General Electric Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 21, 1954

108 N.L.R.B. 1383 (N.L.R.B. 1954)

HOTPOINT CO., DIVISION OF GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 1383
HOTPOINT CO., DIVISION OF GENERAL ELECTRIC COM-
PANY and LOCAL 601, UNITED ASSOCIATION OF JOUR-
NEYMEN AND APPRENTICES OF THE PLUMBING AND
PIPE FITTING INDUSTRY OF THE U. S. AND CANADA,
AFL, Petitioner and DISTRICT NO. 10, INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, AFL, Petitioner. Cases
Nos. 13-RC-3797 and 13-RC-3815. June 21, 1954
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing in Cases Nos.
13-RC-3797 and 13-RC-3815, was held before Joseph Cohen,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the
hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby af-
firmed.
Upon the entire record in this case the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing 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
representation of certain employees of the Employer within
the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of
the Act.
The Machinists' petition was filed on March 3, 1954, and
the Steamfitters on February 19, 1954. Both the Employer
and the intervening Firemen & Oilers Union urge that con-
tracts existing between them covering the employees sought
by the Petitioners constitute a bar to these petitions. We do
not so find. The contracts so urged are (1) an agreement ef-
fective from June 1, 1953, to June 1, 1954, covering wages,
hours, and working' conditions, with 60-day automatic re-
newal date, as to which the current petitions were obviously
timely filed; (2) an agreement concerning insurance effective
from July 9, 1953, to June 1, 1955; and (3) a 5-year agree-
ment concerning pensions effective from March 1, 1951. As
the Board has held,, insurance and pension agreements are
not collective-bargaining agreements effective for bar pur-
poses . R-P & C Valve Division, American Chain and Cable
Company, 94 NLRB 1023, footnote 3.
4. Pursuant to the contracts described in paragraph 3,
above, the Firemen & Oilers has represented a powerhouse
unit and a maintenance unit of the Employer's employees.
This representation resulted from separate certifications as
follows:
All powerhouse employees and all employees who work
out of the powerhouse of the Employer's West Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, plant, including engineers, firemen, firemen's
108 NLRB No. 202.
1384 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
helpers , oilers , coal and ash unloaders , steamfitters,
and plumbers , excluding all other employees.'
All maintenance employees , including carpenters, mill-
wrights , sheetmetal workers , painters , maintenance ma-
chinists , welders , maintenance helpers , building me-
chanics , oilers , storekeepers , and janitors and matron
in the maintenance department , but excluding electricians
and their helpers. 2
Electricians have been represented at the plant by the Inter-
national Brotherhood of Electrical Workers , AFL,' and pro-
duction employees , including tool- and die -makers, by the
United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Work-
ers of America, CIO, 4 the latter an intervenor in this con-
solidated proceeding.
By its current petition the Steamfitters would sever a unit
of all steamfitter -plumbers , and the LAM would sever a unit
of millwrights , machinists , and welders . These employees
are in the so-called maintenance unit represented by the
Firemen & Oilers , except the steamfitter-plumbers who are
in the powerhouse unit . The Steamfitters takes no alternative
position ; the IAM would represent any overall maintenance
unit found appropriate by the Board and the UAW-CIO would
wish to participate in such an election.
The Employer opposes the requested severances as con-
stituting inappropriate units . The Firemen & Oilers takes
the same position , except that it considers the powerhouse
group and the maintenance group represented by them under
one set of contracts as separate appropriate units, with a
shift of nine steamfitter -plumbers from the powerhouse to
the maintenance unit, while the Employer considers them an
appropriate combined unit.
The IAM petition : The 24 employees sought by the IAM
are classified by the Employer as 22 general mechanics A
and 2 welders A. As to the welders , the IAM takes no firm
position urging their inclusion . Ten of the 22 general me-
chanics are further classified as machinists and 12 as mill-
wrights , although the Employer contends that they work as a
group, interchangeably . There are approximately 500 machines
in the Milwaukee plant and the machinists and millwrights
keep them in running order ; in addition , the milwrights change
machinery layouts and make installations . No other employees
with similar skills are employed. The welders do welding in
[Case No. 31- RC-9, a consent election. (Not reported in printed volume of Board Decisions
and Orders.)
2 Case No. 13-RC-637, 85 NLRB 485 . This case was consolidated with Case No. 13-RC-648,
the UAW-CIO's petition for a production and maintenance unit. The Board 's decision allowed
the maintenance employees a self- determination election on the question of a separate main-
tenance unit.
3 Case No. 31-RC-13, a Board- ordered election. ( Not reported in printed volumes of Board
Decisions and Orders.)
4 Case No. 13-RC-648 , 85 NLRB 485 . See footnote 3.
HOTPOINT CO., DIVISION OF GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 1385
connection with machinist and milwright work, as well as in
connection with the work of other maintenance employees. The
parties stipulated that 3 group leaders classified as mill-
wrights and three as machinists are not supervisors. In
reporting for work approximately half of the maintenance group
reports to a maintenance shop in the defense section or plant,
and the other half to the maintenance shop in the civilian section
or plant . Two foremen supervise the full complement of main-
tenance employees , one in the civilian and one in the defense
section of the Milwaukee plant.
The Employer has no apprenticeship program for these
employees sought by the IAM and there is no specific require-
ment for progression from the B classification , in which no
employee is presently employed, to the A classification. There
is also no specific requirement for hiring, and employees
have been hired direct for both the A and B classifications.
Experience among those employed at the time of hearing ranged
from 1 to 15 years at the time of hiring , and "most" have had
at least 5 years ' experience in their line of work with this
Employer . One employee who gave his classification as machine
repair group leader testified for the IAM that he had 4i years
of apprenticeship with another employer . Employees inA clas-
sification are expected to have all except the larger, more
expensive tools. By contract , seniority is recognized within
the maintenance unit by classifications , with machinists,
millwrights , carpenters , sheetmetal workers , welders, and
other individual classifications specified . The oiler , janitor,
and helper classifications are not so protected . The hours
and conditions of work of millwrights and machinists are
the same as for other maintenance employees , as well as
their shop headquarters and supervision , but a somewhat
higher wage scale is applicable to them and to the steam-
fitter -plumbers.
From this record it appears that the machinists and mill-
wrights perform work only of the type characteristic of those
crafts and are hired with experience . In addition it appears
that the scope of the Employer ' s operation furnishes an
opportunity for the exercise of machinist and millwright craft
skills on a broad basis .5 Seniority is recognized by the Em-
ployer within the machinist and within the millwright classifi-
cations . We find , therefore , that the machinists and millwrights
employed by this Employer exercise the skills of their trade
and constitute a true craft group . Moreover , their representa-
tion is requested by the IAM , a labor organization which
historically and traditionally represents these craft employees.
In the circumstances we find that the machinists and mill-
wrights may constitute a separate appropriate unit if they so
desire . 6 We do not include the two welders . As they merely
work in association with these machinists and millwrights
5Compare F. L. Jacobs Company , Danville Division , 108 NLRB 544.
6See American Potash & Chemical Corporation, 107 NLRB 1418.
1386 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
but are not within their line of progression , we shall exclude
them from the voting group.?
The Steamfitters ' petition : The Steamfitters seeks 10 em-
ployees , 9 of whom are classified either as group leaders or
steamfitter -plumber A. These employees are part of the
present powerhouse unit , but only one is stationed there.
Apparently at his own request, this employee has been classi-
fied as a steamfitter group leader . His earlier classifications
were clam shell operator and section leader. He has his own
bench and tools in the powerhouse and does not only pipe
work, like the other steamfitter -plumbers , but general main-
tenance on the boilers as well . Only in an extreme emergency
would he be required to do any work outside of the powerhouse.
The other steamfitter -plumbers do the major portion of their
work in production areas, and some in the maintenance shops.
As an alternate unit the Steamfitters would wish to repre-
sent just the nine steamfitter -plumbers , excluding the power-
house steamfitter . At the end of the hearing the steamfitters
amended its unit request to specify steamfitter-plumbers A
and steamfitter -plumbers B, although there are no employees
presently in the B classification.
The steamfitter -plumbers install and maintain steam, water
and gas piping , compressed air systems , and sewage systems.
They also dismantle any of this work and repair various types
of valves . For the installation of a high pressure main, the
Employer testified that it would hire an outside contractor.
The parties stipulated that the steamfitter group leaders are
not supervisors . Like the other maintenance employees, the
steamfitter -plumbers report to the central maintenance shops
and supervision is supplied by the foremen for all mainte-
nance employees , but seniority is exercised within the clas-
sification except as to maintenance employees having the
oiler , janitor, or helper classification.
At the time of hearing the Employer had had an informal
school of hydraulics in operation for 2 or 3 months , meeting
each week for a half -hour period. Attendance at this school
is optional and maintenance employees other than steamfitter-
plumbers may attend . In hiring steamfitter-plumbers the
Employer requires 1 to 3 years ' experience butno apprentice-
ship. The most recent employee in the classification has had
approximately 3i years of employment in that capacity with
this Employer. Promotion from the B to the A classification
is in the discretion of the maintenance foremen , with no
specific length of service involved . The record shows that
1 employee so progressed in 6 months , and that 1 hired as a
maintenance helper reached the A classificationinafew years.
One steamfitter -plumber works on the third shift alone, with-
out supervision after the first half hour of his duty . He testi-
fied that he takes the initiative on repairs when necessary,
that he was hired in the A classification with steamfitting
7 See American Potash & Chemical Corporation . supra
HOTPOINT CO., DIVISION OF GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 1387
experience at another company where he was employed for
17 years , and that he has been employed by the Employer as
a steamfitter -plumber for 4 years . One of the steamfitter
group leaders testified that he took an on-the -job training
course while employed by another employer , as well as a
vocational course under the GI bill.
As it appears that the steamfitter -plumbers are hired with
experience , devote their full time to pipefitting work even when
working along with maintenance employees of other crafts, and
exercise seniority within their own classification , we find that
they comprise a traditional craft group , perform distinctive
and typical craft tasks and, as the Union seeking them tradi-
tionally represents such employees , they may constitute a
separate appropriate unit if they so desire .8 We shall exclude
from this voting group the one employee classified as a steam-
fitter group leader who works in the powerhouse and is ap-
propriately a part of the powerhouse departmental unit.9 As
the remaining steamfitter -plumbers were originally included
in the powerhouse unit by agreement of the parties rather
than by Board determination , and as it appears that the Fire-
men & Oilers , their representative under the expiring con-
tract, would wish these 9 steamfitter-plumbers who are
neither assigned to nor work out of the powerhouse included
as part of the maintenance unit represented by it rather than
the powerhouse unit represented by it, and as we find that
they may appropriately be so included , we shall so consider
them in the event they do not vote for representation as a
separate craft unit.
We shall direct elections in the following voting groups:
(1) All millwrights and machinists employed by the Employer
at its Milwaukee , Wisconsin , plant, including group leaders,
but excluding all other employees , guards , and supervisors
as defined in the Act.
(2) All steamfitter-plumbers employed by the Employer at
its Milwaukee , Wisconsin , plant, including group leaders, but
excluding the steamfitter in the powerhouse , and excluding all
other employees , guards , and supervisors as defined in the Act.
Should a majority of the employees in the said voting groups
select the union seeking to represent them on a craft basis,
those employees 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 accordingly , in which event the Board finds said
unit or units to be appropriate for purposes of collective
bargaining . On the other hand if a majority of the employees
in either or both of the groups vote for the Firemen & Oilers,
then that group will appropriately be included or continued,
8See American Potash & Chemical Corporation , supra
9See American Potash & Chemical Corporation , supra Member Murdock, in accord with
his dissent in that case would include in this craft voting group the steamfitter in the power-
house, but considers himself bound by that decision.
1388 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
as the case may be, in the existing maintenance unit. If either
group selects no bargaining agent, the Regional Director shall
issue a certification of results of election to that effect.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.]
ST. LOUIS CAR COMPANY and DISTRICT NO. 9, INTERNA-
TIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, AFL, Petitioner.
Case No. 14-RC-2474. June 21, 1954
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Harold B.
Norman, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed.
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 appropriate unit:
The Petitioner seeks to sever a unit, of all toolroom and
machine shop employees (excluding a polisher) and two
machinists in the truck shop, from an existing production and
maintenance unit at the Employer's St. Louis, Missouri, plant,
on the ground that these employees may appropriately con-
stitute either a separate craft or departmental unit.
In about 1937, the Employer voluntarily recognized the Inter-
venor, the United Steelworkers of America, CIO, herein called
the Steelworkers, as the collective-bargaining representative
of all production and maintenance employees at its St. Louis
plant, including the employees here sought by the Petitioner,
and the Steelworkers has represented the plantwide unit until
January 1954. Because the Petitioner, on December 28, 1953,
requested recognition as the representative of the employees
here in question, they were excluded by agreement of the
parties from a 2-year collective-bargaining contract executed
by the Employer and the Steelworkers on January 5, 1954. This
contract is not urged as a bar to this proceeding.
The Employer and the Steelworkers oppose severance of the
unit requested, contending that: (1) Only a production and
maintenance unit is appropriate in view of the bargaining
history of these employees in a production and maintenance
unit; (2) none of the employees involved are true craftsmen;
108 NLRB No. 204.