International Harvester Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 2, 1949

87 N.L.R.B. 317 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter Of INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY (LOUISVILLE
WORKS, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BLACK-
SMITHS, DROP FORGERS AND HELPERS, A. F. L., PETITIONER
In the Matter of INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY (LoUISVILLE
WORKS), EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELEC-
TRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL UNION No. 369, A. F. L., PETITIONER
In the Matter Of INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY (LOUISVILLE
WORKS, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMO-
BILE, AIRCRAFT AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMER-
ICA, C. I. 0., PETITIONER
In the Matter of INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY (LOUISVILLE
WORKS), EMPLOYER and FALLS CITIES CARPENTERS DISTRICT COUN-
CIL, UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA,
A. F. L., PETITIONER
Cases Nos. 9-RC-446,9-RC-467,9-RC-4190, and 9-RC-408.-Decided
December 2, 1940
DECISION
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
AND
ORDER
Upon separate petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing was held
before William A. McGowan, hearing officer. The hearing officer's
rulings made at the 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 meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers and
Helpers, A. F. L., herein called the Blacksmiths; International Broth-
erhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union No. 369, A. F. L., herein
called the Electricians; International Union, United Automobile, Air-
craft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, C. I. 0.,
herein called the UAW-CIO ; Falls Cities Carpenters District Coun-
cil, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America,
87 NLRB No. 21. 317
318 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
A. F. L., herein called the Carpenters ; and United Farm Equipment
and Metal Workers of America, Local 236, C. I. 0., herein called the
FE-CIO 1 are labor organizations claiming to represent employees of
the Employer.
3. For reasons stated hereinafter, no questions affecting commerce
exist concerning the representation of employees of the Employer in
Cases Nos. 9-RC-446 and 9-RC-467 within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. We do, however, find
that questions affecting commerce exist concerning the representation
of employees of the Employer in Cases Nos. 9-RC-490, and 9-RC-
498, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and
(7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate unit; the determination of representatives :
At its Louisville plant, the Employer is engaged in the production
of tractors, tractor parts, and other machinery. The plant is a rela-
tively new one, operations having begun in the latter part of 1946.
In 1947, the Board directed elections 2 among the employees which
resulted in the establishment of several craft groups and a residual.
production and maintenance unit. Thereafter, and before the hear-
ing herein, several other craft groups were carved from the produc-
tion and maintenance unit originally established. The current pro-
ceedings involve employees who are now included in the production
and maintenance unit. These employees are located in the following
departments: Department 51-Electrical Heat Treat; Department
52-Gas Heat Treat; Department 53-Forge Shop and Shear Room;
Department 17-General Maintenance.
The Electricians' alleged appropriate unit
The Electricians seeks to sever from the existing residual produc-
tion and maintenance unit a unit of employees in the electrical heat
treat department. The Electricians did not present any evidence at
the hearing, stating that it would rely on the record made by the other
parties; but presumably it takes the position that these employees
are craft electricians and therefore severable. The UAW-CIO, the
FE-CIO, and the Employer contend that this unit is inappropriate.
The employees whom the Electricians seeks do not exercise the
skills usually associated with the craft of the electrician, nor are they
required to be electricians.. In fact, the record indicates that em-
ployees are promoted to heat treat operator from the position of la-
borer. Under these circumstances, we perceive no basis, craft or other-
At the hearing, the FE-CIO was permitted to intervene in all these cases on the basis
of a contract covering the residual production and maintenance unit. The contract has
expired , and it was not contended at the hearing that it was a bar to the petitions herein.
2 International harvester Companij, 73 NLRB 971.
INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY 319
wise, for establishing this department as a unit and shall dismiss the
Electricians' petition.
The Blacksmiths' alleged appropriate unit
The Blacksmiths seeks a unit consisting of employees in the Forge
Shop and Shear Room, Department 53, and the Gas Heat Treat De-
partment, Department 52. Included in these departments are em-
ployees in such classifications as forge press operator, bulldozer opera-
tor, snag grinder, laborer, trimming press operator, coining, press
operator, sawyer, shear operator, forge shop setup man, blacksmith,3
gas heat treat operator, and shot blast bachine operator. The NAW-
CIO, and the FE-CIO, and the Employer contend that this unit is in-
appropriate and should not be severed from the residual production
and maintenance unit.
The forge shop produces forgings used in the fabrication of various
components of tractors and motors.4 The steel billets from which the
forgings are made are cut to the required lengths in the shear room.
They are then transported by cranes to the forge shop, where they
are heated and then forged upon either a drop press or an upsetter
press. After the metal has been forged it goes either to the heat treat
departments or to another department for machining. In some in-
stances a forging will be returned to a heat treat department after
machining. Completed forgings are then used in assembling final
products.
The Blacksmiths contends that the unit it seeks may be severed
upon either a craft nucleus or a departmental basis. In this connec-
tion,.it argues that the drop forgers included in the unit it seeks con-
stitute a nucleus of skilled craftsmen.5
As noted above, the forge press operators forge the hot metal upon
either drop or upsetter presses. The operator has no control over the
force of the blow struck upon the metal. He is responsible, however,
for the proper setting of the dies in the press, and for correct place-
ment of the steel billet. Failure to make these adjustments accurately
may result in spoiling the dies, which are extremely expensive, or in
producing an unusable forging. The forging press operator must also
be able to judge the heat of the metal to be forged, and must have a
kn'wledge of metal structure.
3 This group includes only one blacksmith and one blacksmith helper.
4 The record also indicates that the Employer purchases an indeterminate amount of
forgings from outside sources.
6 The Blacksmiths points, in this connection, to the following items of evidence, inter
alia: (a ) the Dictionary of Occupational Titles and the Census Bureau's classification sys-
tem both of which classify forging as a skilled trade ; (b) a job evaluation rating issued by
the Drop Forging Institute which rates the job of forging press operator as equivalent to
that of machinist.
320 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
In the recent General Motors case,6 under analogous circumstances,
we held that similar forge press operators were not craftsmen. Here,
as there, the press operators are part of a mass production operation;
they work upon the same machine all the time, and are not required to
operate any other; their task is repetitive and routine; and essentially
they are no more than skilled machine operators. Furthermore, their
work is less skilled than that of the hammerman in the above-cited case,
who were also found to lack the requisite craft skills. Nor are these
forge press operators required to have the versatility necessary in a
commercial forge shop, where the operator must be able to work many
kinds of presses. It is sufficient, at this point, that an operator can
produce quickly upon one machine.
It appears further that neither apprenticeship nor a prolonged
training period is necessary to qualify as a forging press operator at
this plant. The Employer's testimony indicated that it was its prac-
tice to upgrade employees to all jobs in this department except that
of blacksmith, and that there had been no difficulty with such pro-
cedure. Indeed, in at least one instance, an employee was transferred
from driving an industrial truck to operating a forging press, and
was able to earn his piece-work rate in several weeks.
Under these circumstances, including the mass production nature
of the Employer's operations, the lack of an apprentice or training
program, and the essentially routine and respective nature of the
forger's work, we find that the forgers herein- do not exercise more
than a part of the skills customarily associated with the craft of the
blacksmith. We therefore conclude that they are not true craftsmen
and do not constitute the necessary nucleus for severance of the
requested unit on a departmental basis.
Moreover, not only is there a lack of a nucleus of employees pos-
sessing true craft skills, but the departmental unit sought includes
only a segment of the employees engaged in the forging process, i. e., it
would exclude the above-mentioned operators of electrical heat treat
equipment whose work is indistinguishable from that of the requested
gas heat treat operators. Accordingly we shall dismiss the petition.'
a General Motors Corporation , Chevrolet Forge , Spring and Bumper Division , Detroit,
Miciiigan, 80 NLRB 145.
7 Plomb Tool Co., 87 NLRB 134, in which the Board recently found certain forgers
to be craftsmen , is distinguishable on its facts from the instant case . The forgers, who
were there found to constitute the craft nucleus of a forge department , performed work
which partook less of the nature of mass production ; served a 2-year training period ;
were required to work within much smaller tolerances ; and there was some bargaining
history with respect to forgers on a separate basis.
Nor is the Petitioner's contention w ith respect to the severability of a departmental
unit without a craft nucleus, supported by Fayscott Corporation, 78 NLRB 12333 0, upon
which it relies . The basis of the Board's decision in the Fayscott case was the existence
of a craft nucleus of molders and coremakers . See United States Pipe and Foundry Com-
pany, 84 NLRB 954.
INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY . 321
The Carpenter's unit; the UAJV-CIO unit
The Carpenters seeks a unit composed of millwrights, millwright-
welders, helpers, and apprentices; 8 alternatively, the Carpenters will
accept a unit which excludes the welders. The UAW-CIO seeks an
election in the existing residual production and maintenance unit.
The FE-CIO and the Employer join the UAW-CIO in contending
that this is the only appropriate unit.
In a prior case involving this plant,9 the Board found, in effect,
that the millwrights were a craft group. It directed an election in
which the millwrights alone (not including welders) were to indicate
whether they desired to be grouped with either machinists or car-
penters, or to be part of the residual unit. The millwrights at that
time chose to be included in the residual unit.
There have apparently been no significant changes since that time in
Department 17, to which the millwrights are assigned, along with
blacksmiths, painters, sheet metal workers, carpenters, and other
maintenance classifications. Now, as then, these classifications func-
tion on a job basis, depending upon the requirements of the particular
job. As a result of this practice, employees in all classifications work
together to a considerable extent. Nor does the record indicate that
there is a classification of millwright-welders as sought by the Car-
penters. There is a classification of welders, but the welders do not
have an especially close relationship to the millwrights. Under these
circumstances, we find that the millwrights alone constitute a craft
group which may feasibly be granted separate representation 10
As already noted, the UA.W-CIO and FE-CIO seek an election in
the currently existing unit which includes the millwrights. Such a
unit is clearly appropriate. However, we have also indicated that
the millwrights may function separately, if they so desire.
Accordingly, we shall make no final unit determination at this time,
but shall first ascertain the desires of the employees as expressed in
the elections hereinafter directed. We shall direct elections among
the following groups of employees of the Employer's Louisville
Works :
(a) All millwrights and millwright helpers in Department 17, ex-
cluding clerical employees and supervisors as defined in the Act.
(b) All remaining production and maintenance employees, includ-
ing janitors and inspectors, working leaders and apprentices, but ex-
eluding powerhouse, boiler room, toolroom, tool grinding, and ma-
8 The record indicates that there are no apprentices and that the Employer does not
maintain an apprentice program for these crafts.
'International Harvester Company, 73 NLRB 971 (1947).
10 Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation, 84 NLRB 298; Certain-iced Products Corpora-
tion, 78 NLRB 910.
322 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD .
chine repair departments, die shop, foundry, all electricians, plumbers,
steamfitters, pipefitters, carpenters, and helpers, student executives,
guards, expediters, time keepers, time-study men, tool and die de-
signers, laboratory technicians, draftsmen, engineers, and all other
technical and professional employees, all factory and office clerical
employees, and all supervisors.
If the employees in voting group (a) select the Carpenters, they
will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate
unit.
ORDER
Ul'on the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and the entire
record in the case, the Board orders that the petitions filed in this
proceeding by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local
369, A. F. L., in Case No. 9-RC-467, and by International Brotherhood
of Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers, and Helpers (AFL), in Case No. 9-
RC-446 be, and they hereby are, dismissed.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS 11
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with the Employer, 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 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, among the groups of em-
ployees described in section 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 clur-
ing 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 elections, and also excluding employees on
strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether, for
purposes of collective bargaining,
(1) The employees in voting group "(a)" desire to be represented
by Falls Cities Carpenters District Council, United Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners of America, A. F. L., or by International
Union, United Automobile, Aircraft, and Agricultural Implement
Workers of America, CIO, or by United Farm Equipment and Metal
Workers of America, Local 2361 CIO, or by none; and
11
Any participant in any election directed herein may, upon its prompt request to, and
approval thereof by, the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot.
INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY 323
(2) The employees in voting group "(b)" desire to be represented
by International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricul-
tural Implement Workers of America, CIO, or by United Farm
Equipment and Metal Workers of America, Local 236, CIO, or by
neither.
MEMBER MURDOCK took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision, Direction of Elections, and Order.
877350-50-vol, 87-22