Hardy Plastics & Chemical Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 2, 1948

76 N.L.R.B. 463 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of HARDY PLASTICS & CHEMICAL CORPORATION, EM-
PLOYER and LOCAL UNION No. 3 OF THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD
OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS (AFL),' PETITIONER
Case No. 3-R-7922.-Decided March 2, 1948
Messrs. Daniel R. Edelman, and Abraham Edelman, of New York
City, for the Employer.
Mr. Harold Stern, of New York City, for the Petitioner.
Mr. Martin Feldman, of New York City, for the Plastic Workers.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at New
York City, on November 14 and 18, 1947, before Oscar Geltman, hear-
ing officer. 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 2 makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Hardy Plastics & Chemical Corporation is a New York Corporation
engaged in the manufacture of metal and plastic products at two
plants, one at No. 1 Junius Street, and the other at 162 Central Avenue,
both in Brooklyn, New York. During the year 1946, the Employer
purchased materials, consisting principally of plastic molding
powders, steel, and brass, valued in excess of $250,000, of which ap-
proximately 66 percent represented shipments to the Employer from
points outside the State of New York. During the same period, the
Employer produced finished products valued in excess of $1,000,000,
1 The designation of the Employer and the Petitioner appears as amended at the hearing
2 Pursuant to Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, the National Labor Rela-
tions Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three -man panel con-
sisting of the undersigned Board Alembersf [Houston , Tiuidock , and GraiJ
76 N. L. R. B., No. 69.
463
464 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of which approximately 66 percent represented shipments to points
outside of the State of New York.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. T1LE ORGANIZATIONS T\ COLA-ED
The Petitioner is a labor organization: affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
Plastic Button and Novelty Workers Union. Local 132, ILGWU,
herein called the Plastic Workers, is a labor organization affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.,
M. THE ALLEGED APPROI'iiLATE UNIT
The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of five employees in the Junius
Street plant,' who are carried on the Employer's records, together
with laborers and porters responsible for the cleanliness of the build-
ing, in a department designated as maintenance and repairs.5 The
Employed contends that this unit is inappropriate.
The five employees in question perform general building and ma-
chine maintenance work of a semi-skilled nature. They install tem-
porary electrical wiring and switches, move and reset machines,
replace electrical motors on machines, perform minor carpentry,
glazing, and plumbing, and other tasks related to general mam-
tenance.s Some machine maintenance is performed by the production
supervisors, and on rare occasions by rank and file production em-
ployees. In the main, however, machine maintenance is performed
by the five employees, as is almost all of the ordinary building main-
tenance, other than that relating to the cleanliness of the building.
Where maintenance operations are extensive or require special skills
not possessed by the five employees, independent contractors are
employed. The employees in question dress together when they report
for work. They are under the supervision of the building superin-
tendent, who also supervises the unskilled maintenance workers
3 The Plastic Workers, after entering an appearance at the hearing, withdrew its appear-
ance by a telegram and letter addressed to the hearing officer, which stated "We have no
interest in this proceeding and we are hereby withdrawing our appearance "
4 This plant employs between 200 and 400 persons , depending on the level of business
actn ity
3 The petition designates the unit as "maintenance mechanics ," but at the hearing the
Petitioner specified that its interest was confined to the jobs presently performed by the five
specific employees.
s Four ottlie five employees have performed more than one type of maintenance task.
HARDY PLASTICS & CHEMICAL CORPORATION 465
engaged in keeping the building clean. One of the five men, Peter
Hoehler, ordinarily transmits to the others the orders of the building
superintendent. The wage rates of the five employees are slightly
higher than the average paid to production workers in the plant, but,
because the latter receive production bonuses, their total wages are
generally higher than those paid to the five mien in question.
Since May or June 1947, the Employer has assigned to these five
employees as a, regular additional duty the task of constructing and
assembling jigs and fixtures, which are subsequently attached to pro-
duction machines and used in the production process. In performing
this task the five maintenance employees work in any part of the plant
where appropriate equipment may be found, and frequently work
alongside of toolroom employees, who spend a, portion of then' time
also making jigs and fixtures. While engaged in the production of
jigs and fixtures the five maintenance employees remain under the
general supervision of the building superintendent. However, it ap-
pears that the determination of whether a particular jig or fixture has
been properly produced is ordinarily made by the supervisor of the
production unit for whose use it is intended.
The proportion of time consumed by the five employees in question
on the production or assembly of jigs and fixtures has steadily increased
since this function was first assigned to these men. It appears that, as
a group, they now spend from 25 percent to 75 percent of their time
in this activity.' The Employer explained this trend on the basis of
the fact that before May 1947, the Company was engaged in the
process of moving to and setting up the Junius Street plant;.that this
i equired a considerable amount of electrical, millwright, and mainte-
itance work; that this task is now complete; and that In order to utilize
fully the services of the five maintenance men, it had switched an in-
rreasnng portion of then t une to the production of jigs and fixtures.
The Employer further asserts that in the future these men will be
used almost exclusively for this purpose, and that only one person and
7 prior to the time at w hich the Employ et begin to assign jig and fixture pioduction to
the five maintenance emplo} ees. this function was perfoi med exclusively by the employees
of two tooliooms Employees in one toolroom produce jigs, fix'uies, molds, dies, and ma-
chine parts fod the Employer's plastics depaitment The employees of the other toolroom
produce similar items for the metal depaitment About 15 employees are so eniploved, and
at the present spend about 20 percent of their time in the production of jigs and fixtures
The jigs and fixtures produced by the five maintenance employees are eenerall,y of the sane
type as those pioduced by the toolroom employees, and are used in both the plastics and the
metal depaitmcnts
8
The Employer asserted that 75 per cent of their time was so spent One of the five men
testified that in the period immediately before the heaii, g he had spent 100 percent of his
time in the production of pas and fixtures Peter Hoehlcr testified that, because of his
greater experience with maintenance work, lie was spending only 25 percent of his tune in
this work , but that for the other four men the jig and fixtures work consumed 50 percent
of their time.
466 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
possibly one helper will be required to do the maintenance work for
the plant.
Whether or not this prediction is supported by future developments,
the fact remains that at this time the employees in question are spend-
ing a significant portion of their time in work that is wholly unrelated
to maintenance operations or to the craft skills they are alleged to
possess, and is also performed by other production employees in the
plant.9 Under these circumstances we find the unit sought herein is
inappropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining, and we shall
therefore dismiss the petition io
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, and upon the en-
tire record in these proceedings, the National Labor Relations Board
hereby orders that the petition for investigation and certification of
representatives of employees of Hardy Plastics & Chemical Corpora-
lion, Brooklyn, New York, filed herein by Local Union No. 3 of the
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (AFL), be, and it
hereby is, dismissed.
.
0 Cf. Matter of American Greeting Publishers, Inc, 73 N. L R B 1226 , Matter of
Southern Fertilizer and Chemical Company, 73 N L R B 100.
10 The record indicates that the five employees in question are not members of the Plastic
\Vorkei s , that at least two of the five have been refused membership in this union ; and that
there is some doubt whether the contract with the Plastic workers, which stales that "the
union represents the workers employed in the shop of the employer, ' was intended to cover
the five employees In the absence, however, of any clear showing that the Plastic workers
will not accoid adequate representation to these employees, particularly if they continue to
work at jobs skin to those of the production workers, we do not consider these facts suffi-
cient to justify the establishment of these employees in a separate unit. In this connection
wi, to tlrit norfors and similar unskilled maintenance employees of the Employer are
members of this union.
..i