CF&I Steel Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 20, 1972

196 N.L.R.B. 470 (N.L.R.B. 1972)

470 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
CF&I Steel Corporation and United Steelworkers of
America, Local Union , No. 3267 . Case 27-UC-24
April 20, 1972
DECISION AND ORDER
BY MEMBERS FANNING, JENKINS, AND KENNEDY
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(b) and
(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended,
a hearing was held before Hearing Officer Merrill M.
McLaughlin. Following the hearing and pursuant to
Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board
Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended, and by
direction of the Regional Director for Region 27, this
proceeding was transferred to the Board for decision.
Thereafter, the Employer filed a brief in support of its
position.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au-
thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's rul-
ings made at the hearing and finds that they are free
from prejudicial error. They are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this proceeding, the
Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the Act, and it will effectuate the purposes
of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
2. The labor organization involved claims to repre-
sent certain employees of the Employer.
3. The Employer is a Colorado corporation engaged
in the manufacture of steel products with its principal
offices and place of business located in Pueblo, Colo-
rado. Petitioner was originally certified by the Board
in 1944 (Case 17-RC-0864) following a consent elec-
tion. The unit included the following employees: "all
office workers, plant clerical workers, inspection de-
partment employees and technicians employed by
Colorado Fuel & Iron Corp. [CF&I's original name]
at its Pueblo, Colorado, Minnequa Works and general
office ... but excluding design engineers ... and fuel
sales departments."
Since 1944 the parties have had at least seven col-
lective-bargaining agreements, the latest of which is
the 1968 contract in which the unit is described as
follows: "all salary rated clerical or technical jobs at
Pueblo, Colorado ... it does not include supervisors,
administrators, professionals, confidential or other
nonmanagement jobs directly associated with man-
agement."
The Petitioner seeks clarification of its bargaining
unit by the inclusion of approximately 91 employ-
ees,' claiming that they constitute accretions into its
clerical and technical unit.
The Petitioner contends that there are 60 employees
in the General Sales Department, 2 in the Credit De-
partment, 3 in the Computer Programming Depart-
ment, 10 in the Traffic Department, 8 in the Employee
Benefits Department, 3 in the Production Planning
and Shipping Department, and 3 Tax Accountants
that have been accreted into the bargaining unit be-
cause they do substantial amounts of clerical or tech-
nical work, similar if not identical to that performed
by employees in the unit?
Sales Department
The Petitioner claims the accretion of the Custom-
er Service Representatives, Customer Service Repre-
sentatives Junior, Sales Engineers, Inside Salesmen,
secretaries, and stenographers. The Employer con-
tends that the Sales Department employees have not
been accreted because of their bargaining history,
lack of community of interest, no employee inter-
change, and no common supervision with unit mem-
bers, independent control of labor relations, and
physical separation from unit members. The Employ-
er also contends that Customer Service Representa-
tives, Customer Service Representatives Junior, and
Sales Engineers have not been accreted because they
are managerial and supervisory employees, and In-
side Salesmen have not been accreted because they
are managerial employees.
The Employer consolidated its regional sales of-
fices into a new building in Pueblo in January 1971,
moving people from its regional offices and transfer-
ring employees from its other facilities in Pueblo.
Prior to 1971, only Fuel Sales and Price Control were
located in Pueblo; Fuel Sales was excluded from the
unit by agreement in 1950 and Petitioner stipulated
that Price Control has not been accreted.
The job descriptions of Customer Service Repre-
sentative and Customer Service Representative Junior
were created in 1970. The Customer Service Repre-
sentative and Customer Service Representative Junior
usually head a sales team consisting of themselves and
Inside Salesmen , and also supervise secretaries and
stenographers. These Sales Personnel speak to clients
by phone for 2-4 hours daily, quote prices, help de-
termine the competitive situation and the prices nec-
essary to meet it, commit inventory to clients,
recommend alterations of production to meet the
1 During the hearing the Petitioner amended its petition to exclude em-
ployees in the following departments : Consolidation Accounting , Financial
Planning, Project Control , Procedural and Forms Control, Price Approval,
and Paymaster.
2 The parties have agreed that the terms of the contract should be binding
in the clarification of the bargaining unit; however , we are relying on the
usual criteria used in unit clarification proceedings
196 NLRB No. 69
CF&I STEEL CORPORATION
clients' needs, initiate phone calls to try to sell to
clients, and speak to clients after hours at home when
emergencies develop. Sales Engineers also sell the
Company's products, determine the competitive situ-
ation, help determine prices, direct the work of others,
and have the authority to recommend the hiring and
firing of personnel; however, Sales Engineers concen-
trate on individual product lines in which they devel-
op an expertise.
We find that Customer Service Representatives,
Customer Service Representatives Junior, and Sales
Engineers are supervisory employees.
The Inside Salesman position was established in
1970. Inside Salesmen help determine the competitive
situation and the prices necessary to meet it, quote
prices to clients, determine the prices for products by
computing shipping costs, initiate sales by telephon-
ing customers, handle clients' emergency calls at night
and generally speak to clients about 2-4 hours daily,
and also help determine production schedules. Price
information is very important to the Employer, who
considers this information confidential. We find that
Inside Salesmen are managerial employees.
Sales Department secretaries and stenographers
had been located in Pueblo from 1944 until 1966 and
have never been included in the unit, during which
time collective-bargaining agreements have been ne-
gotiated without including them. The Sales Depart-
ment is physically separate from the rest of the work
force, independently supervised, does all of its own
hiring and firing, and there is no temporary inter-
change of employees with other departments. In view
of the foregoing we find that these employees have not
been accreted to the bargaining unit.
Credit Department
The Petitioner claims the accretion of the Senior
Credit Correspondent and Secretary Clerk of the
Credit Department. The Employer contends that they
have not been accreted because of the bargaining his-
tory, independent supervision, lack of common man-
agement and employee interchange, and separate
physical location of the Credit Department. The Em-
ployer also contends that the Senior Credit Corre-
spondent is both a managerial and supervisory
employee.
The Senior Credit Correspondent exercises discre-
tion in granting credit to customers and in working
with delinquent accounts, assigns work to and directs
the Secretary Clerk, and has the authority to hire a
replacement for her if necessary. The Secretary Clerk
does all the clerical work relating to the customer's
credit and financial statements.
The Credit Department is a corporationwide de-
partment which moved from Denver to Pueblo in
471
1970;3 it is independently supervised and physically
separate from the rest of the work force; the authority
to hire and fire is within the department, and there is
a lack of employee interchange with unit members.
Accordingly, we find that the Secretary Clerk has not
been accreted to the unit; we also find that the Senior
Credit Correspondent is a supervisor, and has not,
therefore, been accreted to the unit.
Programming Department
The Petitioner claims the accretion of the Secretary
to the Director of Management Information, the Pro-
grammer-Tester, and the Documentation Control
Clerk in the unit on the basis that they are clerical or
technical employees. The Employer contends they
have not been accreted because they are confidential
employees, their job function was previously per-
formed by nonbargaining unit employees, and they
are physically separate from unit employees.
The three employees share an area physically sep-
arate from bargaining unit personnel. The Program-
mer-Tester tests computer programs for new systems
under consideration by management; the new sys-
tems would affect the employees if implemented and
are kept confidential by management so as not to
disturb personnel unnecessarily. The Documentation
Control Clerk is the librarian for the computer tapes
for the new systems being tested and temporarily re-
places the Programmer-Tester. The Secretary is in
daily contact with the confidential reports and pro-
grams and reports to the Director of Management
Information who heads the department.
The three positions were created after 1968, but the
job function of handling nonoperational programs
still under consideration by management has been
performed by nonbargaining unit employees since
1967, during which a collective-bargaining agreement
had been negotiated without including them in the
unit. We also find that the Secretary, Programmer-
Tester, and Documentation Control Clerk are confi-
dential employees. Accordingly, we find that they
have not been accreted to the unit.
Tax Department
The Petitioner claims the accretion of the three
accountants as clerical or technical employees. The
Employer contends that they have not been accreted
because they are professional and managerial em-
ployees.
The accountants each have a specific area of con-
3 In Remington Rand Division of Sperry Rand Corporation, 190 NLRB No.
92, a divisionwide department was relocated at one of the corporation's
plants; the Board denied accretion because the plant's collective-bargaining
unit was limited to that plant's employees only.
472 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
centration: sales and use taxes, ad valorem, and pay-
roll. They have 4-year college degrees except the pay-
roll accountant who has a junior college degree. They
do all the Employer's accounting work, with very in-
frequent outside assistance from an accounting firm.
They make regular references to Federal and state
statutes, regulations, do extensive research into case
law, and prepare all Federal and state tax returns. If
the 9overnment audits the returns the accountants
negiate and recommend settlements. The accoun-
tants have access to all financial plans and cash flow
reports.
We find that the accountants are professional em-
ployees within the meaning of the Act. Accordingly,
we find that they have not been accreted to the unit.
Traffic Department
The Petitioner claims the accretion of 10 positions
in the Traffic Department as clerical or technical em-
ployees. The Employer contends that they have not
been accreted because of bargaining history, separate
physical location, independent control over labor re-
lations, and lack of common supervision and that the
Senior Rate and Tariff Clerk is a managerial employ-
ee.
The Traffic Department was created in Pueblo in
1962; it deals with the special rates developed between
CF&I and common carriers, their competitors' special
rates with carriers, and the rate book used by the Sales
Department in quoting and setting competitive prices.
This information is extremely important in a competi-
tive situation and the Employer considers it confiden-
tial.
The Senior Rate and Tariff Clerk conducts tele-
phone negotiations with carriers to establish lower
rates, prepares rate applications, quotes rates to the
Sales Department, analyzes the competitor's price
position, and helps select carriers.
The Traffic Department handles its own personnel
functions of hiring and firing, has control over its own
labor relations, and is physically separated from bar-
gaining unit employees; we also find that the Senior
Rate and Tariff Clerk is a managerial employee. In
view of the foregoing and the fact that these jobs have
existed since 1962, during which three collective-bar-
gaining agreements have been negotiated without in-
cluding them in the unit, we find that these employees
have not been accreted to the unit.
Employee Benefits Department
The Petitioner claims the accretion of employees of
the Employee Benefits Department as clerical or tech-
nical employees; the Employer contends they have
not been accreted because of the bargaining history
and because they are confidential employees. The
Employer also contends that Floyd Wyatt is a super-
visor.
Employee Benefits works with the labor relations
director, administers insurance, pensions, savings, va-
cations, unemployment, and workmen's compensa-
tion. The employees, except for one clerk, are
involved with supplying management with informa-
tion in its grievance procedures with the Union. The
department is located in the Industrial Relations
Building and is supervised independently of bargain-
ing unit employees. The department's work was orig-
inally performed on a smaller scale by the Insurance
Department which was excluded by agreement in
1950. Since 1950 the work has been performed by
nonunit employees in Pueblo.
Floyd L. Wyatt, a supervisor in Employee Benefits,
assigns and checks work, has selected new employees,
effectively recommended pay increases, and has the
authority to fire employees.
In view of the separate location and independent
supervision of these employees, and the fact that these
functions have been performed on a smaller scale
since 1950, during which time collective-bargaining
agreements have been negotiated without including
them in the unit, we find that these employees have
not been accreted to the unit.
Production Planning and Shipping Department
The Petitioner claims the accretion of the Produc-
tion Planning and Shipping Department's planning
staff as clerical or technical employees; the Employer
contends they have not been accreted because they
are managerial employees; the Employer also con-
tends that bargaining history, lack of employee inter-
change, separate community of interest, and separate
physical location from unit employees also preclude
the accretion of the planning staff. The staff consists
of two Production Coordinators and one Planner. The
jobs have been performed in Pueblo since 1962 and
1965, respectively. The staff is located on a floor with-
out any bargaining unit employees and have different
salary and fringe benefits from unit employees. The
Planner does long range planning for 1- and 10-year
periods, recommends inventory, forecasts shipments,
and decides on utilization of plants with top manage-
ment approval, all of which involve the destruction or
creation of new jobs.
The Production Coordinators do short term plan-
ning involving the production for each mill and check
the daily fluctuations in the Planner's overall fore-
casts.
In view of the separate location and lack of commu-
nity of interest and employee interchange with unit
members, and the fact that they are managerial em-
CF&I STEEL CORPORATION 473
ployees and that these jobs have been in existence tions sought in the UC petition are not accretions to
since 1962 and 1965, during which time collective- the bargaining unit and we shall dismiss the petition.
bargaining agreements have been negotiated without
including them in the unit , we find that they have not ORDER
been accreted to the unit.
In view of the foregoing and the entire record in this It is hereby ordered that the petition be, and it
proceeding , we find that the employees and classifica- hereby is, dismissed.