General Aniline & Film Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 26, 1948

79 N.L.R.B. 79 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the ' Matter of ANSCO, A DIVISION OF GENERAL ANILINE & FILM
CORPORATION , EMPLOYER and SHEET METAL WORKERS INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION, LOCAL.UNION 112, AFL, PETITIONER
Case No. 3-RC-40.-Decided August 26,1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing offi-
,cer of the National Labor Relations Board. 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 National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a panel consisting of three Board Members.* 1
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 em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question of representation 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 2
"Houston, Reynolds , and Gray.
1 Board Member Reynolds is not participating.
2 The Intervenor urges that the petition herein be dismissed because the Petitioner failed
to allege in its petition that it had complied with the requirements of Section 9 (f), (g),
.and (h ) of the Act. However, since it appears from our investigation that the Petitioner
is in full compliance with the requirements of Section 9 (f), (g), and ( h), we find no merit
in this contention.
The Intervenor also contends that the petition should be dismissed because of Peti-
tioner's failure to file its petition within 10 days after its demand for recognition. Inas-
much as no contract was executed between the notice and the filing of the petition , the rule
enunciated in the General Electric X-Ray,case is not applicable . Matter of General Electric
X-Ray Corporation , 67 N. L. It. B. 997; Matter of Ste. Genevieve Lime f Quarry Company,
70 N. L. R B. 1259.
The Intervenor further asserts that the present contract , entered into with the Employer
,on June 30 , 1946, and extending until June 30, 1949, operates as a bar to the instant pro-
ceeding. We do not agree with this contention . The contract has already been in force
for over 2 years, and there is no indication that 3-year contracts are customary in the film
manufacturing industry . Moreover, prior to the current contract , contracts between the
Employer and the Intervenor were limited to 1 year. In accordance with our established
policy, we find that the contract of June 30 , 1946, is for an unreasonable term and does not
constitute a bar to an election at this time. Matter of Boulevard Transit Lines, Inc., 71
N. L. It. B. 719; Cf. Matter of California Walnut Growers Association, 77 N. L. It. B. 756.
79 N. L.R. B.. No. 15.
79
so DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
4. The Petitioner contends that a unit consisting of sheet metal
workers, including tinsmiths and coppersmiths, all of whom are em-
ployed in the Employer's Works Engineering Department, is an appro-
priate craft unit.
International Chemical Workers, Local 306, AFL, the Intervenor
herein, objects to the proposed unit, alleging (1) that the Employer's
tinsmiths and coppersmiths are not true craftsmen; (2) that they
do not constitute a homogeneous group under common supervision;
and (3) that they should not be separated from other production and
maintenance employees with whom they have bargained since 1941.
The Employer's sheet metal workers are classified as tinsmiths and
coppersmiths. The Employer's 11 tinsmiths are engaged in making,
maintaining and repairing pans, air-conditioning ducts, sink linings,
gutters, flashing, exhaust pipes and other sheet metal objects.
Machine tools are used in most of this work. Tinsmiths are classified
either as Group' 1 or Group 2. The tinsmiths in Group 1 are skilled
tinsmiths who have had either formal apprentice training or long
experience -at the Employer's plant augmented by vocational train-
ing, which has equipped them for highly skilled work. The tinsmiths
in Group 2 are in training, possess less skill, but after sufficient experi-
ences and training may qualify for the work required of those in
Group 1.3
The Employer's coppersmiths, also classified as Group 1 or Group 2,
make, maintain and repair copper bands, dope lines, emulsion trays,
pans, dams, distilled water nickel lines, and the like. They use little
machinery, and fashion most of the objects with hand tools. The two
coppersmiths in Group 1 are skilled journeymen and were hired as
such. The o -,e coppersmith in Group 2 was transferred from the
Employer's welding unit after the Employer was unable to secure
a journeyman. The works engineer estimates that from 5 to 7 years'
experience as a Group 2 coppersmith may be the equivalent of 4 years
of apprentice training and would qualify the employee for the work
required of coppersmiths, Group 1.
Both the tinsmiths and coppersmiths work in the Employer's
machine shop. The tinsmiths work in the sheet metal room, parti-
tioned off by glass; the coppersmiths work in a particular alcove of
the machine shop. While tinsmiths and coppersmiths have immediate
separate supervision under foremen, the machine shop is under the
over-all supervision of the works engineer.
3 The Employer has been unsuccessful in its efforts to employ journeymen tinsmiths and
has been obliged to meet its sheet metal work requirements by transferring other employees
to- tinsmiths, Group 2, jobs. The Employer' s works engineer testified that if he were to
hire a tinsmith, he would want a journe3 man with an all-around experience of 3 to 5 years
in sheet metal work.
GENERAL ANILINE & FILM CORPORATION 81
Since 1941 the Intervenor has been recognized as the exclusive bar-
gaining representative for the Employer's production and mainte-
nance workers, including the tinsmiths and coppersmiths involved
herein. However, prior to its recognition of the Intervenor, the Em-
ployer has recognized and bargained with International Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers as representative of the Employer's electricians
and with International Union of Operating Engineers as representa-
tive of the Employer's engineers. Since its recognition of the Inter-
venor in 1941, the Employer has also recognized and bargained with
other labor organizations as representative of its composers, cylinder
pressmen and allied employees, truck drivers, and certain mechanics
and machinists.
In view of the foregoing facts, we find, contrary to Petitioner's
contentions, that the Employer's tinsmiths and coppersmiths are
skilled sheet metal workers with a sufficient community of interest to
constitute a functionally coherent, homogeneous craft group. As
such, in spite of the previous history of collective bargaining on a
broader basis, they may, if they desire, constitute a unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of
Section 9 (b) of the Act. We shall, therefore, direct an election
among the following employees of the Employer : All sheet metal
workers, including tinsmiths (Group 1 and Group 2) and copper-
smiths (Group 1 and Group 2), but excluding all supervisors. How-
ever, we shall make no final unit determination at this time, but shall
be guided in part by the desires of these employees as expressed in
the election hereinafter directed. If a majority vote for the Petitioner,
they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate
appropriate unit.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by secret
ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than 30
days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was
heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, among the em-
ployees described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed
during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this
Direction of Election, including employees who did not work during
said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tempo-
rarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since quit or
82 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated
prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees on
strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining,
by Sheet Metal Workers International Association, Local Union 112,
AFL; or by International Chemical Workers, Local 306, AFL; or
by neither.