substantially the same at this time. On those facts
We have previously determined, and we again find, that the opera-
tions of the Employer affect commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The organizations involved :
International Association of Machinists, District Lodge No. 167,
herein called the IAN; International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers, Local 760,6 AFL, herein called the IBETV; United Brother-
hood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local 50, and Millwright
and Machinery Erectors Local 1002, AFL,7 herein called the Car-
investigatory in character rather than adversary . The hearing officer's statement made at
the commencement of this hearing makes clear his neutral functions and responsibilities.
The Board makes its own determination upon the facts adduced , and the sole duty of the
hearing officer is to present a complete record , upon which the Board, and not the hearing
officer , may in the first instance determine the facts and predicate thereon pertinent con-
clusions. See Stokely Foods, Inc., 78 NLRB 842 ; Pure Oil Company ( Heath Refinery),
74 NLRB 1382 ; N. L. R. B. v. Botany Worsted Mills, 133 F. 2d 876 (C. A. 3). The instant
record does not disclose that any party was denied an opportunity to introduce evidence
pertinent to the issues or was otherwise prejudiced by the hearing officer ' s conduct.
* After the hearing the Machinists filed a "Motion to Correct Record " wnicn was served
on all the parties. As none of the parties have objected thereto, this motion is hereby
granted and the record amended to conform to the motion.
5 Carbide and Carbon Chemicals Corporation , 73 NLRB 134.
8 The IBEW petition was originally filed by Local 204 . This local, under authority of its
international , was subsequently merged into Local 760 . The hearing officer properly
granted the IBEW motion to substitute Local 760 as the Petitioner.
' The Chemical Workers objected to the intervention of the Carpenters -Millwrights on
the ground that they had made no showing of interest in the matter. We have frequently
held that the showing of interest is an administrative matter for determination by the
CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION 439
penters-Millwrights; International Brotherhood of Boilermakers,
Iron Ship Builders and Helpers of America, Local 350, AFL, herein
called the Boilermakers; and United Gas, Coke and Chemical Work-
ers of America, CIO, herein called the Chemical Workers, are labor
organizations claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
3. For the reasons stated below, we find that no question affecting
commerce exists concerning the representation of employees of the
Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6)
and (7) of the Act.
The Petitioners, other than the Chemical Workers, seek to repre-
sent craft and./or departmental units of employees at the K-25 and
Y-12 plants of the Employer. The Employer and the Chemical
Workers contend that only an over-all production and maintenance
unit at each plant is appropriate. As the two plants are separate
operations, and there is no request for units covering both, we shall
consider them separately.
THE K-25 PLANT
The units requested
In Case No . iO-RC-570, the IBEW seeks to represent a unit of cable
splicers ; electric field operators ; electric field operator leaders ; elec -
trical mechanics , first class and second class; electrical mechanic group
leaders; electricians , first and second class; instrument mechanics, first
class and second class; heavy equipment operator B; linemen ; switch-
board operators; switchboard operator leaders; turbine operators;
and turbine operator leaders.
In Case No. 10-RC--636, the IAM seeks a unit 8 of all instrument
makers; all machine tool mechanics (and/or repairmen ) ; machinists,
first and second class; machinists specialists ; and welders , first class
and second class.
In Case No . 10-RC-634, the Carpenters-Millwrights , joint peti-
tioner in this case , seeks to represent a unit of carpenters , first and
second class ; carpenters , shop, first and second class; carpenter group
Board and not subject to collateral attack. Stokely Foods, Inc., 78 NLRB 842; C. D.
Jennings & Company , 68 NLRB 516.
8 The Employer objected to several unit amendments made by the IAM contending that
under the rule in Hyster Company, 72 NLRB 937, the final amendment actually constituted
a new petition and was therefore untimely filed. We do not agree . Under Board rules and
procedure , a petitioner may amend its unit at any time before the close of the hearing, and
in the event it seeks a unit larger than originally requested, it is required that a substantial
showing of interest in the larger unit be made . The IAM submitted additional authoriza-
tion cards at the hearing in support of its amended petition . The present situation is dis-
tinguishable from the Hyster case. There the Petitioner amended its petition to a unit
much larger and substantially different from that originally petitioned for. Here the
amended unit is actually an expanded unit of the same or similar classifications of employees
sought.
440 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
leaders; locksmiths; maintenance mechanics, first and second class;
maintenance mechanic group leaders; refrigeration mechanics; re-
frigeration mechanic group leaders; scale mechanics, lubrication men;
and lubrication group leaders.
In Case No. 10-RC-626, the Boilermakers seeks a unit of all main-
tenance employees in the boiler room and turbine room at the K-25
powerhouse in the following classifications: helpers; insulators, first
and second class; maintenance mechanics, first and second class; main-
tenance mechanic group leaders; utility men; and welders, first and
second class.
The operations involved
K-25 plant, which the Employer has operated since 1943, produces
enriched fissionable isotopes by the use of a gaseous diffusion process.
This is essentially a physio-chemical process in which uranium hexa-
fluoride is cycled and recycled through thousands of porous barriers.
The process is a continuous one 9 requiring the use of thousands of
miles of pipe, thousands of pumps and motors, and innumerable intri-
cate electrical and electronic mechanisms. K-25, which is repre-
sented as the largest continuous process plant in the world under a
single roof, is U-shaped, approximately 1 mile long, a twelfth of a
mile wide, 4 stories high, and covers 60 acres. Together with 70 other
auxiliary buildings the operation covers a 600-acre tract. There has
been a wide fluctuation of employment at this plant. It reached its
peak of 11,700 employees in May 1945, but because of new plant in-
stallations, acquisition) of greater technological skills in operations,
greater integration of the work, and the development of new equip-
ment, employment has dropped to 4,400, even though production has
increased.
The entire operation at the K-25 plant is coordinated from a central
point where plant data are continuously and automatically reported
by a vast variety of instruments, the information recorded, the need
for maintenance of equipment detected, and the decision made as to
what maintenance is required and how it shall be scheduled. Because
plant operations must be continuous, maintenance work is presched-
uled, coordinated and synchronized with production. Although, for
administrative purposes, there are operating and maintenance divi-
sions in the plant,10 in the actual performance of maintenance work
both operating and maintenance personnel with divergent job classi-
fications often work together under common supervision. Thus, for
9 The plant operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
10 The K-25 plant is divided into 10 divisions . These include process, general mainte-
nance, electrical and instrument maintenance , plant engineering, power, industrial rela-
tions and plant protection , manufacturing office, engineering development , laboratory, and
safety and inspection.
CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION 441
example, on certain replacement work, maintenance mechanics, elec-
tric mechanics, welders, and process operators function together under
a single foreman.
The continuous production process requires considerable flexibility
in the use of manpower. The record discloses that there have been
frequent transfers of employees from one job classification to another "-
,and employees have been used to perform work in more than one
classification .12 This flexibility is further reflected in the fact that
there is no apprenticeship program in the plant and the Employer
fills vacancies from available employees in any other classification
rather than hire new employees from outside the plant. This resulted
in the elimination of many job classifications in the plant 13 as the
work previously performed by the employees reclassified has been
absorbed and integrated by employees in other job classifications.
All employees in the plant are governed by the same job evaluation
policy, are subject to the same plant rules, and share the same medi-
cal, insurance, and retirement plans.
History of collective bargaining
There was no collective bargaining at the K-25 plant until 1946.14
In April 1946, after several petitions for craft units had been filed, the
Board conducted a special investigation which resulted in a finding
that only a unit of all production and maintenance employees was
appropriate. Thereafter, a number of unions, including the IAM,
IBEW, and the Carpenters, who had previously filed petitions for
individual craft units, withdrew their several petitions, banded to-
gether as the Atomic Trades and Labor Council, AFL, and filed a
representation petition for a production and maintenance unit. A
consent election in which the Chemical Workers 15 also participated,
was held in August 1946. As neither of the participating unions re-
ceived the required number of votes it was necessary to have a run-off
election, which was held in September 1946 and resulted in the selec-
tion of the Chemical Workers as the bargaining representative of
the production and maintenance employees. A contract was exe-
11 Guards, helpers , maintenance mechanics , and operators have become boiler operators,
electrical mechanics , instrument mechanics , material expeditors , welders , and switchboard
operators ; pump operators and switchboard operators have become electrical mechanics
and instrument mechanics ; instrument mechanics have become maintenance mechanics
and material expeditors ; pipe fitters have become maintenance mechanics and welders, etc.
"Maintenance mechanics do millwright work and rigging work in the powerhouse.
The maintenance mechanic assigned to the tool repair shop does electrical work ; car-
penters assist in erection of machinery ; converter men do some millwright work, etc.
18 The number of job classifications in the plant have been reduced from 222 to 133.
" Several petitions for craft units filed prior to 1946 were subsequently withdrawn.
1a The Chemical Workers participated as CIO, Atomic Workers Organizing Committee,
UGC & CWA.
442 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
cuted on December 9, 1946. A subsequent election on the basis of an
over-all production and maintenance unit was held in 1947. The
Chemical Workers,"having received a majority of the votes cast, exe-
cuted a contract on December 9, 1947. This contract was modified on
August 9, 1948. The existing contract between the Employer and
the Chemical Workers covering all production and maintenance em-
ployees, was executed on June 9, 1949.1'
The record indicates that the collective bargaining history of the
Employer at this plant has followed the general pattern of collective
bargaining in the major part of the chemical industry which has been
predominately on an over-all production and maintenance basis 17
Conclusions as to the K-25 plant
The facts set forth above amply demonstrate the highly integrated
character of the operations in the K-25 plant, and the extent to which
the interests and working conditions of all employees have been fused.
The unique nature of the product manufactured, the complexity of
the equipment employed, and the need for continuous production has
created a situation in which the jobs of most of the employees-and,
in particular those engaged in maintenance work-cross craft lines
and have become the jobs of specialists adapted to the particular op-
eration of this plant. On these facts the Employer and the Chemical
Workers urge that we find this plant comparable to those in other
industries in which we have concluded that, for that industry, units
which embrace less than all production and maintenance employees
are inappropriate for collective bargaining.,,,
However, we need not reach that basic question in this case. We
have carefully examined the voluminous evidence pertaining to the
job tasks of each classification in the plant, and we are.persuaded
that the units as proposed are inappropriate without regard to the
question of whether the industry is one in which less than plant-wide
units should be permitted. Essentially, all of the requested units
suffer from the same fundamental defects which militate against their
16 The Chemical Workers contends that this contract is a bar to the petitions filed
herein. As we are dismissing the petitions for other reasons hereinafter set forth, we find
it unnecessary to pass upon this contention.
"The Employer introduced in evidence a report by the Bureau of National Affairs,
Inc., of Washington, D. C., on "Bargaining Units in the Chemical Industry," based on
contracts filed with the BNA and with the Industrial Relations Branch of the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, Department of Labor, which shows that 86.6 percent of the collective
bargaining contracts in the chemical industry provides for over-all production and main-
tenance groups, with the standard supervisory, clerical, etc., exclusions. This report was
also accepted as evidencd in E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Inc., 85 NLRB 1301 ;
and Sylvania Division, American Viscose Corporation, 84 NLRB 202.
18 E. g., Weyerhauser Timber Company (Springfield Lumber Division). 87 NLRB
1076; Ford Motor Company (Maywood Plant), 78 NLRB 887; National Tube Company,
76 NLRB 1199.
CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION 443
appropriateness for collective bargaining: they are all heterogeneous
groupings of employees with diffuse supervision, some of whom are
true craftsmen, but most of whom are not; and they are all too limited
in scope in that they do not include all employees performing the same
or similar tasks.
This conclusion is demonstrated in a general examination of the
particular units requested. Thus, for example, the unit sought by the
IBETV includes turbine operators but does not include process opera-
tors whose basic work is similar in that they both use similar instru-
ments to observe and control flows and temperatures, operate complex
electronic instruments for the determination of gas analysis, and
operate similar auxiliary equipment, such as pumps and fans which
assist in major control functions. Electrical mechanics sought in
this unit work all over the plant and at times perform nonelectrical
work such as carpentry and plumbing. They use tools and instru-
ments not associated with the electricians craft, such as metal working
tools, welding torches, drill presses, and lathes, and at times work
under the supervision of a maintenance mechanic supervisor. This
proposed unit also includes instrument mechanics whose functions ap-
pear comparable to those of instrument repairmen whom we have in the
past excluded from proposed units of electricians on the ground that
they are not a part of the electricians craft 19
The proposed unit of the IAM includes instrument makers, some of
whom are assigned to the laboratory and others to the plant engineer-
ing division. They rebuild and alter complex electronic instrumenta-
tion, which work is closely related and tied in with the work of
instrument mechanics and electrical mechanics who are not included
in the proposed unit. Machinists are loaned from one department to
another under separate supervision, as the work requires. They have
been assigned to the machine shop in the instrument building and have
spent considerable time in the barrier plant. Many of them are also
engaged directly in the production process. The welders sought to
be included in this unit constitute only a portion of the welders in the
plant.
The employees in the unit sought by the Carpenters-Millwrights
include carpenters who often perform other than carpentry work.
They fabricate and install reinforced steel doors, perform insulation
work, erect steel fences, do spickling,20 and often do ordinary laborer's
work. Carpenters are in frequent contact with process workers, and
11 George S. Mephavz Corporation, 78 NLRB 1081 ; Tin Processing Corporation, 78 NLRB
96; Mathieson Alkali Works (Inc.), 67 NLRB 716; The B. F. Goodrich Company, 55
NLRB 338.
20 Spickling consists of filling in cracks and nail dents on wallboard preparatory to
painting.
444 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
50 percent of their time in the process area is under the supervision
of either operators or maintenance mechanics, and, in some instances,
under electrical supervisors. Maintenance mechanics perform work
not usually associated with their classification. They do carpentry
work, build scaffolds, pour concrete, do rigging, and sheet metal work.
There are other employees in the plant not included in the unit, who
also do related carpenter work. These include insulators, who build
transite boxes around valves; instrument mechanics who build their
own box-like carts on wheels; cement finishers who often erect and
tear down forms; and electric mechanics and mechanics in the power-
house who take down scaffolding.
The unit proposed by the Boilermakers includes employees who
perform boiler and turbine maintenance work in the powerhouse.
This type of work is also performed by electrical mechanics, instru-
ment mechanics, machinists, painters, and carpenters, who are not
included in the proposed unit. The maintenance mechanics sought
work closely with operators and other maintenance employees in the
power division, and on large scale maintenance jobs, they are aug-
mented by other maintenance employees in various classifications from
all over the plant. On occasion the maintenance mechanics perform
rigging operations in the removal of generator heads and spindles.
They build scaffolds, do insulation work, sheet metal work, and work,
on refrigeration equipment. The Boilermakers also seeks to include
welders in the unit, although the welders sought do not confine them-
selves to working exclusively with other employees in the proposed
unit but work with any classification of employees that requires their
services.
On the basis of the foregoing, and the entire record in this case,
we find that none of the Petitioners in the cases involving the K-25
plant has established that the unit it seeks embraces employees with
a sufficient community of interest to warrant representation as a sep-
arate bargaining unit. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the several
petitions involving the K-25 plant.21
THE Y-12 PLANT
The units requested
In Case No. 10--RC-201, the IAM seeks a unit of all employees clas-
sified as automotive mechanics, carbon machine hands, carbon shop
group leaders, machine hands, machinists, machinists (carbon), ma-
chinists (experimental), machinist group leaders, maintenance me-
21 See Reed Roller Bit Company, 87 NLRB 314; Celanese Corporation of America, 84
NLRB 207 ; Welding Shipyards, Inc., 81 NLRB 936; Carborundum Company, 80 NLRB 756.
CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION 445
chanics, mechanical instrument makers, millwrights, millwright
group leaders, P. F. carbon machinists, P. F. machinist group leaders,
P. F. shop inspectors, R. E. development mechanics, stand-by main-
tenance mechanic group leaders, tool crib attendants in machine shop,
tool and die makers, tool and die maker group leaders, vacuum service
mechanics, and vacuum service mechanic group leaders.
In Case No. 10-RC-571, the IBEW seeks a unit of all employees
classified as electrical assistants, electronic instrument makers, elec-
tronic maintenance mechanics, electronic maintenance mechanic
group leaders, instrument mechanics, instrument mechanic group
leaders, linemen, maintenance electricians, maintenance electrician
group leaders, and telephone repairmen.
In Case No. 10-RC-694, the Chemical Workers seeks a unit of all
hourly paid employees with the usual exclusions.
The Carpenters and Millwrights, Intervenor, seek a unit of all
carpenters, carpenter group leaders, grinders and polishers, lock-
smiths, maintenance mechanics, metal layout and fabricators, metal
layout and fabricator group leaders, millwrights, millwright group
leaders, refrigeration mechanics, scale mechanics, stand-by mainte-
nance mechanics, stand-by maintenance mechanic group leaders,
vacuum service mechanics, vacuum service mechanic group leaders,
converter maintenance men, and converter group leaders.
The operations involved
The Y-12 plant, located in Oak Ridge, has been operated by the
Employer for the Government since May 1, 1917. It consists of
over 100 buildings, occupies an area about 2 miles long and one-third
of a mile wide, and is approximately 13 miles from the K-25 plant.
Originally set up as an electromagnetic separation plant for the pro-
duction of Uranium 235, certain changing conditions caused the clos-
ing down of some of the processes and the placing of the plant in a
stand-by condition. Subsequently a research program was under-
taken and at the time of the hearing the Y-12 plant was in operation
on research and development activities, in which certain chemical ele-
ments were being separated into various isotopes which are used for
research purposes. Because of a desire that only the minimum num-
ber of employees possible be even remotely acquainted with any phase
of the activity at this plant, employees are trained to perform as many
different types of work as possible, regardless of their classifications.
This has resulted in a reduction in force without a reduction of the
scope of the work performed because the full scale research program,
12 This ninnt wns fnrmrriv onerated by the Tennessee Eastman Corporation.
446 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
by the use of a minimum number of employees, incorporated practi-
cally all of the jobs originally performed. Thus from a peak employ-
ment of 22,500 in August 1945, employment at the plant was reduced
to 1,745 employees, and at the same time the number of employee
classifications in the plant have been reduced from 420 to 139. At
the time of the hearing there were approximately. 500 maintenance
employees and about 400 production employees in the plant. The
production and maintenance employees are paid on an hourly basis
as compared to professional, technical, and clerical employees who
are paid on a salary basis.
The Y-12 plant is organized into five major divisions.23 Two of
these divisions, chemical, and research and development, process the
end product, while the maintenance division acts as an auxiliary group
to aid production efforts. There is an extensive overlapping and in-
terrelationship of jobs within and across divisional and departmental
lines within this plant. The work of employees in the units sought
is not restricted to any particular department or to the traditional
skills of their respective crafts. The same classification of employee
performs maintenance, production, research, and experimental work,
in the course of which they are intermingled and interchanged and
come under different supervision. Machine tools and shops,24 located
in both maintenance and production areas of the plant, are used in-
discriminately by production, maintenance, technical, and research
employees. Employees often perform duties outside their classifi-
cations, work under different craft supervision, and their work is
so coordinated with production that it is often blended into and be-
comes a part of the research and production program. Thus, a stand-
by crew consisting of maintenance mechanics, maintenance electricians,
and a maintenance mechanic group leader, repair, operate, and main-
tain equipment in the large number of stand-by buildings and perform
work, including precision work, of millwrights, pipe fitters, ma-
chinists, vacuum and utility operators, sheet metal workers, and truck
drivers. Likewise employees in other classifications throughout the
plant, who exercise craft skills similar to some of the employees sought,
are not included in the proposed units. Thus chemical operators, in
the performance of their duties, do millwright, pipe fitting, and elec-
trical work. And process operators on production work perform
duties of other classifications by operating a drill press, a hydraulic
break press, a mechanical and diffusion vacuum pump, and by chang-
ing oil, cleaning pumps, and operating electrical equipment.
23 Engineering and maintenance , research and development , chemical production, manu-
facturing office, and industrial relations.
R4 There are 16 machine shops in the Y-12 plant located in 12 different buildings and
operated by both production and maintenance employees in various classifications.
CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION 447
All employees in the Y-12 plant share common working conditions,
participate in the same employee benefits, and are governed by the
same wage standards and grievance procedure.
Collective bargaining
There is no history of collective bargaining at this plant. Al-
though petitions for craft units have been filed in the past , no elec-
tions on this basis have ever been field, the petitions having been
either dismissed or withdrawn. A consent election for an over-all
unit of production, maintenance , and process employees was con-
ducted in August 1946 and a runoff election held in September 1946
with the Chemical Workers and the Atomic Trades and Labor
Council, AFL '25 on the ballot. Neither union won the election and
the petitions were accordingly dismissed.
Conclusions as to the Y-12 plant
From the foregoing it is apparent that the close integration of
operations, interchange of employees, and general community of
interest of all employees which we found to exist in the K-25 plant
likewise obtains in the Y-12 plant. It is clear, however, that here,
as in the K25 petitions, we need not determine that only a'unit em-
bracing all production and maintenance employees is appropriate ;
for the same defects which we found in the units sought in the K-25
plant exist here. The units requested are too limited in scope, and
involve a heterogeneous grouping of employees who are at most
specialists, are diversely supervised, and have no community of in-
terest which warrants segregating them iii separate units.
Thus the unit sought by the IAN, which is fundamentally a main-
tenance type unit, includes certain machinists and their group lead-
ers in the maintenance division who perform machining operations
on materials which are for production purposes only. Some of these
employees have been assigned to work in the research and develop-
ment division under entirely different supervision from that of
others of these machinists. Some of the P. F. machinists fabricate
specialized parts under production supervision for use in produc-
tion programs. They are also called upon to work for staff chem-
ists. The stand-by maintenance mechanics and their group leader,
together with two maintenance electricians not included in the pro-
posed unit, constitute a stand-by crew who maintain, repair, and
.operate all equipment in stand-by condition. Their work includes
25 The Council was composed of several craft unions and included the IAM and the
IBEW, Petitioners, and the Carpenters, Intervenor, herein.
448 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
that ordinarily performed by pipe fitters, millwrights, operators,
electricians, carpenters, laborers, and others. They operate machine
tools, lathes, drill press, shaper, hacksaw, power saws, etc. The
tool crib attendant not only furnishes tools, equipment, and materials
to the employees in this proposed unit, but performs the same services
for all employees regardless of their classification. The tool and die
maker does all the tool and die work which comes into the shop from
all departments of the plant, including parts for production purposes.
Included in the unit sought by the IBEW is the electronic instru-
ment maker whose work is confined to the mass spectrometer which is
a necessary adjunct to production. His work is not, however, limited
to the electrical phases of this instrument, but includes any job con-
nected with making, repairing, constructing, and installing parts used
in the mass spectrometer. He builds vacuum systems which require
glass blowing, silver soldering, copper tubing, pipe fitting of water
lines, and the removal and installation of mechanical and diffusion
vacuum pumps. He services and actually builds simple systems which
work includes carpentry fabrication of plywood panels. He repairs,
constructs, and installs valves and performs high precision work using
shop tools such as lathes, milling machines, and drill presses, which
are also used by professional employees, physicists, chemists, and
engineers. He works closely with the mechanical instrument maker,
not included in the proposed unit, and is under the supervision of an
operating supervisor. The electronic maintenance mechanic also
spends at least 50 percent of his time on work which is nonelectrical.
He fabricates metal and wooden panels and angle irons and installs
them. He paints panels,, stencils numbers, and does spot welding and
insulating of heating elements. He is under the supervision of the
uranium operations foreman. Because of the complex nature of the
research and development program the electronic maintenance me-
chanic in that division extends his duties into other so-called crafts
and includes making repairs to mechanical components of electrical
equipment. He operates cranes, hoists, and a transporter, and oper-
ates trucks to transport heavy equipment. He also installs new bush-
ings and pipe connections on experimental transformers, and operates
vacuum equipment for diagnostic purposes. He comes in close con-
tact with operating personnel, works with maintenance employees on
large projects, and is under the supervision of professional engineers.
Maintenance electricians perform some work in the chemical area and
some in the electric shop. Some unassigned maintenance mechanics
work in the steam plant and in the operating area, in close contact
with other employees, and do some repair work in the shop and in the
process area. They also work in crews with carpenters, millwrights,
CARBIDE & CARBON CHEMICALS CORPORATION 449
pipe fitters, and riggers. The Petitioner does not seek to represent
the electroplater who performs certain electrical work in the perform-
ance of his duties.
The unit sought by the Carpenters-Millwrights includes carpenters
but does not include other employees such as pattern makers, riggers,
and the stand-by maintenance crew, who perform carpenter work.
Millwrights in this unit, scattered throughout the plant, fabricate
enormous quantities of sheet metal, under the direction of chemical
personnel, which work is closely tied in with the production process.
Millwrights also work side by side with, and receive instructions from,
operating personnel and work closely with isotope production em-
ployees in the isotope production area. In the performance of their
duties millwrights have also been assigned to do pipe fitting work, and,
similarly, pipe fitters have been assigned to a crew to do millwright
work. The refrigeration mechanic, in the performance of his duties,
uses a welding torch, does silver solder work, and breaks pipe
connections.
On the basis of these facts, and the record as a whole, and for the
reasons stated above, we conclude that the units sought by the IAM,
the IBEW, and the Carpenters-Millwrights in the Y-12 plant are
inappropriate for collective bargaining and we shall dismiss their
petitions.
As noted above, the Chemical Workers has petitioned for a unit
of all production and maintenance employees in the Y-12 plant. How-
ever, we are not satisfied that the showing of interest submitted by
the Chemical Workers is sufficient under present Board practice.26
Accordingly we shall dismiss the Chemical Workers petition without
prejudice.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petitions in Cases Nos. 10-RC-201,
10-RC-636, 10-RC-570, 10-RC-571, 10-RC-624, and 10-RC- 626 filed
herein be, and they hereby are, dismissed.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition in Case No. 10-RC-694 filed
herein be, and it hereby is, dismissed without prejudice.
20 Under our present practice 30 percent is considered a substantial showing. The Chem-
ical Workers showing does not equal that amount.