188 N.L.R.B. 650 (N.L.R.B. 1971)

Mosler Safe Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsFeb 23, 1971

188 N.L.R.B. 650 (N.L.R.B. 1971)

650 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Mosier Safe Company and International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Im- plement Workers of America (UAW), Petitioner. Case 9-RC-8603 February 23, 1971 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION BY MEMBERS FANNING , BROWN, AND JENKINS Upon a petition duly filed on July 6, 1970, under Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing in this case was held on July 31, August 7, 17, 21, and September 8, 9, 10, 1970, before Hearing Officer William A. Molony. Pursuant to Sec- tion 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, the above-entitled matter was duly transferred by the Regional Director for Region 9 to the Board for decision. The Petitioner and the Employer filed briefs. 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 Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's rul- ings made at the hearing and finds that they are free from prejudicial error. They are hereby affirmed. 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 purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein. 2. The labor organization involved claims to repre- sent certain employees of the Employer.' 3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the representation of certain employees of the Em- ployer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and Sec- tion 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Employer, a New York corporation, is en- gaged in the manufacture of bank and commercial security equipment. Its plants involved in this pro- ceeding are plants 1, 2, and 4, all located in Hamilton, Ohio. The employees in issue are essentially engaged in servicing the production and maintenance depart- ments, or performing duties adjunct to the manufac- turing and warehousing functions. Most of the employees are located in plant 1. Plant 2 is located one-half mile away, while plant 4, the warehouse, is approximately 4 miles from plants 1 and 2. Pro- duction functions at the Employer's plants involve three main manufacturing operations: stock or pro- ' The Safe Workers ' Organization , Chapter No 2, intervened for the sole purpose of protecting the unit of hourly production and maintenance em- ployees which it represents at the Employer 's plants It made no showing of interest and indicated that it did not wish to appear on the ballot in any election directed. duction items; customized or special items; and man- ufacturing changes. Approximately 1,300 employees are employed in the Employer's operations. The Safe Workers' No. 2 represents a unit of over a thousand hourly paid pro- duction and maintenance employees, including, hourly paid plant clericals and warehouse employees, exclud- ing all research and development employees, service employees, polishers, buffers, platers and helpers em- ployed in the polishing and plating department.' The polishers, buffers, platers, and helpers em- ployed in the polishing and plating department are represented by Local Union 43, Metal Polishers, Buff- ers, Platers and Helpers International Union, AFL- CIO. The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit limited only to the plant clericals not covered by collective-bar- gaining contracts in plants 1, 2, and 4, and would exclude all the other unrepresented, salaried office and technical employees. The Employer contends that because of the functional integration and interde- pendence of its various operations, the only appropri- ate unit involving its salaried employees should include all the unrepresented salaried employees. Ad- ditionally, the Employer contends that the employees in question should be given a choice of whether they wish to become part of the existing production and maintenance unit, as well as a choice of whether or not they wish independent representation by the Peti- tioner. The contentions of the parties will be discussed below. As to the scope of the unit, absent agreement of the parties, the Board has consistently refused to join of- fice and plant clericals in a single unit.3 This rule is founded upon the bases that office clericals generally work in separate locations removed from the pro- duction areas, and perform work which is more office than production oriented and only indirectly related to the production process. The two types of clericals thus have a different community of interest. From the testimony in this case, and upon the record as a whole, we see no valid reason for departing from the rule in this case .4 As for a unit of plant clericals sought by the Petitioner, we have consistently found a unit of all unrepresented plant clericals an appropriate bargain- ing group which may be separately represented.' We generally follow the procedure where the plant clericals are sought to be represented by the union which enjoys recognized status as the representative 2 The Safe Workers was certified in the existing unit by the Board pursuant to consent election agreements. 3 See, e g , Copeland Refrigerator Corporation, 118 NLRB 1364, 1365; Vul- canized Rubber and Plastics Company, Inc, 129 NLRB 1256, 1257. We find that the transfer among plant clericals and other employees is minimal , and insufficient to overcome the difference between the two types of clericals 3 See, e g , Robbins & Myers, Inc, 144 NLRB 295,298,299; cf. Weyerhaeu- ser Company, 173 NLRB No. 177 188 NLRB No. 97 MOSLER SAFE COMPANY of work related and commonly supervised production and maintenance employees, of giving such employ- ees the choices of either being added to the estab- lished unit of production and maintenance employees, of being separately represented, or of not being represented. However, this issue is not involved here . The union representing the Employer's pro- duction and maintenance employees, as noted, does not seek to represent the plant clericals herein sought by the Petitioner. We do not feel that such employees should, therefore, be denied the opportunity to decide whether or not they wish to be represented for collec- tive-bargaining purposes for that reason .6 As for the exclusion of salaried technical employ- ees, the Board rule, contrary to Petitioner's conten- tion, is that technical employees will not be automatically excluded from units of other employees whenever their unit placement is in issue . The Board has previously concluded that it will determine the unit placement of technicals on the basis of their com- munity of interest , considering, inter alia, the skills and duties of the employees, the presence or absence of common supervision, the similarity or disparity of working conditions, the contact or interchange with plant personnel, specialized schooling and on-the-job training, the organization of the plant, and the kind of industry? Applying the above principles to the unit sought by the Petitioner, we make the following findings: Stipulations: The parties agree , and we find, that employees in research and development, and advertis- ing clerical employees located in plant 5, should be excluded. The parties also agree , and we find, that approximately 150 individuals classified as superviso- ry, professional, and/or managerial and confidential, and that all individuals designated as superintend- ents , general foremen, and foremen in plants 2 and 4 in manufacturing organizations , be excluded.' The parties further stipulated, and we find, that the time- keepers and the clerks to foremen are plant clericals, and should be included in the unit of plant clericals found to be appropriate. 6 We also find without merit the contention of the Employer that the petition is based upon extent of organization since the Petitioner had on- ginally sought a more inclusive unit. Section 9(c)(5) only precludes the Board from giving controlling weight to extent of organization . Overnite Transporta- tion Company, 141 NLRB 384, In. 1. Even if the Petitioner 's request is, in part, based upon the extent of its organizational efforts , it does not follow that the unit sought is necessarily defective. As discussed below , our determination does not give controlling weight to that fact See Dixie Belle Mills, Inc, 139 NLRB 629, 631, fn. 7, Stern's, Paramus, 150 NLRB 799, 807 r See Robbins & Myers, Inc, 144 NLRB 295, 296; Western Gear Corp, 160 NLRB 272, 274. s The stipulations are set forth in the record and the briefs of the parties. We note that there are numerous other employees similarly situated or bear- ing generic titles similar to the employees the parties agree should be exclud- ed, concerning which no positions were taken or the evidence is scanty The unit placement of such employees should be resolved through the stipulations of the parties or, if necessary , by the challenged ballot procedure 651 Office clericals: Since it is clear from the record that individuals designated as secretaries , stenographers, office clerks, clerk typists, and certain clerks in the various departments work in office areas and perform office clerical functions, they are hereby excluded from the unit herein sought by the Petitioner. Personnel and industrial relations departments: These departments are located in an office area on the first floor in plant 1. The department services both hourly and salaried employees. The Employer would include the manager of group employee relations, wage and hour administrator, and employment specialist, guards, and nurses located within the unit. It is not clear from the record whether the guards are guards within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act. The nurses are characterized as registered practical nurses rather than professional registered nurses and per- form the usual duties of such nurses . The other em- ployees perform primarily office clerical functions. We find that the working conditions, duties, and in- terests of the employees in question are dissimilar from those of plant clericals, and we shall exclude them from the unit. Payroll department: The payroll department em- ploys three female clerks who maintain personnel files and who prepare and distribute checks as well as pay- roll tax returns and state tax returns. The department is responsible for both hourly and salaried payrolls. The clerks perform their work in an office area and have no occasion to go into the production areas. We find that they are office clericals and exclude them from the unit. Purchasing: The purchasing department employs several clerical employees who type purchase orders, distribute them, file the orders, and answer inquiries on delivery dates. Although the clerks have daily con- tacts with various departments, including production departments, we find that their work is essentially office clerical in nature and that they work primarily within an office area. We shall exclude these employ- ees as office clericals. Corporate controller: The Employer would include the two female clerks in the fleet leasing subgroup who work in the office area designated "accounting." One clerk works entirely on records related to use of cars leased by the Employer and related work. The other clerk keeps records related to leases and alloca- tions of rents for various company locations through- out the country, as well as the Employer's petty cash fund. Both clerks work entirely in the office area. We find the clerks are office clerical and exclude them from the unit. The Employer would also include the general clerks and the administrative assistant in the insurance and pensions subgroup. As the record shows that their principal functions are office clerical and contains nothing showing that they engage in 652 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD plant clerical functions, we shall exclude them. The Employer would also include the five accounting clerks in general accounting. The record shows that such clerks perform the usual office accounting clerk functions and we shall exclude them as office cleri- cals. Office services group: This group is located in an office directly across from the mailroom on the first floor of the plant 1 offices. The group includes mail clerks, mail girls, duplicating girls, telephone opera- tors, store clerks, and a chauffeur. The mail girls and clerks sort and deliver mail throughout the office are- as. The clerks handle mail bags which they take to the post office in trucks. The chauffeur spends approxi- mately 20 percent of his time in actual chauffeuring duties, and the rest of his time assisting the clerks and mail girls in their duties. None of these employees apparently goes into production areas in the perform- ance of duties. The duplicating girls spend most of their time in a duplicating room on the first floor performing multi- lithing and xeroxing services for the order department and other office areas. The telephone operators are located at the telephone switchboard adjacent to pur- chasing and handle mainly phone calls coming in and calls going outside the plant. The stockroom employ- ees are responsible for maintaining office supplies and issuing supplies to office personnel upon requisition and assist in mail duties. They have no occasion to go into the production area. The employer would include all the employees in this group; the Petitioner would include only the stockroom employees and the chauffeur. We find that all the employees in the office services group are en- gaged in office clerical duties with little community of interest with plant clericals and exclude them from the unit. Audits and data processing: The two clerks in audits work in the accounting area and appear to perform usual accounting clerical functions and are not direct- ly involved with the production process. We find that they are office clericals and exclude them. The data processing department is part of the cor- porate staff organization and is located on the first floor of plant 1, adjacent to the personnel area. The basic function of the department is to provide infor- mation for a great variety of purposes to the operating departments. In briefest outline, the department re- ceives information from the various operating depart- ments, processes this information through its computers, and sends it back in the form of reports. It also maintains "data banks" which facilitate quick reports on recurring informational needs. Employed within data processing are keypunch operators, unit record operators, computer operators, a production file clerk, a documentation clerk, and programmers. The keypunch operators and programmers are re- quired to take special technical training; the others are trained on the job. The employees work under common supervision and employees may be promot- ed from a job of lesser difficulty to a higher skilled job. The contact with production personnel is infrequent, and the Employer restricts entry of unauthorized per- sons into data processing and has so posted the area. We find that these employees have only a remote community of interest with plant clericals, and we exclude them. Bank and commercial engineering departments; The commerical design department is located in second floor offices of plant 1, and prepares all engineering data necessary for the production of the Employer's commercial security items, including insulated prod- ucts, money safes, security files, and other miscellane- ous security equipment. The draftsmen, designers, and detailers work directly under the project engi- neers. The work is of a technical nature requiring independent judgment, specialized aptitude, educa- tion, and training. The normal progression within the department is from junior draftsmen to designer- draftsmen to engineer. At least 50 percent of their time is spent in the design or drafting areas. From the record it is clear that the employees involved in this work are technicals, and that their supervision, lines of progression, and working conditions differ from plant clericals. We shall, therefore, exclude them from the unit .9 Bank engineering and design: This department is located adjacent to the commercial engineering de- partments on the second floor of the plant 1 office area. The bank design group provides engineering data for use of the production department in connec- tion with bank security equipment, including bank doors, night depositories, drive-in windows, and safe deposit boxes; develops new bank products and per- forms all custom design work on current orders. Like the commercial design operation , bank design is staffed with project engineers who supervise the work of designers and draftsmen, and the skills employed and functions involved are similar . The normal pro- gression within the department is junior draftsmen to designer and then senior designer. The work requires aptitude, extensive on-the-job training, and in some cases special schooling . Each designer or draftsman is assigned to a drawing board and spends approximate- ly 75 to 85 percent of his time on engineering detail. In addition, the department employs computer opera- tors who are responsible for converting an engineer- ing manual to computer terms and for checking the computer output against a parts list, and an adminis- trative assistant who is primarily responsible for re- 9 See General Electric Company, 147 NLRB 558, 559 MOSLER SAFE COMPANY viewing engineering jackets as to their technical accu- racy and who also handles correspondence between bank design and outside requests. Both the computer operators and the administrative assistant receive on- the-job training to enable them to handle technical data involved in their work. We conclude that the draftsmen and designers are technical employees, and that the work of other employees in the department is closely related to technical duties. We further find that the employees involved have slight community of interest with plant clericals , and we shall exclude them from the plant clerical unit. Reproduction department: This department is locat- ed in the area directly below bank engineering known as the "vault" area. The vault contains files of stand- ard drawings, customer order jackets, and microfilm drawings. The jobs in the department include ozalid machine operators, microfilm operators, vault clerks, and order clerks. The bulk of their work and contacts are with production control employees who requisi- tion material for the manufacturing process. Approxi- mate ly 75 percent of reproduction personnel's work entails pulling, drawing , and running copies for stand- ard orders, as requested by schedulers involved in the production process. The remaining part of their time is primarily occupied in servicing the product design departments. These contacts are almost always per- sonal contacts in the vault area. The ozalid machine operators and microfilm operators operate machines which make prints or copies of drawings, bills of ma- terial , and parts lists , a necessary operation in connec- tion with the operation of the department. Also employed within the department are order clerks who perform clerical duties in connection with the func- tions of the department, and a runner who carves requisitions between various areas. All the employees are under the same supervisor and require little or routine training . We find that the employees involved are neither technicals nor office clericals, and that their work and contacts are mainly production ori- ented. We shall include them in the unit of plant clericals. Marketing section in banking and commercial divi- sion: The division's functions are broken down into two subdivisions-the production marketing function and the order department. The order department is located in the first floor office area of plant 1. The work of the department is primarily to initiate the processing of all bank and commercial division orders and to continue processing the orders through manu- facturing and shipment until billing is completed. Or- der analysts break down initial orders as to type of equipment, pricing, commission, and discounts. Ap- proximately 90 percent of their time is spent in this initial processing function. The analysts spend a mi- nor part of their time contacting other personnel both 653 in and outside the bargaining units to obtain informa- tion. The major part of their work is in their office area . We find that the order analysts perform primar- ily office clerical functions, and exclude them from the unit. The order department also employs order clerks and general clerks who similarly have essential- ly office clerical functions such as typing and prepar- ing order jackets , maintaining files , answering phone calls from customers and outside salesmen concern- ing the status of current orders, and computing sales commissions. We shall exclude them from the unit. In addition, the department employs shipping coordina- tors who work primarily in the office area and work the same hours as other employees in the order de- partment. Their work is concentrated largely in han- dling customer inquiries as to specifications, dates of shipment, and related matters, and also coordinating times and methods of shipping with the warehouse. In the performance of these duties the coordinators have some personal contacts with some plant personnel to seek information as to the status of orders. We find that the coordinators have primarily office clerical functions and exclude them. As to the estimator and the administrative assistant, who also work in the marketing section, the record is sketchy and we are unable to make a final determination as to their sta- tus. As the Employer would include them and the Petitioner would exclude them from the unit of plant clericals, we shall permit them to vote under challenge. Manufacturing engineering: This group is located on the second floor office area of plant 1. The timestudy and process routing group consists of the timestudy engineers, process routers, rate setters, and general clerks. The timestudy personnel basically establish per- formance standards for operations in the manufactur- ing process. The several classifications of timestudy personnel are, in ascending order of experience and training: junior timestudy employees, timestudy ob- servers, timestudy engineers B and A, and timestudy and methods engineers. There is a promotional se- quence from junior timestudy work to higher posi- tions. The work requires the exercise of independent judgment and discretion. Because of their specialized training, separate supervision, promotional ladder, and nature of their work, we find that the timestudy personnel have a separate community of interest from plant clericals and we exclude them. Working with the timestudy group are process rout- ers whose basic function is to establish factory proce- dures, including the sequence of factory operations and the parts required. The work, although clerical in nature, requires extensive personal consultation with timestudy personnel and design personnel, but little personal contact with factory people in the factory area. The process routers appear more closely allied 654 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD with timestudy personnel and lack a close community of interest with plant clericals. We shall exclude them. Rate setters work in the same general area as the process routers. The work involves the clerical job of posting standard times for orders from timestudy records and other data. Their primary contacts are with timestudy personnel and process routers within their own group. We find that the rate setters lack community of interest with plant clericals and exclude them. We find that the Flexowriter operators who operate machines requiring typing skills, and the gen- eral clerk who works at a desk in the timestudy area, perform essentially office clerical work, and we shall exclude them. Tool design: The tool design group is located in a separate office area adjacent to production control in plant 1. The tool designers and draftsmen design tool- ing for production. They receive product drawings and determine the kind of tooling applicable, and follow through on having the tools produced. The draftsmen prepare drawings in conformance with the design conceived by the designer. They produce and complete the final drawing from sketches made by the designer. Designers may spend up to 50 percent of their time outside the tool design area conferring with section and department personnel to determine the type of tools needed to manufacture a specific prod- uct. The draftsmen spend practically all their working time in the tool design area. The minimum education for employment in the tool design department is a high school education with aptitude in mechanical and shop activities. It takes a year of on-the-job train- ing to prepare for promotion to the draftsman level, and from 2 to 4 years' experience as a draftsman before progression to a designer. The Employer recommends that the designers and draftsmen contin- ue their education through its ongoing educational and tuition refund programs. The Petitioner and the Employer agree as to the technical status of the above employees. We find that the tool designers and drafts- men have a separate community of interest from plant clericals, and we exclude them. Production and inventory control: The production control area at plant 1 is at the center of the pro- duction process. Schedulers are responsible for sched- uling a given order through the production process by working with the design and manufacturing, engi- neering, and production personnel, and by providing necessary paperwork to factory foremen. All the schedulers maintain desks in the scheduling area of production control. The schedulers have frequent per- sonal contacts with factory foremen and hourly rated factory and warehouse employees. Schedulers partic- ipate with hourly warehouse and store employees in spot and weekly inventories conducted in the ware- house and plants. Although the schedulers share su- pervision with general clerks and order clerks, whose duties are primarily office clerical, it appears that the clerical work of the schedulers is factory oriented, and that they share a community of interest with plant clericals.10 We shall, therefore, include them in the unit. Expediters are responsible for making certain that all manufacturing components necessary for pro- duction of an item are available in inventory. The expediter is also responsible for insuring that the spec- ified shipping date for an order is met. In the course of their duties the expediters contact schedulers, fac- tory foremen, and hourly paid machine operators, as well as all other personnel involved in the production process, to discuss work on a particular job or to determine when a particular operation may be com- pleted. The record indicates that approximately 70-75 percent of their time is spent in production areas. We find that the expediters perform essentially plant cleri- cal work and shall include them in the unit. The inventory control clerks work under the same supervision as the expediters and are also located in the plant 1 production area. These employees are re- sponsible for tracking and controlling inventories of parts in stock. In this connection, they order parts and maintain inventory records and files of routers. They have very close contacts with hourly rated store clerks who are covered by the collective-bargaining contract since the inventory clerk verifies the clerical records against the actual physical count that is made by the hourly employee. We find that the inventory control clerks have a close community of interest with plant clericals and include them in the unit herein found appropriate. Dispatchers work under the same supervision as the inventory control clerks and expediters. They are re- sponsible for guiding orders through the production process in their assigned areas to the designated pro- duction areas . They spend almost all their time in the factory departments to which they are assigned. We find that the dispatchers are plant clericals and in- clude them in the unit. Traffic department: Traffic clerks handle the rout- ing of shipments by selecting the mode of transporta- tion and the route for shipment. They work closely with one hourly paid traffic clerk, who is a member of the production and maintenance bargaining unit, and work under the same supervisor. The employees in question are located in the warehouse in plant 4. Because of the nature of their work they have daily contact with hourly rated warehouse personnel. We are of the opinion that they have a community of interest with plant clericals and shall include them in the unit. 10 See Ldhston Implement Company, 121 NLRB 868, 870. MOSLER SAFE COMPANY Controller 's office: In addition to the timekeepers and lead timekeeper , who the parties stipulated and who we found should be included in the unit, ac- countants , accounting clerks , billing clerks , accounts payable clerks, and cost clerks are employed in this office . All the employees in general accounting work in an office area designated as "Accounting" on the second floor of plant 1 . The accounting clerks per- form a variety of routine calculations , posting, coding, typing, and filing duties . The junior and senior ac- countants do the more difficult related functions. The Employer requires a minimum of a high school educa- tion with some interest in continuing night school training in accounting . The normal progression is from accounting clerk to junior accountant to senior accountant . The group members rarely leave the of- fice areas to accomplish their purpose , although em- ployees working in cost accounting spend a minority of their time in other office and plant areas . The ac- counts payable clerks and cost clerks do related ac- counting work and also spend the overwhelming part of their time in their own or other office areas. We find that the accounting group are office clericals and exclude them.]] On the basis of the foregoing , the parties ' stipula- tions , and the entire record , we find that the following employees of the Employer constitute a unit appropri- ate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act: .All plant clerical employees of the Employer at Its plants 1, 2, and 4 located at Hamilton, Ohio, including timekeepers and clerks to foremen, schedulers , expediters , inventory control clerks, 11 See Carting Brewing Company, Inc., 126 NLRB 347, 348 655 dispatchers, traffic clerks, vault custodians, vault order clerks, ozalid machine operators, and mi- crofilm machine operators, excluding all office clerical employees, confidential employees, tech- nical employees, managerial employees, profes- sional employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act, and all other employees, in- cluding plant clericals represented under current collective-bargaining agreements. Although the unit we thus find appropriate differs from that sought by the Petitioner, we shall not dis- miss the petition inasmuch as the Petitioner has not specifically disclaimed interest in such unit. We shall, therefore, order a direction of an election, as provided below, subject to the Regional Director's ascertaining that the Petitioner has made an adequate showing of interest among the employees in the appropriate unit. If the Petitioner does not now desire to participate in an election in the unit found appropriate herein, we shall permit it to withdraw its petition without preju- dice upon written notice to the Regional Director within 10 days from the date of this Decision. [Direction of Election 12 omitted from publication.] 12 In order to assure that all eligible voters may have the opportunity to be informed of the issues in the exercise of their statutory right to vote, all parties to the election should have access to a list of voters and their addresses which may be used to communicate with them . Excelsior Underwear Inc., 156 NLRB 1236, N L.R.B. v. Wyman-Gordon Company, 394 U.S. 759. According- ly, it is hereby directed that an election eligibility list, containing the names and addresses of all the eligible voters, must be filed by the Employer with the Regional Director for Region 9 within 7 days of the date of this Decision and Direction of Election The list may initially be used by the Regional Director to assist in determining an adequate showing of interest The Re- gional Director shall make this list available to all parties to the election when he shall have determined that an adequate showing of interest among the employees in the unit found appropriate has been established . No extension of time to file this list shall be granted by the Regional Director except in extraordinary circumstances. Failure to comply with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside the election whenever proper objections are filed.