Century-American Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 23, 1948

79 N.L.R.B. 43 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

V.
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In the Matter of CENTURY-AMERICAN CORPORATION, WOODSTOCK TYPE-
WRITER DIvISION, EMPLOYER and DISTRICT No. 101, INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, PETITIONER
Case No. 13-RC-133.-Decided- August 23, 1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. 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 panel consisting of Board Members Houston, Reynolds,
and Gray.
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 em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question of representation 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.
4. The Petitioner seeks a unit restricted to production and mainte-
nance employees at the Employer's Woodstock, Illinois, plant includ-
ing set-up men and working foremen.2 The Employer urges that the
proposed unit is inappropriate because it fails to include employees
at the Employer's Brodhead, Wisconsin, plant. The parties are also in
disagreement with respect to the toolroom employees whom the Peti-
tioner would include in, and the Employer exclude from, any unit
found appropriate. They agree, however, that office, clerical, and
professional employees, guards, and supervisors should be excluded
from the appropriate unit.
1 The petition and other formal papers were amended at the hearing to show the correct
name of the Employer.
2 The working foremen are not supervisors within the meaning of the Act.
79 N. L. R. B., No. 6.
43
44 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Employer's Woodstock Division includes two plants, the
Woodstock plant and the Brodhead plant.' The primary purpose of
the Woodstock plant is to produce the finished' typewriter. The
Brodhead plant does not produce any finished products. Its primary
purpose is to produce parts which go into typewriters. The principal
operation performed at the Brodhead plant is the assembling of the
segment unit of a typewriter. Although both plants use some of the
same type of machinery, the operations at the two plants are different.
The evidence indicates that there is some integration of operations
between the two plants. No maintenance or toolroom employees are
employed at the Brodhead plant. There is a supervisor in charge of
the Brodhead plant whose duties and responsibilities are comparable
to those of the plant foreman at the Woodstock plant. Both are an-
swerable to the Employer's vice president, who is the Woodstock
Division plant supervisor. The same working hours, vacation plans,
insurance benefits, and grievance, management, and production poli-
cies prevail in both plants. Records for both plants are kept at Wood-
stock, and the pay rolls for both plants are prepared at Woodstock.
It would thus appear that an appropriate unit, in scope, may be one
which includes employees of both plants of the Employer.
There are factors, however, which would justify a unit confined to
employees of the Woodstock plant. Although some of the operations
at the two plants are functionally integrated, the record indicates the
basic independence of each plant. The two plants are approximately
65 miles apart. There is no interchange of employees between the
two plants, and the employees at the two plants have no direct contact
with one another. The pay scale at the two plants is different, and
there are separate supervisors responsible for adjusting grievances
of the employees at each plant. In view of all the foregoing circum-
stances , and the fact that there is no history of collective bargaining,
we are persuaded that a unit confined to the employees of the Wood-
stock, Illinois, plant of the Employer is appropriate.3
Toolroom,'employees: There are approximately 12 employees in the
Employer's toolroom, which is located in the Woodstock plant. The
tool makers maintain all tools used in the plant, and make new tools
and dies to be used in the manufacture of parts. While these employees
are a skilled craft group, they work under plant conditions of employ-
ment similar to those of other production and maintenance employees.
There is nothing in the record which indicates that the interests of the
toolroom employees are so different from other production and
3 Matter of Belle Wool Combinq Co ., Dimsion of Joseph Talbot Textile Co., Inc., 78 ,
N. L. R. B . 1081 ; Matter of Semtinole Manufacturing Company, 74 N. L. R. B. 1090 ; Matter
of Burgess Battery Company , 76 N. L. R. B. 820.
CENTURY-AMERICAN CORPORATION 45
maintenance employees as to prevent their being -represented in the
same unit .-, In view of these circumstances, and the fact that no other
labor organization is seeking to represent these employees on a sepa-
rate basis, we shall include them.'
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Em-
ployer at its Woodstock, Illinois, plant, including toolroom employees
and working foremen, but excluding office, clerical and professional
employees; guards, and supervisors, constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
0 (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 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, among the employees in the
unit found appropriate in paragraph 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 vacation or temporarily
laid off, but excluding those employees who have since quit or have
been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior
to the date of the election, and also excluding employees on strike who
are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they
desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by Dis-
trict No. 101, International Association,of Machinists.
MEMBER REYNOLDS took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
4 Production employees are given an opportunity to be promoted into the toolroom. Three
of the last five men taken into the toolroom were selected from factory employees.
° Cf. Matter of Western Foundry Company, 77 N. L . R B. 800 ; Matter of Geneva
Forge, Inc., 76 N. L. R. B. 497; Matter of California Almond Growers Exchange, 73
N. L. R. B. 1367.