J. Ray McDermott & Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 23, 1979

240 N.L.R.B. 864 (N.L.R.B. 1979)

864 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
J. Ray McDermott & Co., Inc. and Marine Fabrica-
tors, Ship Building and Offshore Workers, Local
2000, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Join-
ers of America, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case 15-
RC-6240
February 23, 1979
DECISION ON REVIEW AND DIRECTION OF
ELECTION
By MEMBERS JENKINS, MURPHtY. AND TRUESDAL,
On March 17, 1978, the Regional Director for Re-
gion 15 issued a Decision and Order in the above
entitled proceeding, wherein he found inappropriate
the Morgan City Fabrication Division unit (herein
also identified as McDermott Fabrication) sought by
the Petitioner and dismissed the petition.' Thereafter,
in accordance with Section 102.67 of the National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, Series
8, as amended, the Petitioner filed a timely request
for review of the Regional Director's Decision and
Order on the grounds that, inter alia, he made errone-
ous factual findings and departed from precedent.
The Employer filed an opposition thereto. By tele-
graphic order dated May 9, 1978, the Board granted
the Petitioner's request for review.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au-
thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has considered the entire record in this
case with respect to the issues under review and
makes the following findings:
The Appropriate Unit
The Employer is engaged in the business of marine
construction of all types, including the design, fabri-
cation, and installation of structures for drilling and
production complexes and pipelines in connection
with exploration for hydrocarbons in marine envi-
ronments. The Employer's North American opera-
tions are basically the Louisiana operations on the
Gulf Coast. The Gulf Coast operations are divided
into three "groups" (each of which consists of several
"divisions"). They are the McDermott Structural
Group, which consists of McDermott Fabrication,
McDermott Offshore, Bayou Black, 2 and Western
l At the hearing the Petitioner indicated that it did not wish to proceed to
an election in any unit other than the petitioned-for unit.
2At the time of the hearing Bayou Black was a separate division within
the Employer's domestic operations entitled }Hudson Construction and
Hudson Products. Effective April I, 1978, the division was scheduled to
240 NLRB No. 87
Division: the Harvei, Group, which consists of Har-
vey Fabrication, McDermott Pipeline, McDermott
Dredging, McDermott Inland Services, and McDer-
mott Divers Division; and the McDermott Shipyard
Group, which consists of Morgan City Shipyard and
New Iberia Shipyard. Additionally, there is a sepa-
rately operated division called Harvey Supply Divi-
sion which is not a part of any group.
The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of produc-
tion and maintenance employees employed at the
McDermott Fabrication Division of the McDermott
Structural Group, including leadermen and truck-
drivers, but excluding all mold loft department em-
ployees, buyers, timekeepers, office clerical employ-
ees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors
as defined in the Act.
The Petitioner contends that McDermott Fabrica-
tion constitutes a presumptively appropriate single-
plant unit and in support of this position relied on
the Decision and Direction of Election in Case 15-
RC-1900 issued on April 13, 1959, in which the unit
sought herein was found appropriate. It contends, in
substance, that the record as a whole supports a find-
ing that McDermott Fabrication constitutes an ap-
propriate unit and that it is not compelled to seek
representation in the most comprehensive grouping
of employees unless such grouping constitutes the
only appropriate unit.
The Employer contends that the unit sought is not
appropriate, relying in part on the Decision and Di-
rection of Election in Case 15-RC-4963 issued on
October 10, 1972, wherein the Regional Director
found the appropriate unit to be one including both
onshore and offshore employees in all of the Em-
ployer's division, excluding the Diving Division.3
The Employer, noting in its brief to the Board that
it is "not called upon" to take a position with respect
to what would constitute an appropriate unit, claims
that "the smallest administrative subdivision" includ-
ing the employees sought by the Petitioner which is
"arguably an appropriate unit" is the McDermott
Structural Group and its employees headquartered in
Morgan City.
The Regional Director herein found that the
Employer's operation has remained substantially the
same as found in Case 15-RC-4963 4 and based
become part of the McDermott structural group.
On July 21, 1975, in ('ase 15 RC 5391. International Association of
Professional Divers. affiliated with District 2, MEBA, AFI CIO., was certi-
fied as the collective-bargaining representative of the Employer's divers,
tender, and rack operators. The Certification of Representative was thereaf-
ter amended and at the time of the hearing herein was being challenged by
the Employer. At the hearing the Employer contended that said employees
should he included in the unit sought herein unless the court of appeals
found the certified unit in (ase Is5 RC' 5391. as amended, appropriate.
4 Iberia Shipyard has been added to the McDermott Shipyard Group
since 1972.
J. RAY McDERMOTT & CO_ INC. 865
upon his findings of functional integration of execu-
tive, managerial, and engineering functions; substan-
tial sharing of equipment and services; existence of a
common labor relations policy; and utilization of
similar employee skills and job classifications
throughout all divisions, concluded that the unit
sought is appropriate.
The Employer is organized as follows: Its presi-
dent is Robert A. Richie. Heading its North Ameri-
can operations is one of two executive vice presi-
dents, H. W. Bailey, whose office is located in the
corporation's offices in New Orleans.5 Reporting di-
rectly to H. W. Bailey are three group vice presi-
dents, each of whom directs one of the "groups"
identified above, and the division manager of the
Harvey Supply Division.
The administrative offices of the Harvey Group
are in Harvey, Louisiana, where each of the group's
five divisions are located. The administrative offices
of the McDermott Shipyard Group (which includes
the shipyard at Bayou Boeuf and the one in New
Iberia, Louisiana, some 55 miles away) are located at
Bayou Boeuf,6 about 85 highway miles from Harvey.
As for the McDermott Structural Group, the admin-
istrative offices for McDermott Fabrication are in
the Employer's "main" office in Morgan City, while
McDermott Offshore is administered from offices lo-
cated in that division's yard at Bayou Boeuf. The
Bayou Black Division is located about 3 or 4 high-
way miles from Morgan City, at Bayou Black, where
its division manager has his offices. The Western Di-
vision is based in Oakland, California. 7 Harvey Sup-
ply Division, which has warehousing facilities at
Harvey and Morgan City, is administered by a divi-
sion manager whose office in Morgan City is located
in a building adjoining the main building housing
McDermott Fabrication.
With respect to labor relations matters, the Em-
ployer's president and two executive vice presidents
made decisions concerning the "general" wage rates
for each job classification, pay increases, and benefit
changes at quarterly management meetings.8 These
decisions are based on such factors as competition,
costs, performances over the past 12 months, and
cost of living and additionally on information pro-
vided by the employee benefits group. . Thus, Mc-
I he other executive vice president. also located in the Emploer's Nev
Orleans office, heads the Employer's engineering operations n New Orleans
and Houston. Texas.
Also referred to as Morgan (it).
No hourly paid employees are employed by the Western Disision which
engages in engineering and sales functions. The parties agree that Western
Division emplovyes should he excluded from ans unit hfund appropriate
These meetings are held in preparation for quarterly meetings of the
Employer's board of directors.
Apparently each executive vice president makes the decisions pertaining
to the Ioperations under hs jurisdiction
Dermott Fabrication employees receive the same
general benefits, holiday time, vacations, and retire-
ment plans as do employees elsewhere in the Em-
ployer's operation.
The corporate labor relations policy for the Em-
ployer's North American operations are formulated
by a corporate personnel director located in the Em-
ployer's New Orleans office and reporting directly to
the Employer's administrative vice president. In ad-
dition, each group has its own personnel office."
While the forms for job applications, transfers, medi-
cal examinations, and terminations are the same
throughout the Employer, the processing of these
forms is done by the individual personnel offices.
Applicants seeking employment at McDermott Fa-
brication, McDermott Offshore, or Harvey Supply.
for example, must first go to the personnel office in
Morgan City " where they will be interviewed for
eligibility by the personnel director or his assistant
and then sent to a superintendent in a particular divi-
sion for interviewing. It is the superintendent who
decides whether or not to hire the applicant. There is
a corporatewide policy with respect to employee
transfers between divisions requiring an automatic
90-day waiting period which may be waived or ex-
tended at the discretion of the manager of the divi-
sion the employee is leaving. Divisional transfers re-
quire the preparation of a "transfer form" which
must be commented on by the transferee's immediate
supervisor and then approved by the managers of the
divisions the employee is leaving and going to, and
the employee, before becoming effective.l 2
Transferees retain seniority for the purpose of re-
tirement, holidays, vacations, and pay raises, but as
with new employees, are issued new timeclock num-
bers and, in certain instances, are required to take
physical examinations. Separate W-2 forms are re-
quired if an employee transfers from one group to
another during a given year, but not in the case of
divisional transfers.
Each of the three groups has a group comptroller
responsible to the group's vice president for reporting
the financial data of the group and its divisions to the
Employer's corporate offices.' The McDermott
i' he Employer's organizational chart indicates that separate from the
personnel office for McDermott Structural Group and reporting directly to
Group Vice President W. EF Earles. is a "Superisor of Industrial Rela-
tions" I he record indicates that this individual's responsibilities cover the
entire structural group but does not reveal his role in formulating or mple-
menting labor policies
Harvey Supply Disision is apparently covered h? the Morgan (its per-
,onnel office. According to the Enployer's organizational chart. McDer-
mott Offshore has a separate personnel branch.
Thus. a division manager can only hire an employee from another divi-
sion if the manager of the latter approves.
The comptroller for the McDermott Structural (Group maintains the
('ontinued
J. RAY McDERMO'fl' & C ., INC.
866 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Structure Group Comptroller's office in Morgan City
prepares computerized paychecks based on data sub-
mitted by timekeepers for all the divisions of the Em-
ployer located in Morgan City, including McDer-
mott Offshore, Harvey Supply. and the Morgan City
Shipyard.'4 Each division has a separate payroll reg-
ister, and paycheck stubs identify the division issuing
the check. All of the Employer's employees are is-
sued identification cards or badges, but these do not
provide employees from other divisions access to the
McDermott Fabrication yards without an accompa-
nying explanation.
The McDermott Structural Group is under the di-
rection of Group Vice President W. E. Earles. Over-
all supervision of McDermott Fabrication, and thus
the employees in the unit sought by Petitioner, rests
with Division Manager R. J. Machen who, as noted
above, has an office in the main building in Morgan
City. Unlike other division managers, R. J. Machen
is also a vice president of the Employer; however, he
has no official duties with respect to any of the other
divisions. Directly under R. J. Machen on the Em-
ployer's organizational chart are General Superinten-
dent E. A. Fangue and the Assistant General Super-
intendent C. J. Casteigne, whose offices are also
located in the Morgan City office building. E. A.
Fangue and C. J. Casteigne have general supervision
over all production work performed in the three
yards at McDermott Fabrication. The yard superin-
tendents (one for each yard) and their assistants Is
are stationed in field offices located in the yards and
are responsible to the general superintendent. Also
situated in the field offices, or in trailers in the yards.
are the various craft superintendents and supervisors.
Next down the Employer's hierarchial structure are
the foremen (generally stipulated to be supervisors
within the meaning of the Act) who use indepen-
dent judgment in assigning work to employees. Be-
low foremen are the hourly paid leadermen and other
rank-and-file employees, including over 1,500 indi-
viduals in the following job classifications: structural
and pressure welders, fitters and helpers, riggers,
crane operators. plate roll operators, carpenters, elec-
tricians, mechanics, sand blasters, painters, truck-
drivers and swappers, material clerks, warehouse and
material (field) clerks, and timekeepers.
As to the relationship between the yards compris-
ing McDermott Fabrication, all of the yards are pro-
tected by a security guard service engaged by Mc-
financial records for the divisions of the McD)ermott Structural (;roup. h bi
at the time of the hearing performed nl services for Baylu Black.
14 he same office prepares the checks for the Ilarvey operation f liar-
ve Suppls and the NeA Iberia Shipsard. but not for Bayou Black.
I wo of the ards additionaillI hase assistant ard superinterdent ,
" Ihe supervisory status of Fitting luoremian Burdeux was unresIcBlcd
bh the parties at the hearing.
[)ermott Fabrication. 17 Each of the yards is some-
what specialized in the products it fabricates. Em-
ployees are assigned to a yard where they report dai-
ly, and are infrequently transferred from one yard to
another.' 8 As a result the McDermott Fabrication
employees are trained to do certain work.
McDermott Fabrication fabricates decks, deck
components, and jackets, and rolls large diameter,
heavy-walled pipe. Harvey Fabrication primarily fa-
bricates production platforms and various connect-
ing apparatus and rolls small pipes. Bayou Black
does processing and fabrication work similar to that
performed by the two other fabricating divisions."
Many of the job classifications found at McDermott
Fabrication are used throughout the Employer's
North American Operation, although the only other
divisions employing employees in fabrication work
are Harvey Fabrication and Bayou Black.
Harvey Supply Division acts as the purchasing
agent for supplies, materials, and equipment for Mc-
Dermott Fabrication and the Employer's other divi-
sions. 2" McDermott Fabrication, like the other divi-
sions, directly pays for and inventories items bought
for it by Harvey Supply. McDermott Fabrication
performs work for other divisions, the cost of which
is billed to the recipient, albeit at cost.2 ' Equipment
such as cranes and bulldozers are loaned by McDer-
mott Fabrication to other divisions, but such lending
appears to occur only in isolated instances where the
borrower does not own, or has experienced a break-
down of, similar equipment. McDermott Fabrication
shares supplies or materials with other divisions only
in the sense that Harvey Supply occasionally disburs-
es items in McDermott Fabrication's inventory to
other divisions. McDermott Fabrication uses the
Employer's internal telephone system which permits
it to dial directly to the Employer's New Orleans of-
fice (and vice versa) through a switchboard. Several
divisions of the Employer operate radio stations, but
there is no evidence that McDermott Fabrication,
which does not employ radio operators, uses these
systems for communication.
McDermott Fabrication and McDermott Offshore
perform work for outside customers as well as for
other divisions of the Employer. McDermott Fabri-
cation and McDermott Offshore have bid jointly on
McD)ermott abrica tors employs its wn guard to protect its property
in the main ffice at Morgan (itS
I rnsfers frorm one ard Io another do not require the preparation of
Irlranfcr forims as do dil sion transfers, discussed r"upral
Basou Black is apparently asailable. if needed. to do overflow fabrica-
tion wirk. but the extent that it is utilized fr his purpotse is not established
ron the record
"ii arvev Suppls D)ivision also sells to o utside customers.
- Silllairls. throughout the I'iphploser's rperation divisions are charged
fhr the L 'st of wt rk (including. for example maintenance, hauling. carpen-
trs, and electrical) performed bs other dvi,ions.
J. RAY McDERMOT & CO., INC. 867
jobs. The preparation of joint bids involves the divi-
sion managers, Group Vice President W. E. Earlces
and a chief estimator rather than rank-and-file em-
ployees. There is no evidence that jobs obtained
through joint bidding increase employee interchange.
There are occasional employee transfers between the
two divisions, but it is not a regular occurrence.
When McDermott Fabrication cannot hire a suffi-
cient number of employees to satisfy its workload, it
contracts the work out to outside companies rather
than draw employees from other diNisions. 2 A sub-
stantial percentage of fabrication produced by Mc-
Dermott Fabrication is used by the offshore division
which, like outside customers, picks up piling from
the yards. Yard employees load and secure the piling
to barges belonging to McDermott Offshore, but do
so at a time when offshore employees are not aboard.
McDermott Fabrication employees may have occa-
sion to go offshore to repair something fabricated by
their division, but most of their work is performed in
the yard. In contrast, offshore employees work on
barges which stay offshore continuously. remain at
sea for 14 days and are off for 7 days. and are trans-
ported back and forth by crewboats or helicopters. 2
Bayou Black, as noted above, is approximately 4
miles from McDermott Fabrication. It employs from
350 to 400 employees who perform work similar to
that done by. and are in the same job classification
as, McDermott and Harvey Fabrication employees.
Bayou Black was founded by, and at the time of the
hearing operated as a division of. Hudson Engineer-
ing Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the
Employer based in Houston. Texas. It is under the
supervision of Executive Vice President J. W. Bail!.
As noted above, at the time of the hearing Bayou
Black was not part of the McDermott Structural
Group, but effective April 1. 1978, Bayou Black was
scheduled to be transferred to and become part of
that group. Division Manager W. Trosclair. who
leaves his office at Bayou Black to visit the Morgan
City administrative offices two or three times a week,
will apparently retain supervision of Bayou Black
following the transfer. There is evidence that Bayou
Black Division has performed work on deck sections
fabricated at McDermott Fabrication, but the fre-
quency or extent of such an occurrence is not indi-
cated on the record. The only interchange between
employees at McDermott Fabrication and those at
Bayou Black occurs if the former are needed to help
22 Although the numhber fluil.tuaes. t Ihe im of the hearing \"l I)erilloti
Fabrication had from 40 to 50 emploNees from oither cornpamellle o rking for
II McDermott ahbricatioln pa.S these cntrlacors or subcontractor,. h, In
turn pas their o n cmplo,,ees.
! Further. unlike Mcl)ermott I abricatlln eplow)es oho a re c_,.crced hb
the Workman's ( omlpensatio l s of oif illln.. he offhore ernplosees
are coered h: FIederal Iegilsliion, the Jones \ci.
"load out heavy equipment or platforms" with mech-
anized dollies at Ba;ou Black and this occurs only
occasionallv.
On thie record as a whole, we find the facts do not
support the Regional Director's finding that the Mc-
Dermott Fabrication Division unit sought by Peti-
tioner is inappropriate. Each of the three groups,
which are organized along either geographic or func-
tional lines, has a separate administrative structure,
as well as its own personnel office and comptroller.
The divisions in turn have separate administrative
departments which for the most part are located near
the respective production areas. Each division is
headed by a division manager who, along with super-
intendents and supervisors, exercises a substantial
degree of autonomy with respect to both operating
responsibilities and labor relations matters such as
hiring, firing, laxoffs, and transfers. Thus, while the
Employer has a single president and board of direc-
tors who together with the corporate personnel direc-
tor and executive vice presidents set corporate labor
relations policies. including those regarding transfers,
general wage increases, and benefit packages. the
day-to-dayv management of each division rests with
the division managers and the various supervisors.
lob applicants, while initially screened by the group
personnel officers. are finally interviewed and actual-
Iv hired by the superintendents. Divisional transfers.
when they do occur, are first passed upon by an
employee's immediate supervisor, before final action
by the division manager. Many of the divisions, in-
cluding McDermott Fabrication, perform work for
outside customers and when work is done bv one
division for another, the work is charged to the
latter's account. Similarly. each division directly pays
for and inventories materials and equipment pur-
chased and warehoused by Harvey Supply. Whatever
limited sharing of material and supplies occurs is
done through Harvey Supply. The sharing of equip-
ment is also limited and tends to involve large, ex-
pensive, and specialized items. Further, the joint bid-
ding process, which McDermott Fabrication and
other divisions have engaged in, does not involve
rank-and-file employees. Nor is there evidence that
projects obtained as a result of joint bids increase
employee interchange or contact, which is nominal.
Additionally, while similar job classifications exist
throughout the Employer even within the same divi-
sion the skills of employees differ because the nature
of their work differs and intradivisional transfers are
infrequent. As for the "common communications"
found by the Regional Director, McDermott Fahri-
cation apparentl\ uses the Employer's telephone sys-
temr but does not employ radio operators in order to
utilize the several radio stations operated by other
i. RAY MDERMOT & O. INC.
868 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
divisions. We find that the foregoing facts run con-
trary to a finding that only a unit of all Louisiana
based operations is appropriate herein.
There remains the question of whether a unit com-
posed exclusively. of McDermott Fabrication Divi-
sion employees, as sought by Petitioner, is appropri-
ate. We find that it is, and in so doing reject for the
following reasons the Employer's suggestion that the
smallest appropriate administrative subdivision is the
McDermott Structural Group, including McDermott
Fabrication, McDermott offshore, and Bayou
Black.24
McDermott Offshore and McDermott Fabrication
are separately administered. The vice president and
division manager of McDermott Fabrication, R. J.
Machen, admitted that he has no official duties with
respect to the offshore division and that he knew
very little about its operation. With respect to those
employed by McDermott Offshore, they have little
contact with McDermott Fabrication employees,
work different hours under extremely different work-
ing conditions, are transferred to and from work by
helicopter or boat, and, if injured on the job, are
compensated pursuant to different laws. Further,
transfers between McDermott Fabrication and Mc-
Dermott Offshore are limited, since McDermott Fa-
brication hires subcontractors to perform excess
work rather than draw employees from the offshore
division. On these facts we find the employees of Mc-
Dermott Offshore lack a sufficient community of in-
terest with those employed by McDermott Fabrica-
tion to find their inclusion in the unit critical to the
finding of an appropraite unit.
Further, we find that those employed by the Bayou
Black Division, geographically separated from Mc-
Dermott Fabrication and at the time of the hearing
operated by a wholly owned subsidiary of the Em-
ployer based in another state, are not necessary to
the formation of an appropriate unit. Bayou Black
performs fabrication work similar to that done at
McDermott Fabrication, but there is no evidence of
employee interchange between the two divisions or
of common supervision even on the infrequent occa-
sions when Bayou Black may work on parts fabricat-
ed at, or assist with overflows from, McDermott Fa-
brication. At the time of the hearing the comptroller
for McDermott Structure Group provided no ser-
vices for Bayou Black and while the Employer indi-
cated that as of April 1., 1978, Bayou Black would
become part of the McDermott Structural Group, it
apparently will remain a separately administered di-
vision under the direction of its own division manag-
'4 As noted above, the parties agreed to exclude the Western [)ivision
from any unit found appropriate.
er whose offices are located in Bayou Black.
The facts clearly establish that the three yards
comprising McDermott Fabrication constitute a sep-
arately administered division of the Employer com-
plete with a division manager, general superinten-
dent, and assistant general superintendent who
together are responsible for the operation of the divi-
sion. The division has its own administrative offices
and equipment; a separate inventory of materials,
supplies, and equipment at Harvey Supply; and a
separate payroll register to pay McDermott Fabrica-
tion employees, all of whom receive paycheck stubs
with the division name typed thereon. The yards,
which are in close geographic proximity, all engage
in fabrication work of one kind or another, and are
protected by an outside security service engaged by
McDermott Fabrication. In addition, employee
transfers from one yard to another do not require the
same paperwork necessary for divisional transfer.
Based on the foregoing, we find that the unit
sought by the Petitioner is a single administrative
unit of the Employer, with geographic cohesion, and
that its employees share a community of interest suf-
ficiently separate and distinct from those of other
employees of the Employer to warrant their existence
as a separate bargaining unit. Accordingly, we find
that a unit of production and maintenance employ-
ees employed at McDermott Fabrication Division is
appropriate and we therefore reject the Employer's
contention that the unit sought is essentially based
on extent of organization.
Unit Placement and Eligibility
Petitioner contends that mold loftsmen are techni-
cal employees; that timekeepers and/or clerks (called
engineer's aides or superintendent's aides) are office
clerical employees: and that both classifications
should be excluded from the unit if found appropri-
ate. The Employer, on the other hand, urges their
inclusion in the unit.
There are seven or eight mold loftsmen, including
a leaderman, who work in a building located in the
east yard of McDermott Fabrication. As with other
crafts, mold loftsmen are separately supervised by
the mold loft supervisor. Also, like other craft super-
visors, the mold loft supervisor reports directly to
McDermott Fabrication's general superintendent
and his assistant, who are in charge of all production.
Mold loftsmen are not draftsmen and there is no evi-
dence that specialized training is required to become
a mold loftsman. They convert the details from a set
of prints of a structure to some form of a pattern
made out of cardboard which is required to fabricate
the structure. They compute the angle of braces, the
J. RAY WDERMOTT & CO., INC. 869
type of cuts necessary, and they make lists of ev-
erything that has to be cut along with patterns. Mold
loftsmen frequently go into the production areas in
the course of their duties, and rank-and-file employ-
ees regularly come into the mold loft department of-
fices to pick up patterns or get information or in-
structions from the mold loftsmen. There is no
evidence that the terms and conditions of employ-
ment of mold loftsmen differ from those of other
employees. Based on the foregoing, including the fact
that mold loftsmen are not draftsmen and the ab-
sence of evidence that any specialized training is re-
quired to become a mold loftsman, we find that the
Petitioner has failed to establish that mold loftsmen
are technical employees. We shall therefore include
mold loftsmen in the unit.
There are three timekeepers who are located in the
various McDermott Fabrication yard field offices,
where they work directly or indirectly with the time
of production employees. They are responsible for
gathering the daily timecards and returning them to
the main office. They review the cards for mistakes
or conflicts and resolve them with the employees.
About 75 percent of their time is spent in their re-
spective field offices, but they do spend some time in
the main office and some in the yards. Newly hired
or fired employees check with the timekeeper who
also takes calls from employees who are not coming
in to work and relays this information to the proper
individual. Timekeepers additionally work on forms,
apparently used for billing customers for work done
on a rental basis. Based on the foregoing, we find the
timekeepers to be plant clericals and shall therefore
include them in the unit.2 5
There are two clerks in the yard superintendent's
office. One clerk, referred to as the engineer's aide, is
primarily responsible to the production engineer and
the other, the superintendent's aide, to the yard su-
perintendent. They are paid hourly and work the
2 E.g.. Centur, Electri' (.Compant and Centur foundi (mrCoipln. 146
NLRB 232. 243 (1969).
hours the yards are in operation. Both clerks answer
customer telephone calls, as well as calls on the Em-
plover's switchboard, for their respective superiors
maintain and distribute job files 16 to the proper peo-
ple. routinely pick up information from the main of-
fice twice a day or when otherwise requested: take
and relay messages to the various craft superinten-
dents or supervisors; and occasionally type. The
clerks are not involved in payroll or personnel rec-
ords. They spend the vast majority of their time in
the superintendent's office or the main office and
come in contact with employees only on those infre-
quent occasions when they go into the yards or when
employees (primarily leadermen) come into the
superintendent's office. On the foregoing facts, we
find that the clerks, also called engineer's aides and
superintendent's aides, are office clerical employees
and shall therefore exclude them from the unit.
Accordingly, we find the following employees con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of
the Act: 27
All production and maintenance employees in-
cluding all leadermen, mold loft department em-
ployees, janitors, timekeepers, and truckdrivers
employed at the Employer's Morgan City (Bay-
ou Beouf) Fabrication Division, excluding all
buyers, engineer's aides, superintendent's aides,
office clerical employees, professional employ-
ees. guards and/or watchmen, and supervisors
as defined in the Act.
[Direction of Election and Excelsior footnote omit-
ted from publication.]
MEMBER JFNKINS, dissenting:
For the reasons expressed by the Regional Direc-
tor, I would find the unit sought here to be inappro-
priate, and would dismiss the petition.
2 These files contain extensive paperwork including information about
when drawings were distributed. instructional job letters that accompan) all
dra:ings. and billings for materials used on the job.
he parties agreed at the hearing to include anitors in the unit
.J. RAY MDERMOTT & CO., INC. 69