Federal Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 17, 1951

92 N.L.R.B. 1395 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

In the Matter Of FEDERAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS LABORATORIES, INC.,
EMPLOYER and LOCAL 400, INTERNATIONAL UNION OF ELECTRICAL,
RADIO & MACHINE WORKERS, CIO , PETITIONER
Case No. 2-RC-2282.-Decided January 17,1951
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 ( c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Chester L. Migden, 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-mem-
ber panel [Members Houston, Reynolds , and Styles]..
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 Petitioner and the Intervenor 1 are labor organizations claim-
ing to represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. Questions affecting commerce exist 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.
4. The appropriate units :
The Petitioner seeks three separate units consisting generally of
engineering employees , herein called "Unit A," office and clerical em-
ployees, herein called "Unit B," and production and maintenance
employees , herein called "Unit C." All the parties agree that these
three separate units' are generally appropriate . Disagreement exists,
however, as to the composition of the units.
The Employer is engaged in the research , development, and pilot
and experimental production of electronic and mechanical communi-
cation and aerial-navigation equipment . It maintains laboratories at
Nutley, New Jersey , and at the Westchester County Airport , Rye, New
York, and field stations at Telegraph Hill, New Jersey , and-Great
River, New York. In addition , the Employer recently leased space
at Belleville , New Jersey, ,but has not yet begun operations there.
1 United Office and Professional Workers of America, Local 231.
92 NLRB No. 206. 1395
1396 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The parties agree that the scope of the unit should include all of the
Employer's locations, including Belleville, New Jersey. There are
:approximately 750 employees, of which about 500 are in the units
.sought in the petition.
In.1945, the Board directed elections 2 in three separate units of the
Emp'loyer's employees, consisting respectively of engineering employ-
Eees, clerical . employees, and shop employees.' The Intervenor's pre-
decessor 4 was certified as exclusive bargaining representative in the
:shop unit. No bargaining representative was selected in either of the
other two units. Subsequently, in 1946, the Employer and the Inter-
venor entered into a consent-election agreement for the engineering
unit and pursuant to an election ' held thereunder, the Intervenor was
certified as exclusive bargaining representative in that unit. In the
,same year, also pursuant to a consent election,' the Intervenor was
certified as exclusive bargaining representative of all maintenance
employees. Thereafter, the Employer and the Intervenor entered into
a contract covering the shop unit, and after the Intervenor was certi-
fied in the maintenance unit, employees in that unit were included in
the shop contract. On April 6, 1948, the Employer and the Inter-
venor executed separate contracts covering each of the three groups
of employees, respectively. These contracts expired on August 9.
1950.
Unit A
The only disagreement with respect to this unit concerns a category
known as technicians A, B, and C. The Petitioner and the Intervenor
would include these technicians together with the various classifica-
tions of engineers and chemists, who comprise the bulk of Unit A.
The Employer, on the other hand, would exclude the technicians from
Unit A and include them in Unit C, the production and maintenance
unit.
The Employer's operations are divided into 6 divisions : Commu-
nication Laboratory; Aerial Navigation and Direction Finding;
Chemical and Physical Laboratory ; Telephone Laboratory ; Plant
Engineering; and Executive. There are approximately 150 engineers
and 69 technicians. Of the 69 technicians, 42 are classified as tech-
nician A, 17 as technician B. and 10 as technician C.7 Both engineers
z Federal Telecommunications Laboratories , Inc., et al ., 63 NLRB 947.
5 These units approximated the units involved here ; there were , however , changes in
certain categories.
' The Itntervenor 's predecessor namei8 in the certification was the international Federa-
tion of Architects, Engineers, Chemists & Technicians, Metropolitan Chapter 31, CIO.
6 Federal Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc., Cases Nos. 2-R-6775 and 2-R--7248.
e Ibid, Case No. 6632.
7It appears that the three grades of technicians are determined by the degree of skill
acquired.
FEDERAL 'TELECOMMUNICATIONS LABORATORIES, INC. 1397
and technicians work, for the most part, in the divisions which func-
tion as research development laboratories; they perform their duties
in the same laboratory or workroom and, in some instances, occupy
the same office. Engineers and technicians are hired, discharged, and
are generally under common supervision of project engineers or de-
partment heads. The project engineer normally assigns problems
of design and construction of electronic equipment to engineers who,,
either by themselves, or with the aid of the project engineer, design.
the equipment. The technicians are then required to construct ex-
perimental models from the design which usually is in the form of
a schematic diagram. They use hand tools, small power tools, milling
machines, and similar equipment. In performing their duties, the
technicians frequently consult with the. engineers, make suggestions
to the engineers, and generally discuss with them the feasibility of
such suggestions. The technicians also -test the completed models,
using testing equipment such as oscillators, signal generators, volt-
meters, oscilloscopes, and impedance bridges, which equipment the
technicians are required to maintain and calibrate. The test data
compiled by the technicians is then turned over to the engineers for
analysis. After the original experimental or pilot models are built
by the technicians they serve as prototypes for ftirther models which
are then constructed in the shop by the shop employees.
Ten of the technicians work in the chemical and physical labora-
tory, and make chemical measurements and mix standard solutions,
compound plastic compositions from given formulae, and operate ma-
chines similar to those in the factory, except that the products pro-
duced in the factory are newly devised. They record data for analysis
by the chemists, and work and consult with the chemists or physicists.
Four of the technicians work in the central instruments test room
where test equipment used throughout the plant is brought in for
repair.
The engineering unit found appropriate by the Board in 1945
included engineers, assistant engineers, engineers' assistants, labora-
tory assistants, senior laboratory technicians, and senior engineers.
The present technician A, B, and C classifications did not, exist at
that time. In the spring of 1947 the Company and the Intervenor
negotiated job descriptions and reclassifications, and as a result, the
titles "laboratory technicians" and "engineers' assistants" were abol-
ished, and classifications technician A, B, and C were substituted iti
their place, some becoming junior engineers and others technicians.
Since then, technicians A, B, and C have been included in the con-
tracts covering the engineering unit.
8 See footnote 2, supra.
9 Three were reclassified as wiremen.
1398 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Petitioner and Intervenor contend that the technicians are pro-
fessional employees and thus may appropriately be included. with the
engineers and chemists, who all parties agree are professional em=
ployees. They also take the position that even assuming that tech-
nicians do not meet the definition of professional employees in Section
2 (12) of the Act, they are highly skilled employees whose work is
completely integrated with that of the professional employees, and
they may therefore be included in a unit composed predominantly
of professional employees.
,: The Employer denies that the technicians are professional em-
ployees within the meaning of the Act, and contends in addition that
'they have a closer community of interest with the wiremen in the
shops than with the engineers and chemists in the laboratories.
In this connection, the record shows that the wiremen who work in
the'shops make no tests and are not required to keep test data; their
work ,consists of laying out and wiring circuits in electronic equip-
ment and they use and work from completed wiring diagrams and
schematics. The nature of this work is mostly manual and repetitive.
In general, the work in the shops differs from that in the laboratories
in that the latter is devoted to experiment and research while the shops
are devoted to the construction of models after the initial experimental
model has been built. There is no interchange between technicians
and wiremen. Wiremen are generally not qualified to do the work of
the technicians. Wiremen are hired, discharged, and generally under
the supervision of the shop foremen and, as indicated above, tech-
nicians are generally hired, discharged, and under the supervision of
project engineers and department heads who also supervise the various
engineering classifications. Although technicians and wiremen have
certain common working conditions, in several significant respects
these conditions differ. Thus, for example, educational leave is
granted to both engineers and technicians but not to wiremen or other
shop employees, and engineers as well as technicians A are entitled to
merit increases but not wiremen or other shop employees.
,;,From the foregoing, including the close integration of technicians
with, the engineers and chemists in the performance of their duties, sim-
ilar working conditions, common supervision, and the bargaining
history, we are persuaded that the technicians are more closely allied
by a community of interest with these professional employees than
with the wiremen, who work in the shop. Under the circumstances,
we„need not.decide whether technicians are professional employees
within the meaning of the statutory definition. As all the parties
are agreed that the engineers and chemists are professional employees,
and the record clearly shows that Unit Al the bargaining unit as pro-
FEDERAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS LABORATORIES, INC. 1399
posed by the Petitioner and Intervenor, is composed predominantly
of professional employees within the meaning of Section 2 (12), we
find in accordance with established precedent, that the technicians
may appropriately be included in the professional voting group.10
Under the circumstances, and on the basis of the entire record in the
case, we shall include the technicians in Unit A.
Unit B
This unit, as noted above, is comprised generally of office and cleri-
cal employees. There is agreement among the parties as to most classi-
fications. However, the Employer would exclude buyers A, B, and
C, and the estimator as managerial employees, the technical writer
and accountants A as supervisors, and certain employees in the ac-
counting group as either managerial employees or confidential
employees, or both.
Buyers A, B, and •C: Their duties consist of contacting suppliers
in order to fill purchase requisitions from the engineers, department
heads, or the stockroom. They determine prices for supplies, make
price comparisons in order to purchase at the best available price,
and place orders. In performing these functions they interview sales-
men, inspect samples, request, receive, and compare price quotations,
determine source of supply, prepare purchases contracts, or assist in
such preparation, and commit the credit of the corporation. The
record established that they exercise judgment and discretion in the
performance of these duties. They work under the suspervision of
the purchasing agent. Although these employees have heretofore
been included in the contract covering the clerical unit,11 we shall,
in accordance with our established policy, exclude them from the unit
as managerial employees who have the authority to pledge the Com-
pany's credit in making purchases 72
Estimator: The 'Company employs one estimator who is on the staff
of the superintendent of manufacturing and in also supervised by the
purchasing agent. He prepares estimates of cost of shop items, show-
ing material, labor, overhead, and cost of outside fabrication. His
estimates are reviewed by supervisory personnel and then submitted to
a management review board which determines the margin of profit.
He attends meetings of this board and participates in them although
it is the review board itself which determines the margin of profit. He
1o Boeing Airplane Company, 86 NLRB 368; Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 89
NLRB 8.
11 As is indicated above , no Board certification has ever been issued with respect to the
clerical unit. Nor does it appear that the category of buyers was in existence when the
Board directed an election for a clerical unit in 63 NLRB 947.
12 Westinghouse Electric Company, supra.
0
1400 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
prepares quarterly summaries of shop workload which management
uses to determine whether to hire additional help, discharge present
help, or authorize overtime. He also reviews the cost of jobs done
outside the shop, but it is the purchasing agent who makes the final
decision. As the record does not show that he exercises independent
judgment or discretion in the performance of his duties, we reject the
Company's contention that he is a managerial employee, and shall
include him in the unit."
Technical writer: The individual who presently is classified as tech-
nical writer, writes and edits publications and technical manuals, ar-
ticles, and reports relating to the activities and equipment of the
Company. The record shows that the present incumbent of this po-
sition interviews, hires, and discharges typists under his supervision.
As he clearly exercises supervisory functions, we shall exclude him
from the unit. Because no other person is presently employed in this
classification, we see no need for deciding at this time, as urged by
the Petitioner, whether the classification as distinguished from the
individual in it, shall be included or excluded.
Accounting group: Among the employees in the disputed categories
in this group are business machine operators A who post figures from
time sheets which show the rate of time and overtime with respect to
a particular job and the cost per job, post expenditures based on travel
vouchers, and prepare checks sent to suppliers; an accounting clerk B
who prepares summaries of expense vouchers and suppliers' accounts
and assists in making statements issued by the accounting or comptrol-
ler's departments; a payroll clerk who assists in the preparation of
the payrolls, prepares the annual salary review of employees outside
these bargaining units, and issues letters as to salary changes. Al-
though the employees in the named categories have access to records
and reports which the Company considers confidential, the record in
this case does not show that they assist or act in a confidential capacity
to persons exercising managerial functions in the field of labor re-
lations. We find that they are not confidential employees, and shall
include them in the unit.14
Another disputed category is accountants A, B, and C. The Com-
pany employs two accountants A, both of whom the parties concede
are supervisors within the meaning of the Act. We shall therefore
exclude them from the unit. Accountants B assist in the preparation
of job costs and in the keeping of time sheets; they assist also in the
preparation of monthly cost sheets, comparing actual cost with author-
ized cost, and maintain the commitment and plant ledgers. Ac-
13 Moore Dry Dock Company, 57 NLRB 1641.
14 Automatic Electric Company, 78 NLRB 1057.
e
FEDERAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS LABORATORIES, INC. 1401
countants C post in the general and manufacturing ledgers, prepare
analyses of accounts, control of indirect salaries and wages, analyze
changes in indirect salaries and wages as reflected in the budget, assist
their supervisor in the analysis of time sheets, control of indirect time,
audit material withdrawn from the stockroom; check material, pre-
pare personal accounts and trial balances of such accounts, review
suppliers' accounts, and check whether invoices have been approved
and are in accord with purchase orders. Accountants working in the
payroll, general books, and special studies groups prepare information
which is used for collective bargaining. The Board has held that the
preparation of data such as is done by these employees does not render
them confidential employees in the sense in which the Board uses that
term?s Nor can it be said that these employees assist in a confidential
capacity anyone exercising managerial functions in the field of labor
relations,16 or that these employees themselves exercise managerial
functions, as the Employer contends. Accordingly, we shall include
accountants B and C in the unit.
Unit C
This unit, as previously noted, consists of production and mainte-
nance employees of the Employer. The parties are in agreement as to
the inclusion of all. classifications except chauffeurs, chauffeurs-helper,
and aviation mechanic, whom the Employer would exclude and the
Petitioner and Intervenor include.
Chauffeurs and chauffeurs-helper: The chauffeurs drive the com-
pany car, four station wagons, and a truck. They drive company
executives, and deliver and pick up materials and equipment. The
helper assists in loading and unloading the truck and also takes care of
the maintenance of the cars and trucks. The chauffeurs and chauffeurs-
helper are supervised by the plant engineer. The Employer contends
that these employees should be excluded because they may overhear
conversations of executives relating to industrial relations. Contrary
to the Employer's contention, we find that the duties of these em-
ployees do not bring them within the category of employees which
the Board considers as confidential, and we shall therefore include
them in the unit 17
Aviation mechanic: The aviation mechanic maintains and repairs
the Company's two planes which are used to transport company execu-
tives and to test certain equipment developed in the laboratories,
15 Southern Alkali Corporation, 84 NLRB 120, 124; Westinghouse Electric Corporation,
supra.
11 American Window Class Company, 77 NLRB 1030.
17 Amplex Manufacturing Company, 85 NLRB 523.
929979-51-vol. 92-90
4402 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
He goes on flights when the plane is used to transport company execu-
tives. The Company would exclude him on the ground that he is in a
position to overhear conversations of executives relating to industrial
relations. As in the case of the chauffeurs we find that the duties of
the aviation mechanic do not bring him within the category of em-
ployees which the Board considers confidential, and we shall therefore
include him in the unit.18
We find the following groups of the Employer's employees at the
Company's laboratories and test stations at Nutley, New Jersey, Rye,
New York, Telegraph Hill, New Jersey, Great River, New York, and
Belleville, New Jersey, each constitute a unit appropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b)
.of the Act :
Unit A. All employees assigned to engineering, chemistry, and
laboratory work, including development engineers, senior engineers,
engineers, junior engineers, research chemist, senior chemist, junior
chemist, and technicians A, B, and C, but excluding director of labora-
tories, division heads, department heads, technical directors, super-
visory engineers, project engineers, sales engineers, engineer trainees,
engineer in charge of drafting and/or machine shop, engineer in
charge of plant and maintenance, and all other supervisors.
Unit B. All office and clerical employees, including planning clerks
A, B, and C, clerk reproduction A, B, and C, veritypist A and B, busi-
ness machine operator A and B, accounting clerk A and B, payroll
clerk A and B, accountants B and C, technical clerks A and B, clerk
A, B, and C, junior clerk, stenographers A and B, statistical typist,
typist A and B, secretaries, estimator, senior designer, designer, lay-
out draftsman A and B, detailer, and detailer trainee but excluding
executives, administrative division head, administrative department
head, section head, administrative assistant, payroll supervisor, assist-
-ant payroll supervisor, planning supervisor, librarian supervisor, ad-
ministrative clerk A and B, clerk A, B, and C (confidential), junior
clerk (confidential), executive secretary, stenographers A and B
(confidential), typists A and B (confidential), nurse, all confidential
secretaries consisting of secretaries assigned to industrial relations,
executive officers, technical directors, and the secretary assigned to each
division and department head, buyers A, B, and C, accountants A,
technical writer, and all other supervisors.
Unit C. all production and maintnance employees, including experi-
mental tool and die maker, tool and die maker, experimental machinist,
machinist A, B, and C, experimental sheetmetal worker, sheetmetal
worker A, B, and C, experimental glass blower, glass blower A and B,
is Ibid.
FEDERAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS LABORATORIES, INC. 1403
experimental assembler, assembler A, welder A, experimental welder,
experimental engraver, experimental painter, painter A and B, wire-
men, stock clerks A and B, inspector A and B, maintenance helper,
maintenance mechanic A and B, plumber mechanic A and B, elec-
trician A and B, carpenter A and B, cleaner, vacuum tube assembler,
warehousemen, exhaust operator A and B, coilwinder, laboratory
helper, receiving and shipping clerk, experimental assembler vacuum
tube, mounter assembler vacuum tube, experimental assembler me-
chanical, assembler A mechanical, chauffeurs, chauffeurs-helper, and
aviation mechanic but excluding superintendent of shop, foremen,
assistant foremen, maintenance foremen, assistant maintenance fore-
men, supervisor of test field maintenance, shipping and receiving
supervisor, stockroom supervisor, assistant stockroom supervisor, and
all other superviso±s:
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this
volume.]