ITT Federal Electric Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 7, 1967

167 N.L.R.B. 350 (N.L.R.B. 1967)

350 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ITT Federal Electric Corporation , Western Test
Range Project and International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO , Petitioner. Case
31-RC-539
September 7, 1967
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF
ELECTION
BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS
FANNING AND BROWN
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of
the National Labor Relations Act, as amended,
hearings were held before Hearing Officer John
Prough of the National Labor Relations Board.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connec-
tion with this case to a three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's
rulings made at the hearing and finds that they are
free from prejudicial error. They are hereby af-
firmed.
Upon the entire record in this case,' the Board
finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to
represent certain employees of the Employer.2
3. A question affecting commerce exists con-
cerning the representation of employees of the Em-
ployer within the meaning of Sections 9(c)(1) and
2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner and Intervenor seek a unit of:
All operation and maintenance employees of the
Employer, including the classification of carpenter,
communication controller "A," "B," and "Jr,"
work load controller, telemetry data coordinator,
courier, machinist, facilities mechanic, electrician
mechanic, maintenance helper, senior computer
operator, computer operator, heavy equipment
operator, senior keypunch operator, keypunch
operator, senior reproduction operator, reproduc-
tion operator, teletype operator, painter, antenna
rigger, rigger helper, sandblaster, sheetmetal
worker, operations specialist, stockman, stockman-
driver, senior technician, technician, junior techni-
cian, utilityman, warehouseman, welder, senior
teletype operator, intermediate teletype operator,
junior teletype operator, line assigner, computer
specialist, tool crib attendant, trouble deskman,
quality control inspector, corrosion technician,
material control specialist, instrumentation con-
troller, and air controller, employed by the Em-
ployer at Vandenburg Air Force Base , Pillar Point,
and Big Sur, California, but excluding all other em-
I The Employer's request for oral argument is hereby denied as, in our
opinion, the record and briefs adequately present the issues and the posi-
tions of the parties
ployees, including engineering aides, analysts,
analyst aides, dispatchers, coordinators, drafts-
men, draftsmen checkers, expeditors, librarians,
group leaders, varitypers, schedulers, identifiers,
property control specialists, technical writers, ad-
ministrative assistants, firemen, watchmen, guards,
professional employees, foremen, office clerical
employees, and supervisors as defined by the Act.
The Employer contends that the only appropriate
unit must also include its employees at Patrick Air
Force Base in Florida, Wheeler Air Force Base at
Hawaii, Eniwetok, and on Range Instrumentation
Ships, and Apollo Instrumentation Ships based at
Port Hueneme, California, and Recovery Ships
based in Hawaii.
For some years prior to 1965 the United States
Government was engaged in a ballistic missile and
space vehicle testing program at various locations
including California, Hawaii, and the Western
Pacific Ocean. The Employer, herein sometimes
called FEC, a subsidiary of International
Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (ITT),
operated under contract with the United States
Navy to provide tracking services in connection
with the program at Point Arguello and Pillar Point,
California, and on Range Ships operating out of
Port Hueneme, California. ITT Kellogg (Kellogg),
another subsidiary of ITT, held contracts with the
United States Air Force to perform services involv-
ing designing, providing , installing, operating, and
maintaining various electronic equipment used in the
program at Vandenburg Air Force Base , California
(VAFB), and subcontracted the installation, opera-
tion, and maintenance portions of these contracts to
Base Services, Inc. (BSI), another subsidiary of
ITT. In November 1963 the Secretary of Defense
assigned sole responsibility for managing all na-
tional missile ranges to the Air Force. On February
1, 1965, the Air Force established the Western Test
Range Division of the Air Force Systems Com-
mand and took over control of the Pacific Missile
Range from the Navy. Late in 1964, the Air Force
had directed ITT to submit a proposal for centraliz-
ing the operational control of services supplied to
the Air Force in support of operations on the
Western Test Range (Range) under one subsidiary,
and pursuant to such direction ITT consolidated its
contracts with the Government under FEC. FEC
assumed managerial control over BSI on July 1,
1965, and on January 1, 1966, after Kellogg ceased
operations at the Range in December 1965, became
the sole prime contractor for all Range contracts.
Under these contracts, FEC provides tracking ser-
vices in connection with the ballistic missile and
space vehicle program conducted on the Range.
The Range encompasses VAFB, Pillar Point, and
Big Sur, California; Patrick Air Force Base, Flor-
t Teamsters Union, Local 381, affiliated with the International Brother-
hood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America,
was permitted to intervene at the hearing.
167 NLRB No. 45
ITT FEDERAL ELECTRIC CORP 351
ida; Wheeler Air Force Base , Hawaii; Eniwetok;
and Apollo Ships and Range Instrumentation Ships
operating out of Port Hueneme , California, and
Recovery Ships operating from Hawaii.
At the time of the hearing herein, May 2-3, 1967,
FEC had some 833 employees in the unit classifica-
tions employed in the Range. Of these, 376 were as-
signed to VAFB, 12 to Pillar Point, 1 to Big Sur, 6
to Port Hueneme, 4 to Patrick Air Force Base, 25
to Wheeler Air Force Base , 44 to Eniwetok, 295 to
the Apollo Ships, 17 to the Recovery Ships, and 53
to the Range Instrumentation Ships. The Range is
divided into three divisions. Both the Maintenance
Division and the Range Operations Division have
employees who are listed in the unit classifications.
The Engineering Division does not. The Range
Operations Division is further divided into the
Range Data Department. the Range Telemetry
Department, and the Mainland Department, all
located at VAFB; the Range Ships Department,
with headquarters at VAFB, which supervises the
operation of the Apollo Ships and the Range Instru-
mentation Ships; and the Downrange Department,
which supervises the operations at Eniwetok and of
the Recovery Ships operating from Hawaii. Pillar
Point and Big Sur, both supervised by the Mainland
Department and both included in the unit requested,
are 225 and 220 miles, respectively, from VAFB.
Although Port Hueneme is 100 miles from VAFB,
it is under the operational control of the Range
Ships Department and appears more closely allied
to the operations of that Department. Hawaii is
about 2,500 miles from VAFB while Eniwetok is
about 5,000 miles from VAFB.
The Board has found that the electronic techni-
cians working aboard ships of the Range Ships De-
partment constitute a separate appropriate unit for
the purpose of collective bargaining.3 There is no
question that the employees of the Recovery Ships
work under conditions virtually identical to those
which the Board found existed in the earlier case.
As for the employees at Eniwetok, the conditions
there are similar to those found on board ship.
Thus, these employees are a geographically and or-
ganizationally separate group, with separate im-
mediate supervision; they receive free room and
board; and, they have minimum contact with main-
land based employees.
The Employer contends that the only appropriate
unit of its employees in the unit classifications is an
employerwide unit. It was conceded that the duties
performed by the 'unit classifications were practi-
cally the same whether on land or afloat. The Em-
ployer introduced evidence which was not refuted
showing extensive interchange of employees on a
temporary basis between VAFB and the Ships or
Eniwetok. There were also about 73 permanent
transfers between locations included in the petition
and the rest of the Range.
Under all the circumstances of this case, we find
no merit in the Employer's contention that a unit
composed solely of the classifications listed work-
ing at the Employer's mainland locations is inap-
propriate. Section 9(b) of the Act directs the Board
to make appropriate unit determinations which will
"assure to employees the fullest freedom in exercis-
ing rights guaranteed by this Act," i.e., the rights of
self-organization and collective' bargaining. In effec-
tuating this mandate, the Board has emphasized
that the Act does not compel labor organizations to
seek representation in the most comprehensive
grouping of employees unless such grouping con-
stitutes the only appropriate unit. Although it is ap-
parent in this case that there are some factors (e.g.,
interchange of personnel and similarity of equip-
ment operated, for example) to support a finding
that a unit encompassing all locations in the Range
is appropriate, it is equally clear that the employees
in unit classifications who work at VAFB, Pillar
Point, and Big Sur have a sufficient separate com-
munity of interest to justify their establishment in a
bargaining unit apart from employees who are as-
signed to the Range Ship Department and the
Downrange Department. In support of our finding
of a separate community of interest for the em-
ployees at VAFB, Pillar Point, and Big Sur, we rely
on the following factors: (1) the requested em-
ployees constitute a geographically separate,
identifiable group; (2) the Employer treats this
group both in its organizational framework and in
fact as a separate group; (3) they have separate im-
mediate supervision; (4) the shipboard employees
receive free room and board and a sea allowance
while the ship is underway and the Eniwetok em-
ployees receive free room and board and a remote
area allowance at a different rate than that allowed
employees at Pillar Point and Big Sur; (5) the ship-
board employees are not subject to the Workmen's
Compensation Act of the State of California while
underway, and the Eniwetok employees are not
covered unless they elect to be covered by the
Workmen's Compensation Act of the State of
Hawaii; and (6) no labor organization is seeking to
represent all locations on the Range.
The Employer contends that the air controllers
and instrumentation controllers are supervisors.
There are approximately nine air controllers and
five or six instrumentation controllers employed by
the Employer on the Range. The record shows that
the air controllers work closely with the Missile
Flight Safety Officer (MFSO) and report any
unauthorized ships, aircraft, or other objects which
may constitute a hazard to, or be endangered by,
the launch. After such report the MFSO or the
Range Control Officer (RCO) will decide whether
to proceed with the launch. There is nothing to in-
dicate that an air controller has the authority to hire,
fire, or effectively recommend same, or that he
3 Federal Electric Corporation, 157 NLRB 1130
352 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
directs other employees except to assign them to
routine stations for the launch. The instrumentation
controllers work with the RCO before and during
a launch and keep the RCO informed as to the
status of equipment to be used for the launch. This
equipment is predetermined by the Air Force and
listed in its operational directive for the launch. In
the event a piece of equipment becomes inopera-
tive, the equipment operator reports this to the in-
strumentation controller and also to maintenance
control. The instrumentation controller then reports
the inoperable equipment to the RCO with an esti-
mate of the time required to make it operable.
Where necessary, he also directs that backup equip-
ment as designated by the Air Force operational
directive be substituted. There is nothing in the
record to indicate that instrumentation controllers
are authorized to hire or fire, or to effectively
recommend same. Their direction of personnel ap-
pears limited to substituting backup equipment as
required during a launch, and these changes are
made in accordance with the Air Force operational
directive for the launch. For the reasons set forth
above, we find that neither the air controllers nor in-
strumentation controllers are supervisors and shall
include them in the unit.
Accordingly, we find that the following em-
ployees of the Employer constitute a unit ap-
propriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9(a) of the Act:
All operation and maintenance employees of the
Employer, including the classification of carpenter,
4 An election eligibility list, containing the names and addresses of all
the eligible voters , must be filed by the Employer with the Regional
Director for Region 31 within 7 days after the date of this Decision and
Direction of Election The Regional Director shall make the list available
to all parties to the election No extension of time to file this list shall be
communication controller "A," "B," and "Jr,"
work load controller, telemetry data coordinator,
courier, machinist, facilities mechanic, electrician
mechanic, maintenance helper, senior computer
operator, computer operator, heavy equipment
operator, senior keypunch operator, keypunch
operator, senior reproduction operator, reproduc-
tion operator, teletype operator, painter, antenna
rigger, rigger helper, sandblaster, sheetmetal
worker, operations specialist, stockman, stockman-
driver, senior technician, technician, junior techni-
cian, utilityman, warehouseman, welder, senior
teletype operator, intermediate teletype operator,
junior teletype operator, line assigner, computer
specialist, tool crib attendant, trouble deskman,
quality control inspector, corrosion technician,
material control specialist, instrumentation con-
troller, and air controller employed by the Em-
ployer at Vandenburg Air Force Base, Pillar
Point, and Big Sur, California, but excluding all
other employees, including engineering aides,
analysts, analyst aides, dispatchers, coordinators,
draftsmen, draftsmen checkers, expeditors, librari-
ans, group leaders, varitypers, schedulers,
identifiers, property control specialists, technical
writers, administrative assistants, firemen,
watchmen, guards, professional employees,
foremen, office clerical employees, and supervisors
as defined by the Act.
[Direction of Election4 omitted from publica-
tion.]
granted by the Regional Director except in extraordinary circumstances
Failure to comply with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside
the election whenever proper objections are filed Excelsior Underwear
Inc, 156 NLRB 1236