E. W. Bliss Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 2, 1948

76 N.L.R.B. 475 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of E. W. BLISS COMPANY, TOLEDO WORKS, EMPLOYER
and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF FIREMEN AND OILERS, POWER-
HOUSE EMPLOYEES, OPERATORS AND MAINTENANCE MEN, LOCAL No. 2,
A. F. L., PETITIONER
Case No. 8-R4628.-Decided March 2, 1948
Mr. G. T. Coovert, of Toledo, Ohio, for the Employer.
Mr. Carl E. Baker, of Toledo, Ohio, for the Petitioner.
Lamb, Goerlich and Mack, by Mr. Lowell Goerlich, of Toledo, Ohio,
for the intervenor.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing was held in this case at Toledo,
Ohio, on July 9, 1947, before John W. Irving, hearing officer. The
hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju-
dicial 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
E. W. Bliss Company, a Delaware corporation having its principal
place of business in Detroit, Michigan, is engaged in the manufac-
ture of power press machinery and rolling mill equipment in several
plants located in different parts of the United States. This proceed-
ing is concerned solely with employees in its Toledo Works, Plant
No. 2, in Ohio. During the year 1946, it manufactured at the Toledo
Works finished products valued in excess of $2,500,000, of which more
than 75 percent was shipped to points outside the State of Ohio.
During the same period, it purchased for use in the Toledo Works and
other Ohio plants raw materials valued in excess of $1,000,000, of
which more than 50 percent was received from points outside the
State.
76 N. L. R. B., No. 72.
475
476 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural
Implement Workers of America, Local 12, herein called the Intervenor,
is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial
Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer has refused to recognize the Petitioner as the exclu-
sive bargaining representative of employees in the Employer's power
plant until the Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appro-
priate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT; THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Petitioner seeks a unit of engineers, firemen, and coal passers
employed in the power plant of the Employer's Toledo Works, Plant
No. 2. The Intervenor contends that only a comprehensive produc-
tion and maintenance unit is appropriate because of past bargaining
history on this broader basis. Since 1939, following a consent election
conducted by the Board, the powerhouse employees have been included
in a unit of production and maintenance employees, now represented
by the Intervenor. The Employer is neutral.
The power plant, located several hundred feet from the main plant,
is under supervision of a chief engineer, who reports to the plant
superintendent.' It generates steam and electricity for the foundry,
the pattern shop and the outside cranes, and furnishes air for the
plant. Employed in the powerhouse are engineers, firemen, and coal
passers. Engineers check the operation of the machinery and are
responsible for the safety of men and equipment in the powerhouse.
Firemen watch the steam pressure in the boilers, regulate the intake
of coal, and direct the work of coal passers, who move the coal to the
automatic stokers and remove ashes. The engineers and firemen are
' The chief engineer also supervises powerhouse employees in the Employer's Plant No. 1,
located about 3 miles from Plant No . 2. For those operations , he reports to that plant's
superintendent. He is the only supervisor among the engineers . The others have no super-
visory attributes.
E. W. BLISS COMPANY 477
licensed by the State; coal passers are not. Power plant employees
are paid on a basis different from that of the production and main-
tenance employees and, except for occasional use of a foundry laborer
to substitute for a late or absent coal passer, there is no interchange of
employees between the two groups.
The Board has frequently found that po-werhouse employees in the
machine manufacturing and equipment industry may constitute an
appropriate unit.2 Under these circumstances, we believe that the
powerhouse employees involved in this proceeding also may, if they
so desire, constitute a separate unit, notwithstanding a bargaining
history on a more inclusive basis.3 On the other hand, the powerhouse
employees also may, if they desire, continue to be represented as part
of the production and maintenance unit. Accordingly, the Board
will not make any unit determination until it has ascertained the de-
sires of the employees concerned.
We shall direct that an election be held among all engineers, fire-
men, and coal passers employed by the Employer at its Toledo Works,
Plant No. 2, excluding all supervisors as defined in the amended Act.
If, in this election, the employees select the Petitioner, they will be
taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bargaining
unit; if they select the Intervenor, they will be taken to have indicated
a desire to remain part of the comprehensive production and mainte-
nance unit now represented by the Intervenor.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with E. W. Bliss Company, Toledo,
Ohio, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as pos-
sible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direc-
tion, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for
the Eighth Region, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of Na-
tional Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, 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, including employees who did not work dur-
ing said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tem-
porarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since quit
or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated
2 Matter of American Foak d Hoe Company, 72 N L R B 1025; Matter of International
Hai nester Company, 71 N L R B 390 , Matter of Gi abler Manufacturing Company, 57
N L. R. B. 481; Matter of Allis -Chalmers Mfg. Company, 47 N. L. R. B. 85; and Matter
of Erie City Iron Works , 30 N. L. R. B. 469.
3 See Matter of Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 75 N L. R. B. 638
478 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
prior to the date of the election, and any employees on strike who are
not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether they desire to be
represented by International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers,
Powerhouse Employees, Operators and Maintenance Men, Local No.
2, A. F. L., or by International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft
and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, Local 12, C. I. 0.,
for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.