General Electric Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 17, 1948

77 N.L.R.B. 1198 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter Of GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
PLUMBERS AND STEAMFI 'rTERS LOCAL 128 OF THE UNITED Asso-
CIATION - OF JOURNEYMEN AND APPRENTICES OF THE PLUMBING
AND PIPE INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA,. A. F.
OF L., PETITIONER
Case No. 2-RC-6..-Decided June 17, 1948
Mr. TV. TV. Sheffield, of Schenectady , N. Y., and Mr. Virgil Day,
of New York City , for the Employer.
Mr. Martin F. O'Donoghue , of Washington , D. C., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Leon Novak , of Schenectady , N. Y., for the Intervenor.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Scllenec-
tady, New York, on February 24, 1948, before Benjamin B. Naumoff,
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 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 the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
The Employer is a New York corporation engaged in the manu-
facture of electrical and allied products. During the past year, its
purchases of raw materials consisting of steel , iron, etc. , were in excess
of $1,000,000, of which at least 331/3 percent was shipped to it from
' Houston , Reynolds , and Gray.
77 N. L. It. B., No. 192.
1198
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 1199
points outside the State of New York. During the same period its sales
of finished products were in excess of $1,000,000, of which at least 331/3
percent was shipped to points outside the State of New York.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
11. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, Local
J01, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial
Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.'
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On or about September 23, 1947, the Petitioner requested recognition
of the Company as bargaining representative of the Company's em-
ployees in the unit claimed herein. On or about October 3, 1947, the
Company replied that it could not grant such recognition in view of
its existing collective bargaining contract with the Intervenor. At
the hearing, the Intervenor urged its contract: as a bar to this proceed-
ing, and moved to dismiss this petition on this ground, and on the
ground that the Board had no jurisdiction.2
The record shows that on April 1, 1946, the Intervenor entered into
a collective bargaining agreement covering the Company's employees,
including the employees involved herein. With respect to its duration,
the contract provided that it was to be "in full force and effect for the
period from April 1, 1946, until April 1, 1947, and thereafter from year
to year, unless 90 days prior to any anniversary of the effective date of
this agreement, either party shall notify the other in writing of its in-
tention to terminate the Agreement upon such anniversary date." The
I Although the Intervenor is not in compliance with Section 9 (f) and (h) of the Act,
it is currently the contractual bargaining representative of a unit of production and main-
tenance employees.
2 The Intervenor contended that the Board had no jurisdiction of'the proceeding because
the provisions of Section 103 of the Act, as amended, do not permit the Intervenor ' s certifi-
cation to be "affected" until the expiration date of the contract , or, in any event, until
August 22 , 1948 ( one year after the effective date of the Act). The mere fact that the
petition was filed before the expiration date of the contract did not , in our opinion , "affect"
the certification or contract, even if we assume that Section 103 of the Act is applicable
thereto Section 103 does not , deprive the Board of the power to conduct a hearing under
Section 9 (c) (1) (A) (i) before the expiration date of the contract on or before 1 year
from the effective date of the Act. Hatter o f Bush Woolen Mills, Inc. 76 N L R. B 618;
Fitzgerald v Douds , U. S. C C. A 2d, No. 205-October term 1947 . Moreover, the purpose
of Section 103 is to forestall the invalidation of certain contract provisions under the
amended Act, for the period specified therein, and does not otherwise affect the applica-
bility of contract-bar principles Since we find no merit in this contention and in the
other contention urged by the Intervenor, the notion to dismiss is hereby denied.
1200 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
agreement was extended for 1 year from April 1, 1947, to April 1,
1948. Neither party has since given notice to the other of its desire to
terminate the contract. The petition was filed on November 12, 1947.
Inasmuch as the petition was filed before the operative date of the
automatic renewal clause of the contract in question, we find that the
contract is not a bar to a current determination of representatives.3
We find that 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.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT; DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Petitioner seeks a unit of all journeymen pipe fitters, including
plumbers, steam fitters and helpers, and pipe welders, employed by the
Company at its main Schenectady plant, at the Waterford plant, and
all other divisions and departments in and around Schenectady, New
York.
The Company opposes the severance of the plumbers and steam
fitters from the established contract unit and contends that the
plumbers and steam fitters are integrated with other production
workers and, therefore, that they do not constitute a homogeneous
identifiable unit.
The Intervenor takes no position with respect to the unit.
The record shows that continually since 1902, the Petitioner has
maintained its own identity at the Company's plant, and that until
1940, it bargained and adjusted grievances with the Company in
behalf of the plumbers and steam fitters. The Intervenor was cer-
tified by the Board in 1936 as the exclusive bargaining representative
for all the Employer's employees, including the employees here in
question. The Petitioner did not participate in the election, nor did
the plumbers and steam fitters, then or since, vote on the question
of separate representation. On April 1, 1938, the Intervenor and the
Company entered into a contract recognizing the Intervenor as the
exclusive bargaining representative of employees of the Company
at plants where, 'through a Board election or certification or other
appropriate means, the Intervenor has been selected as the exclusive
representative. This contract became immediately effective as to the
Schenectady plant. Either late in 1940 or early in 1941, the Petitioner
and the Intervenor reached an oral understanding which provided
that the Intervenor was the official bargaining agent for all employees
in the certified bargaining unit, including the plumbers and steam
fitters ; that one of the Petitioner's members would become a non-
3 Matter of General Electric Company, 74 N L. R. B 415
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 1201
voting member of the Intervenor's executive Board to handle griev-
ances for the plumbers and steam fitters; and that the Intervenor
would not recruit membership among these employees, but allow them
to become members of the Petitioner, exempt from the Intervenor's
check-off.
We have previously held that plumbers, steam fitters and their
helpers constitute a well-defined, craft group.' The Company admits
that these employees have separate and distinct skills as craftsmen
and are not interchangeable with other employees at the plant. The
record shows that all plumbers and steam fitters must serve 5 years'
apprenticeship and take an examination given by the Petitioner for
the purpose of qualifying as journeymen plumbers and steam fitters.
Under these circumstances, therefore, we shall make no final determi-
nation at the present time, but shall direct an election to determine
their desires regarding this matter.
At the hearing, issues developed with respect to the scope of the
proposed unit; specifically, whether it should also include (a) the
employees in question at the Company's Waterford, New York, plant,
as well as those working under a Company contract with the Atomic
Energy Commission; and (b) pipe welders.
The Petitioner contends that pipe welders employed in Buildings
43 and 60 of the Schenectady Works plant should be included because
they work exclusively on pipe which the pipe fitters fabricate or
process, and that these welders are closely allied and integrated with
the pipe fitters, and under common supervision. The Company ob-
jects to the inclusion of the pipe welders on the ground that these
welders are part of a larger group doing welding work in connection
with other production and maintenance operations and get the same
basic training and the same tests as the other welders. The Peti-
tioner did not claim, as in the case of the plumbers and steam fitters,
that it ever represented the pipe welders in negotiations or grievance
adjustments. The only distinction, presumably, between the pipe
welders and the other welders is the type of material they work on.
We find that this differentiation, in the absence of any bargaining
history, is insufficient basis for including them in the same unit with
the plumbers and steam fitters.
The Company's plant at Waterford, New York, is a silicone prod-
ucts manufacturing plant, under the jurisdiction and management
of the Company's chemical department, with headquarters at Pitts-
field, Massachusetts. This plant is approximately 12 miles fom the
4 Matter of Anniston Warehouse Corporation , 60 N. L. R. B. 857 ; Matter of Heyden
Chemical Company, 72 N. L R B 1240
1202 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Schenectady Works and is in no way connected with it, and grievances
and labor relations matters arising there are handled front the Pitts-
field plant. The record shows that although a few pipe fitters have
recently been transferred from the Schenectady Works to Waterford,
these were permanent transfers and, hence, no evidence of interchange
of employees between these plants. Under all the circumstances, we
shall exclude the Waterford employees from the unit.
The employees who work on Atomic Energy Commission projects
are located in Schenectady or its environs and they are engaged in
substantially the same type of work as the other steam fitters and
plumbers in question. However, the record shows that wage rates
and the acceptability of employees engaged in such work are subject
to Atomic Energy Commission approval and that the Company must
comply with all of the Commission's rules and regulations for em-
ployees assigned to such work; that all such employees must be cleared
for loyalty by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; that there is no
interchange of employees with those of other company departments
or divisions; that the Company must accede to any request made by
the Atomic Energy Commission for the discharge of a project em-
ployee; and that although grievances are handled in the same way•
as in the case of other employees, no member of a grievance committee
who was not cleared for admission to the projects may gain access
thereto. Were it nbt for security considerations, we would include
these employees in the proposed unit. We shall, therefore, also per-
mit these employees to indicate in an election their desires for sep-
arate representation. Because of the security considerations, we shall
permit them to do so, however, in a separate unit of their own, apart
from the other employees in question.5
In accordance with the foregoing, we shall direct that elections be
held among the employees in the following voting groups :
(a) All journeymen pipe fitters including plumbers, steam fitters
and helpers, employed by the Company at its Schenectady, New York,
Works excluding the Waterford, New York, plant, and also excluding
all employees working under a Company contract with the Atomic
Energy Commission, general foremen, foremen, and all other
supervisors;
(b) All journeymen pipe fitters including plumbers, steam fitters
and helpers, employed by the Company and working under a Company
contract with the Atomic Energy Commission, excluding general
foremen, foremen, and all other supervisors.
As indicated above, we shall make no unit determinations pending
the outcome of the elections hereinafter directed. If, in these elec-
6 Cf Matter of B F. Goodrich Company, 62 N. L. R. B 206.
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 1203'
tions, the employees in either or both of the above groups select the
Petitioner, they will be considered to have indicated their desire to
constitute separate bargaining units. We shall not place the Inter-
venor's name on the ballot inasmuch as it has not complied with
Section 9 (f) and (h) of the Acts
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, elections by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction
and supervision 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
employees in the voting groups described in Section IV, 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 temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of election, and also excluding employees on
strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or
not, for purposes of collective bargaining, the employees in voting
groups (a) and (b), above, desire to be represented by Plumbers and
Stenhfitters Local 128 of the United Association of Journeymen and
Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Industry of the United States
and Canada, A. F. of L.
U Matter of Dow Chemical Company, Bay City Dwisio», 77 N. L. R. B 328.