Metal Textile Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 21, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 1326 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter Of METAL TExTILE CORPORATION , EMPLOYER and
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR , PETITIONER
Case No. 2-RC--1765.Decided March 21,1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Bernard L..
Balicer, hearing officer. 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-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Styles].
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 organization invorved claims to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c)
(1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner seeks a single unit of all production and main
tenance employees, including shipping and receiving employees, boiler
room and machine shop employees, and janitor-sweepers employed
at the Roselle, New Jersey, plant of the Employer, excluding all office
employees, truck drivers, drivers' helpers, watchmen, guards, profes-
sional employees, and supervisors. The Employer opposes the pro-
posed unit, contending that there should be four separate units, one
each for the employees of the (1) household (or pot cleaner) depart-
ment; (2) industrial operations department; (3) machine shop and
boiler room department; and (4) shipping and receiving department,
including tractor drivers. In addition, the Employer would exclude
inspectors, the gimping -machine group leader, supervisor of the unit
winding department, assistant shipping clerk, and janitor-sweepers
from any unit found appropriate.
88 NLRB No. 239.
1326
METAL TEXTILE CORPORATION 1327
All five departments of the Employer's plant," located in five prin-
^cipal operating areas, are in one building on one floor of approxi-
mately 56,000 square feet. The only department separated by a com-
plete wall is the household (pot cleaner) department. This depart-
ment is engaged primarily in a machine operation, knitting wire into
a mesh, which is then cut to length and formed into a ball and eyeleted.
The knitting machines in this department operate on a single specifi-
cation, requiring no resetting adjustment once the machines are set
in place. The operations in this department are simple and repetitive,
and it usually takes from 1 to 3 months to train employees for work
in this department.
Like the household department, the industrial department is en-
gaged in knitting wire into a mesh and manipulating it to form.
However, the mesh in this department is made into more diverse forms,
such as filters for internal combustion engines, constituent parts of
insulating units for jet aircraft, and compressed mechanical units for
shock absorption and other uses. This department works on a wide
variety of meshes of different stitch size, weight, etc. The operations
are more delicate and require a greater degree of care. The machines
are set up to different specifications by a set-up man or the department
foreman. Corrugating and winding machines flute and wind the
mesh. Although it takes only 3 months to train employees in the
lower skilled jobs in this department, it takes 1 to 2 years to train
those more highly skilled. Sixty percent of the jobs in this depart-
ment require over a year's training to be performed properly.
The machine shop and boiler room department is engaged in the
construction and major maintenance and repair of machinery used
in the other departments of the plant. There are skilled machinists
in this department who require 3 to 5 years' training.
The shipping and receiving department services all departments of
the Employer.
Each department has its own supervisor, who is responsible directly
to the plant superintendent. There is, however, one knitting depart-
ment foreman for both the household and the industrial departments,
who is responsible directly to the plant superintendent and not to the
respective production foremen of the household or industrial
departments.
Although each department is capable of functioning independently,
the efficiency of any one department would be greatly reduced by the
cessation of one of the other operations. The machine shop and
boiler room department maintain the machinery in the operating de-
'In addition to the four departments previously mentioned, which the Employer con-
tends constitute appropriate units, there is an office department which is not involved in
this proceeding.
1328 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
partments . The tractor drivers in the shipping and receiving depart-
ment haul materials and supplies throughout the plant to and from
the different departments. A majority of all employees perform
manual labor requiring no particular skills and , though the Em-
ployer's practice is to limit personnel interchange , there has been
transfer of employees between departments whenever conditions de-
mand it. Except for the skilled machinists in the machine shop, base
pay rates for all employees vary only slightly . Seniority is applied
on a plant -wide basis.
In 1943, in an earlier proceeding ,2 the Board found that the Em-
ployer had violated Section 8 ( 5) of the Act by refusing to bargain
with Textile Workers Union of America , CIO. The Board made no
order to bargain, however, as the unit in which bargaining had been
sought had been permanently discontinued . In this case, the Peti-
tioner agreed , and the Board found , that a unit of production em-
ployees in the household department , including packers and instruc-
tors, but excluding foremen, foreladies , supervisors , watchmen, truck
drivers, stock and shipping clerks, and office and maintenance em-
ployees, was appropriate . At that time the household department
was in a separate building at West Orange, New Jersey . No bargain-
ing negotiations and contract followed the unit finding . So far as
the record discloses , the Employer has not bargained with any labor
organization with respect to any group of employees . No labor organ-
ization is seeking to represent any of the Employer 's departments on
a separate basis. On the present record, the several department units
proposed by the Employer cannot be generally justified on craft bases.
The record , on the other hand, does not show such wide divergence of
interest among employees as to make bargaining on a plant-wide basis
impractical . We therefore find that the production and maintenance
unit sought by the Petitioner is appropriate for bargaining purposes.
The Petitioner would include in the plant unit , and. the Employer
would exclude from any unit found appropriate , the following
categories.
Janitor-sweepers and inspectors
Janitor-sweepers : These employees perform the usual duties of jan-
itorial employees . They are primarily assigned to one particular area
or department of the plant ; however, they may be required to work in
all parts of the plant as necessity requires . The apparent ground on
which the Employer urges their exclusion from the unit is that they
are elderly employees whose particular interests are.somewhat differ-
ent from those of other production and maintenance employees. We
47 NLRB 743.
METAL TEXTILE CORPORATION 1329
find no merit in this contention. The janitor-sweepers have interests,
duties, and working conditions which closely ally them with other
plant employees and, accordingly, we shall include them in the unit.
Inspectors: There are three inspectors in the household department
and four in the industrial department. The industrial department
inspectors have always reported to the chief inspector rather than
through the production supervisors. Within the month prior to the
hearing, however, the household department inspectors, who pre-
viously reported to the production supervisors, had their line of au-
thority changed so that now they also report directly to the chief
inspector, who in turn reports to the plant superintendent. This
change in the line of authority was made for the purpose of vesting
inspectors with authority to accept or reject material instead of hav-
ing final inspection authority vested in the department production
f oremaai.
Inspectors are primarily responsible for the quality of the product.
They may cause production employees to make up defective work.
They may also recommend the transfer and discharge of production
employees to the chief inspector who in turn may relay such recom-
mendations to the plant superintendent. The plant superintendent
alone has power to effect the actual transfer or discharge of a produc-
tion employee. Department heads may consult inspectors from time to
time for information regarding the quality of work of employees
considered for promotion. Inspectors in both the household and the
industrial departments are hourly rated. In the household depart-
ment their pay is comparable to that of the production employees in
the department. In the industrial department they receive 5 cents
per hour more than the production employees.
The Employer does not urge the exclusion of the inspectors from
the unit on the ground that they are supervisors, but rather on the
ground that there is a conflict of interest between their duty to the
Employer and their inclusion in a unit of production employees. We
find that inspectors are not supervisors. The fact that inspectors are
responsible for the quality of the items manufactured does not warrant
their exclusion from a unit of general plant employees.3 We will
therefore include them in the unit.4
Alleged supervisors
The Petitioner would include, and the Employer would exclude,
individuals in the following categories. The Employer contends that
they are supervisors.
3 Bryant Heater Co., 77 NLRB 744; San..pset Time Control, Inc., 80 NLRB 1250.
A TVm. P. McDonald Corporation, 83 NLRB 427; United States Gypsum Company, 78
NLRB 536 ; Clayton Mark S Company, 76 NLRB 230, and cases cited therein.
1330 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Gimping machine group leader: This leader assigns and directs
the work of four men working under him, sets up their hours of work,
passes judgment on the quality of their work, and recommends their
reward, discipline, and hire. Fifty percent of his working time is
spent in supervision, 30 percent in minor maintenance of the gimping
machines, and 20 percent filling in on production operations in the
gimping section of the household department if required. He receives
27 cents an hour more than the maximum paid any rank-and-file
employee in the department. We find that the gimping machine
group leader is a supervisor within the meaning of the amended
Act, and we shall, therefore, exclude him from the unit.
Supervisor unit winding department: This "supervisor" directs the
work of 10 women in the unit winding section of the industrial de-
partment. She assigns work to them and passes on the quantity and
quality of their production. She takes orders from and reports to
the foreman of the industrial department. Her rate of pay is 30 cents
an hour more than the highest paid rank-and-file employees in the de-
partment. She recommends the reward, discipline, and discharge of
employees under her, and her recommendations are always followed.
We find that the supervisor unit winding department is a supervisor
within the meaning of the amended Act, and we shall, therefore, ex-
clude her from the unit.
Assistant shipping clerk: The assistant shipping clerk is second in
charge of the shipping department and has five men under him. He
assigns work to a shipping crew, determines how many men are re-
quired to do a particular job, and the means of handling material. He
rates employees and recommends them for reward, discipline, or dis-
charges. He is hourly paid, receives 25 cents per hour more than the
employees under him, and works 4 or 5 hours a week more than they do.
He takes orders from the head shipping clerk who is the senior man in
the department; however, the head shipping clerk spends most of his
time in the paper work involving shipments, with the actual direction
of the men relegated to the assistant shipping clerk. The assistant
shipping clerk is in full charge of the department during the absence
of the head shipping clerk. We find that the assistant shipping clerk
is a supervisor within the meaning of the Act, and we shall, therefore,
exclude him from the unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees at the
Employer's Roselle, New Jersey, plant, including shipping and receiv-
ing employees, boiler room and machine shop employees, janitor-
sweepers, tractor drivers, and inspectors, but excluding all office em-
ployees, truck drivers, drivers' helpers, watchmen, guards, professional
employees, gimping machine group leader, supervisor unit winding
METAL TEXTILE CORPORATION 1331
department, the assistant shipping clerk, and all other supervisors as
defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction' and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was
heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the
unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were
employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work
during said payroll period because they were ill or on vacation or
temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bar-
gaining, by American Federation of Labor.
882191-51-85