General Motors Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 22, 1948

76 N.L.R.B. 879 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, A DELAWARE COR-
PORATION, NEW DEPARTURE DIVISION, SANDUSKY, OHIO, PLANT, EM-
PLOYER and INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS, LOCAL
496, A. F. OF L., PETITIONER
In the Matter of GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, A DELAWARE COR-
PORATION, NEW DEPARTURE DIVISION, SANDUSKY, OHIO, PLANT, EM-
PLOYER and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT
AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. 0.,
PETITIONER
In the Matter of GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, A DELAWARE COR-
PORATION, NEW DEPARTURE DIVISION, SANDUSKY, OHIO, PLANT, EM-
PLOYER and LOCAL UNION No. 224 OF THE U. A. OF JOURNEYMEN AND
APPRENTICES OF THE PLUMBING AND PIPE FITTING INDUSTRY (A. F.
L.), PETITIONER
In the Matter of GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, A DELAWARE COR-
PORATION, NEW DEPARTURE DIVISION, SANDUSKY, OHIO, PLANT, Ei%I-
PLOYER and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, PETITIONER
Cases Nos. 8-R-2540, 8-R-9545, 8-R-2638, and 8-R-2672, respec-
tively.-Decided March 22,1948
Henry M. Hogan, by Mr. William J. Oldani, of Detroit, Mich., for
the Employer.
Mr. Ben Sprau, of Sandusky, Ohio, for the Engineers.
Lamb, Goerlich, and Mack, by Messrs. Lowell Goerlich and Howard
Seren, of Toledo, Ohio, for the UAW-CIO.
Mr. Leslie E. Dilg, of Washington, D. C., and Mr. Arthur C. Held,
of Sandusky, Ohio, for the Pipe Fitters.
Mr. Howard Tausch, of Cleveland, Ohio, and Mr. H. I. Smith, of
Sandusky, Ohio, for the IAM.
Mr. Earl S. Streeter, of Toledo, Ohio, for MESA.
Mr. E. Wayne Patterson, of 'Cleveland, Ohio, for the Blacksmiths.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon separate petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing was held
in these cases at Sandusky, Ohio, on August 6, 1947, before John A.
76 N. L R . B, No. 122.
879
880 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Hull, Jr., hearing officer. At the hearing, International Union,
United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers
of America, C. I. 0., herein called the UAW-CIO, moved (1) to dis-
miss the petitions respectively filed by International Union of
Operating Engineers, Local 496, A. F. of L., herein called the
Engineers; by Local Union No. 224 of the U. A. of Journeymen and
Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry (A. F. L.),
herein called the Pipe Fitters; and by International Association of
Machinists, herein called the IAM, and (2) to deny the unit requested
by an intervening union, International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths,
Drop Forgers and Helpers, AFL, herein called the Blacksmiths, on
the ground that the units sought by the four latter unions are inap-
propriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Employer
moved specifically to dismiss the petition filed by the Pipe Fitters
on the ground that the sole classification named therein does not exist
at the Employer's plant; and moved generally to dismiss all the pe-
titions on the ground that none of the labor organizations herein
had complied with the filing requirements of Sections 9 (f) and (h)
of the Act, as amended. For the reasons set forth in Section IV,
below, the motion made by the UAW-CIO is granted with respect to
the claim made by the Blacksmiths, and the motion is denied with re-
spect to the petitions filed by the Engineers, the Pipe Fitters, and the
IAM. The Employer's motion to' dismiss the Pipe Fitters' petition
is denied, as the difference between the terminology used in the petition
and that used by the Employer is immaterial. The Employer's
motion to dismiss the petitions generally is denied, because, aside from
any question of the timeliness of such request, all petitioning parties
herein are now in compliance with the filing requirements of the Act.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
General Motors Corporation, a Delaware corporation with principal
offices in New York City and Detroit, Michigan, conducts business
operations through several unincorporated divisions. One of such
divisions is the New Departure Division, which operates manufac-
turing plants throughout the United States. This proceeding is con-
cerned only with the Employer's plant operated by the New Departure
Division at Sandusky, Ohio, where the Employer manufactures and
assembles ball bearings.
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 881
The Employer procures from ,sources located outside the State of
Ohio more than 15 percent, in value, of the raw materials used in
manufacturing processes at the Sandusky plant. The Employer ships
to places outside the State of Ohio more than 50 percent, in value,
of the products finished at the Sandusky plant.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricul-
tural Implement Workers of America, herein called the UAW-CIO,
is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Or-
ganizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
International Association of Machinists, herein called the IAM, is
an unaffiliated labor organization, claiming to represent employees
of the Employer.
Mechanics Educational Society of America, herein called MESA,
is an unaffiliated labor organization, claiming to represent employees
of the Employer.
International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 496, herein
called the Engineers; Local Union No. 224, of the U. A. of Journey-
men and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry,
herein called the Pipe Fitters ; and International Brotherhood of
Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers and Helpers, herein called the Black-
smiths, are each labor organizations affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Em-
ployer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize either the Engineers , the UAW-
CIO, the Pipe Fitters, or the IAM as the exclusive bargaining rep-
resentative of employees of the Employer until certified by the Board
in an appropriate unit or units.
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; THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Employer manufactures and assembles ball bearings at its San-
dusky, Ohio, plant, which is involved herein. The plant, which was,
recently constructed, commenced functioning toward the end of 1946.
All production operations are conducted within a single U-shaped
882 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
building, and are the integrated type common to large industrial enter-
prises. There are 11 departments in the plant, 1 of which takes care of
plant engineering and maintenance, and 10 ' of which are devoted to
production. The bearings which are manufactured in the various
production departments consist of four component parts : inner and
outer rings, balls, and separators. Each of the parts is processed
separately from an initial raw material stage, through several fabri-
cating operations, and ultimately to the assembly department where
the parts are assembled to form the finished bearings.
The UAW-CIO, MESA, the TAM, and the Employer urge a plant-
wide unit of all production and maintenance employees as appropriate
for bargaining purposes. The TAM, however, would exclude there-
from employees in the stream generating plant.2 The positions of the
three A. F. L. unions herein, which seek separate units, are indicated
and discussed below. There are not now any contracts between the
Employer and any of these unions at the Sandusky plant.
In support of its position that a plant-wide unit is appropriate,
the UAW-CIO elicited testimony regarding two plants of the Em-
ployer, located at Meriden and Bristol, Connecticut, where the Em-
ployer manufactures products similar to those manufactured at its
Sandusky plant, and where comparable employee classifications are
listed. Collective bargaining at both the Meriden and Bristol plants
in the past has been on a plant-wide basis; and included within the
respective units at those plants are employees in the categories which
the three A. F. L. unions seek herein to establish in separate units.
It was also stipulated by the Employer that the plant-wide bargaining
units at the Meriden and Bristol plants have caused no difficulties, and
Lave enhanced and facilitated, rather than hindered, the efficiency of
collective bargaining.
In view of the successful history of plant-wide bargaining at the
Employer's similar plants at Meriden and Bristol, and the absence of
any history of collective bargaining at the Sandusky plant, we believe
that the establishment herein of a single unit of all production and
maintenance employees would be appropriate, were it not for the unit
claims, set forth below, made by the unions which seek to represent
employees at the Sandusky plant in separate units.
Steamy plant unit: The Engineers seek a separate unit of employees
in the steam generating plant, including operating engineers. The
1 Forge shop, ball shop, receiving, annealing, machinery, heat-ti eat, grinding, mechanical,
inspection, and assembly departments
2 The petition filed by the I AM in Case No 8-R-2(i72 requests a unit of all production
and maintenance employees At the hearing, the IA\I indicated that it would exclude
employees in the steam generating plant from the unit it was seeking In view of our
treatment of the steam plant employee,, as set forth below, we shall not, as was requested
by the UAW=CIO, dismiss the petition of the IAN[
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 883
steam generating plant is located in a building which is separate from
the main plant building. The employees who work in the steam plant,
and the installation serviced by them, form a part of the Employer's
maintenance department.
The complement of the steam generating plant consists of four
operating engineers, four firemen, and two employees classified as
"boiler house miscellaneous," who perform general laboring duties.
These employees are under the over-all supervision of a general fore-
man who also supervises pipe fitters and plumbers. The employees
in the steam generating plant are not interchanged with other em-
ployees in the Sandusky plant, although in an emergency, replace-
ments from elsewhere in the plant might be brought in as temporary
substitutes for the laborers.
It appears that employees in the steam generating plant constitute
a homogeneous group, with similar interests as to their employment,
and that the Board has in the past established separate units for like
groups of employees.3 It further appears, however, that each of the
operating engineers is responsible for the operation of the steam gen-
erating plant during his respective shift, and that each of them has
the power to make effective recommendations with respect to the dis-
ciplining, pay, and status of the firemen and the laborers. Accord-
ingly, upon the entire record, we find that the operating engineers
are supervisors as defined in Section 2 (11), and are not employees
within the meaning of the Act 4 They may not, therefore, be included
within the scope of a separate unit of employees in the steam generat-
ing plant, or any unit which may be found appropriate for the San-
dusky plant.'
We find that employees in the steam generating plant, excluding the
operating engineers, may, if they so desire, be bargained for separately.
We shall, however, make no final unit determination with respect to
these employees pending the results of the elections we shall order
herein.
Forge, annealing, and heat treatment unit: The Blacksmiths seek
to include in a separate unit employees who work in the forge, anneal-
ing, and heat-treat department, including employees who work in the
a Matter of General Motors Corporation, Fisher Body-Tei nstedt Division, 74 N. L R. B.
18 See also Matter of E TV Bliss Company , Toledo Works, 76 N L R. B 475 , Matter
of Nash Motors Parts Plant , 46 N L R . B. 1093, 1095 , Matter of General Motors Corpora-
tion , 42 N L. R. B 224 , 226 , Matter of General Motors Corporation , 28 N L. R B . 793, 795.
' Supeivisors are specifically excluded from the definition of the term "employee" in the
Act See Section 2 (3)
Operating engmeeis ate excluded from the scope of the coverage of the existing plant-
wide contracts for production and maintenance employees at the Employer's Bristol and
Meriden plant; In a recent case involving the Employer's Columbus, Ohio, plant, shift
engineers « eie found to be supervisors See Matter of General Motors Corporation , Fishe;
Body-Ternstedt Division, 74 N. L R B 18.
781902-48-vol. 76-57
884 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
several heat treatment installations in the plant, and employees who
operate header machines. The work and function of these employees
are summarized as follows :
The inner and outer rings which constitute two of the four com-
ponent parts of assembled ball bearings are made in the Sandusky
plant either by a basic forging operation or by a machining process.
Those which are forged are initially made from bar steel in the forge
shops by means of a number of gas-fired furnaces and upset forging
machines. The forging of the rings is the sole function of the forge
shop, which is supervised separately from other production depart-
ments. The operators of the upset machines and furnaces are gen-
erally employees who have had no previous forge experience at the
time of their initial employment. After their hiring they are trained
by the Employer, and within 4 to 6 months usually become reasonably
proficient in their work. The upset forging machines are nonauto-
matic, and their operation, in conjunction with the furnaces, involves
the exercise of a certain degree of judgment. Helpers, performing
laboring duties, aid the operators, and may be called to act as their
replacements.
After the rings are forged in the forge shop, they are taken to an
adjacent department, the annealing department, where they are heat-
softened to eliminate stresses and strains in preparation for a machin-
ing operation. The furnaces in the annealing department are also
used to soften wire coils used in the manufacture of the balls for the
bearings. Operators tend and control the furnaces in the annealing
department; other employees insert and withdraw the rings and wire
coils from the fires.
In the Employer's manufacturing process, metals are also treated
by heat in order to harden them. Such hardening operation occurs in
three different places in the plant : (1) in the heat-treat department,
which is a separately supervised department, where the rings are heat
treated after machining, preparatory to grinding; (2) in the ball
shop, where the balls are similarly treated; and (3) in the mechanical
department, where tools are heat treated. The two heat treatment
installation in the ball shop and mechanical department are organized
as respective parts of the ball and mechanical departments, and are
not separately supervised.
The header machines, the operators of which the Blacksmiths would
include in their separate unit, are located in the ball shop. These
machines shear off a slug from a wire coil and force it between two
dies to form a rough ball. The header machines work automatically,
the function of the operator being that of a "feeder." No heat is
used in this process.
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 885
There is no policy of interchange among employees in the several
operations and departments sought by the Blacksmiths. The Black-
smiths, however, in support of their position call to our attention the
fact that all the employees they are seeking are concerned with some
aspect of the traditional calling of the blacksmith, namely, the shaping
and changing of the content of metal .6 We are nevertheless not per-
suaded that the unit sought by the Blacksmiths is appropriate herein.
None of the employees within the contemplated unit perform all of
the functions generally attributable to the Blacksmiths' craft; at the
most, certain of such employees, perform several of such functions.?
The record, moreover, does not indicate that the community of inter-
est which these employees have 'v 'ith other production workers, arising
out of similar hours and tenure of employment, is destroyed by dif-
ferences in the machines they of erate. All such workers form an es-
sential part in the highly integr l.ted, straight-line type of production
in the Employer's plant, and we do not believe that the identity of the
interests of production employ ses arising out of iuch organization
should be upset by the establish nent in a separate unit of employees
with some quasi-craft skills. A ccordingly, we shalt include the em-
ployees sought by the Blacksmiths in the unit of other production
employees."
Pipe fitter and plumber unit: The Pipe Fitters seck a separate unit
of approximately four or five employees classified by the Employer
as pipe fitters and plumbers, including two other employees who act
as their helpers. All these employees are grouped within the plant's
maintenance department, which includes employees in the various
construction and maintenance trades. They are under the supervision
of a foreman, who also, as indicated above, supervises the employees
in the steam generating plant. The pipe fitters and plumbers work
on sanitary installations, and perform maintenance and construction
work on steam and process piping. They are skilled tradesmen with
at least 2 years' experience.
We are of the opinion that the pipe fitters and plumbers are a well-
defined homogeneous group of craftsmen, and may, together with their
helpers, constitute a separate unit. However, as indicated above, the
inclusion of these employees with other maintenance employees in an
, The Blacksmiths assert jurisdiction over all work pertaining to the blacksmith 's work,
including forging , welding, and tempering operations . Constitution and By-Laws of the
International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths , Drop Forgers and Helpers.
4 See Drew , Blacksmithing, Webb Publishing Company , 1935 ; Selvidge and Allton , Black-
smsthing, The Manual Arts Press, 1925 ; Lillieo, Blacksmith's Manual Illustrated, Crosby
Lockwood & Son, 1930 ; Friese, Farm Blacks uuti ing, The Manual Arts Press , 1921 , Diction-
ary of Occupational Titles, Part I, Department of Labor, 1939.
8 Insofai as the decision in Matter of Dodge Chicago Plant, 55 N L . A. B 634, 646, decided
in 1945, is inconsistent with the decision and results reached in this case as pertains to the
unit sought by the Blacksmiths herein, the earlier case is hereby expressly overruled.
886 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
over-all unit of production and maintenance workers seems to us to be
equally persuasive . Accordingly, in accordance with Board policy,
we shall defer our decision regarding the unit placement of these
employees pending the ascertainment of their desires as indicated by
the results of the elections we shall hereinafter direct.9
The Time of the Elections
At the hearing held in August 1947 , it was contended by the Em-
ployer that an election should not be ordered in this proceeding at
that time, because a representative group was not then employed at the
Sandusky plant as the Employer was in the process of increasing the
number of its employees . There were approximately 650 employees
working in the plant at the time of the hearing, and the Employer then
estimated that its complement would ultimately include approximately
2,800 to 3,000 employees . Since the close of the hearing, we have been
administratively advised that, according to figures furnished by the
Employer , there were approximately 1,100 production and mainte-
nance employees in the plant in November 1947. We are further
advised that the Employer anticipated that its complement would be
increased to approximately 1,335 employees by March 1948 , and that a
complement of approximately 1,600 employees was planned for June
1948. No increases were foreseen by the Employer in the number of
pipe fitters and plumbers and their helpers, and the number of steam
plant employees employed at the plant in November 1947.
Under these circumstances , since approximately 80 percent of the
Employer's estimated complement of production and maintenance
employees for June 1948 is presently employed, and since no increases
in the number of employees within the voting groups of steam plant
employees and pipe fitters and plumbers are expected , we are of the
opinion that the present employees are a representative group and that
the holding of the elections is now feasible.
Conclusions
We shall make no final unit determination at the present time, but
shall direct that separate elections by secret ballot be held among em-
ployees at the Employer 's plant within each of the three following vot-
ing groups, excluding all guards, professional employees , superintend-
ents, foremen , assistant foremen, and other supervisors as defined in
the Act :
U Matter of Hayden Chemical Corporation , 72 N. L. R. B . 1240 ; Matter of Kaiser Indus-
tries, 61 N L R. B . 682, Matter of Anniston Warehouse Corporation , 60 N L R. B 857
Matter of Dodge Chicago Plant , 55 N. L. R B 634 , 652 ; Mattel of Remington Arms Com-
pany, Inc., 54 N. L R. B 338.
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 887
1. All production and maintenance employees, including employees
in the forge shop and annealing department, employees in the heat-
treat department and in the several heat treatment installations in the
plant, and employees who operate header machines, but excluding
employees in the steam generating plant, pipe fitters and plumbers, the
helpers of pipe fitters and plumbers, clerical employees, and employees
in the sales, accounting, personnel, and industrial relations
departments.
2. All employees in the steam generating plant, excluding the
operating engineers.
3. All pipe fitters and plumbers, and their helpers.
We shall not place MESA, an Intervenor herein, on the ballots,
because it has failed to comply with the filing requirements of the Act.io
We shall place the UAW-CIO and the IAM on the ballots for em-
ployees in all three voting groups, and shall place the Engineers and
the Pipe Fitters on the ballots for employees in the second and third
voting groups, respectively. Neither the Engineers nor the Pipe Fit-
ters have indicated a desire to participate in an election involving a
unit different from the units respectively sought by them, and we
shall limit their participation accordingly. Similarly, and for the
same reason, we shall not place the Blacksmiths on any of the ballots.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS:".
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with General Motors Corporation,
a Delaware Corporation, New Departure Division, Sandusky, Ohio,
separate elections by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as
possible, but not later than thirty (80) days from the date of this
Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Di-
rector for the Eighth Region, 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, 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 elections, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
10 Matter of Sxgmnnd Cohn Mfg. Co , Inc., 75 N. L R B 177 ; Matter of Wilson Transit
Company, 75 N L. It B. 181.
11 Any participant in the elections directed herein may , upon its prompt request to and
approval thereof by the Regional Director , have its name removed from the ballots.
888 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
(1) The employees in Group 1 desire to be represented by Interna-
tional Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Imple-
ment Workers of America, C. I. 0., or by International Association of
Machinists, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
(2) The employees in Group 2 desire to be represented by Interna-
tional Union of Operating Engineers, Local 496, A. F. of L., or by
International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural
Implement Workers of America, C. I. 0., or by International Asso-
ciation of Machinists, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or
by none.
(3) The employees in Group 3 desire to be represented by Local
Union No. 224 of the U. A. of Journeymen and Apprentices of the
Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry (A. F. L.), or by International
Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement
Workers of America, C. I. 0., or by International Association of Ma-
chinists, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by none.
MEMBER REYNOLDS, dissenting in part :
I dissent from that portion of the Board's decision which holds that
the operating engineers are supervisors. In my opinion, the record
fails to establish their supervisory status, and I would, therefore,
include them in the voting group comprised of the remaining em-
ployees in the steam generating plant.