Firestone Tire and Rubber Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 9, 1948

80 N.L.R.B. 208 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter Of FIRESTONE TIRE AND RUBBER COMPANY, EMPLOYER
and LODGE 1317, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS,
PETITIONER
Case No. 15-RC-48.-Decided November 9, 1948
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudi'ial error and are
hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organizations named below claim to represent employees
of the Employer.'
3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the represen-
tation 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 a unit composed of machinists, maintenance
mechanics, and oilers employed at the Employer's Lake Charles,
Louisiana, plant. The Employer and the Intervenor oppose the sever-
ance of these employees from the present plant-wide unit, currently
represented by the Intervenor.
The Employer is engaged in the manufacture of synthetic rubber
at its Lake Charles plant, the only plant involved in this proceeding.
'Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Gray.
'Lake Charles Metal Trades Council, A. F. L, herein referred to as the Intervenor,
intervened in the hearing.
80 N. L . R. B. No. 42.
208
FIRESTONE TIRE AND RUBBER COMPANY 209
Its plant operations fall into three main departments : production,
maintenance, and service, each of which has a separate line of super-
vision.
Employees in the maintenance department, under the over-all su-
pervision of a master mechanic, are charged with the maintenance of
the plant and the plant equipment. They include electricians, pipe
fitters, boiler makers, machinists, maintenance mechanics, oilers, paint-
ers, welders, carpenters, sheet metal workers, and instrument men.
For purposes of immediate supervision, maintenance employees are
divided into several groups. Each group, under the direction of a
supervisor, may embrace employees of one or more crafts or skills.
The groups vary from time to time and from day to day. Thus, at
the time of the hearing, on the day shift, machinists, maintenance
mechanics, and oilers were under one supervisor; 2 but the foreman
of the second shift supervised mechanics, oilers, pipe fitters, electricians
and instrument men; and all maintenance employees on the third shift
and on all Saturday and Sunday shifts were under the common
supervision of the production manager.
Among the 89 employees in the maintenance department are 3
machinists, 19 maintenance mechanics and 5 oilers, whom the Peti-
tioner would sever from the plant-wide unit for bargaining purposes.
The machinists operate lathes and other machine tools in the tool
section of the maintenance shop. They work, as do other craftsmen,
entirely in the shop. The maintenance mechanics perform mechanical
repairs on pumps, balers, and other operating machines. They do
some work in the maintenance shop, but most of their work is per-
formed in the departments where the operating machines are located.
One of the maintenance mechanics does the repair work on the auto-
motive equipment. The oilers periodically oil and grease all operat-
ing machinery. The machinists, mechanics, and oilers do no work
other than that herein indicated, and do not interchange work with
other employees or among themselves.
The record contains no other specific evidence concerning the skill,
training, or background of, or duties performed by, employees in the
proposed unit. The three machinists may be craftsmen. The record
does not indicate that maintenance mechanics are craft employees.
Oilers are not skilled workers. Machinists, maintenance mechanics
and oilers do not constitute a separate department or shop grouping
traditionally regarded as appropriate for separate bargaining. It
does not therefore appear that employees in the unit proposed for
severance have interests clearly severable from those of other main-
8 This group formerly included sheet metal workers and boilermakers.
210 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tenance department employees who, with production workers, have
comprised a single contract unit represented by the Intervenor since
1944.3 Under these circumstances, we find that the proposed unit
is inappropriate for purposes of collective bargaining 4 and we shall,
therefore, dismiss the petition.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the entire record in the case, the National Labor
Relations Board hereby orders that the petition filed in the instant
matter be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
3 The Petitioner has been a constituent member of the Intervenor for a number of
years.
+ In view of our dismissal of the petition on this ground , we find it unnecessary to
discuss other issues raised in this proceeding.