Gladding McBean & Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 28, 1954

108 N.L.R.B. 1183 (N.L.R.B. 1954)

GLADDING McBEAN & COMPANY 1 183
the Petitioner in this case is affiliated indirectly with Local
677, UAW-CIO.' Accordingly, we find that the Petitioner is a
labor organization which does not admit to membership, and
is not affiliated directly or indirectly with an organization which
admits to membership, employees other than guards.
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. We find that all plant guards, employed by the Employer
at its Allentown, Pennsylvania, plant, including all other
employees performing plant guard duties as defined in Section
9 (b) (3) of the Act, but excluding all other employees, pro-
fessional employees, and all supervisors as defined inthe Act,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
5. The Petitioner contends that six guards, laid off on
December 6, 1953, were temporarily laid off, and are eligible
to vote. The Employer asserts that these employees were ter-
minated on that date, and there is no possibility of their being
rehired within the next 6 months. Because of cutbacks in pro-
duction, the Employer has reduced its overall working force by
one-third since March 1953. Even further reductions might be
necessary if present economic conditions continue. As it is
clear that these laid-off employees do not have a reasonable
expectation of reemployment in the near future, we find that
they are not eligible to participate in the election.6
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
5Cf. Brooklyn Piers, Inc., 88 NLRB 1364, at 1364-1365.
As we have found the Petitioner not to be disqualified by the taint of indirect affiliation
with the nonguard representative, we find it unnecessary to consider the remedial measures
proposed by the Employer. We have, however, taken into consideration in deciding this case
the fact that in our earlier decision we did not prescribe any period of time that must elapse
before the Board would entertain a petition by a coaffiliate of Local 504, or prescribe any
remedy other than the decertification of Local 504 for the indirect affiliation there found to
exist.
6Avco Manufacturing Corporation, 107 NLRB 295, (footnote 6); Underwood Corporation,
107 NLRB 1132.
GLADDING McBEAN & COMPANY and LOCAL UNION 11,
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL
WORKERS, AFL, Petitioner. Case No. 21-RC-3480. May
28, 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 L. A. Gordon,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the
108 NLRB No. 153.
1184 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 mean-
ing 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 mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.'
4. The appropriate unit:
The Petitioner seeks a unit of all of the Employer's main-
tenance and /or construction electricians , their helpers and ap-
prentices ,/ including working foremen , employed in Los
Angeles County, California, but excluding office clerical em-
ployees, guards , and supervisors as defined in the Act, and
all other employees.
The Employer has manufacturing plants at the following
locations in Los Angeles County, California: Glendale, Los
Angeles, South Gate, and Santa Monica, and has mines in
Orange County, California. The Intervenor and its affiliated
local unions, have represented the Employer' s employees inthe
above-named plants and the mines, excluding tool- and die-
makers and timekeepers at the Glendale plants, in a number of
production and maintenance units since 1941. Although each local
union has a separate contract for the plant or plants that it
represents , the contracts have resulted from joint bargaining
negotiations between representatives of the local unions and the
Employer and the contract provisions are identical except for
minor local variations. This history of bargaining on a multi-
plant basis dictates that any craft unit severed therefrom must
also be on the same multiplant basis.4
The Employer and the Intervenor contend that the electricians
are not true craftsmen . The Employer's job descriptions for
'United Brick & Clay Workers of America , District Council #11, AFL, herein called the
Intervenor , was permitted to intervene at the hearing.
2 The Employer contends that no question concerning representation exists because, prior
to the hearing , 10 of the 12 employees in question signed a petition stating that they did not
want the Petitioner to represent them. The Employer 's motion Io dismiss the petition on
this ground was referred to the Board by the hearing officer. The Petitioner's showing of
interest is an administrative matter which is not litigable at the hearing . Furthermore, the
Board had administratively determined that the Petitioner 's showing was adequate . In these
circumstances , the Employer ' s motion is hereby denied . Valencia Service Company , 99 NLRB
343 at 344; East Texas Steel Castings Company, Inc ., 95 NLRB 1135 at footnote 1; The
Sheffield Corporation, 108 NLRB 349.
3The Employer ' s maintenance electricians also perform electrical construction work and
the Employer does not employ any employees classified as construction electricians or ap-
prentice electricians.
4 The Employer has recently acquired a plant at Redondo Beach, which is located in Los
Angeles County , California , for which the Intervenor on November 17, 1953, was certified
as the employees ' collective-bargaining representative in a production and maintenance
unit. We shall, therefore , exclude the employees of this plant from the unit sought by the
Petitioner herein.
GLADDING McBEAN & COMPANY 1185
class A, B, C, and D electricians were submitted in evidence.
According to the job description.class A or journeymen elec-
tricians' duties included inspecting, maintaining, repairing, and
installing power and light lines, recording instruments, ther-
mocouples, pyrometers, electric motors, starting switches,
and transformers, using testing meters and gauges, and cus-
tomary electrician tools. Some of this work is performed pur-
suant to blueprints and schematic designs. The record reveals
that in order to be classified as an A electrician, an employee
need not perform each and avery work operation listed in that
job description. The record, however, reveals that the Em-
ployer's job descriptions for electricians do illustrate the level
of difficulty of the duties performed in each of the occupational
grades and that in order to be classified as an A electrician,
an employee's work assignments must be of the same level
of difficulty as shown in that job description.
Five class A electricians and one class B electrician are
assigned to a separately located electrical shop and are under
the immediate supervision of the electrican foreman. Four
other class A electricians are assigned to the various plants.
The maintenance foremen of those plants assign work to these
four electricians but do not instruct them concerning the manner
of accomplishing the assigned work. These four employees,
as well as those assigned to the electrical shop, receive
their technical advice from the electrician foreman, who
inspects their work and who also has the ultimate respon-
sibility for the accuracy of all electrical work performed at
those plants.
All of the electricians work throughout the Employer's
plants and often as a team with other maintenance employees.
They, however, perform only electrical duties. Furthermore,
neither the production employees nor the other maintenance
employees perform any electrical work, except for changing
fuses, light bulbs, and minor electrical adjustments.
The Employer does not maintain an apprenticeship program
for electricians, nor is there any formal requirement on the
length of time between promotions. However, the record
reveals that electricians go through various steps of learning
and being observed by the electrician foreman; that electricians
gradually progress to more difficult work; that the promotions
of electricians are based on the level of difficulty of work per-
formed; that before an electrician is promoted he must be able
to perform the duties of the higher grade in accordance with
the Employer's job description; and that the electrician fore-
man determines from the work performed by an electrician
when he is worthy of promotion to the next higher grade.
Some of the Employer's electricians have in the past received
rapid promotions, but these quick promotions have been given
primarily to employees who were hired at a low grade although
they had considerable electrical experience when hired by
the Employer.
339676 0 - 55 - 76
1 186 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Mayor repairmen and oilers: Two employees classified as
motor repairmen and oilers are assigned to the electrical
shop and are under the supervision of the electrician foreman.
The Employer and the Intervenor contend that these employees
are not craftsmen . They spend approximately 75 percent of
their time oiling electric motors and the remainder in cleaning
and replacing bearings on electric motors. Although some
employees of this classification have, in the past, transferred
at a low grade to the electrician classification, they are not
considered as apprentice or helper electricians by the Em-
ployer, and are not in the direct line of progression in the
electrician classification. We shall, therefore, exclude them
from the unit.5
The electricians herein are sought by a union which has
traditionally devoted itself to the representation of employees
in the electrician classification. As the requirements for craft
severance, enunciated in American Potash & Chemical Cor-
poration, supra, have been met in the instant case, we find
that the electricians and their helpers, including working
foremen, employed at the Employer's Orange County mines
and its plants in Los Angeles County, California (except the
recently acquired plant at Redondo Beach), excluding the
motor repairmen and oilers, may constitute a separate ap-
propriate unit if they so desire.
If a majority of the employees in the voting group vote for
the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire
to be represented in separate bargaining unit. If a majority of
these employees vote for the Intervenor, the Regional Director
shall issue a certification of results of the election to that
effect and they will remain apart of the existing multiplant unit.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
5 American Potash & Chemical Corporation , 107 NLRB 1418.
SOUTHERN PLAZA EXPRESS, INC. and WAREHOUSE AND
DISTRIBUTION WORKERS, LOCAL 688, AFL, affiliated with
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS,
CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF
AMERICA, AFL. Case No. 14-RM-97. May 28, 1954
DECISION AND DIRECTION
Pursuant to a "Stipulation for Certification upon Consent
Election" entered into by the parties hereto, an election by
secret ballot was conducted in the above -entitled proceeding on
February 12, 1954, among the employees in the unit set forth
in the stipulation,' under the direction and supervision of the
IThe stipulated unit was "All office clerical employees of the Employer 's St. Louis,
Missouri branch office ... .
108 NLRB No. 159.