General Electric Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 15, 1949

81 N.L.R.B. 654 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTER-
NATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT AND AaRIcmiruEAL
IMPLEMENT WORKERS or AMERICA, C. I. 0., PETITIONER
Case No. 1-RC-800.-Decided February 15, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon an amended petition duly filed, a hearing was held before
a hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hear-
ing 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 organization named below claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of certain employees of the Employer, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) and Section 2.(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate unit :
The parties agree generally that the appropriate unit should include
all production and maintenance employees at the Employer's Burling-
ton, Vermont, plant, excluding office and salaried clerical workers,
professional employees, guards, executives, and supervisors. They
are in disagreement, however, as to the following categories of em-
ployees whom the Petitioner would include in the unit :
Prodiuetion followers.-The Employer's five production followers
are engaged principally in expediting the flow of parts and ma-
terials in the plant. They also transmit communications between the
manufacturing foremen and the Employer's "production organiza-
tion" which handles the procurement, storage and movement of ma-
* Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Murdock.
81 N. L. R. B., No. 119.
654
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 655
terials, and the preparation of work schedules. Four production fol-
lowers report to the supervisor of the "production organization" and
the remaining production follower serves under the immediate di-
rection of a manufacturing foreman. Although these individuals are
normally upgraded to the "production organization," the employees
of which are excluded from the unit by agreement, they are hourly
paid, receiving rates of pay comparable to those of production and
maintenance workers, and enjoy the same vacations, sick leave, and
other conditions of employment as the production and maintenance
employees. Under the circumstances, we are of the opinion that the
interests of the production followers are akin to those of the produc-
tion and maintenance employees and, accordingly, we shall include
them in the unit.'
Final testers.-The two employees in this classification test the com-
pleted and semi-completed apparatus produced at the plant to de-
termine if such apparatus meets the prescribed engineering specifica-
tions. They work under the supervision of the head of the testing
section and also receive directions from the Employer's engineers.
It appears that, although the final testers are hourly paid similarly
to the production and maintenance employees, they are required to
have technical training and ability in the handling of precision equip-
ment; that they work alongside, and perform duties in many respects
comparable to those of, student engineers who serve in the testing sec-
tion on a rotating basis; and that they are usually promoted to as-
signments in the laboratory or engineering organization. Moreover,
the work of the final testers is confined to a room which is located
separate and apart from the remainder of the Employer's plant op-
erations. In view of the foregoing, and on the entire record in the
case, we believe that the interests of the final testers are diverse from
those of the production and maintenance employees. We shall ex-
clude them from the Unit .2
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Em-
ployer at its Burlington, Vermont, plant, including the production fol-
lowers, but excluding the final testers, office and salaried clerical work-
ers, professional employees, guards, executives, and supervisors as de-
fined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
5. The determination of representatives :
At the hearing and in its brief, the Employer moved to dismiss the
petition in the instant case on the ground that, because of its plans
I Matter of Domestic Engine & Pump Company, 70 N. L. R. B. 1263; cf. Matter of
Dictaphone Corporation , 67 N. L. R. B. 307.
' Cf. Matter of U. S. Gypsum Company, 79 N. L. R. B. 536, and Matter of Great Lakes
Pipe Line Company, 73 N L. R. B. 454.
656 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
to increase the number of employees in the appropriate unit from 274
to approximately 1,100, an election at this time would be premature.-,
The Petitioner requests an immediate election.
The Employer is engaged at its Burlington plant in the manufac-
ture of armament equipment for the United States Air Force. This
plant has been in operation for approximately 1 year and is currently
producing substantially completed units.-' The present staff is admit-
tedly adequate to meet all existing orders and includes most of the
job classifications contemplated under the expansion program. No
enlargement of the plant itself is under consideration.
The Employer's proposed increase in its employee complement is
contingent upon the receipt of additional orders from the Govern-
ment, which orders, according to the Employer, the Government has
"indicated" would be forthcoming. However, these orders have not
been placed with the Employer by the Government and, in addition,
it does not appear that letters of intent have been issued. The proposed
expansion is further contingent upon the Employer's acquisition of
additional machinery and the development of sources of supply of
certain essential materials.
In view of the speculative character of the anticipated expansion
and the substantial number and the representative nature of the work-
ing force presently employed, we shall direct an immediate election.,,
Accordingly, the Employer's motion to dismiss the instant petition is
hereby denied.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
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
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, as amended, among
the employees in the unit found appropriate 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 temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees
8 The Employer 's plant manager testified at the hearing that the anticipated complements
of production and maintenance employees are as follows : July 1949, 500; January 1950,
750 ; December 1950, 1,100.
4 There was testimony in the record that other type units might be added.
6 See Matter of Walnut Ridge Manufacturing Company, Inc., 80 N. L. R. B. 1196;
Matter of Ed White Junior Shoe Company , 78 N. L . R. B. 530; and Matter of Western
Electric Company, Incorporated , 76 N. L R B. 400.
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 657
who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been
rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, and also exclud-
ing employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to
determine whether or not they desire to be represented, for purposes
of collective bargaining, by International Union, United Automobile,
Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America , C. I. 0.