Federal Electric Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 30, 1966

162 N.L.R.B. 512 (N.L.R.B. 1966)

512 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Federal Electric Corporation and Kilmer Federation of Teachers,
Local No. 1656, affiliated with the American Federation of
Teachers, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case 22-RC-320?. Decem-
ber 30, 1966
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing was held before Hearing
Officer Robert M. Schwarzbart on March 29 and April 4, 1966. The
Hearing Officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju-
dicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, including the Employer's
brief, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Sections
9(c) (1) and 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner seeks a unit of all employees employed by the
Employer as academic teachers at the Camp Kilmer Job Corps Cen-
ter, Edison, New Jersey, where the Employer conducts a vocation-
oriented school for resident corpsmen pursuant to a contract with the
Office of Economic Opportunity.
The Employer contends that the appropriate unit should consist of
all counselors, assistant instructors, instructors, senior instructors,
educational specialists, senior educational specialists, specialists ath-
letic activities, specialists craft activities, specialists fine arts activi-
ties, specialists senior athletics activities, specialists senior craft activ-
ities, and specialists senior fine arts activities.
The unit sought by the Petitioner consists of approximately 78
academic teachers, all of whom are employed in the Educational
Services Branch 'of the Education, Vocational and Avocational De-
partment, herein called E.V.A. The other branches of E.V.A. are
the Vocational, Avocational, and Instructional Resources branches.
E.V.A. has a manager who reports directly to the center's deputy
director, and each branch has an administrator.'
1 The Petitioner states in the record that it is willing to participate in an election in
any unit deemed appropriate by the Board , including the larger unit proposed by the
Employer.
162 NLRB No. 42.
FEDERAL ELECTRIC CORP. 513
The larger unit which the Employer considers appropriate would
include, in addition to the academic teachers, the instructors from the
other branches of E.V.A. and counselors from the Enrollee Educa-
tion and Processing Department. The Employer refers to this group
of 254 employees as involved directly in the instructional process. In
total there are 850 employees at the center, including clerical, culi-
nary, construction, building service, and guard employees.
The academic teachers sought by the Petitioner are classified as
senior educational specialists and educational specialists. They teach
mathematics, science, communications (reading and writing), social
education (government and current events), speech therapy, and re-
medial reading. All these teachers have college degrees and teaching
experience, and administratively they are part of the Employer's
Educational Service Branch of E.V.A.
The instructors in the Vocational Services Branch of E.V.A. teach
subjects such as cooking, metal trades, building trades, and mechani-
cal equipment skills. Only a small percentage have college degrees.
They are required to have substantial experience in the fields of busi-
ness and sales, food service (cooks), metal trades, building trades,
and equipment skills (i.e., auto mechanics). They teach in separate
areas , only seldom in classrooms as such, due to the fact that large
quantities of tools and equipment are necessary for instruction, dem-
onstration, and application by the corpsmen. They exercise inde-
pendent judgment in determining how best to teach their courses,
and are required to have had some formal education beyond the high
school level as well as previous teaching experience in their particu-
lar specialties.
The specialists and senior specialists who make up the teaching
staff of the Avocational Services Branch of E.V.A. also teach and are
hired on the basis of substantial experience in their respective fields
and some college training. The corpsmen are required to take only
the physical education portion of this training; they may elect to
take the fine arts and craft portions.
The educational specialists and senior educational specialists of
the Instructional Resources Branch of E.V.A. do no actual teaching,
but perform services directly related to and which supplement the
teaching process. It is their function to schedule classes , conduct the
library service, prepare teaching and visual aids and materials, and
research new educational courses and techniques. All of these employ-
ees have college degrees and experience in their special fields.
264-047-67-vol . 162-34
514 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Counseling Branch, which is part of the Enrollee Evaluation
and Processing Department, has no specific responsibility for teach-
ing as such, although counselors assist in conducting orientation pro-
grams for new corpsmen. It was placed in a separate department
from E.V.A. so that it might function as an evaluator of the E.V.A.
teaching program. Its manager reports directly to the center's deputy
director, as does the manager of E.V.A. There are 35 counselors and
their work is essentially free of supervision. It is their function to
guide and counsel individual corpsmen , check their progress , advise
as to change of vocation, arrange leaves for, and treat with personal
problems of, the corpsmen. In addition, they administer tests to the
corpsmen and maintain a close watch on their progress, keeping ade-
quate records thereof for the use of other staff members. Counselors
are required to be college graduates and have experience in counsel-
ing, social work, or related fields.
The Employer introduced evidence of a reorganization in the
school program which was under way at the time of the hearing and
which would result in corpsmen's educational programs being orga-
nized on the basis of a "vocational school" concept, rather than the
original "dormitory" concept.2
Introduction of the vocational school concept has resulted in
assignment of academic teachers to a particular school, e.g., cooks
service school, service station attendant school, etc., so that they may
concentrate on teaching academic matters of particular relevance to
the vocational course offered in the school. The curriculum for the
vocational school is formulated and implemented within the particu-
lar school by permanently assigned academic and vocational instruc-
tors. The relationship of the academic subject matter offered within a
given school to the vocational program will evolve to the point where
the vocational instructors may teach portions of the academic pro-
gram. A greater coordination in the efforts of the academic and voca-
tional instructors is thus achieved under the school concept. The
changeover to the school concept has also resulted in assignment of
counselors solely concerned with the vocational guidance of the corps-
men to the various vocational schools in the E.V.A. Department.
These counselors are under the supervision and responsibility of the
vocational school administrator, as are the academic teachers and
2 We have since been informed by letter from the Employer served on the parties that,
as of June 6, 1966 , the vocational school concept instructional technique has been fully
instituted at the Kilmer Job Corps Center. The corpsmen are now assigned to one of six
vocational schools and their training and life at the center is so ordered that all corpsmen
training in the same vocational field live together and study together, which was not true
under the dormitory system. Under the old system , each of the corpsmen had been assigned
to a permanent dormitory without respect to their vocational field. The corpsmen took
vocational training separately from their dormitory mates together with those who studied
within the same field. During the other half of the day, they studied their academic sub-
jects together with their dormitory mates regardless of vocational interests.
FEDERAL ELECTRIC CORP . 515
vocational instructors. Under this concept the Staff Consultation
Group consists of the academic and vocational instructors, and a
counselor assigned to a particular school rather than to a dormitory
as in the past. The avocational instructors and educational specialists
continue to participate in the educational program in the same man-
ner as under the old system.
All of the above employees are salaried. The salary ranges are
essentially identical, except for counselors who have a higher mini-
mum starting salary than the other instructors. All employees enjoy
identical medical, life insurance, disability, retirement, holiday, and
vacation benefits. They all work a Monday-to-Friday 40-hour week
and enjoy the same overtime pay for work outside their normal 40-
hour workweek. The employees all consistently exercise a substantial
amount of discretion in the performance of their duties within the
instructional process. Most of the instructors are required, for their
work, to possess a college degree, or substantial college training and
previous teaching experience.
On the basis of the foregoing, we find that the broad unit urged by
the Employer is appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining. It
is apparent that the employees included therein constitute a func-
tionally distinct group of employees sharing strong community of
interests by reason of the similarity of their skills, training, sala-
ries, fringe benefits, and working conditions, their grouping in an
administrative division of the Employer's operations, and the high
degree of coordination and integration in the use of their training
and skills in the formulation and implementation of the educational
program provided for job corpsmen. Moreover, we find that these
factors, particularly the degree of coordination and integration in
the functions of academic teachers, vocational instructors, and coun-
selors existing under the "vocational school" concept presently fol-
lowed by the Employer, militate against a finding that a unit limited
to academic teachers is appropriate for purposes of collective
bargaining.3
Accordingly, we find that the following employees of the Employer
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act :
All counselors, assistant instructors, instructors, senior instruc-
tors, educational specialists, senior educational specialists, special-
ists athletic activities, specialists craft activities, specialists fine
arts activities, specialists senior craft activities, and specialists
senior fine arts activities employed by the Employer at the Camp
Kilmer Job Corps Center, Edison, New Jersey, excluding techni-
cal and clerical employees, cafeteria, kitchen and culinary em-
8 Training Corporation of America, Inc., 162 NLRB 286.
516 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ployees, building service and maintenance employees, guards, and
supervisors as defined in the Act 4
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.] 5
MEMBER BROWN took no part in the above Decision and Direction
of Election.
* As the Petitioner 's showing of interest herein is limited to the academic teachers, we
hereby direct the Regional Director to afford the Petitioner an opportunity to produce a
showing of interest for the unit herein found appropriate and to allow such time as the
Regional Director deems appropriate for such purpose. If Petitioner fails to do so, the
Regional Director is hereby directed to dismiss the petition.
5 An election eligibility list, containing the names and addresses of all the eligible
voters, must be filed by the Employer with the Regional Director for Region 22 within
7 days after the date of this Decision and Direction of Election . The list may initially be
used by the Regional Director to assist in determining an adequate showing of interest.
The Regional Director shall make the list available to all parties to the election when he
shall have determined that an adequate showing of interest among the employees in the
unit found appropriate has been established . No extension of time to file this list shall
be granted by the Regional Director except in extraordinary circumstances . Failure to
comply with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside the election whenever
proper objections are filed. Excelsior Underwear, Inc., 156 NLRB 1236.
Harold R. Kilbride , an Individual , d/b/a Abbot Construction
Company and International Brotherhood of Painters , Decora-
tors and Paperhangers of America , Local Union No. 260; Bill
George, an Individual ; and Henry B. Barron , an Individual.
Cases 19-CA-3908 1, 2, and 3. January 3,1967.
DECISION AND ORDER
On September 21, 1966, Trial Examiner Henry S. Sahm issued his
Decision in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that Respondent
did not engage in certain unfair labor practices in violation of Sec-
tion 8 (a) (1) and (3) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended,
and recommending that the complaint be dismissed, as set forth in
the attached Trial Examiner's Decision. Thereafter, the General
Counsel filed exceptions to the Decision and a supporting brief, and
the Charging Parties filed a statement of joinder in the General
Counsel's position.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board has
delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member
panel [Members Fanning, Brown, and Zagoria].
The Board has reviewed the rulings made by the Trial Examiner
at the hearing and finds that no prejudicial error was committed.'
1 Counsel for the General Counsel took exception to the Trial Examiner 's ruling denying
the admission into evidence of certain testimony offered in rebuttal . While it may have been
better practice to admit this testimony , the Board finds that since it would not require a
different conclusion , its rejection was not prejudicial error.
162 NLRB No. 50.