Ford Motor Co.Download PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsOct 26, 195196 N.L.R.B. 1075 (N.L.R.B. 1951) Copy Citation SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAS COMPANY 1075 Appendix B Air-conditioning engineer A Air-conditioning engineer B Construction detailer Designer Engineering assistant A Engineering assistant B Field engineering representative Home planning advisor Home service representative A Home service representative B Industrial gas engineer A Industrial gas engineer B Industrial serviceman Junior engineer Lead designer Municipal improvement analyst Office engineer B Research assistant Sales representative-architect Senior draftsman Service engineer Special representative, Central Division Staff engineering assistant Technical assistant Service technician, Imperial Division FORD MOTOR COMPANY, AIRCRAFT ENGINE DIVISION and PIPE FITTERS' ASSOCIATION, LOCAL 597, OF THE UNITED ASSOCIATION OF JOURNEY- MEN AND APPRENTICES OF THE PLUMBING AND PIPE FITTING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA, A. F. L., PETITIONER FORD MOTOR COMPANY, AIRCRAFT ENGINE DIVISION and LOCAL 134, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, A. F. L., PETITIONER FORD MOTOR COMPANY, AIRCRAFT ENGINE DIVISION and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT & AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER FORD MOTOR COMPANY, AIRCRAFT ENGINE DIVISION and CHICAGO DIE SINKERS' LODGE No. 100 OF THE INTERNATIONAL DIE SINKERS' CON- FERENCE, PETITIONER FORD MOTOR COMPANY, AIRCRAFT ENGINE DIVISION and AIRPLANE, AIR- PLANE PARTS, SUPPLIES, ACCESSORIES, AUTO TRANSPORT, TOWING, 1076 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD PARTS, SERVICE, SUPPLY, MOTOR AND VEHICLE SALES AND DEMON- STRATORS AND HELPERS UNION, LOCAL 713 OF THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, A. F. L., PETITIONER FORD MOTOR COMPANY, AIRCRAFT ENGINE DIVISION and DIE AND TOOL MAKERS LODGE No. 113, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, PETITIONER FORD MOTOR COMPANY, AIRCRAFT ENGINE DIVISION and LOCAL 399, INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS AND LOCAL 7, IN- TERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF FIREMEN AND OILERS, A. F. L.,' ACT- ING JOINTLY, PETITIONER FORD MOTOR COMPANY, AIRCRAFT ENGINE DIVISION and SHEET METAL WORKERS' UNION No. 73, PETITIONER FORD MOTOR COMPANY, AIRCRAFT ENGINE DIVISION and METAL POLISHERS, BUFFERS, PLATERS, AND HELPERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, LOCAL No. 6, A. F. L., PETITIONER. Cases Nos. 13-RC-18925, 13- RC-1830, 13-RC-1833, 13-RC-18/.7, 13-RC-1937, 13-RC-1995, 13-RC-2011,13-RC-2012, and 13-RC-2216. October 26, 1951. Decision and Direction of Elections Upon separate petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing was held before Joseph A. Butler, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rul- ings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial 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 these cases to a three -member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Styles]. At the hearing, International Molders and Foundry Workers Union of N. A., A. F. L., Local No. 233, hereinafter called the Foundry Workers, International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers & Helpers of America, A. F. L., hereinafter called the Blacksmiths, and Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators & Paperhangers, A. F. L., hereinafter called the Painters, moved to intervene. The Foundry Workers sought to establish that a separate unit of employees at the 1 After the close of the hearing , Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers and Helpers Interna- tional Union, Local No 6, A F. L., herein called the Metal Polishers , already an inter- venor in this consolidated proceeding , filed its petition in Care No 13-RC-2216, affirming its position with respect to representation of employee -members of its craft jurisdiction. Because the instant record in which the Metal Polishers took an active part is sufficient to disclose the factual situation, the contentions, and the position of all parties, the petition of the Metal Polishers in Case No 13-RC-2216 is consolidated with the other cases in this proceeding for the purposes of decision. 96 NLRB No. 168. FORD MOTOR COMPANY, AIRCRAFT ENGINE' DIVISION 1077 Employer's foundry plant, if and when hired by the Employer, will be appropriate for bargaining purposes, and the Blacksmiths sought to exclude employees at the Employer's forge plant from any unit that the Board might now establish. Both labor organizations con- tended that an election should not be held at this time among employ- ee's in the over-all unit requested in this proceeding. The Painters sought to represent painters at the Employer's plant. At the time of the hearing, held from June 4 to June 8, inclusive, 1951, the Employer had no production employees at its foundry, ex- pecting to hire 62 by July 1. It had no painters, expecting to hire 1 by September 1. It had 11 production employees at its forge plant engaged in developmental work, among whom the Blacksmiths sub- mitted no designations. We grant the Foundry Workers' and the Blacksmiths' motions to intervene insofar as they relate to the contentions of these labor or- ganizations that no election should be held at this time among em- ployees in the over-all unit proposed herein. For reasons which ap- pear below, we shall provide for an election among foundry employees as a separate group, and we shall provide that forge plant employees and painters may vote in the residual group. We deny the Painters' motion to intervene.2 Upon the entire record in these cases, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em- ployees of the Employer. 3. A 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. 4. International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft & ' Agricul- tural Implement Workers of America, CIO, herein called the UAW, the Petitioner in Case No. 18-RC-1833, contends that the only appro- priate unit for employees at the Employer's plant should include all production and maintenance employees, and seeks to represent em- ployees in this over-all unit. The several other labor organizations named herein as petitioners or intervenors seek the several craft units more fully discussed below. The Employer agrees with the UAW as to the scope of the appropriate unit. The Employer, a Delaware corporation with central offices at Dear- born, Michigan, conducts its manufacturing operations at many plants in the United States. It.divides these operations, other than assem- bly, into three major groups, each under a vice president in charge, including one or more plants. The Employer's aircraft, engine, trac- 2 Celanese Corporation of America, 84 NLRB 207; Bank o f America, N. T. & S. A., 71 NLRB 342. 974176-52-vol. 96-69 1078 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD tor, and machined products group includes its aircraft engine division at Chicago, Illinois, the only plant involved in this proceeding. The Employer acquired the plant, owned by the United States Govern- ment, about November 15, 1950,, intending to produce aircraft engines for the Army Air Force. o At the time of the hearing, the Employer was engaged in the re- habilitation and retooling of the plant and was producing no finished products. However, the record is clear that the Employer, under the over-all supervision of its general manager, will divide its production and maintenance operations into several division-wide departments,' including, among others, engineering, traffic, and administrative serv- ices departments, and engine, foundry, and forge plants, each under its manager. Production employees will generally work under the super- vision of the plant managers. The craft employee groups work under the supervision of managers of division-wide departments and of the plant managers. In support of their contention that the craft units proposed in this proceeding are not appropriate for bargaining purposes, the Employer and the UAW point (1) to the history of collective bargaining on a broader basis at other Ford plants and (2) to the integrated character of the manufacturing process to be carried on at the instant plant. As to (1), the Employer and the UAW, for a number of years, entered into contracts covering all production and maintenance employees at other Ford plants. However, a history of bargaining on a more com- prehensive basis, even at the same plant as that at which the establish= ment of craft units is sought, does not preclude the establishment of craft units, where otherwise feasible.3 As to (2), the record indicates that the Employer will conduct its production operations on a mass- production, assembly line basis, similar to that on which automobile engines are produced. However, the record, in our opinion, does not disclose that the craft groups sought herein regularly and repetitively perform such indispensable assembly line operations as to constitute integral parts of the production process under conditions necessary to bring the instant proceedings within the facts and doctrine of the earlier Ford Motor Company case,4 on which the UAW relies. In the present instance, it is generally true that no matter where any of the crafts are found they are under separate immediate supervision, even though that supervision may be under a plant manager or a general maintenance superintendent as in the areas of the engine plant. Since also it appears that the crafts are not regularly stationed in productive departments and are not assigned to any segment of the productive process, they cannot be said to constitute an integral part thereof .5 8 Hudson Pulp d Paper Corporation, 94-NLRB 1018, and cases cited therein. 4 Ford Motor Company (Maywood Plant ), 78 NLRB 887. 5International Harvester Company, 80 NLRB 1451 ; A. C. Spark Plug Divtision, General Motors Corporation (Milwaukee Plant ), 88 NLRB 1214. FORD MOTOR COMPANY , AIRCRAFT ENGINE DIVISION 1079 Accordingly, we believe that neither the bargaining pattern at other Ford plants nor the integration at the instant plant necessarily require the establishment of a single plant-wide unit of production and mainte- nance employees .6 We shall therefore consider on their merits the groups proposed by the several craft unions. The Pipefitters ' Group ( Case No. 13-RC-1825) Pipe Fitters' Association , Local 597, of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plgmbing and Pipe Fitting In- dustry of the United States and Canada, A. F. L., requests units of plumber-pipefitters and their apprentices and leaders , and refrigera- tion maintenance and installation employees and their apprentices and leaders, or , in the alternative , a combined unit of plumber-pipefitters, refrigeration maintenance and installation employees , and their apprentices and leaders. Of the Employer's approximately 132 pipefitters and pipefitter leaders, 128 work at the plants and 4 in the Employer's engineering department . These employees , under the supervision of their fore- men, cut and thread pipe, maintain and install pipelines , and other- wise perform the usual duties of their classifications, using the tools commonly used by pipefitters . They are skilled employees, required by the Employer to have about 2 years' experience . The Employer's 24 refrigeration maintenance and installation employees and their 2 leaders, under other supervision , install and maintain refrigeration units throughout the aircraft engine division . Pipefitters do the pipe work on the units. We find that pipefitters and their apprentices and leaders may constitute a separate appropriate unit and may bar- gain with the Employer as such , if they so desire.' Refrigeration maintenance and installation employees and their leaders have dif- ferent work duties, and do not appear to be craftsmen . We shall not include them with pipefitters nor place them in a separate unit. We shall include them in the residual voting group of production and maintenance employees hereinafter established. The Electricians' Group (Case No. 13-RC-1830) Local 134, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, A. F. L., seeks separate units of electricians and their leaders, power linemen, power maintenance electricians, powerhouse and substation operators," general electrical repairmen, and their apprentices, and of recording instrument maintenance and repair employees and their Cf. Cadillac Motor Car Division , Cleveland Tank Plant, General Motors Corporation, 94 NLRB 217. 4 McCarthy Chemical Company, 86 NLRB 14, and cases cited therein. 8 Employees in these categories are otherwise called power distribution electricians in the record. 1080 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD apprentices, or, in the alternative, a combined unit of all these employees. The Employer's approximately 145 electricians, 3 electricians' leaders, and 1 electrical apprentice work at the plants. They repair the Employer's electrical devices. Approximately 6 power linemen, 23 power maintenance electricians, and 2 powerhouse and substation operators work at the engine plant. Approximately 83 other power distribution electricians work throughout the aircraft engine division. These employees, under the over-all supervision of the manager of the Employer's engineering department, maintain switch gears, trans- formers, electric power lines and poles, alarm and lighting systems, clock circuits, and similar electrical, distribution equipment, and operate electric powerhouses and substations. Thirteen general elec- trical repairmen at the engine plant and 2 at the foundry plant repair the Employer's electric motors. All these employees are skilled. The Employer generally requires them to have 2 to 5 years' electrical experience. The Employer has an apprentice training program for electricians. Nineteen recording instrument maintenance and repair employees, under separate immediate supervision, work throughout the division and repair pyrometers, used for recording temperatures, pressure gauges, and flow meters. They have their headquarters in the engine plant. The Board has previously recognized that electrical employees and -pyrometric and instrument repair employees together may constitute an appropriate unit.9 Accordingly, we find that electricians and their leaders, power linemen, power maintenance electricians, powerhouse` and substation operators, general electrical repairmen, and their ap- prentices, and recording instrument maintenance and repair employees and their apprentices may, if they so desire, constitute a separate unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Die Room Group (Case No. 13-RC-1487) Chicago Die Sinkers' Lodge No. 100 of the International Die Sink- ers' Conference requests a unit of die room employees working on dies or parts of dies used in the manufacture of forgings and tool and templet makers at the forge plant. The Employer's approximately 64 die room employees work at its forge plant under separate supervision, and perform the usual duties .of their classification. The Employer has a 4-year apprentice train- ing program for die sinkers, and generally requires them to have 3 to 4 years'training or experience as such. It concedes that die sinkers ,are skilled employees. Two tool and templet makers work at the forge. They spend ap- 9 Aluminum Company of America, 86 NLRB 1170. FORD MOTOR COMPANY, AIRCRAFT ENGINE DIVISION 1081 proximately 60 percent of their working time in making tools and the remainder in making templets for forging dies. Their skills appear to be similar to those of other tool and templet makers at the engine plant. We find that die room employees working on dies or parts of dies used in the manufacture of forgings may, if they so desire, constitute a separate appropriate unit 10 We shall, however, include tool and templet makers at the forge with other like employees in the machin- ists' voting group established below. The Drivers' Group (Case No. 13-RC-1937) Airplane, Airplane Parts, Supplies, Accessories, Auto Transport, Towing, Parts, Service, Supply, Motor and Vehicle Sales and Demon- strators, Dismantlers and Helpers Union, Local 713 of the Interna- tional Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, A. F. L., requests a unit of truck, mail truck, and courtesy car and station wagon drivers. Ten truck drivers in the Employer's traffic department drive trucks within and outside the Employer's plant, and deliver materials to points inside the plant. Seventeen truck drivers in the Employer's engineering department, under the supervision of a general yard foreman, transport materials within the plant. One truck driver at the engine plant, under the supervision of the carpenter foreman, transports lumber to and from the carpenter shop. Two mail truck drivers, under the supervision of the mail room supervisor, make scheduled trips between the Employer's administration building 11 and the Chicago main post office. Five courtesy car and station wagon drivers, under the supervision of a dispatcher, drive company em- ployees and executives and other persons within and outside the Employer's plant. They have their headquarters in the main passen- ger garage in the administration building. Mail truck and courtesy car and station wagon drivers are salaried; other drivers, hourly paid. The Board has found that such drivers have common interests suffi- ciently separate and distinguishable from those of other maintenance and production employees to entitle the former to separate bargaining representation, if they so desire.12 We therefore find that truck, mail 10 General Electric Company (Lynn River Works ), 81 NLRB 1010. n Employees in this building constitute part of the Employer 's administrative services department. ' ' 12 Heyden Chemical Corporation, 85 NLRB 1181, and cases cited therein ; Thompson Products, Inc., 72 NLRB 64. There is no merit in the Employer's contention that because the courtesy car and station wagon drivers may overhear conversations relating to the Employer's business, including its labor relations, they are therefore confidential employees, and may not be included in any bargaining unit. National Cash Register Company, 95 NLRB 27; Cities Service Refining Corporation, 94 NLRB 1634. 1082 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD truck, and courtesy car and station wagon drivers at the Employer's plant may constitute a separate appropriate unit, if they so desire 13 The Machinists' Group (Case No. 13-RC-1995) Die and Tool Makers' Lodge No. 113, International Association of Machinists, hereinafter called the IAM, seeks a unit of toolroom employees, tool and templet makers, machinists, machine repairmen and their leaders, hammer repairmen, the tool and die hardener at the forge plant, and their helpers and apprentices, excluding employees in the fin saw manufacturing department at the engine plant .14 Of-the Employer's approximately 201 toolroom employees and tool and templet makers, 193, including 4 apprentices, work under separate over-all supervision in 5 toolrooms at the engine plant, 6 at the foundry, and 2 at the forge.15 They make and repair tools, jigs, fixtures, templets, and similar items. The Employer has a 4-year ap- prentice training program for toolroom employees. Approximately 210 machine repairmen work at the plants. They repair and maintain the Employer's plant machinery. Those at the engine plant work under separate immediate supervision, spending 80 to 85 percent of their working time in production areas and the rest in 6 maintenance areas. Of approximately 32 machinists, 30 and 2 work at the engine and foundry plants, respectively. They perform the usual duties of their classification. All the foregoing employees are skilled. They have 2 or more years of experience in their work duties. Fifteen hammer repairmen at the forge plant, working under their foreman, assemble and disassemble hammers and upsetters, and remove, and send to machine repairmen for repair, defective parts. The Employer generally requires its hammer repairmen to have 3 to 4 years' ex- perience as such. Although on occasion they may use hand grinders on hammers, they do no machining and do not work to the tolerances to which machine repairmen work. The tool and die hardener at the forge is engaged in the heat treatment of tools and dies. Other 'heat treat employees, not sought by the IAM, work at the forge and engine plants. The work duties of the hammer repairmen and the tool and die hardener appear to be different from those of toolroom employees and machinists 16 We shall exclude them from the ma- chinists' group and include them in the residual voting group of pro- duction and maintenance employees. We find it unnecessary to con- sider the unit placement of machine repairmen leaders and categories 1a That mail truck and courtesy car and station wagon drivers are salaried does not preclude their inclusion in a group of hourly paid drivers. Was. P. McDonald Corpora- tion, 83 NLRB 427. C 14 In its brief , the IAM states that it is willing to represent employees in this category, if the Board finds that they should be included in the machinists' group. 15 Tool and templet makers work only at the engine and forge plants. 10 Cf Ford Motor Company, Canton Forge Plant, 80 NLRB 1094. FORD MOTOR COMPANY, AIRCRAFT ENGINE DIVISION 1083 in the fin saw manufacturing department at the engine plant, because there were no employees in these categories at the time of the hearing. We find that toolroom employees, machinists, machine repairmen, and tool and templet makers, including those who work at the engine plant and those who work at the forge plant, may, if they so desire, constitute a separate appropriate unit 17 The Powerhouse Group (Case No. 13-RC-2011) Local 399, International Union of Operating Engineers and Local 7, International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers, A. F. L., acting jointly, seek a unit of powerhouse engineers and their leaders, power- house maintenance employees, boiler firemen, oilers, laborers, and heavy-equipment and air-compressor operators. These employees work at. the Employer's 2 powerhouses, located near its engine and forge plants,18 under the supervision of a chief powerhouse engineer and powerhouse foremen, and at its foundry plant, under other super- vision. Fifteen powerhouse engineers and a leader, licensed by the city of Chicago, operate the powerhouse boilers. Six powerhouse maintenance employees do the maintenance work, except electrical maintenance work, in the powerhouse. Ten boiler firemen check boiler controls, see that the stokers operate correctly, and perform other duties assigned to them by powerhouse engineers. Approxi- mately 9 oilers lubricate powerhouse equipment. Approximately 9 laborers shovel coal, remove ashes, and clean the powerhouses. Two heavy-equipment operators at the main powerhouse operate bulldozers and cranes, and load and unload coal for use in the powerhouses. Two air-compressor operators, licensed powerhouse engineers, and approxi- mately 2 oilers and 3 laborers are engaged at the Employer's foundry plant in the rehabilitation of air compressors, which the Employer regards as powerhouse work. We find that powerhouse employees, including powerhouse engineers and their leaders, powerhouse main- tenance employees, boiler firemen, oilers, laborers, and heavy-equip- ment and air-compressor operators may, if they so desire, constitute a separate appropriate unit."' The Sheet Metal Group (Case No. 13-RC-2012) Sheet Metal Workers' Union No. 73 seeks a unit of the Employer's sheet metal workers. Approximately 15 sheet metal workers, under separate immediate supervision, make and repair sheet metal ducts, machine guards, and 14 Signode Steel Strapping Company, 83 NLRB 184. 18 The powerhouse near the engine plant is otherwise called the main powerhouse in the record. 19 Container Corporation of America , 83 NLRB 424. 1084 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD splash shields. They work throughout the plants. Their headquar- ters is an unenclosed area in the engine plant. The Employer gen- erally requires its sheet metal workers when hired to have 3 to 5 years' experience as such. We find that sheet metal workers and their apprentices may, if they so desire, constitute a separate appropriate unit 20 The Patternmakers' Group The Employer and Pattern Makers League of North America, Chi- cago Association, hereinafter called the Pattern Makers, an intervenor herein, generally agree that wood and metal patternmakers and their apprentices may constitute a separate appropriate unit, if they so desire. The Pattern Makers, however, would include casting engi- neers. The Employer would exclude them on the ground that-they are administrative or professional employees. The Employer's approximately 12 casting engineers work at the pattern shop in. the Employer's foundry, under the same over-all su- pervision as patternmakers and under separate immediate supervision. They are salaried; patternmakers are hourly paid. Casting engi- neers make pattern drawings, check to determine if patternmakers at the Employer's pattern shop and those of outside vendors correctly interpret the drawings, assist in the development of molding pro- cedures, check melting and pouring operations and production, and analyze castings for quality. They have all served apprenticeships in patternmaking. The Employer does not require casting engineers to complete a course of engineering study at a college or university. We find that wood and metal patternmakers and their apprentices and casting engineers may, if they so desire, constitute a separate appropriate unit 21 The Polishers' Group (Case No. 13-RC-2216) The Metal Polishers seeks a unit of polishers, buffers, platers, and their helpers, including wheel builders. At the time of the hearing in this proceeding, the Employer had one polisher and buffer and one plater .22 Polishers and buffers polish and buff bearing surface areas on gears, crankshafts, rods, and similar parts, many of which are there- after plated by platers. They are a traditional craft grouping. Wheel builders build polishing and buffing wheels for polishers and buffers, 20 Ansco, A Division of General Aniline & Film Corporation, 79 NLRB 79. ' Cf. The Westinghouse Air Brake Company, 85 NLRB 1133, and anion Electric Power Company, 83 NLRB 872, and cases cited therein ; Dodge Chicago Plant, Division of Chry- aler Corporation, 51 NLRB 1256 ; Watson-Flagg Machine Co ., 83 NLRB 734. ze In its petition dated September 13, 1951, the Metal Polishers alleges that there were then 22 employees in the classifications sought for inclusion in its proposed unit. FORD MOTOR COMPANY, AIRCRAFT ENGINE DIVISION 1085 using prescribed abrasives. All these employees work at the engine plant. The Board has frequently found that metal polishers, buffers, and platers may constitute a separate appropriate unit.23 Accordingly, we find that metal polishers, buffers, and platers may, if they so desire, constitute a separate appropriate unit. Wheel builders are not crafts- men and have duties other than those of polishers, buffers, and platers. We shall not therefore include wheel builders in the craft group, but place them in the residual voting group of production and maintenance employees hereinafter established. The Foundry Group At the hearing, the Foundry Workers sought to establish a separate unit for foundry employees when they should be hired. We are now administratively informed that the Employer has approximately 97 foundry employees. We shall therefore set up a separate voting group for foundry employees. If the Foundry Workers submits to the Regional Director within 10 days of the date of this decision a showing that 30 percent of these employees desire representation by the Foun- dry Workers, we shall hold an election among them; otherwise foundry employees will vote in the residual voting group for production and maintenance workers 24 The Production and Maintenance Group (Case No. 13-RC-1833) The unit proposed by the UAW is the conventional production and maintenance unit, and it may clearly be an appropriate unit for such employees at the plant. We shall, however,, make no determination as to the scope of the unit or units appropriate for the Employer's Chicago plant employees, until we have first ascertained the desires of the employees as expressed in the elections herein directed. The Time of the Elections At the time of the hearing, as noted above, the Employer was en- gaged in the rehabilitation and the retooling of its plant and was not producing finished products. It expected to produce finished products late in 1951, deliver its first engine in April 1952, and reach maximum production in or about October 1953. At the time of the hearing, it R3 See e. g., Dazy Corporation, 80 NLRB 304 and 77 NLRB 408, and cases cited therein. 24 Because it appears that neither the Painters nor the Blacksmiths desires to participate in elections at that time , and the instant record is insufficient to indicate the working interest of forge employees whom the latter desires to represent , we shall set up no separate groups for painters and forge employees; they may vote in the residual pro- duction and maintenance group. 1086 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD had, in all, approximately 2,244 production and maintenance em- ployees, and anticipated having 5,500, 7,500, and 13,500 on October 1, 1951, April 1, 1952, and October 1, 1953, respectively. Although the Employer had only approximately 16.6 percent of the total em- ployees to be ultimately engaged in the manufacture of aircraft engines in October 1953, it expected to have in October 1951 approxi- mately 40 percent of such employees and approximately 73 percent of the employees to be employed in April 1952. Among employees in the craft bargaining units sought herein, the Employer expected to have in its employ in October 1951 40 percent or more of the em- ployees to be employed in April 1952?' Exclusive of the craft groups, the Employer had at the time of the hearing approximately 25 percent of its total number anticipated in April 1952. In October 1951, it expected to have over 71 percent of such employees. We find that the employees presently employed in the several voting groups herein are substantial and representative segments of all employees to be employed in those groups in April 1952. Expectations of employment beyond that date appear to be uncertain and specu- lative and contingent upon unpredictable factors in the future. Under these circumstances, we see no reason for departing from our usual policy of directing immediate elections 26 We shall direct separate elections by secret ballot among the fol- lowing groups of employees at the Employer's Chicago, Illinois, plant, including apprentices and helpers, but excluding from each voting group office clerical employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors : Group 1: All pipefitters and their leaders. Group 2: All electricians and their leaders, power linemen, power maintenance electricians, powerhouse and substation operators, gen- eral electrical repairmen, and recording instrument maintenance and repair employees. Group 3: All die room employees working on dies or parts of dies used in the manufacture of forgings. Group 4: All truck, mail truck, and courtesy car and station wagon drivers. Group 5: All toolroom employees, machinists, machine repairmen, and all tool and templet makers, including those who Work at the en- gine plant and those who work at the forge plant. Group 6: All powerhouse employees, including powerhouse engi- neers and their leaders, powerhouse maintenance employees, boiler foremen, oilers, laborers, and heavy-equipment and air-compressor operators. 25 The record does not disclose the number of employees to be employed in these groups beyond April 1952 26 Cadallac Motor Car Division, Cleveland Tank Plant , General Motors Corporation , supra. EMIL DENEMARK, INC. 1087 Group 7: All sheet metal workers. Group 8: All wood and metal patternmakers and casting engineers. Group 9: All metal polishers, buffers, and platers. Group 10: All foundry employees. Group 11: All production and maintenance employees, including refrigeration maintenance and installation employees, hammer re- pairmen, wheel builders, and the tool and die hardener at the forge plant, but excluding employees in the voting groups set forth above. As'indicated above, we shall make no final unit determinations at this time, but shall first ascertain the desires of the employees as expressed in the elections hereinafter directed. If a majority in any of voting groups 1 to 10, inclusive, vote for the labor organization seeking that group as a separate unit, they will be taken to have indi- cated their desire to constitute a separate appropriate unit. [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this volume.] EMIL DENEMARK, INC. and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF RADIO ARTISTS, CHICAGO LOCAL, AFFILIATED WITH THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR, PETITIONER. Case No. 13-IBC-2072. October 06, 1951 Decision and Direction of Election Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Herbert M. Mintz, 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 [Chairman Herzog and Members 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 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 Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Employer, an Illinois corporation with its office and place of business at Chicago, Illinois, operates radio station WEDC, an unaffiliated station broadcasting 77 hours per week.' The station • 1 The Employer is also an authorized Buick and Cadillac automobile dealer. 96 NLRB No. 159. Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation