Marine Iron and Ship Building Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 14, 1948

78 N.L.R.B. 309 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of MARINE IRON AND SHIP BUILDING COMPANY,
EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD` OP BOILERMAKERS,
IRON SHIP BUILDERS & HELPERS, LOCAL No. 647, A. F. OF L.,
PETITIONER 1
Case No. 18-R-192'2.Decided July 14, 1948
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board.2 The hearing officer's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members. *
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent employees of
the Employer.
3. No question of representation exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section
i The name of the Petitioner appears in the caption as amended at the hearing
2 United Steehvorkers of Amei ica, Local No 1625, C I 0., sought to intervene in the
original hearing in this case The hearing officer erroneously limited the intervention to
the contract-bar issue on the ground that the Intervenor had not complied with Section 9
(f), (g), and (h) of the Act On March 18, 1948, the Board, ievci sing the hearing officer's
ruling , directed that the record be reopened and a further hearing held for the purpose of
permitting the Intervenor to introduce eiidence on all issues in the case 76 N L R B. 819
Thereafter, fuither hearing was held, the Intervenor participating fully therein The
Intervenor contends that its contract with the Employer executed on August 9, 1946, and
extending to August 9, 1947, was automatically renewed and is a bar to this proceeding
In view of our dismissal on the ground that the unit sought by the Petitioner is inappio-
priate, we find it unnecessary to resolve the contract-bar issue
*Houston , Murdock, and Gray
78 N L R B , No. 36.
798767-49-vol 78-21 309
310 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act, for the following
reasons:
The Petitioner has requested a unit composed of all production and
maintenance employees in the Employer 's boiler shop , excluding office
and clerical employees and all supervisors . The Employer and the
Intervenor contend that the unit sought is inappropriate because it
is not a craft unit; and because the bargaining history of the Em-
ployer's plant has been upon a plant-wide basis for at least the past
10 years.
At the time of the hearing, the Employer's business consisted largely
of the repair of boilers , steel fabrication , and the production of har-
rows. The principal divisions of the plant are the boiler shop, the
machine shop, and the production shop (in which the harrows are
made ). Employees of the boiler shop frequently work in the produc-
tion shop or in the machine shop in construction or repair work on
machines or equipment . Machine shop employees work in any part
of the plant in the maintenance of machinery . The crane operator
on the boiler-shop pay roll works in any part of the plant. Transfers
from the production shop to the boiler shop have been frequent; in
times of slack work transfers may be made from the boiler shop to
the production shop.
The record discloses that within the boiler -shop unit proposed by the
Petitioner are 21 employees described as mechanic -boilermakers,
mechanics , helpers, welders , and a crane operator . Of this number
only 1 has served an apprenticeship , is a journeyman boilermaker,•and
is qualified to do all of the work required of the boilermaker craft. No
apprentice system exists within the proposed unit.
Inasmuch as the employees sought by the Petitioner are not a craft
group, and in view of the integration of the Employer's plant and
the bargaining history in the plant-wide unit, we perceive no justifi-
cation for severing this group from the existing unit.3 We find the
proposed unit inappropriate and shall order that the petition be
dismissed.
Upon the basis of the entire record in this case, the National Labor
Relations Board hereby orders that the petition filed in the instant
matter be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
3 Cf. Matte of George J Mayer Company, 77 N L R B 425.