International Harvester Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 15, 1950

90 N.L.R.B. 1905 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY, HARVESTER
DIVISION, EAST MOLINE WORKS, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL DIE
SINKERS' CONFERENCE, PETITIONER
Case No. 13-RC-1124.Decided August 15,1950
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Martin H.
Schneid, 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
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Styles].
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 organizations involved claim to represent certain
employees of the Employer.'
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c)
(1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.2
4. The appropriate unit :
The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all die sinkers, trimmer
die makers, and die sinking duplicating machine operators employed
in the toolroom at the Employer's East Moline plant. The Employer
and the Intervenor contend that the proposed unit is inappropriate
because (a) the Employer's operations are so integrated that only a
plant-wide unit is appropriate, and (b) the proposed unit does not
include all employees possessing the same skills and performing similar
or related duties.
' United Farm Equipment Workers of America, Local 104, UE , herein called the Inter-
venor , intervened at the hearing.
z The Intervenor moved at the hearing to dismiss the instant petition on the ground that
it was not timely filed. This motion was referred to the Board by the hearing officer. It
is hereby denied. The petition was filed on February 23, 1950, approximately 2 months
prior to the automatic renewal date, and 4 months prior to the expiration date , contained
in the then current contract. We find that the petition was timely filed. Heekin Can
Company, 88 NLRB 726.
90 NLRB No. 262.
903847-51-vol. 90-121 1905
1906 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Employer is engaged in the manufacture of farm implements
and equipment at its East Moline plant, the only one of its plants in-
volved in this proceeding. It employs approximately 3,000 produc-
tion and maintenance employees, who have been bargained for by the
Intervenor since 1942. Included therein are the employees in the Em-
.ployer's toolroom. The toolroom employees make tools, dies, jigs,
and fixtures used in the Employer's production operations. They
are under the immediate supervision of a foreman and assistant fore-
man who are, in turn, under the direction and supervision of the tool-
room superintendent. The latter also supervises the tool crib and
machinery repair department. Among the employees in the tool-
room are trimmer die makers, die sinkers, die sinking duplicating ma-
chine operators, grinders,' machinists, lathe hands, planer hands,
shaper hands, milling machine hands, welders, and tool makers. The
.Petitioner seeks to sever from the existing plant-wide unit only those
employees in the toolroom classified as die sinkers, trimmer die makers,
and die sinking duplicating machine operators.
The Employer makes most of the hammer dies, upset dies, and trim-
mer dies required in its production operations. These dies are used
in the forging machines in the Employer's forge shop. The parts that
are produced by the forging machines are then used in the implements
and equipment which constitute the Employer's end products. The
dies are made in the toolroom, and most of the work involved in mak-
ing them is ,performed by the employees herein sought by the Peti-
tioner. The block of steel, or die block, for the hammer die is given to
the die sinker who drills holes in the block for handling, and lays out
guide lines'for rough planing. The block then goes into another part
of the toolroom where the shank is cut in the block by a planer, and
the top surface is ground smooth by a, grinder. The block is then
returned to the die sinker who makes impression layouts on the block
for dowels and edgers. The die block then goes either to the die sink-
ing duplicating machine operator, located in the same area as the die
sinker, or to a milling machine operator in some other part of the
toolroom, for machining. When the impression has been machined to
the extent possible on a milling machine, the die block is returned to
the die sinker, who finishes sinking the impression by hand. The
block is then given to the die sinking duplicating machine operator
who performs the flash and gutter operations on the die sinking dupli-
cating machine.3 The die sinker then removes, the rough edges from
' In the event of an emergency or a rush job at a time when the die sinking duplicating
machines are otherwise engaged , the flash and gutter operations may be performed by a
milling machine operator on a machine in another part of the toolroom.
INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY 1907
the flash and gutter, and makes a lead cast of the hammer die to check
dimensions. If the cast passes inspection, the die is sent to the forge
shop, placed in a production machine, and a few test parts are produced
on the machine from the die in the presence of the die sinker. Minor
corrections in the hammer die are made by the die sinker at the pro-
duction machine. Major corrections are performed by him in his as-
signed area in the toolroom. The same process is followed in making
upset dies, except that no lead cast is made.
The trimmer die is used to trim a part after it is taken from the
forging die. It is made by the trimmer die maker, who works in the
same area with the die sinkers and the die sinking duplicating machine
operators. The trimmer die maker, working from the lead cast of the
hammer die, lays out the required machine work on the tool steel, has
that work done by machine operators in other parts of the toolroom,
and finishes the impressions with hand tools and machines in his area.
The die sinking duplicating machine operators seldom perform work
on the trimmer dies. The trimmer die is tested in the forge shop just
as are the hammer and upset dies. The trimmer die maker is present
when the trimmer die is tested, and he makes all necessary corrections
on the trimmer die.
The Employer's practice of making the dies used to produce parts for
its end products is not unlike that followed by many employers that
maintain their own tool and die shops. This practice does not consti-
tute'such an integration of operations as to render only a plant-wide
unit appropriate 4 Nor do we find any merit in the Employer's con-
tention that there exists such a degree of integration of operations
within the toolroom itself as to preclude the severance of the proposed
unit from the rest of the toolroom s
The employees sought by the Petitioner have their headquarters in
a partially enclosed space in the northwest corner of the toolroom. All
tools, machines, and equipment used by these 11 employees are located
within this area, and no other employees work in the area or use the
tools or machines located there. Except as indicated above, the em-
ployees sought by the Petitioner perform no work outside the above-
described area. These 11 .employees are the only employees in the
toolroom who spend all of their time working on dies or parts of dies.
The die sinkers and trimmer die makers are the highest paid employees
in the toolroom.
4 General Electric Company, 89 NLRB 726; The Peck, Stow & Wilcox Company, 73
NLRB f257; Revere Copper and Brass, Inc., 61 NLRB 392. Cf. The Permanente Metals
Corporation, 89 NLRB No . 88; Ford Motor Company (Maywood Plant ), 78 NLRB 887
National Tube Company, 76 NLItB 1.199.
5 Mueller Brass Company, 78 NLRB 1092, and 82 NLRB 449, enfd. 180 F. 2d 402.
1908 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Although under the same supervision as the other toolroom employ-
ees, we find that the die sinkers and trimmer die makers are highly
skilled employees 6 of a type that we have often found may constitute
a separate appropriate unit, notwithstanding a history of bargaining
on a broader basis.' No other employees in the toolroom perform the
jobs, or possess the skills of the die sinkers and trimmer die makers.
The four die sinking duplicating machine operators, like the die
sinkers and trimmer die makers, and unlike the other employees in the
toolroom, spend all of their time working upon dies or parts of dies.
However, these employees do not possess the skill of the die sinkers or
the trimmer die makers. Moreover, the record discloses that work
similar to that done by the die sinking duplicating machine operators
is done on other machines in the toolroom by the milling machine oper-
ators. For these reasons, we will not include the duplicating machine
operators in the unit which we hereinafter find may be appropriate.
We find that all die sinkers and trimmer die makers, excluding die
sinking duplicating machine operators, at the Employer's East Moline
plant, may, if they so desire, constitute an appropriate unit for the
purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b)
of the Act. However, we shall make no final unit determination at this
time, but shall be guided in'part by the desires of the employees as
fixpressed in the election hereinafter directed. If a majority vote for
the Petitioner they will be taken to have indicated their desire to con-
stitute a separate appropriate unit.
DIRECTION OF. ELECTION 8
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 Re-
lations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the
voting group described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were
employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work
e The Employer has no established apprentice training program for any of its toolroom job
classifications . However, the rcord discloses that at least 7 years of on-the -job training
is required before a person can become a qualified die sinker or trimmer die maker.
7 Mueller Brass Company, supra, and cases therein cited.
8 Either participant in the 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 1909
during said payroll 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 they desire
to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by Interna-
tional Die Sinkers' Conference , or by United Farm Equipment
Workers of America , Local 104 , UE, or by neither.