Forst Mann Woolen Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 23, 1954

108 N.L.R.B. 1439 (N.L.R.B. 1954)

FORSTMANN WOOLEN CO. 1439
FORSTMANN WOOLEN CO.,' Petitioner and TEXTILE WORK-
ERS UNION OF AMERICA, CIO and LOCAL 560, INTERNA-
TIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS,
WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, AFL and
UNITED TEXTILE WORKERS OF AMERICA, AFL. Case
No. 2-RM-577. June 23, 1954
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed by the Employer under Section
9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held
before Clement P. Cull, hearing officer. The hearing officer's
rulings made at the hearing , with the exception noted below,
are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
At the beginning of the hearing, Local 560, International
Brotherhood of Teamsters , Warehousemen and Helpers of
America, AFL, herein called the IBT, which had been named
in the petition as a labor organization claiming recognition,
stated that it had notified the Board by telegram of its claim
to represent a majority of the employees in a unit composed
of chauffeurs , helpers, loaders , and platform men, and its
desire for an election in that unit only , and contended that
such claim, in the case of an employer petition , made it
an Intervenor without any other motion . At the suggestion of
the hearing officer, however , it made a formal motion to
intervene , which the hearing officer granted on the basis of
the Employer ' s petition and the IBT ' s telegram to the Board.
The IBT took no further part in the hearing . At the close of
the hearing , Textile Workers Union of America , CIO, herein
called the TWUA, made a motion, in which the Employer joined,
to dismiss the IBT's intervention on the ground that the IBT
had no interest in-the proceeding . The hearing officer reserved
this motion for the Board. As the sole purpose of the IBT's in-
tervention was to sever from the established production and
maintenance unit , in which the Employer was seeking an elec-
tion, a unit confined to chauffeurs , helpers, loaders , and plat-
form men , and as it made no showing of interest in that unit,
the hearing officer ' s ruling on the IBT's motion for interven-
tion is hereby reversed , and the TWUA ' s motion to dismiss
the IBT's intervention is granted.'
IThe name of the Employer appears as corrected at the hearing.
2 In the case of an employer petition , the Board does not require proof of representation
on the part of a labor organization claiming to represent a majority of the employees in
the unit involved in the petition . Felton Oil Company , 78 NLRB 1033, at 1035- 1036; Westing-
house Electric Corporation, 89 NLRB 8; P. R Mallory & Co., Inc. , 89 NLRB 962. But where
a labor organization seeks to intervene in any representation proceeding involving an existing
industrial unit for the purpose of severing a smaller unit , that organization is in the position
of a petitioner , and must make the substantial showing of interest required of a petitioner.
Boeing Airplane Company, 86 NLRB 368, at 369; Seaboard Machinery Corporation, 98 NLRB
537, at 538; Sanderson and Porter and Monogahela Power Company , 100 NLRB 1487 , at 1488;
Homestake Mining Company , 105 NLRB 198, at 5.
108 NLRB No. 211.
1440 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 organizations involved claim to represent
certain employees of the Employer.
3. 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.
4. The Employer and the TWUA contend that the only ap-
propriate unit at the Employer's plants is the established over-
all production and maintenance unit. International Association
of Machinists, herein called the IAM, seeks to sever from
that unit five separate craft units composed, respectively, of
the following employees: (1) Machinists, special machinists,
development machinists, napper machinist and utilityman, and
machinists' apprentices; (2) electricians, development electri-
cians , special electricians , and instrumentmen ; (3) pipefitters,
special pipefitters, plumbers, and tinsmiths; (4) welders; and
(5) carpenters , including truck repairmen . United Textile
Workers of America, AFL, herein called the UTW, stated
that any unit found appropriate by the Board would be ac-
ceptable to it.
The Employer is engaged at its two plants, located at
Garfield and Passaic, New Jersey, in the manufacture of woolen
and worsted textiles . The manufacturing process begins at the
Garfield plant and is completed at the Passaic plant. Since 1944,
all production and maintenance employees at the two plants
have been represented in a single unit by the TWUA. Its most
recent contract expired on March 15, 1954. On February 4,
1954, during the hearing herein, the Employer, the TWUA,
and the UTW entered into a consent-election agreement
providing for an election in the overall production and main-
tenance unit,' with the further provision that the ballots
of all employees in the units claimed as appropriate by the
IBT and the IAM would be challenged by the Board agent to
await the disposition of the proceedings before the Board
to determine whether these groups constitute appropriate
units for collective bargaining, or whether any or all of them
should be included in the production and maintenance unit.
The TWUA won the election, held on February 25, 1954.'
In opposing the severance of craft groups from the produc-
tion and maintenance unit, the Employer and the TWUA argue
that the maintenance and production functions at the Employer's
3The unit was described in the agreement as:
All production and maintenance employees of the Employer at its Passaic and Garfield
Plants including but not limited to porters, mill clericals, truck drivers, truck drivers'
helpers and interplant chauffeurs, excluding office clericals, expediters, timekeepers, and
tune-checkers, nurses, designers, draftsmen, technicians and laboratory employees,
loomfixers, supervisors and guards as defined in the Act.
4 The challenged ballots, 99 in number, were insufficient to affect the results of the election.
FORSTMANN WOOLEN CO. 1441
plants are highly integrated , that the only history of bargaining
has been on an overall basis, and that the prevailing pattern
of bargaining in the industry is on the same basis. The Board
has recently held, however , that a craft unit is appropriate
for severance purposes in cases where a true craft group
is sought and where, in addition , the union seeking to represent
it is one which traditionally represents the craft .' The only
question before us is, therefore , whether the IAM's unit re-
quests meet these tests. 6
It does not appear that the IAM has traditionally represented
electricians , pipefitters , or carpenters . We therefore find, with-
out passing on the craft status of these groups , that they do
not constitute appropriate units . The employees in these
groups will therefore be included in the production and main-
tenance unit.
The welders are engaged primarily in the repair of broken
parts. They do both electric and gas welding, but none of them
have qualified as certified welders . When the Employer has
welding to be done on high pressure piping or difficult plate
work, it has a certified welder come in from outside to do it.
There is no apprenticeship program for welders . In our opinion,
the Employer ' s welders are not skilled craftsmen , and therefore
do not constitute an appropriate craft unit . Accordingly, they
will be included in the production and maintenance unit.
The machinists , special machinists , and development machin-
ists make parts for the production machinery and keep it
in repair .7 They are admittedly highly skilled employees, all
of whom have apparently served an apprenticeship or had
comparable training . In addition , because of the complexity of
the Employer ' s machinery , they are given further training at
the plant to enable them to perform the duties required of them.
Their headquarters are in the machine shop, and ordinarily
they receive their orders from the maintenance department
foremen . However, some of their work is performed on the
production floor, and some of them are permanently assigned
to production departments . While there , they work in close
association with production employees, and are to some extent
subject to the supervision of production supervisors . However,
they do no production work, and there is no evidence that any
other employees do machinists ' work. 6
The Employer maintains a 3 year apprenticeship program
for machinists . On completion of this program , an apprentice
is rated as a machinist.
5American Potash & Chemical Corporation, 107 NLRB 1418.
6As we have dismissed the intervention of the 1BT, we find it unnecessary to pass on its
request for a separate unit. Accordingly, the employees in this group will be included in
the production and maintenance unit.
7 The special machinists are also qualified to act as leadmen ; the development machinists.
to work on the development of new machinery.
6Some production employees also work on the maintenance of machinery. Their work,
however, appears to be confined to minor repairs not requiring the skill of a machinist.
339676 0 - 55 - 92
1442 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
On the above facts, and the record as a whole , we find that
the Employer ' s machinists , special machinists , and develop-
ment machinists are craftsmen. The IAM has traditionally
represented employees in the machinists ' craft . We therefore
find that these employees, together with the machinists' ap-
prentices , may, if they so desire , constitute a separate unit.'
The IAM would also include an employee classified as a
napper machinist and utilityman who is employed at the Pas-
saic plant . As his duties appear to be confined to minor repair
work, and there is no showing that he has the all-round skills
of a journeyman craftsman , we shall exclude him. He will
therefore be included in the production and maintenance unit.
Accordingly , we shall direct that an election be conducted in
the following ' group of employees of the Employer at its
plants at Garfield and Passaic , New Jersey.
All machinists , special machinists , development machinists,
and machinists ' apprentices , excluding the napper machinist
and utilityman , all other employees , guards, and supervisors
as defined in the Act.
If a majority of the employees in this voting group select
the IAM, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to
constitute a separate bargaining unit, and the Regional Director
conducting the election is instructed to issue a certification
of representatives to the IAM for such unit , which the Board,
in such circumstances , finds to be appropriate'for the purposes
of collective bargaining . On the other hand, if a majority of
the employees in this voting group do not vote for the IAM,
that group will appropriately be included in the production
and maintenance unit, and the Regional Director is instructed
to issue a certification of representatives to the TWUA for
such unit, which the Board , in such circumstances , finds to
be a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
9Although the Employer's machinists appear to be more highly skilled than the ordinary
journeyman machinist, we find no merit in the contention of the Employer and the TWUA
that they cannot, on that account, constitute an appropriate craft unit.
ALVIS FULLER, d/b/a LEWISVILLE FLOORING COMPANY
and UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND
JOINERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL NO. 2757, AFL. Case No.
15-CA-585. June 25, 1954
DECISION AND ORDER
On December 23, 1953, Trial Examiner John C. Fischer
issued his Intermediate Report in the above -entitled proceeding,
finding that the Respondent had engaged in and was engaging
108 NLRB No. 208.