International Minerals and Chemical Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 27, 1946

71 N.L.R.B. 878 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of INTERNATIONAL MINERALS AND CIu uIIC AL CORPORA-
TION (POTASH DIVISION), EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHER-
HOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL 643, A. F. OF L., PETITIONER
In the Matter of INTERNATIONAL MINERALS AND CHEMICAL CORPORA-
TION (POTASH DIVISION), EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIA-
TION OF MACHINISTS, CAVERN CITY LODGE 1124, PETITIONER
Cases N08.16-R-1780 and 16-R-1752, respectively.Decided
November 27,1046
Messrs. Charles S. Warthen, Neil O. McKim, and Caswell 8. Neal, all
.of Carlsbad, N. M., for the Employer.
Mr. L. S. Rillos, of Carlsbad, N. M., and Mr. H. E. Edwards, of
Oklahoma City, Okla., for the Electricians.
Mr. Charles L. Muholland, of Dallas, Tex., and Mr. Kenneth Roberts,
of Carlsbad, N. M., for the Machinists.
Mr. Frank Donner, of Washington, D. C., and Mr. C. D. Smother-
rian, of Carlsbad, N. M., for the Smelter Workers.
Mr. Lewis H. Ulman, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon separate petitions duly filed a consolidated hearing' in this
case was held at Carlsbad, New Mexico, before Glenn L. Moller, hear-
ing officer. At the hearing the Smelter Workers moved to dismiss the
petitions herein on the ground that the units sought are inappropriate.
For reasons stated hereinafter the motion is hereby denied. The hear-
ing 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 makes the following :
FINDINGS- OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
International Minerals and Chemical Corporation is a New York
corporation engaged in the mining, refining, and selling of potash,
I The proceedings herein were consolidated by an order of the Board dated July 17, 1946.
71 N. L. R. B., No. 142.
878
INTERNATIONAL MINERALS AND CHEMICAL CORPORATION 879
minerals, and chemicals. It operates mines and refineries in various
parts of the United States, including a potash mine and adjacent re-
finery near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The Carlsbad operation is the
only one here involved. The Employer annually produces at this
mine potash exceeding $5,000,000, in value, all of which is shipped
to points outside the State of New Mexico. Practically all the mate-
rials and equipment used at the Carlsbad operations are shipped there
from points outside the State.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The petitioner, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
Local 643, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein
called the Electricians, is a labor organization claiming to represent
employees of the Employer.
The petitioner, International Association of Machinists, Cavern
City Lodge 1124, unaffiliated, herein called the Machinists, is a labor
organization claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
The intervenor, International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter
Workers, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
herein called the Smelter Workers, is a labor organization claiming
to represent employees of the Employer.
III. TIIE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize either of the petitioners as the
exclusive bargaining representative of any of its employees until
certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. TILE APPROPRIATE UNIT; THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Electricians seeks a unit restricted to electricians, their ap-
prentices and helpers, excluding assistant foremen,' foremen, and
all other supervisory employees. The Machinists seeks a unit of all
production and maintenance employees, excluding electricians, their
apprentices and helpers, technical employees, office employees, guards
and watcl inen, lunchroom employees, temporary employees, all sal-
aried employees earning more than $200 per month, and supervisors.
2 The unit description in the Board's previous decision, Matter of International J'rne'-als
and Chenucal Corporation. 62 N L R B 655, refers to "sub-foremen ' This classification
has been abolished and replaced by a new classification of "assistant foreman" which the
parties igloo is a supervisory position.
717734-47-vol 71-57
880 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Smelter Workers agrees with the unit proposed by the Machinists
except that it would include the electricians, their apprentices and
helpers. The Employer is apparently neutral. Thus, the only issue
presented is whether the electricians, their apprentices and helpers,
should be established as a separate unit or included in the production
and maintenance unit.
In 1941 the Potash Workers' Union, a federal labor union of the
American Federation of Labor, won a consent election conducted by
the Board, and was certified as bargaining agent for the Employer's
production and maintenance workers, including the electricians, their
apprentices and helpers. No one then sou 'alit, and consequently no one
secured, a self-determination (or "Globe") election among electricians
or any other group of craftsmen to ascertain whether they desired to
bargain separately or to be merged in the over-all production and main-
tenance unit. From 1941 to 1945, the Potash Workers and then Local
158, herein called Local 158, remained the bargaining agent for the
employees in this unit under four successive 1-year collective bargain-
ing contracts.
In February 1945, the Smelter Workers petitioned the Board for
certification in substantially the same production and maintenance unit
which had been bargained for by the American Federation of Labor
affiliates since 1941. Local 158, the Electricians, and the Machinists
intervened, the Electricians urging the establishment of a unit of elec-
tricians and powerhouse employees, and the Machinists requesting a
unit of machine shop and mechanical maintenance department em-
ployees, except for the electricians. On June 21, 1945, in denying the
request for the units sought by the Electricians and Machinists and
directing an election in the plant-wide unit desired by the Smelter
Workers, the Board pointed to the 4-year history of collective bargain-
Iug on a plant-wide basis, and emphasized further, that the proposed
separate units were heterogeneous in nature without distinct depart-
mental or craft characteristics.3
The Smelter Workers won the election and negotiated a new 1-year
contract covering all the Employer's production and maintenance
workers, including the electricians, their apprentices and helpers. It
appears that the electricians refused to vote in the election and filed a.
strike notice under the provisions of the War Labor Disputes Act.'
Thereafter the Board conducted a mail-ballot strike vote among all of
the Employer's employees; however, only 13 of the 82 ballots returned
favored such action and no strike was called. - -
During the 17 months that have elapsed since the Board's previous
determination the electricians have refused to present grievances
through the Smelter Workers, or otherwise participate in collective
3 See Matter of International ^11inerals and Chemical Corporation , sicpra.
4 57 Stat 163, 50 U S. C 1940 ed , Sup. IV, App., Sec. 1501, et seq.
INTERNATIONAL MINERALS AND CHEMICAL CORPORATION 881
bargaining through the certified bargaining agent. The Electricians'
petition herein seeks a unit restricted to journeymen electricians and
their apprentices and helpers. It appears, therefore, that the unit now
sought constitutes a true and well identified craft, and is thus sharply
distinguishable from the heterogeneous unit sought in 1945.
The Board, in deciding whether or not to conduct a self-deterini-
nation election for a craft group when there has been a history of
collective bargaining on a broader basis, is confronted with the neces-
sity of balancing two opposing interests. On the one hand, the inter-
ests of stability and certainty in labor relations favor adherence to
existing bargaining patterns; on the other hand, the cohesiveness and
special interests of a true craft group often indicate the appropriate-
ness of groups limited to members of a particular craft. The applica-
tion of these diverse policy considerations to the facts of any particular
case is not easy. Sometimes the Board has given greater weight to the
first of these policy factors and has denied craft severance; in other
cases, it has considered that the preponderant equity lies with the craft
group and has permitted craft separation. Of necessity no hard and
fast rule can be laid down in advance as an absolute guide to deterlnin-
ing when one and when the other of these policy considerations is to
prevail. Each case must be decided on the basis of its own facts.
In the present case, the electricians represent a true craft group, as
exemplified by the fact that apprenticeship training extending over
at least 4 years is necessary to achieve journeyman status. Practice in
the few other mines in the potash industry is most significant. Units
similar to that requested by the Electricians exist at two other potash
mines and refineries located in the Carlsbad area.5 Craft bargaining
exists, therefore, in at least 50 percent of this industry and there is no
indication that such units do not function successfully to promote har-
monious labor relations. These facts indicate that, in the absence of
any collective bargaining history. the unit requested by the Electricians
would be found appropriate as a matter of course ° The circumstance
that collective bargaining on a more inclusive basis has existed for a
number of years is not sufficient in itself to deny the employees in the
craft group the opportunity of deciding at the present time whether
5
One of these mines is owned by Potash Company of America, the other by United
Slates Potash Company. The mines of these two companies together with that of the
Employer represent three of the four principal potash mines in the industry The elec-
tricians' unit at the mine of Potash Company of America was established as the result of
a consent election, that at the mine of United States Potash Company was found appro-
priate by the Board after hearing (Matter of United States Potash Company (N S L ),
6'. N L R B 1379).
"See Matter of National Silver Company, 71 N L. R. B 594 , Matter of United States
Potash Company, supra ; Matter of American Cyanamid & Chemical Corporation, 62 N L
U B 925. Matter of Remington Rand, Inc, Propeller Division, 62 N. L R B. 1419
Matter of Illinois Division , Bendis, Aviation Corporation , 61 N L. It B 993 , Matter of
American Can Company, 61 N L R B, 1631; Matter of Cusberson Corporation, 59 N L.
It B. 1091, Matter of Richfield Oil Corporation, 59 N L. R B. 1554
882 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
they desire to continue to be represented as part of the production and
maintenance unit or whether they desire to bargain as a separate unit.
This is particularly true because these employees have never previously
had an opportunity to vote on this issue.
The Employer's electricians constitute an apprenticeable and well
defined craft, theye presently exists bargaining through similar craft
groups in the potash industry in the Carlsbad area, and the Employer's
electricians have never had an opportunity to demonstrate at the polls
whether or not they desire separate representation. Under these cir-
cumstances, and without reliance upon the evidence of the electricians'
"non-acquiescence" since our last Decision, we believe that the elec-
tricians should be given the opportunity at this time of indicating
whether they desire to be represented in a craft unit or in a plant-wide
unit, inasmuch as either of these units may be appropriate.
In accordance with the foregoing, we shall make no final deter-
mination at this time with respect to the appropriate unit or units.
However, we shall direct that separate elections be held among the
employees in the voting groups described below, excluding assistant
foremen and all other supevisory employees with authority to hire,
promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status
of employees, or effectively recommend such action:
(1) All electricians and their apprentices and helpers, excluding
the chief electrician,
(2) All production and maintenance employees, excluding elec-
tricians and their apprentices and helpers, technical employees, office
employees, guards and watchmen, lunchroom employees, temporary
employees , and all salaried employees earning over $200 per month.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with International Mmeials and
Chemical Corporation (Potash Division), Carlsbad, New _Mexico,
elections by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not
later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under the
direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Sixteenth
Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations
Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 4, among the em-
ployees in the voting group listed in Section IV, above, who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction, including employees who did not work during said
pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily
laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United
States who present themselves in person at the polls, but excluding
INTERNATIONAL MINERALS AND CHEMICAL CORPORATION 883
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,
to determine whether :
(1) The employees in group (1) desire to be represented by Inter-
national Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 643, A. F. of L., or
by International Association of Machinists, Cavern City Lodge 1124,
or by International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, C. I. 0.,
for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by none.
(2) The employees in group (2) desire to be represented by Inter-
national Association of Machinists, Cavern City Lodge 1124, or by
International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, C. I. 0., for
the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.