Jelco, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 21, 1974

209 N.L.R.B. 827 (N.L.R.B. 1974)

JELCO, INCORPORATED 827
Jelco, Incorporated , Employer and Petitioner and warehouse job classifications and their duties, "as-
International Brotherhood of Teamsters , Chauf- sistant material engineer" and "material clerk." 2 The
feurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America , job content of "assistant material engineer" is
Local No. 222.1 Case 27-UC-31 described as "[a]ssist the material engineer in
purchasing, expediting and checking material flow."
March 21, 1974 The duties of the "material clerk" are described as
"[t]yping, filing of all material records that are
DECISION AND ORDER received through the warehouse." The principal
functions of the Employer's warehouse at this project
BY MEMBERS JENKINS, KENNEDY, AND are the receipt, storage, and distribution of tools,
PENELLO supplies, and materials needed in the construction of
this powerplant.
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(b) of the The Employer-Petitioner seeks clarification of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a bargaining unit by excluding therefrom two employ-
hearing was held before Hearing Officer Hobart M. ees, Leonhardt and Beckman, who it contends are
Corning. Following the hearing and pursuant to part of its purchasing department. The Union
Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations contends that the two employees in question are part
Board Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended, of its bargaining unit because they perform the duties
and by direction of the Regional Director for Region of the recently added classifications of "assistant
27, this proceeding was transferred to the Board for material engineer" and "material clerk."
decision. Thereafter, the Employer and the Union Ordinarily the Employer does not have a purchas-
filed briefs. ing department on its construction sites, but does so
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the in the instant case due to the large size of this project
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the and because Utah Power and Light requires it. It is
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its undisputed that there are three bargaining unit
authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. employees, a material engineer and two warehouse-
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's men, employed in the warehouse and that there is a
rulings made at the hearing and finds that they are purchasing agent who is not part of the bargaining
free from prejudicial error. They are hereby affirmed. unit. The warehouse and the purchasing department
Upon the entire record in this proceeding, the are located in separate areas.
Board finds: The Employer's purchasing department at the
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within construction site involved herein apparently acts as
the meaning of the Act, and it will effectuate the Utah Power and Light's agent since it initiates the
purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein. requisitions for nearly all of the supplies and material
2. The labor organization involved claims to used on this project. These purchases are approved
represent certain employees of the Employer. by Utah Power and Light before they are actually
3. Petitioner, the Employer, commenced work ordered by this purchasing department. After these
about March 1972 at a construction site located at materials have been received, the Employer's pur-
Huntington Canyon, Utah, where it is engaged in chasing department verifies that the type and
constructing a powerplant for Utah Power and Light number of goods ordered were received and informs
Company. In February 1972, the Employer signed a Utah Power and Light so that proper payment by the
"short form" collective-bargaining agreement with latter can be made.
the Union by which it agreed to the provisions, There is daily contact between the personnel of the
except those relating to the handling of grievances warehouse and the purchasing department. This
and settlement of disputes, of a collective-bargaining contact seems to relate primarily to the receipt of
agreement between the Union and the Associated goods and the verification that the type and amount
General Contractors of America, Utah Chapter. The of merchandise ordered is actually delivered. Both
then current contract contained the following three warehouse and purchasing department personnel
warehouse job classifications: material engineer, engage in a certain amount of recordkeeping as part
warehousemen (counter clerk), and warehousemen. of their duties. However, the recordkeeping done by
On July 1, 1972, a new collective-bargaining agree- the purchasing department is more extensive and it
ment became effective which added two new must provide Utah Power and Light with records
i Name as amended at the hearing. their helpers, superintendents, assistant superintendents . master me-
2 This contract also provides chanics, timekeepers , messenger boys, office workers, confidential
employees or any employee of the members of the Individual
This Agreement shall not apply to executives, civil engineers and Employee above the rank of craft foreman
209 NLRB No. 128
828 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
that meet the requirements of the Federal Power
Commission. In addition, cost data which the
Employer regards as confidential is obliterated from
certain documents that are sent from the purchasing
department to the warehouse.
The purchasing department works closely with the
Employer's accounting department and is supervised
by the Employer's chief accountant and office
manager. The Employer requires that its purchasing
department personnel have past experience in pur-
chasing. In addition, unlike the warehouse personnel,
the purchasing department personnel are paid a
salary and enjoy different fringe benefits.
On or about April 5, 1972, the Employer trans-
ferred one Gordon Leonhardt to this project and
designated him its assistant purchasing agent. Prior
thereto Leonhardt had been performing purchasing
and estimating duties elsewhere for the Employer.
Leonhardt's principal duties are the purchase of
supplies and materials for this project. He performs
these duties in the purchasing department office and
it appears that a considerable amount of his time is
spent in receiving from the various craft foremen the
initial requests for the purchase of materials and
determining where such goods may be obtained and
at what price. The Union contends that Leonhardt is
performing the duties of an "assistant material
engineer" under the current contract. However, the
specific duties of an "assistant material engineer" are
spelled out neither in the contract nor in the record
before us. It is clear though that Leonhardt is not
subordinate to the material engineer nor does he
appear to assist the material engineer in the purchase
of expendable items which is one of the latter's
duties. Although Leonhardt does some work involv-
ing expediting,3 this work is performed in the
purchasing department office and involves expedit-
3 The parties stipulated that the term "expediting" means "the moving of
any material from the vendor to the installation on the job."
i In view of our determination that Leonhardt and Beckman are office
employees and, thus, excluded from the unit , we need not pass upon the
ing the transportation of goods from the vendor to
the warehouse on the project site.
The Employer hired one Herman Beckman on or
about March 28, 1973, to work in its purchasing
department at this construction site as a material
expediter. The record reveals that Beckman's prima-
ry job duties relate to expediting the shipment of
supplies and materials from the vendor to the project
site warehouse. It appears that once goods have
arrived at the warehouse the expediting function is
assumed by warehouse personnel. The Union con-
tends that Beckman is performing the work of a
"material clerk" under the current labor agreement.
Although the particular duties of a "material clerk"
are set forth neither in the agreement nor in the
instant record, it is clear that Beckman works in the
purchasing department office, spends considerable
time on the telephone with vendors and transporta-
tion companies, and maintains records relating to the
purchase and receipt of materials and supplies used
in the construction of this powerplant.
In view of the foregoing, and the entire record
herein, we find that Leonhardt and Beckman are
office employees4 who are not covered by the
parties' collective-bargaining agreement. According-
ly, we shall exclude them from the unit.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the collective-bargaining
unit of employees of Jelco, Incorporated, represented
by International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauf-
feurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local
No. 222, be, and it hereby is, clarified by excluding
from the unit the assistant purchasing agent and the
material expediter in the purchasing department at
the Utah Power and Light Company construction
project at Huntington Canyon, Utah.
Employers alternative contentions that they are managerial and/or
confidential employees or its assertion that Leonhardt is a supervisor within
the meaning of the Act.
s See fn. 2