National Traffic Guard Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 30, 1948

78 N.L.R.B. 846 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of NATIONAL TRAFFIC GUARD COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, DISTRICT LODGE No. 46,
PETITIONER
Case No. 10-RC-169.-Decided July 30, 1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. At the hearing, the
hearing officer permitted United Steel Workers of America, the recog-
nized bargaining representative of the employees herein involved, to
intervene in this proceeding. Inasmuch as this organization has not
complied with the filing requirements of Section 9 (f), (g), and (h)
of the Act, as amended, and has not established a current contractual
interest in the employees concerned, the hearing officer's ruling is
reversed. The hearing officer's other 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,2 the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
'2. The labor organization named below claims to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question of representation 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.
1 After the hearing, the Employer filed and served on the Petitioner a motion to correct a
typographical error in the transcript. No objections having been filed thereto, it is ordered
that the transcript be, and it hereby is, corrected in accordance with the motion.
*Houston, Reynolds, and Gray.
2 The Employer 's request for oral argument is denied , inasmuch as, in our opinion, the
record and the briefs adequately present the issues and the positions of the parties.
78 N. L. R. B., No. 109.
846
NATIONAL TRAFFIC GUARD COMPANY 847
4. The Petitioner seeks a unit of all machinists in the Employer's
machine shop , including machinist apprentices and maintenance
mechanics in the machine shop , but excluding chippers and grinders
and all supervisors . The Employer contends that only a plant-wide
unit is appropriate because of the history of collective bargaining and
the integrated nature of the Employer 's operations.
The machinists in the proposed unit are highly skilled employees
-and have served an apprenticeship of at least 4 years . None of the
other employees in the plant is qualified to do their work. Machinists
have separate working quarters and retain their separate immediate
supervision , even though they make repairs on equipment in the plant.
There is no interchange between the machinists in the machine shop
and other employees in the plant , except in the rare instances of
,emergency. The machinists ' hourly pay rate is higher than that of
most production employees.
Machinists in the proposed unit constitute an identifiable, homo-
geneous craft group such as the Board has, in the past , found appro-
priate as a separate unit for purposes of collective bargaining.3 This
result has been reached notwithstanding a history of collective bar-
gaining on a plant-wide basis. Under these circumstances we are of
the opinion that the machinists in the group sought by the Petitioner
may at this time constitute a separate appropriate unit if they so
desire.
The Petitioner would include in the unit of machinists and ap-
prentices , a maintenance mechanic employed in the machine shop.
This employee works with the machinists in the machine shop in
building new machinery and in erecting or tearing down work that
comes into the machine shop for repairs . His job requires skills
similar to that of the machinists , his wage scale is the same as that of
the machinists , and he uses the same type of equipment as do these
employees . His interests and duties are so closely allied with those of
the machinists in the machine shop as to warrant his inclusion in the
craft unit . We shall therefore include him .4
There are approximately 27 chippers and grinders at the Employ-
er's plant, 2 or 3 of whom are stationed in the machine shop. They do
not use the tools used by the machinists , and they do not have the
S Matter of United States Potash Company, 77 N. L R . B. 947 ; Matter of Continental
Can Company, 76 N. L R . B. 131 ; Matter of Marshall Field d Company , 76 N. L. It. B. 479 ;
Matter of National Container Corporation, Inc., Southern Container Division, 75 N. L. R. B.
770.
' Two other employees at the plant are classified as maintenance mechanics Neither of
these works in the machine shop . One of these maintenance mechanics works in the Em-
ployer's foundry as a member of the service crew in charge of plant repair and emergency
break-downs . The other , although classified as a maintenance mechanic, does mostly
electrical work for the entire plant. Neither of these employees is included in the voting
group.
848 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
technical skill and knowledge of the machinists. There is no pro-
gression for chippers and grinders to machinist as a matter of promo-
tion. Because of the difference in skill and type of work performed,
we shall exclude the chippers and grinders from the voting group.
We will make no final unit determination at this time, but shall be
guided in part by the desires of these employees as expressed in the
election hereinafter directed. We shall direct an election among all
machinists, machinist trainees, and maintenance mechanics in the
Employer's machine shop, excluding chippers and grinders and all
supervisors. If a majority vote for the Petitioner, they will be taken
to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate appropriate
unit.
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-Series 5, among the em-
ployees described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed
during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this
Direction of Election, including employees who did not work during
said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tempo-
rarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since quit or
been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated
prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees on
strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether they
desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by
International Association of Machinists, District Lodge No. 46.