Int'l Assn. of Machinists, Lodge 681, District 27

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 28, 1962

135 N.L.R.B. 1382 (N.L.R.B. 1962)

1382 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
International Association of Machinists , Lodge 681, District-27,
AFL-CIO and P. Lorillard Company, Inc. Case No. 9-CD-55.
February 28, 1962
DECISION AND DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
This proceeding arises under Section 10(k) of the Act, which pro-
vides that "whenever it is charged that any person has engaged in
an unfair labor practice'within the•meahing of paragraph (4) (D) of
Section 8(b), the Board is empowered and directed to hear and deter-
mine the dispute out of which such unfair labor practice shall have
arisen, ..."
In May 1961, P. Lorillard Company, Inc., herein called the Com-
pany, filed with the Regional Director for the Ninth Region a charge
and amended charge alleging that International Association of
Machinists, Lodge 681, District 27, AFL-CIO, herein called the
Machinists, had threatened, coerced, and restrained officials of the
Company with an object of forcing it to assign the operation and
care of certain automatic boxing machines to be installed in its Louis-
ville, Kentucky, plant to members of the Machinists, rather than to
members of Local 201, Tobacco Workers International Union, AFL-
CIO, herein called the Tobacco Workers, and that by such conduct
the Machinists had violated Section 8(b) (4) (ii) (D) of the Act.
Thereafter, pursuant to Section 10 (k) of the Act and Section 102.89
and 102.90 of the Board's Rules and Regulations, Series 8, the Regional
Director investigated the charges and provided for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice to all the parties on the issue of the dispute
over the assignment of machine adjusting work on the new automatic
boxing machines. The hearing was held before Alvin Lieberman,
hearing officer, on July 18 and 19, 1961. All parties appeared at the
hearing and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine
and cross-examine witnesses , and to adduce evidence bearing on the
issues. The rulings of the hearing officer made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Thereafter, both the Company and the Tobacco Workers filed briefs
which have been duly considered by the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board finds:
1. Jurisdictional facts
The Company, a New Jersey corporation, operates a plant at Louis-
ville, Kentucky, where it is engaged in the manufacture and sale of
tobacco products. In 1960 the Company shipped from its Louisville
plant to out-of-State customers products valued in excess of $50,000.
135 NLRB No. 141.
INT'L ASSN. OF MACHINISTS, LODGE 681, DISTRICT 27 1383
We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the meaning
of the Act and that it will effectuate the policies of the Act to assert
jurisdiction herein.
2. The labor organizations involved; their bargaining relations with
the Company
On October 27, 1939, the Board ordered the Company to bargain
with the Tobacco Workers "as the exclusive representative of the
production workers employed by the Company, at its Louisville plant
excluding employees with authority to hire and discharge, time-
keepers, engineers, journeymen machinists, machinists' helpers, and
machinists' 'apprentices." P. Lorillard Company, 16 NLRB 703,
708-709, 726. Construing this order in a subsequent representation
proceeding initiated by the Machinists, the Board held, contrary to
the position of the Machinists, that machine adjusters were included
and machinists were excluded from the Tobacco Workers' unit it had
found appropriate (73 NLRB 596, 599-600). Accordingly, the Board
on June 4, 1947, certified International Association of Machinists as
the exclusive representative of employees in a unit composed of "all
machinists and millwrights, their helpers and apprentices, employed
at [Lorillard's] Louisville, Kentucky, plant, excluding machine ad-
justers" and certain other categories of employees not here material.
Since 1941, in the case of the Tobacco Workers, and since 1947 in
the case of the Machinists, the two labor organizations have been
parties to collective-bargaining agreements with the Company cover-
ing the employees in the units previously certified by the Board.
3. The dispute
a. The Company's assignment to the Tobacco Workers of the fixing
work on the new Scandia boxing machine; the Machinists' threat
to strike
On April 11, 1961, Philip R. Shays, director of industrial relations
for the Company, and Alexander J. Cheek, Jr., general manager of
the Louisville plant, met with the bargaining representatives of the
Machinists, informed them that the Company was acquiring new
Scandia boxing machines which, after their installation, would
eliminate the hand packing of cartons and would eliminate the Bright-
wood carton forming machines and the carton closing machine, which
a few of its members were engaged in fixing. The Company, at the
same time, announced that it was assigning the fixing-work on the
new machines to fixers 1 in the production unit represented by the
i while the Board 's certification of the Machinists refers to the exclusion of "machine
adjusters" from the Machinists ' unit, and this is perhaps a more descriptive job title,
these adjusters are known at the plant as fixers, and this is the designation which will
be used in this decision.
1384 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Tobacco Workers. Shays explained that no member of the Machin-
ists would lose his job as a result of the change , since there was plenty
of machine shop work available for the foreseeable future. Shays
further pointed out that the new machine was different from the two
machines which it replaced , that it was actually a production machine
which required the attention of a fixer at all times, and that with the
discontinuance of the use of the Brightwoods and the carton -closing
machine, the members of the Machinists were no longer entitled to
claim this fixing-work.
The company representatives at the April 11 meeting received the
impression that the Machinists ' representatives were acquiescing in
this assignment, although they were aware that the question had to be
put to the membership of the Machinists as a whole. Accordingly,
Shays notified E. G. Harvey, a representative and vice president of
the Tobacco Workers International Union, about the changes to be
made of the fixing-work on the new boxing machines to fixers in the
production unit represented by the Tobacco Workers.
On April 25, a Machinists' committee informed General Manager
Cheek that the membership could not agree with the Company's as-
signment of the fixing-work in question to the Tobacco Workers'
fixers. When the Company stood firm in its assignment, the Machin-
ists subsequently persuaded the Company to have another meeting at
which Robert P. Schneider, a business representative of District No.
27 of the International Association of Machinists, could be present.
At this meeting, which was held on May 17, Schneider urged that the
disputed work belonged to the Machinists. Industrial Relations Di-
rector Shays, after questioning Schneider as to why the Machinists
was backing out on its previous agreement, presented his arguments
in support of the assignment of the work on the new machine to fixers
in the production workers' unit. When the Machinists' committee
could not be persuaded, Shays announced that he was adhering to his
decision to assign the work to the Tobacco Workers. Whereupon
Schneider replied that the Machinists would be "forced to exert
economic pressure" on the Company. When Shays inquired whether
he meant by that a strike, Schneider replied, "You know darn well
what I mean." Shays rejoined that the Tobacco Workers had just
made the same sort of threat against the Company in the event the
Company withdrew this assignment from the Tobacco Workers' fixers.
At the same time, Shays announced that he had no alternative but to
file charges with the Board.
b. The Company's present method of packaging cigarettes
At present the Company's packaging of its cigarettes is performed
largely by machine in a series of successive automatic operations.
INT'L ASSN. OF MACHINISTS, LODGE 681, DISTRICT 27 1385
The individual cigarettes are received in bulk from the "making" de-
partment . They are first placed in machines called packers of which
there are about 14 at the plant. The packers, in the course of a series
of successive operations, enclose 20 cigarettes in individual packages.
These operations include the wrapping of the cigarettes in the inner
paper wrapper and the outer foil, placing the label around the paper
and foil wrapper, and affixing the revenue stamp. After these auto-
matic operations are performed in the packers, the wrapped packages
pass on conveyor systems to the cellophane machines, of which there
are about eight in the plant. The cellophane machines automatically
insert the tear tape and wrap the packages in cellophane. From the
cellophane machines the fully wrapped packages pass on short con-
veyor lines to the booths where the cartons are filled by hand with
the wrapped packages, 10 to a carton. Another conveyor system link-
ing the Brightwood carton- forming machines with the fillers' booths
keeps the fillers supplied with open cartons in which to place the
packages of cigarettes. The open filled cartons then pass on a con-
veyor system to the carton closer, a machine which automatically
closes and seals the filled cartons. From the carton closer the cartons
are conveyed to a machine called a Pack-o-matic which automatically
fills large shipping cases with 60 cartons of cigarettes. The filled cases
then travel on a conveyor system through another machine, called a
case sealer , which automatically seals the filled cases.
c. The nature of fixing-work; the skills required
Fixing-work involves making the necessary adjustments which are
essential to keep the machines used in the Company's making and
packaging process in good running order. Fixing-work does not re-
quire the use of complicated tools. For the most part, a competent
fixer can make the necessary adjustments using, at most, a pair of
pliers, a screwdriver, an adjustable end wrench, and a set of Allen
wrenches for loosening and tightening setscrews.
As an example of typical fixing operations, we set forth below
some of the adjustments made by fixers on the Brightwood carton-
forming machines. One of the first adjustments is the setting of the
proper height of the magazine rack in the hopper which holds the
carton blanks. The side plates on the hopper have to be adjusted to
suit the size of the carton blanks which can vary as much as one-
sixteenth of an inch in size. Because the thickness of the carton
blanks sometimes varies, the roller under which the blanks pass on
to the delivery chain must be set to allow the proper clearance, being
careful to set the clearance the same at both ends. The lugs on the
delivery chain must be synchronized so that they both strike the carton
at the same time . This may require taking up some slack on one or
1386 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
both of the chains. The gluing mechanism must be adjusted so that
the revolving dobbers just hit the top of the carton as the blank passes
under the dobber. The device which feeds the glue must be set to
permit the right quantity to flow on the dobbers. The plunger which
pushes the carton blank down to make the end folds must be adjusted
for the proper depth to avoid the blanks being pushed sideways.
The side plates which apply pressure to the glued ends of the carton
blanks also must be adjusted so that they apply pressure to both ends
at exactly the same time; otherwise the whole plunger will be knocked
out of line.
The Brightwood machines, which form the open cartons, are not
the most complicated of the machines in the Company's plant. The
packers, which perform the series of operations, are more compli-
cated machines and are the most difficult to fix.
The Company's experience has been that rank-and-file operators
having an aptitude for mechanical work can do the fixing-work to its
complete satisfaction. Sixty-eight of the Company's eighty fixers in
the production unit, including some of the head and assistant head
fixers, commenced their employment with the Company as laborers,
machine operators, or in some other nonfixing capacity, and were
ultimately promoted to the position of fixer.
Fixing and adjusting of high speed automatic production machines
call for a different type of skill than that of a journeyman machinist
who is capable of working on metal stock from blueprints and pro-
ducing highly accurate finished products on lathes and various other
types of machine tools. Machine fixing requires a knack of trouble-
shooting under high pressure conditions, whereas journeymen ma-
chinists performing true machine shop work normally work more
deliberately and under less pressure.
d. The Company's present assignment of fixing-work
With the exceptions noted below, the Company has assigned all of
the fixing of the production and packaging machinery in its Louis-
ville plant to members of the Tobacco Workers who are included in
the production unit represented by the Tobacco Workers. The Com-
pany has 80 such fixers engaged in this work, including 23 head fixers
and 7 assistant head fixers. These fixers work on the most compli-
cated machines to fix and adjust, such as the packers, which wrap the
cigarettes in packages of paper and foil, place the label around the
package, and affix the revenue stamp.
The only fixing-work not done by the fixers in the production unit
is the fixing of the Brightwood carton formers, the carton closer, and
the case sealer. At the time of the certification of the Machinists in
1947, three of the machinists were then doing the fixing on these ma-
INT'L ASSN. OF MACHINISTS, LODGE 681, DISTRICT 27 1387
chines? With the exception of these three machinists, who have con-
tinued to fix these machines up until the time of the events involved
in this case, no other employees, other than fixers in the production
unit, have been regularly assigned to do any fixing-work in the plant.
The three machinists here involved were all originally hired as
journeymen machinists and are highly skilled in their specialized
craft. Presently they receive $3.195 per hour, as compared with a
range from $2.895 per hour down to $2.565 per hour paid the fixers
in the production unit. Not only are the Machinists' wages higher
than those of the production unit fixers, but also their hours, lunch
periods, vacations, and other benefits are different from those of the
production unit fixers.
The three machinists in question are, and at least since 1954 have
been, stationed in the machine shop, which is located in another area
of the plant. They are sent to the packaging department to fix a
faulty machine upon request from supervisors in the packaging de-
partment. As much as 7 minutes' travel time is involved in reaching
the packaging department. About 48 percent of the time of these
three machinists is spent fixing the Brightwoods, including travel
time; 39 percent on the carton closer; and 2 to 3 percent on the case
sealer. The rest of the time of the three men is devoted to typical
machinists' operations such as are performed by the other machinists
in the machine shop. These operations include making of parts out
of raw stock from drawings, duplicating parts from samples, repair-
ing parts, and renovating and constructing machinery.
Although the Board's certification of the Machinists excluded fixers
from the Machinists unit, both the Company and the Tobacco Work-
ers acquiesced in the three machinists continuing to perform their
former duties in order to avoid the necessity of their being laid off.
Officials of the Company, in their testimony, referred to this arrange-
ment as a "gentlemen's agreement" which they defined as an under-
standing to allow the three machinists to continue doing their former
fixing-work as long as they were employed as machinists at the Louis-
ville plant or as long as the machines upon which they were then
working were still in use.
Emanuel Orwick, the president of the Tobacco Workers in 1947,
gave similar testimony concerning the understanding to permit the
three machinists in question to continue their fixing-work, despite the
Board's certification to the contrary. While representatives of the
Machinists denied the existence of any such understanding, we find
that the Tobacco Workers orally agreed with the Company to permit
2 At that time the three machinists were also working on the cellophane machines.
However, after a modification of these machines in 1953, which made them more trouble-
free and easier to fix, the three machinists , at the suggestion of the Company , agreed to
relinquish fixing -work on these machines
1388 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the three machinists to continue their fixing-work in the packaging
department under the circumstances and conditions set forth above.
e. The Company's proposed procedure for handling machine
fixing-work in the packaging department
As indicated above, upon the installation of the new boxing ma-
chines, the Brightwood carton-forming machines and the carton-
closing machines will be eliminated. The operations of these machines,
and the additional operation of placing the 10 wrapped packages of
cigarettes in the cartons, now being done by hand, will all be auto-
matically done by the new machine which is smaller and operates more
simply than the machines which it replaces.
The replacement of the old Brightwoods and the old carton closer
with the new boxing machines will effect the complete automation of
the Company's cigarette-packaging process. Seventy production
workers represented by the Tobacco Workers will lose their jobs in
the changeover. The operators will no longer have any manual pro-
duction work to perform. They will, of course, have to keep the ma-
chines supplied with cigarettes and the proper blanks and glue. How-
ever, for most of the time the operators will simply be watching the
machines for the purpose of correcting any malfunctioning of the
machines such as "jamups." If the operators are unsuccessful in solv-
ing the difficulty, they will summon the fixer whom the Company
plans to station nearby to attend to a group of machines in the im-
mediate vicinity.
The Company points out that under the new procedure there will be
a continuous and uninterrupted flow of cigarettes through all of the
various stages of the packaging process from the initial wrapping of
the cigarettes into packages through the sealing of the filled cases, and
that any interruption of this flow will immediately adversely affect
the Company's output of cigarettes. Under the Company's present
system, stoppages in the operation of the packers, the cellophanes, and
the Brightwoods do not adversely affect production, because the out-
put of these machines is so much greater than the capacity of the opera-
tors who are engaged in filling the cartons by hand that they always
have an excess supply of packages and cartons on hand, and they can
continue filling cartons while the machines are shut down. However,
under the new procedure, which involves one continuous automatic
production line, a stoppage at any point halts the production at the
end of the line. For this reason, the Company points out, it will no
longer be feasible to continue summoning machinists from the machine
shop to fix a faulty machine. It will be essential that a fixer be close
at hand so as to be able immediately to attend to a balky machine.
INT'L ASSN. OF MACHINISTS, LODGE 681, DISTRICT 27 1389
f. The practice elsewhere in the Company and in the industry
generally with regard to the assignment of fixing-work
At the Company's other cigarette plant at Greensboro, North Car-
olina, fixers in the production unit do the fixing-work on all the
making and packaging machinery. The same situation prevailed at
Jersey City when the Company was operating its plant there.
With the exception of the plants of Brown & Williamson and Philip
Morris,' where the fixers are represented by the Machinists, substan-
tially all of the fixing-work in the other tobacco plants in the industry
is performed by fixers in the production units. However, the fixers at
Brown & Williamson and Philip Morris, unlike the situation here, are
not journeymen machinists, and, as in this case, they are promoted
from the ranks of production workers who are represented by the
Tobacco Workers. The fixers at Brown & Williamson receive 30
to 35 cents per hour less than journeymen machinists at Brown &
Williamson, which is about the same spread as exists between the
wages of the Company's head fixers and its journeymen machinists.
4. The contentions of the parties
The Company contends that the fixing-work on the new boxing
machines should be assigned to fixers in the production unit who are
represented by the Tobacco Workers. However, the Company is will-
ing to continue to assign the fixing of the case sealer to the three ma-
chinists, to the limted extent that such work is available.
The Tobacco Workers contends that all fixing-work in the plant,
including that on the case sealer, should be assigned to fixers in its
organization.
The Machinists contends that the fixing of the new boxing units
and the case sealer should be assigned to its members. One of the
bases for the Machinists' claim apparently is that the new boxing ma-
chines perform the functions, among others, of two of the machines
which its members have been regularly engaged in fixing since 1946.
The Machinists apparently further relies on the fact that its members
have been doing fixing-work on all types of cigarette making and pack-
aging machines in certain other plants in the industry for many years.
5. Applicability of the statute
The charges, which were duly investigated by the Regional Direc-
tor, allege a violation of Section 8(b) (4) (ii) (D) of the Act, and the
Regional Director was satisfied upon the basis of such investigation
that there was reasonable cause to believe that a violation had been
committed.
3 The fixers at the Richmond plant of Philip Morris are represented by the Tobacco
Workers Union.
1390 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
On the basis of the entire record, we find that there is reasonable
cause to believe that a violation of 8 (b) (4) (D) has occurred, and that
the dispute is properly before the Board for determination under Sec-
tion 10(k) of the Act.
6. The merits of the dispute
Weighing the factors relied upon by the Machinists, on the one
hand, against those cited by the Company and the Tobacco Workers
on the other hand, we conclude that the latter clearly outweigh the
former. In 1947, the Board rejected the Machinists' claim that fixers
should be included in its appropriate unit when the Board issued its
Decision and Direction of Election in which it excluded the fixers from
the appropriate unit. Nothing in the present record, in our opinion,
tends to detract from the validity of that conclusion. It is clear that
the Company's practice of assigning machinists to certain fixing-work,
upon which the Machinists relies, was not only inconsistent with the
Decision and Direction of Election, but was an exception to the posi-
tion of both the Company and the Tobacco Workers at that time that
all fixing-work should be done by fixers in the production unit. It
was sanctioned in the first place by the Company and the Tobacco
Workers solely in order to save the jobs of one or more of the three
machinists here involved. We do not believe that a practice which
had such an origin and which constituted an exception to the Com-
pany's general plan for handling fixing-work should be given con-
trolling weight. Nor do we regard it especially significant on the issue
before us that fixers represented by the Machinists do the fixing-work
in two factories in the industry. Not only is this situation not typical
in the industry, but the fixers at Brown & Williamson and Philip
Morris, although represented by the Machinists, are not machinists
by trade, and they do not receive the high wages which the three men
involved in this case, as journeymen machinists, are paid. Rather the
fixers at these two other plants, like the Company's fixers, are men
promoted from the ranks because of their aptitude for fixing-work.
Various considerations persuade us that the fixing-work in ques-
tion should be awarded to fixers in the Tobacco Workers unit of pro-
duction workers. Among these are the following : The Company's
fixers in the Tobacco Workers unit are capable of and for years have
been doing the great bulk of the fixing of the various machines used
in the production and packaging of the Company's cigarettes, includ-
ing the fixing of its most complicated machines. Also, with the in-
stallation of the new boxing machines, the Company's packaging
process will become completely automated, and will require the pres-
ence at all times of a fixer who is immediately available to attend to
any breakdowns which the operator cannot handle. This is essential
to avoid interruptions in the flow of the Company's finished products
INT'L ASSN . Or MACHINISTS , LODGE 681 , DISTRICT 27 1391
from the plant. Under the new arrangement the work of the fixer
becomes much More closely related to the production process, and in
these circumstaiices it is appropriate that the work should be per
formed by an employee having the same general terms and conditions
of employment , and whose work schedules can readily be adjusted,
like those of the operators , to the needs of the production line. An-
other consideration is the fact that fixing-work underutilizes the skills
of the three machinists here involved. Fixing-work does not require
the skills of a journeyman machinist . A mechanically ininded opera-
tor can learn the operation without difficulty . In addition , fixing-
work calls for working under pressures of iti kind to which machinists
are not normally subjected while working at their trade.
The foregoing considerations are equally determinative of the
fixing-work on the case sealer. If the parties see fit to continue their
past "gentlemen 's agreement" with respect to this limited amount, of
work so that it can be perforniecl by a machinist , we see no persuasive
reason preventing . Indeed, a fundamental objective of Section 10(k)
is to encourage , rather than impede, voluntary adjustments of dis-
putes . Absent agreement , fixers in the Tobacco Workers unit are also
entitled to the fixing-work on the case sealer.
Accordingly, we shall determine the dispute by assigning fixing-
work on all of the Company's production and packaging machines
at its Louisville , Kentucky, plant to fixers in the production unit rep-
resented by the Tobacco Workers. Our present determination is Iini-
itecl to the controversy which gave rise to this proceeding . In making
this determination , we are assigning the disputed work to fixers rep-
resented by the Tobacco Workers, and not to the Tobacco Workers
or its members.
DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of facts, and upon the en-
tire record in the case, the Board snakes the following Determination
of Dispute pursuant to Section 10(k) of the Act :
1. Fixers in the production unit represented by Tobacco Workers
International Union, Local Union No. 201, AFL-CIO, are entitled to
perform all fixing-work on all machines used in the production and
packaging of the finished products manufactured by P. Lorillard
Company, Inc., at its Louisville, Kentucky, plant.
2. International Association of Machinists, Lodge 681, District 27,
AFL-CIO, is not and has not been lawfully entitled to force or re-
quire P. Lorillard Company, Inc., to assign fixing-work on machines
used in the production and packaging of its finished products to em-
ployees engaged as machinists, who are currently represented by
Machinists
1392 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
3. Within 10 days from the date of this Decision and Determination
of Dispute, International Association of Machinists, Lodge 681, Dis-
trict 27, AFL-CIO, shall notify the Regional Director for the Ninth
Region, in writing, whether or not it will refrain from forcing or re-
quiring P. Lorillard Company, Inc., by means proscribed by Section
8(b) (4) (D) to assign the work in dispute to machinists rather than
to fixers in the Tobacco Workers unit.
International Union of Operating Engineers , Local 66, AFL-CIO
and Frank P. Badolato & Son. Case No. 6-CD-122. Febru-
ary 28, 1962
DECISION AND DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE
This proceeding arises under Section 10(k) of the Act, which pro-
vides that "whenever it is charged that any person has engaged in an
unfair labor practice within the meaning of paragraph (4) (D) of
Section 8 (b), the Board is empowered and directed to hear and de-
termine the dispute out of which such unfair labor practice shall
have arisen...."
On February 16, 1961, Frank P. Badolato & Son, herein called
Badolato, filed with the Regional Director for the Sixth Region a
charge alleging, inter alia, that International Union of Operating
Engineers, Local 66, AFL-CIO, herein called Engineers, had induced
or encouraged employees to strike for the purpose of forcing or re-
quiring Badolato to assign "the work of operation of mortar mixer
and operation of tri-coater (plaster applicating machine)" to mem-
bers of the Engineers rather than to employees who are members of
or represented by International Hod Carriers, Building and Common
Laborers Union of America, Local 286, AFL-CIO, herein called
Laborers.
Thereafter, pursuant to Section 10(k) of the Act and Section 102.89
and Section 102.90 of the Board's Rules and Regulations, Series 8,
as amended, the Regional Director investigated the charge and pro-
vided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice to all the parties.
The hearing was held before Julius G. Serot beginning April 10 and
ending May 12, 1961. The Laborers was allowed to intervene as a
party in interest to the dispute. All parties appeared at the hearing
and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-
examine, witnesses, and to adduce evidence bearing on the' issues. The
rulings of the hearing officer made at the hearing are free from preju-
dicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties filed briefs which
were duly considered by the Board.
135 NLRB No. 140.