Computer Systems, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 19, 1973

204 N.L.R.B. 255 (N.L.R.B. 1973)

COMPUTER SYSTEMS, INC. 255
Computer Systems, Inc. and Teamsters Local Union
763, affiliated with the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters , Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers
of America, Independent, Petitioner. Case 19-
RC-6337
June 19, 1973
DECISION ON REVIEW
BY CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS KENNEDY
AND PENELLO
On November 3, 1972, Charles M. Henderson, the
Regional Director for Region 19, issued his Decision
and Direction of Election in the above-entitled pro-
ceeding in which he found the following unit to be
appropriate:
All employees of the Employer located at its Tu-
kwila, Washington facility, including accounting
department employees, computer graphics de-
partment employees, computer operators, input,
output and distribution clerks, receptionists,
nonconfidential secretaries, customer service
representatives, and messengers, but excluding
computer output microfilm department employ-
ees, programmers, systems analysts, professional
employees, confidential employees, and supervi-
sors as defined in the Act.
Thereafter, in accordance with Section 102.67 of Na-
tional Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations,
the Employer filed a request for review on the grounds
that the Regional Director departed from officially
reported precedent in excluding the programmers and
systems analysts from the unit found appropriate, and
that there is a lack of precedent as to the appropriate
unit for employees of independent self-contained data
processing service bureaus.
On February 5, by telegraphic order, the National
Labor Relations Board granted the request for review
and indicated that in the absence of officially reported
Board precedent involving units in operations such as
the Employer's, it would review the record with re-
spect to all unit placement determinations made by
the Regional Director. Thereafter, the parties filed
briefs on review.
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 considered the entire record in this
,case including the briefs on review, and makes the
following findings:
The Employer is an independent data processing
bureau engaged in the sale of data processing services.
Only the Employer's Tukwila facility is involved in
this proceeding. There is no history of collective bar-
gaining among the Employer's employees.
The Tukwila facility is a two-story building, the
second floor of which is vacant. The 8 systems ana-
lysts and 11 programmers do not work together in any
one area of the facility, but rather, are distributed in
various departments.' All employees have a common
parking lot, restrooms, and lunchrooms. The Employ-
er operates the facility on a 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-
week basis. However, most employees, including the
analysts and programmers, work a 40-hour week,
Monday through Friday.
The Employer's supervisory hierarchy consists of
three intermediate supervisors who report directly to
the president, and department level supervisors, in-
cluding one who is in charge of computer graphics,
systems analysts, and programmers. The Employer's
president makes the final decisions on all personnel
actions, including hiring, promotion, discipline, and
discharge, although it appears that all supervisors can
make effective recommendations to the president
concerning these personnel actions?
The duties of the analyst and programmers require
them to have frequent contact with employees in
other classifications. The systems analyst's first con-
tact is with the customer service representatives who
explain the needs of the customer to the analyst. The
analyst, who is familiar with the softwear available
and the capabilities of the computer, tells the pro-
grammer which system or systems will best meet a
particular customer's needs. The programmer, given
this information, writes a program in computer lan-
guage or machine code which will produce the desired
result. The programmer must then communicate this
information to the keypunchers and/or the computer
operators. Depending upon the particular needs of the
customer, the analysts and programmers may have
contact with other employees. For example, if a cus-
tomer needs his data in the form of a graph or chart,
the analyst must meet with graphics department em-
ployees to coordinate the production of the chart or
graph.
The analysts and programmers are salaried, with
the exception of one analyst and three programmers
who are paid on an hourly basis. Virtually all other
employees are paid on an hourly basis (the one excep-
tion being customer service representatives, who were
included in the unit by the Regional Director). The
1 The Regional Director treated employees in the graphics department by
job classification , rather than by department He therefore excluded the
combination analyst-programmer in that department on the same basis as the
analyst and programmers
2 The Employer's brief on review indicates that some of the duties previ-
ously carried on by the president are now handled by the general manager,
a newly created position
204 NLRB No. 34
256 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
difference in mode of payment appears to be attribut-
able to the fact that some employees were employed
by companies which merged with the Employer and
have retained to a degree the same terms and condi-
tions of employment they had under their premerger
companies.
The analysts and programmers are subject to tem-
porary assignments away from the Tukwila facility,
on "loan" to customers. The customer service repre-
sentatives are also subject to assignment away from
the Tukwila facility.
The Regional Director found the record evidence
insufficient to establish that the analysts and pro-
grammers are technical employees within the Board's
definition set forth in Litton Industries of Maryland,
Incorporated, 125 NLRB 722.
The Employer contends that the Regional Director
erred in relying on The Ohio Casualty Insurance Com-
pany, 175 NLRB 860. In that case, the Board excluded
programmers and analysts from a requested unit com-
prised mainly of office clerical employees, finding
that significant differences existed between them and
office clerical employees in regard to job functions,
responsibilities, use of initiative and independent
judgment, immediate supervision, wages, and hours.
We find merit in the Employer's contention. Here, as
indicated, the Employer is an independent data pro-
cessing bureau and most of the employees sought to
be represented are data processing employees. The
facts here also show that its operations are highly
integrated, there is geographical separation of pro-
grammers and analysts from other employees, equip-
ment is shared by employees with different
classifications , and there is frequent contact among
all data processing employees. In view of the demons-
trated close community of interest here between the
disputed analysts and programmers and other data
processing employees, and the absence of a labor or-
ganization seeking to represent them separately, we
conclude, contrary to the Regional Director, that the
analysts and programmers must be included in the
unit .3
We find, therefore, that the appropriate unit, as
modified herein, is as follows:
All employees of the Employer at its Tukwila,
Washington, facility, including accounting de-
partment employees, computer graphics depart-
ment employees, systems analysts, computer
programmers, computer operators, input, output,
and distribution clerks, receptionists, nonconfi-
dential secretaries, customer service representa-
tives, and messengers, but excluding computer
output microfilm department employees, profes-
sional employees, confidential employees, and
supervisors as defined in the Act.
Accordingly, the case is remanded to the Regional
Director for the purpose of conducting an election
pursuant to his Decision and Direction of Election, as
modified herein, except that the payroll period for
determining eligibility shall be that immediately pre-
ceding the date this decision issues . [Excelsior foot-
note omitted from publication.]
J Insomuch as we have included the programmers and analysts in the unit,
we shall also include the analyst -programmer working in the graphics depart-
ment
As the two computer output microfilm employees do not work in the
Tukwila facility, and the parties agree they should not be included , we shall
exclude them from the unit.
As the unit found appropriate herein is more comprehensive than that
defined in the Regional Director's Decision and Direction of Election, we
shall instruct the Regional Director to determine the adequacy of the
Petitioner 's showing of interest in the aforedescribed appropnate unit before
proceeding with an election herein