Collins Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 24, 1949

81 N.L.R.B. 267 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of COLLINS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS , LOCAL 602, A. F. L.,.
PETITIONER
Case No. 1-RC-338.Decided January 24, 194.9
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 three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
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 Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the-
Employer.
The Independent Union of Collins Manufacturing Company is a
labor organization certified by the Board on June 27, 1944.
The International Brotherhood of Paper Makers, A. F. L., is a labor
organization, which filed a petition in Case No. 1-RC-331, seeking
certification as the representative of the Employer's production and
maintenance employees, including the group involved in this case.
That petition was subsequently withdrawn with the permission of the
Regional Director.
3. A question of representation affecting commerce exists concern-
ing certain 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 of all powerhouse employees consist-
ing of firemen, firemen's helpers, ashmen, engineers, including the
chief engineer and the spare engineer who is also an electrician, but
*Houston, Reynolds , and Murdock
81 N. L. R. B., No. 43. 267
268 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
excluding production employees, guards, professional employees, and
supervisors as defined in the Act. The Employer, the Independent
Union and the Paper Makers did not appear at the hearing to express
their views on the appropriate unit.
The Independent Union was certified by the Board on June 27, 1944,
as the exclusive bargaining representative of all production and main-
tenance employees of the Employer, including powerhouse employees,
but its last contract with the Employer covering that unit was ter-
minated on May 31, 1948.
The employees sought to be represented by the Petitioner constitute
a readily identifiable, functionally coherent group, having a community
of interest, and of a type which we have frequently held appropriate
either for separate representation or for inclusion in a broader unit.'
Accordingly, we shall give them an opportunity to vote for separate
representation, despite the Board's prior establishment of a plant-wide
unit, and the bargaining history in that broader unit.2
Some question arose during the hearing as to inclusion in the power-
house unit of the chief engineer and the spare engineer-electrician.
The chief engineer's authority is limited to transmitting instructions,
whereas the personnel manager has full authority to hire, discharge,
discipline, and assign men to their shifts in the powerhouse. We find
that the chief engineer is not a supervisor 3 and should be included
in the Unit .4 The dual designation of spare engineer-electrician ap-
plies to one Dave Murphy. His duties include 3 or 4 hours each Mon-
day morning in the powerhouse starting off machines. In addition,
for a short time daily he reads meters in the powerhouse. While he
also repairs motors in that plant, most of his time is devoted to electri-
cal maintenance work on the power lines connected with the companies
serviced by the Employer. We shall include him in the unit in view
of the fact that his interests are allied with those of the powerhouse
employees.
As the Independent Union is not in compliancc with Section 9 (f),
(g), and (h) of the Act, we will not accord it a place on the ballot .5
The Paper Makers Union whose withdrawn petition covered both
production and maintenance employees did not appear at the hearing
or otherwise indicate whether or not it wishes to participate in an
election for powerhouse employees only. Accordingly, we will not
I B W Bliss Company, 76 N. L. R. B. 475; Smath Paper, Inc., 76 N. L. R. B. 1226.
2 The powerhouse employees have not had an opportunity to indicate whether or not they
desire separate representation.
3 Board Member Reynolds is of the opinion that the testimony to the effect that the
personnel director possesses complete supervisory authority over the powerhouse which
is not shared by the chief engineer is patently implausible . He is, therefore, of the opinion
that the chief engineer is a supervisor and as such should be excluded from the unit.
4 H. J. Heinz, 77 N L. R. B. 1261.
5 Rate-Form Corset Co., Inc, 75 N. L. R. B. 174.
COLLINS MANUFACTURING COMPANY 269
place it on the ballot. However, it may participate in the election
upon notice to the Regional Director within 5 days after the issuance
,of this Direction.
We shall direct that an election be held among all powerhouse em-
ployees consisting of firemen, firemen's helpers, ashmen, engineers,
including the chief engineer, and the spare engineer-electrician, but
excluding production employees, guards, professional employees, and
supervisors as defined in the Act. However, we shall make no final
unit determination at this time, but shall be guided in part by the
desires of these employees as expressed in the election hereinafter
directed. If a majority vote for the Petitioner, they will be taken
to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bargaining unit.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes 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-Series 5, as amended, among
the employees 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 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
or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bar-
gaining, by International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 602,
A. F. L.