Milford Glass Works, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 24, 1947

72 N.L.R.B. 265 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter Of MILFORD GLASS WORKS, INC., EMPLoYER and UNITED
SERVICE EMPLOYEES UNION, LOCAL 377, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 2-R-6735.-Decided January 24, 1947
Weil, Gotshal & Manges , by Mr. Robert Abelow , of New York City,
and Mr. Clarence F. Barasch , of New York City, for the Employer.
Mr. Robert M. Stanlea , of New York City, for the Petitioner.
Mr. Henry W . de Iioamian, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at New
York City, on September 12 and 18, 1946, before James C. Paradise,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following : -
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Milford Glass Works, Inc., is a New York corporation engaged in
the manufacture of glass tubes and ampules at its only plant in Brook-
lyn, New York. The Employer annually purchases raw materials
valued in excess of $25,000, of which more than 90 percent is shipped
to the Employer from points outside the State of New York. ' The
Employer annually manufactures finished products valued in excess
of $100,000, all of which is delivered to the Novocol Chemical Manu-
facturing Co., Inc., which in turn ships approximately 75 percent of
such products to points outside the State of New York.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
72 N. L. R. B., No. 49.
265
266 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
III. THE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE UNIT
0
The Petitioner seeks a unit consisting of, all the production and
maintenance employees of the Employer, excluding supervisory em-
ployees. The Employer contends this unit is inappropriate, inasmuch
as the Employer's operations are but a part of an integrated business
carried on by five corporations and the employees in the unit sought
by the Petitioner are not a sufficiently homogeneous group.
The five corporations involved are the Employer; Novocol Chemical
Manufacturing Co., Inc., herein called Novocol; U. S. Procaine Co.,
Inc., herein called Procaine; Atlantic Manufacturing Co., Inc., herein
called Atlantic; and Dental Items of Interest Publishing Co., Inc.,
herein called Dental Items. The stockholders of these five corpora-
tions are identical. And the officers and directors of the five corpora-
tions are substantially the same. All of the five corporations are
located in a three-story building in Brooklyn, New York, which is
leased from the Atlantic-Warrick Corporation, whose stockholders
are the same as those of the five corporations. The building is identi-
fied by a sign over the entrance, bearing the name : Novocol Chemical
Manufacturing Co.
Four of the five corporations are engaged in the manufacture and
sale of dental anesthetics. The anesthetic itself is manfactured by
Procaine and Atlantic. A buyer for all the corporations, on the
Novocol pay roll, purchases glass tubing from which the containers
for the anesthetic are manufactured. This glass tubing is received
at the shipping department, whose employees are on the Novocol pay
roll, and it is then delivered to the Employer. Employees of the
Employer cut the glass tubing to the appropriate size, compute the
diameter of the inside of the tube, an operation known as grading, and
fabricate necks for the tubes. The tubes are then placed on trays and
sent up to the third floor, where Novocol is located. There, employees
of Novocol insert plungers, and fill and cap the tubes, which are then
packed into vacuum cans. They are then shipped to Novocol's cus-
tomers. The remaining corporation, Dental Items, publishes a house
organ every 3 months.
The Employer employs approximately 45 employees, Novocol ap-
proximately 94, Procaine about 3, Atlantic approximately 4, and
Dental Items about 5.
There is a common office force for the five corporations, whose em-
ployees are on the Novocol pay roll. There is a common personnel
'The process by which these tubes are capped is patented by Novocol Approximately
5 percent of the Employer 's production consists of ordinary glass ampules . If there is
an oversupply of such ampules, they are sold to outside customers
MILFORD GLASS WORKS, INC. 267
office, whose manager hires for all five corporations . Employees
of all the corporations use the same lunchroom and rest rooms.
All the employees punch the same time clock. - The accounting for
the five corporations is performed by Novocol employees . There is
a common pension and bonus plan for the employees of each corpora-
tion. Employees , who are transferred from one corporation to
another retain their seniority.
There are 10 building maintenance employees , all on the Novocol
pay roll. There are 5 employees in the machine shop. Four of them
are on the Novocol pay roll, and 1 is on the Employer 's pay roll. The
5 machinists perform substantially identical tasks, receive the same
rates of pay , and work under one supervisor who is on the-Novocol
pay roll . The Petitioner would include the machinist on the Em-
ployer's pay roll and exclude those on the Novocol pay roll.
There is also an interchange of employees . About every 3 months
approximately eight employees of the Employer are temporarily as-
signed to Novocol , where they aid Novocol employees in wrapping and
mailing the house organ published by Dental Items. Occasionally,
Novocol employees are assigned temporarily to the Employer to aid
in the glass cutting operation . It does not appear that the duties of
employees of the Employer and of Novocol employees require any sub-
stantial degree of skill.
There has been no previous history of collective bargaining. A con-
sent election was conducted in 1938 with a union affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor on the ballot . By agreement, em-
ployees of all the corporations in existence at that time were included
in the voting group.2
In light of . the integrated operations of the corporations , and upon
the entire record, we are persuaded that the unit here sought, limited
in scope to employees of the Employer , is inappropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining.3 .
IV. THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Since the bargaining unit sought to be established by the petition
is not appropriate, as found in Section III, above, we find that no
question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation
of employees of the Employer within an appropriate unit, within the
meaning of Section 9 (c) of the Act.
O The Employer was not at that time in existence and its functions were carried on by
Novocol
3 Matter of General Plate Division of Metals and Controls Corporation, 71 N. L. R. B.
936; Matter of Marcal Pulp & Paper Co., Inc., 65 N . L. R. B. 263.
268 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ORDER
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and the entire record
in the case, it is hereby ordered that the petition for investigation and
certification of representatives of employees of Milford Glass Works,
Inc., Brooklyn, New York, filed by United Service Employees Union,
Local 377, CIO, be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the'consider-a tion of the above
Decision and Order.