Hunt Tool Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 25, 1949

82 N.L.R.B. 399 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter Of HUNT TOOL COMPANY , EMPLOYER and LODGE 12 OF
DISTRICT 37, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS,
PETITIONER
Case No. 39-RC-2.5.-Decided March 25, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing officer
of the National Labor Relations Board. 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
this case to a three-man panel.*
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organization named below claims to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question of representation affecting commerce exists concern-
ing certain employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner seeks a unit of production and maintenance em-
ployees at the Employer's Houston, Texas, plant, including the heat
treater,' but excluding employees in the boilershop, warehouse, and
fishing tool department, watchmen, and all supervisors within the
meaning of the Act. The Employer would include the employees in
the boilershop and warehouse, and the helper in the fishing tool
department.
The Employer is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and maintenance
of oil well machinery, including drilling equipment, at its Houston,
* Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Gray.
I Although initially asserting that the heat treater should be excluded from the unit,
the Petitioner ultimately agreed with the Employer upon the inclusion of this employee.
In any event, we shall include the heat treater in the unit as the record discloses that
he performs an integral function in the Employer 's plant production and maintenance
operations , and that he is subject to the same hours, supervision and other working con-
ditions as the employees whom the parties agree to include in the unit.
82 N. L. R. B., No. 40.
399
400 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Texas, plant, the only plant involved in this proceeding The plant
includes a machine shop, repair shop, bit shop, boilershop, fishing tool
department, heat treating department, warehouse, and garage. Each
shop or department is under the immediate supervision of a shop
foreman, who, in turn, is supervised by the plant superintendent,
except for the foremen of the boilershop and fishing tool department,
who are directly answerable to the plant manager.
Boilershop employees: There are two welders and three welder's
helpers in the boilershop. Their duties consist of maintaining and
repairing customers' boilers. Although a majority of their time is
spent repairing boilers in the field, some boilers are repaired in the
boilershop. The Petitioner would exclude these five employees be-
cause of their separate line of supervision and because a majority of
their time is spent away from the plant.
We agree with the Employer that these employees should be in-
cluded in the unit. They are subject to the same mode of payment,
receive comparable rates of pay, and, when at the plant, are subject to
the same hours and other working conditions as the plant employees.
Although a majority of their time is spent in the field, other employees
whom the Petitioner and the Employer would include in the unit
frequently go into the field and, when in the field, are subject to the
same working conditions as are the boilershop employees. The boiler-
shop employs possess similar skills and perform similar work to
that of the welders in the bit shop, rig department, and the machine
shop. Furthermore, the record reveals that there is considerable
interchange between the employees in the boilershop and the welders
in the other shops whom the parties agree to include. We shall in-
clude the boilershop employees in the unit.
Warehouse employees: There are two employees in the warehouse,
a carpenter and a helper, whom the Petitioner would exclude on the
grounds that they are not full time employees of the Employer. These
employees devote approximately 40 percent of their time to crating
implements to be shipped for the use and benefit of Hunt Export
Company, a separate sales organization. However, all their time is
devoted to crating and shipping tools and implements manufactured
by the Employer and 60 percent of their time is spent in crating and
shipping implements for the use and benefit of the Employer. They
are carried on the Employer's pay roll, are subject to the Employer's
supervision, and are subject to the same hours and working conditions
as are the other employees. We shall include these warehouse em-
ployees in the unit.
Helper in the fishing tool department: This department has several
operators and one helper. The operators are highly skilled employees
HUNT TOOL COMPANY 401
who spend all of their time in the field, are paid a monthly salary, and
are subjected to little, if any, supervision. The parties agree that
the operators should be excluded from the proposed unit. They dis-
agree, however, as to the helper. The helper spends all of his time
at the plant, cleaning, oiling, and repairing the fishing tools used by
the operators. He assists the operators in loading and unloading
equipment from their cars, and he carries tools to and from the ma-
chine shop when the nature of the repairs so demand. He is subject
to the same hours, mode of payment, and other working conditions as
are the employees in the proposed unit. We find that the helper in
the fishing tool department has interests closely related to those of the
production and maintenance employees at the plant rather than to
those of the fishing tool operators, and we shall, therefore, include him
in the unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees at the Em-
ployer's Houston, Texas, plant, including the heat treater, employees
in the boilershop and warehouse, and the helper in the fishing tool
department, but excluding watchmen and all supervisors within the
meaning of the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for purposes of
collective bargaining.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election 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 super-
vision 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-Series 5, as amended, among
the employees described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work
during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tem-
porarily 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 election, and also excluding employees on strike
who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they
desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining by
Lodge 12 of District 37, International Association of Machinists.