Combustion Engineering Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 18, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 556 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter Of COMBUSTION ENGINEERING COMPANY, INC., EMPLOYER
and PATTERN MAKERS' LEAGUE or NORTH AMERICA, AFL, PETITIONER
Case No. 10-R-1840.-Decided Judy 18, 1947
Messrs. Jac Chambliss and Grier Lloyd, both of Chattanooga , Tenn.,
for the Employer.
Messrs. J. A. Lipscomb , of Bessemer , Ala., and George S. Reynolds
and Charles L. Algee , both of Chattanooga , Tenn., for the Petitioner.
Mr. G. G. Kissinger , of Chattanooga Tenn., for the Intervenor.
Mr. Warren H. Leland, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Chatta-
nooga, Tennessee, on March 4, 1947, before W. G. Stuart Sherman,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Combustion Engineering Company, Inc., is a Delaware corporation
engaged in several States in the United States in the manufacture, sale,
and distribution of coal burning and steam generating equipment and
grey iron castings. This proceeding concerns only the Employer's
foundry (Plant No. 4) at Chattanooga, Tennessee. During 1946, the
Employer purchased raw materials for use at this plant valued in excess
of $500,000, approximately 90 percent of which was received from
points outside the State of Tennessee. During the same period, the
Employer manufactured products at Plant No. 4 which were valued
in excess of $5,000,000, approximately 90 percent of which was shipped
'to points outside the State.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
74 N. L. R. B., No 106.
556
COMBUSTION ENGINEERING COMPANY, INC.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
557
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
International Molders and Foundry Workers of North America,
herein called the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of
the Employer.
III. TIIE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT; TIIE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Petitioner seeks a unit comprised of all non-supervisory jour-
neymen pattern makers and apprentice pattern makers employed in
the Employer's foundry. The Employer and the Intervenor contend
that these employees should be included in the single industrial unit
presently represented by the Intervenor.
The record reveals that following a Board ordered election,' the
Intervenor was certified in February 1938 as collective bargaining
agent for all the Employer' foundry workers. Since August 2, 1940,
the Employer and the Intervenor have been bound by collective bar-
gaining agreements embracing the employees covered in the certifica-
tion.2. In April 1946 the Petitioner made its first claim to representa-
tion and on April 19, 1946, it filed its petition hetvein. On November
11, 1946, the Employer and the Intervenor executed their latest
agreement.
At the time of the Board's determination of the appropriate unit in
1938, only 1 pattern foreman and his apprentice were employed by
the Employer. The size of the pattern shop increased during the war,
and postwar operations indicate that a complement of approximately
12 pattern workers will be maintained for an indefinite period. Al-
though apparently covered by the contracts between the Intervenor
and the Employer, the pattern workers have not become members of
the Intervenor, nor have they participated in that union's affairs. In
15 N L R B 344.
2 These agreements have provided for an "open shop" with maintenance of membership
clauses.
558 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
April 1946, the pattern makers attempted to-secure a raise in wages
in accordance with a general wage increase given to all the shops in
the area and the Employer advised them that request for-such wage
increase must be processed through the Intervenor. Nevertheless,
the pattern makers requested the Petitioner to represent them. In
the meanwhile, however, the pattern shop workers processed their
request for higher wages through the Intervenor, pending disposition
of this proceeding.
The pattern shop employees are skilled craftsmen requiring ap-
prenticeship training before qualifying as journeymen. They work
in a separate room and under separate , supervision from the Em-
ployer's other employees; they receive a higher rate of pay than the
other workers and are not interchanged with them.
It is clear from the foregoing facts that the pattern makers form a
homogeneous group with interests distinguishable from those of the
production and maintenance employees . The only remaining issue
is whether the bargaining history of the Employer's plant precludes
them from placement in a unit other than the production and main-
tenance unit.
We have frequently held that pattern makers with duties similar to
those performed by the employees herein involved constitute a craft
group,3 which may be approximately included for collective bargain-
ing purposes in a plant-wide unit or in a separate unit. Under these
circumstances, and inasmuch as the pattern makers have not had an
opportunity previously to vote for separate representation, we are of
the opinion that they should now be given an opportunity to demon-
strate in a Board election whether they desire representation on a sepa-
rate basis or as part of the plant-wide unit. Accordingly, we shall
make no final unit determination at the present time but shall direct
an election among all journeymen pattern makers and apprentice pat-
tern makers employed in the pattern shop department, at the Em-
ployer's foundry (Plant No. 4) at Chattanooga, Tennessee, excluding
office and clerical employees , executive employees , and all other super-
visory employees . If the majority of these employees select the Peti-
tioner as their bargaining representative, they will be taken to have
indicated their desire to constitute a separate appropriate unit. If,
however, they select the Intervenor they will be taken to have indi-
cated their desire to remain a part of the existing plant-wide unit
currently represented by the Intervenor.
See Matter of Kaiser Frazier Corporation, 73 N. L. R B. 109.
COMBUSTION ENGINEERING COMPANY, INC.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 4
559
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Combustion Engineering Com-
pany, Inc., Chattanooga, Tennessee (Plant No. 4), an election by secret
ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty
(30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and
supervision of the Regional Director for the Tenth Region, acting in
this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and sub-
ject to Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board
Rules and Regulations-Series 4, among the employees in the voting
group described in Section IV, above, who were employed during the
pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, in-
cluding employees who did not work during said pay-roll period be-
cause they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including
employees in the armed forces of the United States who present them-
selves in person at the polls, but excluding those employees who have
since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or
reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether they
desire to be represented by Pattern Makers' League of North America,
AFL, or by International Molders and Foundry Workers of. North
America, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
4 Any participant in the election herein may , upon its prompt request to and approval
thereof by the Regional Director , have its name removed from the ballot.
15 5lYU 48 v-J II it