Hughes Tool Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 10, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 1039 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of HUGHES TOOL COMPANY, EMPLOYER and CARPENTERS
LOCAL UNION No. 213, AFL, PETITIONER
In the Matter of HUGHES TOOL COMPANY, EMPLOYER and LOCAL UNION
No. 211 OF THE UNITED ASSOCIATION OF JOURNEYMEN AND APPREN-
TICES OF THE PLUMBING AND PIPEFITTING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED
STATES AND CANADA, AFL, PETITIONER
In the Matter of HUGHES TOOL COMPANY, EMPLOYER and UNITED
STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER
In the Matter of HUGHES TOOL COMPANY, EMPLOYER and DISTRICT
No. 37, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS , PETITIONER
Cases Nos. 39-RC-1927, 39-RC-108, 39-RC-133, and 39-RC-134.-
Decided March 10, 1950
DECISION
ORDER
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon petitions duly filed, a hearing in these consolidated cases was
held before Charles Y. Latimer, hearing officer. The hearing officer's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed.'
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
these cases to a three-member panel [Members Houston, Reynolds,
and Murdock]..
Upon the entire record in these cases, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
I The Steelworkers moved to dismiss the petition of the IAM on the ground that there
was an insufficient showing of interest . Although the number of employees noted on the
face of the IAM petition as supporting its claim of representation would not appear to
satisfy the 30 percent rule for showing of interest in the units as finally defined in the
orally amended petition, we are administratively advised that proper showing has been
made. Accordingly , the motion to dismiss is denied . See Modern Upholstered Chair Com-
pany, Inc., 84 NLRB 95, and cases cited therein.
88 NLRB No. 200.
1039
1040 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
2. Carpenters Local Union No. 213, AFL, herein called the Car-
penters; Local Union No. 211 of the United Association of Journey-
men and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the
United States and Canada, AFL, herein called the Pipefitters; the
United Steelworkers of America, CIO, herein called the Steelworkers;
District No. 37, International Association of Machinists , herein called
the IAM; and Independent Metal Workers Union, Locals 1 and 2,
herein called the Metal Workers ,' are all labor organizations claiming
to represent employees of the Employer.
3. For the reasons stated hereinafter under paragraph numbered 4,
we find that no question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer in Case No . 39-RC-134
within the meaning of Section 9 ( c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of
the Act. We do, however, find that a question affecting commerce
exists concerning the representation of employees of the Employer in
Cases Nos. 39-RC-127, 39-RC-128, and 39-RC-133 within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and ( 7) of the Act.
4. The Steelworkers requests a unit consisting of all hourly paid
nonsupervisory production and maintenance employees of the Em-
ployer's Houston, Texas, tool plant, including all nonsupervisory
salaried employees working in the production area, except timekeepers,
but excluding executives, supervisory, clerical, office, and professional
employees , electrical employees , print shop employees , industrial rela-
tions department employees, accounting department employees, other
than shop clerks, all engineering department employees except
mechanics, helpers, and laborers in the laboratory, and all supervisory
employees as defined in the amended Act. The Employer and the
Metal Workers agree that this unit is the appropriate grouping
although the Metal Workers also desires the inclusion of cafeteria em-
ployees. The other petitioners request what they designate as craft
units of carpenters , pipefitters , and machinists in the repair shop and
tool and die shop. The Steelworkers, Metal Workers, and the Em-
ployer oppose the units requested by the Pipefitters , Carpenters, and
the IAM.
The Employer 's plant is engaged in the fabrication of oil drilling
equipment including rock bits, core bits, drill collars, and tool joints.
Collective bargaining at the plant dates back to the original attempts
by the IAM to organize employees on a plant-wide basis in 1933. In
1941, 1942, and 1946 the Board found appropriate a plant-wide unit
similar to that requested here by the Steelworkers and the Metal
2 The Metal workers was allowed to intervene at the hearing by the hearing officer upon
the basis of present contractual relationship with the Employer. No contract bar is
urged here.
HUGHES TOOL COMPANY 1041
Workers and currently represented by the latter.' Although the
Board, in these earlier decisions, denied severance to several craft
groups from the plant-wide unit in 1948, after the enactment of Sec-
tion 8 (b) (2) of the Act, a self-determination election was directed
for all craft electricians at the plant.' For reasons stated hereinafter,
we do not agree with the contention of the Employer, the Steelworkers,
and the Metal Workers that an "industrial" type, plant-wide unit is
the only appropriate grouping of employees at this plant for bargain-
ing purposes. However, we find that a plant-wide unit is appropriate
as modified hereinafter by our findings as to the requested severance
of carpenters, pipefitters, and machinists.5
The requested unit of carpenters: The Carpenters requests a unit of
all journeymen carpenters and apprentices excluding all other employ-
ees and supervisors. The Employer, the Steelworkers, and the Metal
Workers contend the unit is inappropriate in view of the integration of
the plant, the absence of craft groups in the majority of plants in the
tool industry, and the Employer's policy of obtaining craftsmen by
training present personnel rather than hiring skilled applicants from
outside the plant. As noted above, we have previously held that craft
groups under certain circumstances may be allowed to sever from the
established bargaining unit at this plants Accordingly we find these
contentions to be without merit.
There are 10 employees excluding the carpenter foreman in the classi-
fications requested by the Carpenters, including 9 journeymen of whom
2 are on leave of absence and one apprentice. A standard apprentice-
ship program consisting of 48 months' training has been established at
the plant according to the pattern suggested by the United States
Department of Labor. The carpenters work under the sole super-
vision of the carpenter foreman and, except for "troubleshooting" in
the plant, spend most of their working time in the carpenter shop.
This shop is in a separate plant building which is restricted to main-
tenance craftsmen. The carpenters perform no production work and
8 Hughes Tool Company, 33 NLRB 1089 , 45 NLRB 821 , 69 NLRB 294.
'Hughes Tool Company, 77 NLRB 1193.
5 The Metal workers, however, asks that cafeteria employees be included in the over-all
unit, although excluded by the existing certification and the current contract. The
Employer and the Steelworkers oppose this request . It appears that there are 56 employees
in this classification at the plant . They service 2 cafeterias , of which 1 is reserved for the
use of clerical personnel , and an executive 's dining room . The cafeteria employees are
presently under the supervision of the Industrial Relations Department . Under 2 of the
prior decisions establishing a plant-wide unit these employees were excluded from the unit.
Under the 1942 decision they were included by agreement of the parties. In view of all
the circumstances including the exclusion of cafeteria employees from the current contract
unit , we shall exclude them from the unit. See Rockford Machine Tool Company, 64
NLRB 1400.
1 See footnote 4, supra.
1042 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
have no interchange with production employees. Their primary
duties are to maintain and repair the woodwork in the plant, and they
are classified as highly skilled employees in Labor Grade 10?
We find that the journeymen carpenters and apprentices, excluding
the carpenter in the shipping department and the carpenter foreman,
are an identifiable, skilled, and homogeneous craft group and may
constitute an appropriate unit, if they so desire, notwithstanding their
previous inclusion in a broader unit.' However the Board will not
make any unit determination until it has first ascertained the desires of
the employees involved. If, in the elections hereinafter ordered, the
carpenters select Carpenters Local Union No. 213, AFL, they will be
taken to have indicated their desire. to constitute a separate bargaining
unit.
The requested unit of pipefitters : The Pipefitters requests that Ave
find appropriate a unit consisting of all maintenance journeymen pipe-
fitters, apprentices, and helpers, in the pipefitting department, and
maintenance refrigeration mechanics, first-class, excluding supervisors
and all other employees. The Employer, the Steelworkers, and the
Metal Workers oppose the granting of the proposed unit for the same
reasons noted above in the discussion of the unit claimed by the
Carpenters.
The Employer employs 12 journeymen pipefitters and 3 pipefitter
apprentices: These employees are under the supervision of a pipe
shop foreman and, like the carpenters, have their shop and headquar-
ters in the maintenance craft building. The journeymen pipefitters
are engaged principally in cutting, fitting, installing, replacing, and
repairing pipe and pipelines in the plant. They also maintain and
repair water lines, steam lines, oil lines, and perform other work in-
volving the use of pipefitter skills. These employees do no production
work and, aside from normal contact in the course of their work, have
no interchange with employees engaged in production processes. The
pipefitters furnish many of their own tools, have separate work benches
and tool lockers, and are under an apprenticeship program similar to
that of the carpenters. They are classified in Labor Grade 10.
4 The Employer also has a rough carpenter job classification in the shipping department.
This employee is in Labor Grade 8, is under the separate supervision of the shipping
department, and does semiskilled work not comparable to that performed by the journey-
men carpenters . The duties of the shipping department carpenter consist of boxing bits
and tool joints for shipping , and the construction of braces , work benches , and crates. In
view of the separate supervision , lesser skills , and different working conditions of the
shipping department carpenter , we shall exclude him from the unit of journeymen car-
penters. See Line Material Company, 82 NLRB 196. .
8 See Anaconda Wire and Cable Company, 81 NLRB 1235 ; Standard Oil Company of Cali-
fornia, 79 NLRB 1466, and cases cited thereih.
HUGHES TOOL COMPANY 1043
The Pipefitters requests the inclusion in the unit of refrigeration
mechanics first-class. There are one or two employees in this classifica-
tion which are rated as Labor Grade 10. The refrigeration mechanics
maintain and repair plant water coolers, air conditioning units, re-
frigeration units, and hydraulic door stops. In the course of this
work the mechanics make any pipe and tube connections that are nec-
essary and do the repair work thereon. They work under the super-
vision of the general maintenance foreman and his assistant but oc-
casionally receive directions from the pipe shop foreman. There is no
interchange between the refrigeration mechanics and the pipefitters,
and the mechanics have separate headquarters and work locations. In-
asmuch as the record shows that the refrigeration mechanics have
divergent skills, working conditions, and supervision, we do not be-
lieve they should be included with the pipefitters in a separate bar-
gaining unit.
We have previously held that as the work assignments of the Em-
ployer's maintenance helpers are temporary and there are no helpers
regularly assigned to a particular group of maintenance employees,
inclusion of the helpers in a. craft unit at this plant is not appropriate.9
We find, therefore, that helpers are not properly included in a pipefit-
ters unit. We find, on the basis of the entire record, that journeymen
maintenance pipefitters and their apprentices excluding refrigera-
tion mechanics, the foreman, helpers, and all other employees, con-
stitute an identifiable, highly skilled, recognized craft group who may
constitute an appropriate bargaining unit notwithstanding their pre-
vious inclusion in a plant-wide bargaining unit.1e However, we shall
not make any unit determination as to the pipefitters until we have
first ascertained the desires of those employees. If, in the elections
hereinafter directed, the pipefitters select Local Union No. 211 of the
United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing
and Pipefitting Industry, AFL, they will be taken to have indicated
their desire to constitute a separate bargaining unit.
The requested unit of tool and die and repair shop employees : The
IAM requests that we grant self-determination elections to two ma-
chinists groups. The first of these proposed units consists of all ma-
chine repairmen, machinists first-class, machinists second-class, truck
and tractor mechanics, first-class, truck and tractor mechanics, sec-
ond-class, auto mechanic passenger car, machine repairman helper,
repairman smtll parts-tool crib attendants, and apprentices em-
ployed in the repair shop with supervisors and all other employees
9 See Hughes Tool Company , supra, footnote 4.
m See B . F. Goodrich Chemical Company (Geoff Plant ), 75 NLRB 1142 , and cases cited
therein.
882191-51-57
1044 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
excluded. The second proposed unit would consist of all employees
in the tool and die shop classified as tool and die makers, machinists
toolroom first-class, and machinists toolroom second-class excluding
supervisors and all other employees. The Employer, the Steelworkers,
and the Metal Workers oppose the severance of these groups from the
plant-wide unit. They contend that the employees in the proposed
units lack requisite craft skills, or, in the alternative, that the units
comprise only a segment of a specific craft.
The toolroom manufactures tools and dies for use elsewhere in the
plant. The repair shop, which is located next to the machine shop,
performs necessary repair work on tools and machinery for the ma-
chine shop. The machine shop, itself, is the production center of the
plant where steel billets are machined and milled into the final product.
The toolroom, repair shop, and machine shop are all a part of the
Manufacturing Department of the plant, but come under three separate
divisions of the Department, with corresponding differences in super-
vision. The tool and die room employees are physically separated
from the machine shop and the repair shop and are located in a sep-
arate building. The repair shop occupies a corner of the machine shop
and is not separated from the latter by any physical barrier.
There are 160 employees exclusive of supervisors in the unit of
toolroom employees requested by the IAM. A welder and an em-
ployee classified as heat treater also work in the tool and die shop group,
as well as a tool crib attendant. A common labor pool furnishes men
to do clean-up work, sand-blasting, and routine and unskilled work
in the tool and die shop. Employees classified as tool and die makers
are in Labor Grade 11 and are among the most highly skilled employees
in the plant. Machinists toolroom first-class, and machinists toolroom
second-class, are in Labor Grades 10 and 9 respectively. The tool and
die room is under separate supervision and the employees in that
"unit" have "craft" seniority under the terns of the existing contract
with the Employer 11 The welder, heat treater, tool crib attendant,
and toolroom labor are not considered to be a part of the toolroom
"unit" within the terms of contract seniority although they are super-
vised by the same foreman and are more or less permanently assigned
to the toolroom. Of the 4 employees now classified as heat treaters,
however, 3 are former tool and die shop employees who are eligible
for promotion to that group.
11 The contract between the Employer and the Metal Workers provides for three types of
seniority known as plant, craft , and unit . The terms "craft" and "unit" as used in the
contract , however , do not have the restricted meanings usually present but refer to admin-
istrative divisions of personnel . Accordingly the placement of an employee at this plant
in a specified "craft" or "unit" as defined in the contract is not conclusive of the employee's
position as a skilled journeyman in a recognized trade or his inclusion in an appropriate
bargaining group.
HUGHES TOOL COMPANY 1045
Tool and die makers, machinists toolroom first-class, and machinists
toolroom second-class perform the customary functions of skilled
craftsmen in these classifications. They operate a full complement of
machines such as normally used in-tool and die operations and for the
most part own their own precision hand tools. None of the tool
makers has been in the toolroom for less than 4 years and many have
been in that department for periods ranging up to 25 years. There is,
however, no formal apprenticeship program for the tool and die room
and the record shows that 95 percent of the present personnel was
originally trained in the machine room. It also appears that many
of these employees have become specialists in the operations of par-
ticular machines and accordingly do not have the well rounded and
varied skills and experience of a journeyman machinist. Occasion-
ally minor production work is done by the toolroom.
Repair shop personnel include 83 employees classified as machine
repairmen, machine repairmen helpers, machinist first-class, and ma-
chinist second-class, 8 apprentices, 4 truck and tractor mechanics first-
class, 4 truck and tractor mechanics second-class, 1 auto mechanic pas-
senger car, 3 tool crib attendants, a hydro-acetylene torch repairman,
and 13 oilers. The unit requested by the IAM would include all of
these employees with the exception of the oilers and the torch repair-
man. Machine repairmen are in Labor Grade 11; machinists first-
class, truck and tractor mechanics first-class, and the auto mechanic
passenger car are in Labor Grade 10; machinists second-class are placed
in Labor Grade 8 while truck and tractor mechanics second-class and
the repairman helpers are classified in Labor Grade 7. The repair
shop is under the direction of a general supervisor and shift foremen,
with the exception of the oilers who have separate immediate super-
vision. Of all the personnel in the repair shop, only the machine
repairmen are under an apprenticeship program. As in the case of
the tool and die shop, the repair shop employees operate machine tools
such as lathes, milling machines, shapers, and drill presses as well as
precision hand tools. The repair shop does not do production work
but repairs, in the plant, the machines which are used for production
of the final product.
The Employer's personnel policy has consistently been to fill va-
cancies in skilled positions in the plant by promotion and training on
the job. As a result only afew skilled craftsmen are hired from out-
side the plant. The center of production in the plant is the machine
shop which employs approximately 7 50 men who do general machine
shop work. A large proportion of this personnel is in Labor Grades
9 and 10 although some employees are classified below Labor Grade 7.
1046 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The 2 lines of promotion from the machine shop lead to the repair
shop and the tool and die shop. The record shows that a consider-
able number of transfers occur among the 3 groups and that the
machine shop serves as a training ground for the other 2 shops?'
Under the present contract, qualified employees may transfer from
one group to another either by way of promotion, demotion, or trans-
fer at the same grade. In the event of reductions in the personnel
in the repair shop or the tool and die shop, employees in those shops
are placed in lower positions in the machine shop but retain pref-
erence for future openings in the 2 groups. The extensive interchange
among the 3 shops points to a high degree of integration and similarity
of skills and duties which is further evidenced by use of the same type
and kinds of equipment. Specific instances of identity of skills are
found in the case of tool grinders in the tool grinding department who
perform the same work as certain individuals in the tool and die de-
partment; and job shop machinists in the machine shop who have
skills and duties similar to machinist in the other 2 groups.
We have previously held that an identifiable, homogeneous, and
skilled group with interests separate from those of other plant em-
ployees and which contains a large nucleus of highly skilled craft
employees is appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining 13
We have so held even though such a unit would exclude employees in
the plant "possessing skills and performing jobs comparable to those
of the less skilled employees" in the unit.14 On the basis of the record
herein, however, we are not persuaded that the toolroom and repair
shop employees constitute well defined and homogeneous groups en-
titled to severance from the established plant-wide unit. In this con-
nection we note that work done by employees in the repair shop and
toolroom, while not itself production work, is nevertheless closely
related to the production of tools in the plant. There is continual
and substantial interchange among the machine shop, repair shop,
and tool and die shop and it is clear that the three groups have been
integrated to the extent that this shifting of employees among the
shops is necessary. Only one of the job classifications of the repair
shop and tool shop is under an apprenticeship program, and the vast
majority of employees in these two groups are trained in the machine
shop. The machine shop, employees of which would not be included
12 Records introduced in evidence at the hearing by the Employer show that at the
present time there are 16 employees working in the machine shop who are entitled to return
to the repair shop on the basis of prior work in that group . Forty-seven employees now
working in the machine shop are in the same position as regards the tool and die shop.
Other personnel records in evidence show a substantial number of instances in which
employees have worked in all 3 shops through a series of promotions and transfers.
la See General Electric Company , 82 NLRB 722 and cases cited therein.
14 See International Harvester Company, 79 NLRB 1452.
HUGHES TOOL COMPANY 1047
in the proposed units, contains job classifications higher than some
employees in the tool and die shop and the repair shop. The job shop
machinists have skills corresponding to machinists first-class who are
among the higher ranking classifications in the proposed units."'
While supervision of the repair shop and tool shop employees is sep-
arate from that of the machine shop, heat treaters, welders, and hydro-
acetylene torch repairmen work alongside the toolroom and repair
workers under the same supervision. In the case of the repair shop,
there is no physical segregation of the employees from machine shop
personnel and machines and equipment used in all three shops is, in
many cases, identical. We find, therefore, in view of these facts and
the background of successful bargaining history on a plant-wide basis,
that there is insufficient justification for separating the tool and die
shop and repair shop employees from the present plant-wide unit.16
Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition in Case No. 39-RC-134.
We shall direct that the questions concerning representation which
have arisen be resolved by separate elections by secret ballot among
employees in the separate voting groups described below :
1. All journeymen carpenters and apprentices, excluding the car-
penter in the shipping department and the carpenter foreman;
2. All journeymen maintenance pipefitters and apprentices, exclud-
ing the foreman, helpers, and refrigeration mechanics;
3. All other hourly paid nonsupervisory production and mainte-
nance employees at the Employer's Houston, Texas, tool plant, in-
cluding all nonsupervisory salaried employees working in the produc-
tion area, except timekeepers, but excluding employees included in
voting groups 1 and 2, above, executives, supervisory, clerical, office,
and professional employees, electrical employees, print shop employees,
Industrial Relations Department employees, Accounting Department
employees, other than shop clerks, all Engineering Department em-
ployees except mechanics, helpers, and laborers in the laboratory, cafe-
teria employees, and all supervisory employees as defined in the
amended Act.
16 The IAM, at the hearing and in its brief , outlined several other unit requests. It
would accept inclusion of job shop machinists in either the repair shop or tool and die
shop units . It would also accept a third unit composed of truck and tractor mechanics,
first-class, truck and tractor mechanics, second-class , and the auto mechanic , passenger car.
We do not believe , however , that the alternative unit proposals would correct the defects
Inherent in any severance of these employees.
16 See Eviarude Motors Division of Outboard Marine & Manufacturing Company, 82
NLRB 803 ; G eneral Mills, Inc ., 77 NLRB 474.
1048 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
DIRECTION • OF ELECTIONS 17
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with the Employer, separate elections
by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later
than 30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and
supervision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case
was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in each
of the voting groups set forth in the paragraph numbered 4, above,
who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding
the date of this Direction of Elections, including employees who did
not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca-
tion or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have
since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or
reinstated prior to the date of the elections, and also excluding em-
ployees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine
whether they desire to be represented :
In group 1, by Carpenters Local Union No. 213, AFL, or by United
Steelworkers of America, CIO, or by Independent Metal Workers
Union, Locals 1 and 2, or by none ;
In group 2, by Local Union No. 211 of the United Association of
.Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting In-
dustry of the United States and Canada, AFL, or by United Steel-
workers of America, CIO, or by Independent Metal Workers Union,
Locals 1 and 2, or by none;
In group 3, by United Steelworkers of America, CIO, or by Inde-
pendent Metal Workers Union, Locals 1 and 2, or by neither, for the
purposes of collective bargaining.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed in Case No. 39-RC-134
be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
"The parties have been placed on the ballots of the individual voting groups in accord-
ance with their wishes as expressed at the hearing. Any union desiring to withdraw from
any of the ballots may do so by giving 1 . 0 days ' notice of such intent to the Regional Director.
The IAM has not been accorded a place on any of the ballots in view of the dismissal of its
petition. If , however, the IAM wishes to participate in any of the elections , it may do so
by giving 10 days' notice of such desire to the Regional Director.