General Electric Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 5, 1948

80 N.L.R.B. 169 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTER-
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, FOR AND IN BEHALF OF ITS
SUBORDINATE, DISTRICT LODGE 93, PETITIONER
Case No. 20-RC-101.-Decided November 5, 1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
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 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 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 involved claim to represent 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 Petitioner seeks a unit consisting of all employees at the
Employer's San Jose, California, plant, classified as tool and die
.Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Gray.
i The Employer and the Intervenor , United Electrical , Radio and Machine Workers of
America , C. I. 0., contend that a collective bargaining contract executed by them on April
1, 1946, and providing for its automatic renewal for annual periods thereafter , constitutes
a bar to a present election because the petition herein as filed after January 1, 1948, the
operative date of the contract' s automatic renewal provision . The Petitioner, however,
contends that the parties reopened the contract by their negotiations for modifications, thus
preventing its operation as a bar
The record discloses that the contract provided , among other things, for maintenance of
membership in the Intervenor . However, the Intervenor has not been certified by the
Board under Section 9 (e) (1) of the Act as being authorized to execute such a union-
security provision . For this reason, and without regard to any other considerations, we find
that the contract , even if renewed , cannot serve as a bar to a present determination of
representatives . Matter of C. Hager & Sons Hinge Manufacturing Company, 80 N. L. R. B.
163. (Board Member Houston , although of a contrary view, considers himself bound by
the majority opinion in that case.)
80 N. L. R. B., No. 37.
169
170 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
makers, maintenance machinists, A, B, and C, tool grinders, and the
leaderman over the above classifications, excluding all other em-
ployees and supervisors as defined in the Act. The Employer and the
Intervenor contend, however, that the unit sought is inappropriate in
view of the history of collective bargaining on a plant-wide basis.
The record shows that all the employees in question are employed
in the machine shop, which is part of the maintenance department and
is concentrated in one corner of the plant. They are all under the
supervision of the same foreman.
The tool and die maker performs tool and die work, as it is com-
monly understood, and is a highly skilled craftsman. The main-
tenance machinists, A, B, and C, are engaged primarily in repairing,
maintaining, fabricating, and in some instances installing machine
tools and production machinery. The tool grinders are engaged in
the grinding of various machine tools, taps, drills, lathe tools and
cutters ; some of this grinding is precision hand grinding and is done
without fixtures or mechanical assistance. There has in the past
been virtually no interchange of employees between the machine shop
and production departments.
We find, in line with our holding in prior cases,2 that the machine
shop herein contains a sufficient nucleus of skilled craftsmen to war-
rant its severance as a separate unit, should the employees so desire,
notwithstanding the history of collective bargaining on a plant-wide
basis. However, we shall make no final unit determination at this
time, but shall first ascertain the desires of the employees as expressed
in the election hereinafter directed. If, in this election, the employees
in the voting group described below select the Petitioner, they will
be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate collec-
tive bargaining unit. We shall not place the name of the Intervenor
on the ballot, as it has not complied with Section 9 (f), (g), and (h)
of the Act.
We shall direct an election among the following employees in the
Employer's San Jose, California, plant:
All tool and die makers, maintenance machinists, A, B, and C,
tool grinders, and the leaderman,s in the machine shop, excluding all
other employees, and all supervisors as defined in the Act.
2 Matter of General Motors Corporation , 74 N. L R. B. IS ; Matter of Beach Company,
72 N. L. R. B. 510; Matter of Robertshaw -Fulton Controls Company (American Thermom-
eter Company ), 77 N. L. R. B. 316; Matter of Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company,
77 N. L. R. B. 719.
3 The Petitioner desires to include in its unit the leaderman (group leader ), who, it ap-
pears, directs the work of the machinists and tool and die makers as required . No con-
tention was made that the leaderman is a supervisor, nor does the record show that he
possesses supervisory powers. We shall, therefore , include him in the unit.
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
171
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election 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 Twentieth Region,
and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among the em-
ployees in the voting group described in paragraph numbered 4,
above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately
preceding the date of this Direction, 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 the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented by International Association of
Machinists, for and in behalf of its subordinate, District Lodge 93,
for the purposes of collective bargaining.