McCord Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 5, 1968

169 N.L.R.B. 23 (N.L.R.B. 1968)

MC CORD CORPORATION 23
McCord Corporation and International Society of
Skilled Trades, Petitioner. Case 7-RC-8121
January 5, 1968
DECISION AND ORDER
By CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS
BROWN AND JENKINS
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of
the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a
hearing was held before Marvin J. Schmitt, Hearing
Officer. Following the hearing, this case was trans-
ferred to the National Labor Relations Board in
Washington, D.C., pursuant to Section 102.67 of
the National Labor Relations Board Rules and
Regulations and Statements of Procedure, Series 8,
as amended. Thereafter, only the Intervenor, Inter-
national Union, Allied Industrial Workers of Amer-
ica, AFL-CIO, and its Local Union No. 616, filed
a brief, which has been duly considered.
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
powers in connection with this case to a three-
member panel.
The Hearing Officer's rulings made at the hearing
are free from prejudicial error and 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, and it will effectuate the
policies of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to
represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. No question affecting commerce exists con-
cerning the representation of certain employees of
the Employer within the meaning of Sections
9(c)(1) and 2(6) and (7) of the Act, for the following
reasons:
The Petitioner seeks severance of a toolroom unit
allegedly composed of skilled employees and would
include several maintenance employees who share
common supervision with toolroom employees.
The toolroom employees comprise department 31,
which is a renumbering of department 52, as set
forth in the most recent contract between the Em-
ployer and the Intervenor.
The Intervenor opposes severance of the tool-
room employees and takes the position that the unit
sought is clearly inappropriate for severance under
any standard or theory established by the Board.
The Intervenor points out the integration of plant
operations, and the fact that the well-established
overall plantwide production and maintenance unit
it represents has preserved the stability of bargain-
ing and labor relations at the plant for approximate-
ly 30 years. The Employer takes no position.
The Employer is engaged in the manufacture of
gaskets for the automotive industry at its Wyan-
dotte, Michigan, plant. The toolroom employees
operate different types of machinery, including kel-
lers, shapers, milling machines, drill presses, grin-
ders, jig borers, jig grinders, and turret lathes,
although a principal function is also to build and
maintain the dies. The toolroom employees have
participated in union representation and have
served on the bargaining committee. They have
been included under the contracts negotiated since
1937, which have produced stable labor relations.
The proposed unit does not consist of a distinct and
homogenious group of skilled craftsmen and jour-
neymen, and is not composed of employees con-
stituting a functionally distinct department. There
is no apprenticeship or formal training for the tool-
room employees, their working area is not located
in a separate room, and all other employees in the
plant have access to the area.
The employees in the proposed unit not only do
work outside their classification, but work
frequently in areas outside of the' toolroom in the
production area. In addition to working with, and in
close proximity to, the production employees, the
toolroom employees receive the same fringe
benefits as the production employees and use the
same employee facilities.
There is no substantial evidence that the bargain-
ing interests of the toolroom employees have been
neglected or prejudiced by virtue of their represen-
tation in the overall unit. Their negotiated wage
rates are considerably higher than those of the
production employees, reflecting recognition of
their skills.
Upon reviewing the facts of this case, we con-
clude that it will not effectuate the policies of the
Act to allow severance of the toolroom employees
covered by the petition from the established
production and maintenance unit. The work of the
toolroom employees is an integral part of the con-
tinuous flow of the Employer's various production
processes.
In the light of the toolroom employees' close
functional integration in the plant's operations, their
community of interest with the production and
maintenance employees, their long inclusion in the
production and maintenance unit, and the absence
of any compelling countervailing considerations, we
conclude that the toolroom employees may not be
severed' from the overall production and main-
tenance unit. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the peti-
tion.
ORDER
' Holmberg, Inc, 162 NLRB 407, and cited cases therein Cf. Buddy
L Corporation 167 NLRB 808
It is hereby ordered that the petition filed herein
be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
169 NLRB No. 7