General Motors Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 2, 1945

64 N.L.R.B. 688 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, UNITED MOTORS
SERVICE DIVISION (CONTRACTOR), OPERATING TIIE LIMA TANK DEPOT
and BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE FIREMEN AND ENGINEMEN
In the Matter of GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, UNITED MOTORS
SERVICE DIVISION (CONTRACTOR), OPERATING THE LIMA TANK DEPOT
and BROTHERHOOD OF RAILROAD TRAINMEN
Cases Nos. 8-K-1838 and 8-R-184, respectively.Decided November
2, 1945
Messrs. H. M. Hogan and R. E. Helms, of Detroit, Mich., for the
Company.
Mr. S. C. Phillips, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Enginemen.
Mr. C. TV. Nest, of Bellefontaine, Ohio, for the Trainmen.
Messrs. Louis A. Leopold and C. A. Morgan, of Lima, Ohio, for the
^C. 1. 0.
Mr. Herman Goldberg, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon amended petitions duly filed by Brotherhood of Locomotive
Firemen and Enginemen, herein called the Enginemen, and Brother-
hood of Railroad Trainmen, herein called the Trainmen, alleging that
questions affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of General Motors Corporation, United, Motors Service
Division (contractor), operating the Lima Tank Depot, Linia, Ohio,
herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board pro-
vided for an appropriate consolidated hearing upon due notice before
Louis S. Belkin, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Lima,
Ohio, on July 19, 1945. At the hearing the Trial Examiner granted a
motion to intervene filed by United Steelworkers of America, C. I. 0.,
herein called the C. I. O. The Company, the Enginemen, the Train-
men, and the C. I. 0., appeared, participated, and were afforded full
opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and
to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Company moved to
64 N. L. R. B., No. 118,
688
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 689
dismiss the petitions. This motion is denied for the reasons stated in
Section IV, infra. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing
are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties
were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. 7 HE 13USINESS OF THE COMPANY
United Motors Service Division is an unincorporated division of
General Motors Corporation, a Delaware corporation with principal
offices located in New York City and Detroit, Michigan. The Com-
pany is engaged generally in selling, servicing, and warehousing auto-
mobile parts and accessories, home radios and electric motors. Under
a contract with the United States Government it operates a plant
known as the Lima Tank Depot, located at Lima, Ohio, which is in-
volved in the present proceeding. The Lima Tank Depot is engaged
in storing, preparing, assembling, completing, modifying, packing
and exporting for domestic shipment, tanks, miscellaneous combat
vehicles, spare parts, and other ordnance material delivered at the
Lima Tank Depot by the United States Government. More than 50
percent, in value, of the goods and material purchased and used by
United Motors Division in connection with the work performed at
the Lima Tank Depot comes from sources outside the State of Ohio.
Upon completion of the work called for under its contract with the
United States Government, the company returns to the Government
for shipment to distant points designated by the Government such
equipment, materials, and parts as may have been delivered to it.
We find that the operations of the Company affect commerce within
the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, and Brother-
hood of Railroad Trainmen are unaffiliated labor organizations ad-
mitting to membership employees of the Company.
United Steelworkers of America, affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to mem-
bership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On June 26, 1945, at a joint conference between the Enginemen,
Trainmen, the Company and the C. I. 0., the Company refused to
recognize the Enginemen and the Trainmen as the bargaining agents
670417-46-vol 64-45
690 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of the railroad department employees in the absence of certification
by the Board.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Enginemen and the Trainmen each repre-
sent a substantial number of employees in the units sought by each
and hereinafter found to be appropriate.'
We find that questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Sections 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. TIIE APPROPRIATE UNITS
The Enginemen seeks a unit composed of all locomotive engineers
employed by the Company at its Lima Tank Depot in the department,
commonly referred to as the railroad department and designated by
the Company as Department 99, excluding the crane operator and the
crane fireman. The Trainmen desires a unit consisting of all conduc-
tors and switchmen in the Lima Tank Depot's railroad department,
including the yardmasters. For reasons hereinafter discussed, the
Company and the C. I. O. opposes the establishment of such units and
contend that only a plant-wide unit is appropriate; the Company
alternatively contends that a single unit of all the operating employees
in the railroad department is appropriate.
The Company's operations at the Lima Tank Depot cover an area
of 168 acres, referred to as "the reservation" and are divided into
approximately 25 departments. On the reservation the Company
maintains a railroad which has about 12 miles of track, over which
Diesel locomotives are operated. The tracks connect with lines of
common carriers which are in close proximity to the reservation. Cars
are shuttled to and from the tracks of the common carriers by means
of the Diesel locomotives. It appears that the Diesel locomotives are
also used to haul cars for interplant deliveries.
Each of the locomotives, of which there are 4, is manned by a crew
consisting of an engineer, a conductor and 2 switchmen. There are a
total of 46 employees comprising 11 such crews.2 The record discloses
that some of these employees have had previous railroad experience.
This, however, is not a prerequisite to employment. New employees
who have not had previous railroad experience are trained as switch-
1 The Field Examiner reported that in the Enginemen's unit there were 11 employees,
the Enginemen submitted 10 authorization cards, and the C. I O. 3 authorization cards ;
and that in the Trainmen's unit there were 34 employees, the Trainmen submitted 27
authorization cards and the C. I. O. 13 authorization cards
2 There are 2 extra employees who, it seems, are switchmen. All 46 employees, as well
as 3 vardmasters, a crane operator, a crane fireman, and approximately 11 clerks comprise
the railroad department. No controversy is raised in the record concerning the exclusion
of the clerks from the units proposed by the petitioners; it appears that the remaining
employees are the operating employees of the department.
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 691
men and are promoted to the jobs of engineer and conductor; however,
to qualify for these positions they are not required to take written
examinations, but are promoted after the crew has passed on their
qualifications. Conductors act on orders from the yardmaster and are
in charge of their respective crews. Engineers are in charge of and
operate the Diesel locomotives and take orders and signals from the
conductors. The switchmen take their orders from the conductors and
assist in shifting cars. It appears that there is very little interchange
between operating employees in the railroad department and employees
of other departments. Railroad department operating employees are
paid on an hourly basis, the same as production and maintenance
employees.3
The Diesel locomotive crews operate under the supervision of a rail-
road supervisor who is in turn directly under the supervision of the
production manager. The railroad supervisor also supervises the:
work of the remaining employees in the railroad department; however,
insofar as the Diesel locomotive crews are concerned, he is assisted by
three yardmasters.
The record alsq discloses that the Lima Tank Depot is a highly inte-
grated operation under the direction and control of the plant manager,
who formulates all policies with respect to wages and labor relations.
All employees are hired through a centralized personnel department.
Vacations, when granted, are on the same basis for all employees of
the Depot. All employees are subject to substantially the same work-
ing or shop rules 4 They also use the same cafeteria and time clock
facilities. It also appears that, in the event of curtailment of oper-
ations, the Diesel locomotive crews could be offered work in other
departments depending upon their length of employment in the Depot.
In asserting that the proposed units are inappropriate, the Company
and the C. I. 0. take the position that the Board's finding of a plant-
wide unit in a prior case is determinative of the unit issue in this pro-
ceeding.' However, the election held therein did not result in a certi-
fication and a subsequent history of collective bargaining, since neither
union involved 6 received a majority vote. Although in that proceed-
ing the Company contended, contrary to the position of the unions,
that the railroad department operating employees were not a func-
3 The record discloses , however , that the engineers and the conductors receive as high as,
$1.15 per hour, and the switchmen as much as $1.05 per hour.
4 There are about 38 working or shop rules applicable to all employees. In addition,
there is a special "time-off" rule applicable solely to the Diesel crews. Under this rule
employees comprising the Diesel crews must notify their yardmaster well in advance of
shift time for time off . It appears that this rule was forinulated in order to have Diesel
crews available at all times.
6 Matter of United Motor Service, Ine. (contractor), operating the Lima Tank Depot,
59 N L. R B. 351
e In the prior case the unions involved were, United Steelworkers of America, C. I. 0.,
the intervenor herein, and United Electrical , Radio & Machine Workers of America, C. I. O_
692 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tional part of the group comprising the ordinary production and main-
tenance employees, and that their interests were so dissimilar that they
should be represented in a separate unit, the Board, included these
employees within a single comprehensive unit, since there had been no
collective bargaining at the Depot and there was no labor organization
desirous of representing them in the segregated unit proposed by the
Company. Since it was not until after the election held in that case
that employees in the units sought herein attempted to obtain separate
representation, and inasmuch as it does not appear that the petitioners
herein participated in that proceeding, the circumstances which im-
pelled us to include the railroad department operating employees in a
production and maintenance unit are no longer present. Further-
more, the Board is not precluded from redetermining the appropriate
unit, where, as here, its previous decision did not result in either a
certification or a history of collective bargaining.?
We are persuaded that while there are factors which point to the
propriety of an all-inclusive production and maintenance unit, there
are also circumstances which indicate the feasibility of separate bar-
gaining by the operating employees of the railroad department. Nor-
mally, in such a situation we would direct a self-determination election
or elections among the railroad department employees. But here no
labor organization has petitioned for an election on a plant-wide basis.
Consequently, we shall establish a separate unit or units of railroad
department employees.
We now turn to the issue of whether to establish one grouping or
two units of railroad department employees. It is apparent that the
engineers, on the one hand, and the conductors and switchmen on the
other, possess different skills. Traditionally, the engineers, and the
conductors and switchmen, have considered themselves as constitut-
ing separate groups, and we have recognized their separability in
previous decisions." The facts in the instant proceeding present no
persuasive reason for departing from the point of view we have here-
tofore taken.
There remain the problems of whether or not the crane operator
and the crane fireman should be included in the engineers' unit, and
whether or not the yardmasters should be included in the unit of con-
ductors and switchmen.
Crane operator and crane fireman: The Company considers these
persons as part of the operating force of the railroad department. The
7 Matter of Servel, Inc, 51 N L R B. 224 , 226; Matter of McGann Manufacturing Com-
pany , Inc, 57 N L. R. B 246, 247 , Matter of Endicott Johnson Corporation , 57 N. L R B.
1473, 1475
8 See Matter of Republic Steel Corporation , 39 N. L R B 687 , 689 ; Matter of Day &
Zimmerman, Inc, 39 N. L It. B. 1313, 1315; Matter of Atlas Powder Company, 41
N L R B 127 , 133 , Matter of Stewart-Warner Corporation, Green Raver Ordnance Plant,
51 N L R B 1277, 1279, Matter of St Johns River Shipbuilding Company, 59 N L R B.
415, 417.
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 693
record does not disclose whether or not the Company affirmatively
desires their inclusion in the unit proposed by the Enginemen. The
Enginemen, however, desires their exclusion for the reason that they
are not locomotive engineers. Although the crane operates on rails
and is capable of moving under its own power, we do not consider it,
as contended by the Company, to be a locomotive in the conventional
sense of that term. At most, the crane operator moves cars only to
get clearance for his work and is not engaged in shuttling cars. These
employees unlike the engineers, are not supervised by the yardmasters.
Furthermore, there does not appear to be any interchange between
engineers and crane operators. The duties of the crane fireman are
not set forth in the record. It may be assumed that he assists the crane
operator. Under all the circumstances we find that the crane operator
and the crane fireman should be excluded from the unit of engineers."
Yardmasters: It appears that the Company desires the exclusion
of yardmasters from the unit requested by the Trainmen, contending
that they act in a supervisory capacity over the conductors, switchmen,
and engineers. The Trainmen desires their inclusion within the unit
it proposes. These employees are normally promoted from the rank
of conductors. Like the Diesel locomotive crews they are hourly paid,
whereas persons who are admittedly supervisory employees are
monthly paid. The vacation policy which the Company has formu-
lated for its supervisory employees is not applicable to the yardmas-
ters. The- Diesel locomotive crews, however, as previously stated,
act on orders received from the yardmasters. It also appears that
while the yardmasters do not have authority to hire or discharge
employees, they may remove employees from a job without consulting
anyone and may effect disciplinary measures. We find that yard-
masters are supervisory employees within the meaning of our
customary definition, and we shall exclude them from the unit of
conductors and switchmen .10
We find that (a) all locomotive engineers employed by the Com-
pany in the railroad department of its Lima Tank Depot, Lima, Ohio,
excluding the crane operator, the crane fireman, clerks, and all super-
visory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline,
or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively
recommend such action; and (b) all conductors and switchmen em-
ployed by the Company in the railroad department of its Lima Tank
Depot, Lima, Ohio, excluding clerks, yardmasters, and all other super-
visory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline,
or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively
9 See Matter of Day & Zimmerman, Inc., supra; and Matter of St. Johns River Shipbuild-
ing Company, supra.
10 See Matter of Atlas Powder Company, supra.
694 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
recommend such action, constitute separate units appropriate for the
purpose of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b)
of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the questions concerning representation, which
have arisen be resolved by elections by secret ballot among the em-
ployees in the appropriate units who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec-
tions herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with General Motors
Corporation, United Motors Service Division (contractor), operating
the Lima Tank Depot, 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 Eighth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the
National Labor Relations Board, among the employees who fall
within the groups indicated below 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, and includ-
ing employees in the armed forces of the United States who present
themselves in person at the polls, but excluding any who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the elections :
(a) All locomotive engineers employed by the Company in the rail.
road department of its Lima Tank Depot, Lima, Ohio, excluding the
crane operator, the crane fireman, clerks, and all supervisory employees
with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise
effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend
such action, to determine whether they desire to be represented by
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, or by United
Steelworkers of America, C. I. 0., or by neither; and
(b) All conductors.and switchmen employed by the Company in
the railroad department of its Lima Tank Depot, Lima, Ohio, exclud-
ing clerks, yardmasters, and all other supervisory employees with
authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 695
changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such
action, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Brother-
hood of Railroad Trainmen, or by United Steelworkers of America,
C. I. 0., or by neither.
MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Elections.