Crane Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 10, 1961

132 N.L.R.B. 944 (N.L.R.B. 1961)

944 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
or the nonretail standard of $50,000 annual inflow or outflow? Ac-
cordingly, without deciding in this case whether we would assert
jurisdiction over country clubs which do meet those ' standards,' we
find that the Employer does not meet the Board's jurisdictional stand-
ards and, therefore, that it will not effectuate the policies of the Act to
assert jurisdiction herein. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition.
[The Board dismissed the petition.]
® Siemon8 Mailing Service, 122 NLRB 81.
4 In the absence of any specific standard for this type of operation, we have applied
existing standards in the decision of this case, but we leave open the question whether to
apply those standards in future cases involving similar employers.
Crane Co ., Chattanooga Division and Success Lodge 56, Inter-
national Association of Machinists , AFL-CIO, Petitioner.
Case No. '10-RC-4955. August 10, 1961
DECISION AND ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before William E. Caldwell, hearing
officer. 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 Act, the Board has
delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member
panel [Members Leedom, Fanning, and Brown].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning.of the
Act.
2. The labor organizations i involved claim to represent employees
of the Employer.
3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act, for the following
reasons:
The Petitioner seeks to sever a unit composed of -employees of the
machine shop and of the machining department, the assembly and
painting department and the tool and equipment department of the
steel flange and valve departments from the production and mainte-
I District 60 , United Mine Workers of America , Local Union 12827 , herein called the
Intervenor , intervened at the hearing on the basis of an existing contract with the
Employer.
132 NLRB No. 71.
CRANE CO., CHATTANOOGA DIVISION 945-,
nance unit currently represented by the Intervenor,2 asserting that the
employees sought to form a functionally distinct and separate depart-
mental group. The Petitioner agreed to exclude the production and
control department and the testing and inspection department, which-
are also part of the steel flange and valve departments. In the alterna-
tive, the Petitioner would be willing to exclude the tool and equipment
department and/or include the pattern shop employees, as the Board
may determine. The Intervenor and the Employer oppose the sever--
ance of the requested unit on the grounds that (1) only a production-
and maintenance unit is appropriate in view of the extended history of
bargaining on a broader basis between the Intervenor and the Em-
ployer and (2) the unit involved does not constitute a distinct
homogeneous and functionally cohesive group of employees.
The Employer, in its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, produces cast.
iron porcelain enamelware from the casting of parts in its own foundry
operations through the final enameling process. It also produces.
industrial steel valves and flanges from rough castings which it pur-
chases for machining, and from finished component parts, which it.
purchases for final assembly of the valves.
The machine shop is located in building 2 in the same room with the
pattern shop. Both are part of the Employer's maintenance depart-
ment, which also includes repair, electric shop, and general stores.
The machine shop employee complement is comprised of nine ma-
chinists "A." The work performed by these employees consists of (1)
the manufacture of jigs and fixtures used in repairing the machines
used by the steel flange and valve departments, and (2), working with
the pattern shop employees in the fabrication and repair of metal'
patterns and molding flasks used by the enamel operation and foundry
department. The repair parts manufactured by the machine shop are
installed by repair personnel. The pattern shop is composed of six-
metal pattern makers "A,", five metal pattern mechanics "A," and
three welders. These employees make new patterns and repair exist-
ing patterns for the Employer's production departments. The ma-
chine shop and pattern shop are under common supervision of a fore-
man who also supervises the carpenter and the roofer in repair. There
2 In 1944 the Intervenor was certified as the bargaining representative of the Employer's
production and maintenance employees Since 1944 the Intervenor and the Employer have
executed successive contracts covering these employees , the latest of which was executed
on June 1, 1959, for a 3-year period. As the instant petition was timely filed with re-
spect to the first 2 years of the contract , we find, contrary to the Intervenor 's contention,
that this contract does not constitute a bar to these proceedings Pacific Coast Associa-
tion of Pulp and Paper Manufacturers , 121 NLRB 990 The Intervenor ' s request for
modification of the Pactilc Coast decision insofar -'as It holds ' that contracts for over
2 years are of unreasonable duration is denied.
946 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
is no interchange of employees between these shops and the other
departments sought.
As indicated above, the machining department, assembly and paint-
ing department, and tool and equipment department are part of the
steel flange and valve departments along with the testing and inspec-
tion department and production control department. The machining
department and assembly and painting department are located to-
gether in a large building and are under common supervision above
the foreman level.
The machining department consists of approximately 157 employ-
ees including about 77 turret lathe operators "A" and "B" and other
employees who operate various types of production machines. These
employees perform uncomplicated and repetitive production work in
the manufacture of flanges and valves of various sizes and pressure
classes.
The assembly and painting department is comprised of valve assem-
blers, painters, power truck operators, a material handler, and a tally
clerk. The work performed by these employees is limited to the assem-
bly, painting, and handling of valves.
The tool and equipment department, located in an enclosed area of
the building occupied by the machining and the assembly and painting
departments, is under separate supervision. It is a service depart-
ment for the steel flange and valve departments, and employs a ma-
chinist "A," tool grinders, tool crib attendants, and a machine tool
and fixture handler. The machinist "A" performs emergency jig and
fixture repairs on machines used by the steel flange and valve depart-
ments. The other employees of this department carry out routine
work of the type generally associated with their job titles.
It is clear from the above that no unit requested by the Petitioner is
a traditional department such as the Board has recognized for sever-
ance purposes. Accordingly, we find that neither the primary nor
alternative unit sought by the Petitioner is an appropriate depart-
mental group for severance purposes and that each constitutes, instead,
a grouping of heterogeneous employees which cuts across departmental
lines and lacks sufficient cohesiveness to warrant representation in the
multidepartmental unit sought herein.'
As we have found inappropriate any unit requested by the Peti-
tioner, we shall dismiss the petition herein.
[The Board dismissed the petition.j
8 Wyman-Gordon Co., 117 NLRB 75, 78; Dana Corporation, 122 NLRB 365, 367, 369