Otis Elevator Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 15, 1954

108 N.L.R.B. 1351 (N.L.R.B. 1954)

OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY 1351
OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY,and LOCAL #6, INTERNATION-
AL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, AFL
and LOCAL LODGES 68, 1327, 1176, 1330, 284, 824, 1566,
1518 and 1173 , DISTRICT 115, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCI-
ATION OF MACHINISTS, AFL. Case No. 20-RM-135. June
15, 1954
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Robert V.
Magor, 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 this case, the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning
of the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent
certain employees of the Employer.1
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Employer requests a determination of representatives
in a unit which it alleges as consisting of the electrical produc -
tion workers in the electrical department of its San Francisco
plant.
The Employer manufactures elevators in the works depart-
ment of its San Francisco plant. This department comprises
six operating units, i.e., shipping department , stockroom,
machine shop, welding shop, carpenter shop, and electrical
department. Prior to October 1953, the electrical depart-
ment consisted of a foreman , two journeymen electricians,
and an apprentice, and was located, together with the other
departments , on the first floor of the plant. These electricians
are responsible for maintenance of the plant's electrical
equipment, perform wiring, and repair and rebuild the elec-
trical parts of elevators. They also spend a substantial portion
of their time performing the purely production task of assem-
bling elevator controllers.:
In October 1953, in furtherance of a planto expand production
of elevator controllers, the Employer moved the electrical
department into a larger area on the second floor of the plant.
Since that time, the Employer has added four employees in a
new employee category, "controller assembler," to the
1 The Unions, Local #6, international Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL, and the local
lodges of District 115, International Association of Machinists, AFL, are hereinafter referred
to as the 113E W and the IAM respectively.
2 An elevator controller is an elaborate , custom made, electrical mechanism which controls
the operation of an elevator . The construction of each controller is performed by a single
employee, who spends from 40 to 60 working hours in its completion.
108 NLRB No. 192.
1352 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
department's employee complement. All the employees in the
new category have had prior experience in the electrical
industry .3 They are not , however, required to possess the
knowledge or skill of a journeyman electrician . Although it is
possible for employees to progress from the classification of
controller assembler to journeyman electrician , they are not
required to undergo any formalized training nor is there any
such program provided for them as there is in the case of the
Employer ' s one apprentice electrician . The controller assem-
blers work side by side with and perform the same duties as
the journeymen electricians in the assembly of elevator con-
trollers , but perform none of the other duties of the electricians.
From these facts it is apparent that the controller assemblers,
though possessing some degree of electrical skill, are not
craftsmen.
Most of the Employer ' s production employees are covered
by an associationwide contract with the IAM.4 Employees in
the electrical department have been covered since 1946 by a
contract between the Employer and the IBEW. On October 1,
1953, the Employer and the IBEW amended their current con-
tract specifically to include the category of controller assem-
blers, and thereafter the Employer procured the personnel to
fill these new positions through the IBEW . The conditions of
employment provided by the IBEW contract , including its
pension plan , have since that time been applied to the controller
assemblers . The IAM, however , asserts that because the con-
troller assemblers are solely engaged in production tasks, they
are therefore part of the production unit covered by its con-
tract.5
The facts above set forth show that the issues in this case
arise from the creation of the new employee category of con-
troller assembler and the rival claims of the two incumbent
Unions to represent the employees hired to fill this position.6
It is clear that , on the one hand, as the controller assemblers
perform solely production tasks they may properly be included
within the unit of production employees represented by the 1AM.
On the other hand, there is evidence in the record to indicate
that the unit represented by the IBEW since 1946 has been co-
3 The Employer estimates that it would take 2 years to train a person to perform intelli-
gently the duties of a controller assembler.
4The IAM contract does not cover two carpenters and a truckdriver, as to whom the Em-
ployer follows the Carpenter's and Teamster's area practice. It also provides for the exclu-
sion of employees specifically represented by other unions.
5 The IAM also asserts that its current contract, which became effective on May 16, 1953,
is a bar to this proceeding . The category of controller assembler , however, was not in exist-
ence when the contract was executed , and there is no evidence that the parties contemplated
the addition of this classification at that time. Under these circumstances, we find that the
IAM's contract is not a bar to this proceeding , International Harvester Company, 94 NLRB
907 at 908; Victor Electric Products, Inc., 79 NLRB 373, footnote 1.
6 There appears to be no question as to the representation by the IBEW of the journeymen
electricians and apprentice within the unit covered by its contract.
HUNT HEATER CORPORATION 1353
extensive with the electrical department;, and there are certain
factors which tend to show that the controller assemblers
possess a substantial community of interest with the other em-
ployees in the electrical department.8 Under all the circum-
stances, we find that the controller assemblers may appro-
priately be represented either as part of the production unit
represented by the IAM or as part of a unit comprising the
electrical department represented by the IBEW.9 We shall
make no determination at this time but shall first ascertain
the desires of the controller assemblers in the election here-
inafter directed.
We therefore direct an election in a voting group composed
of the controller assemblers. If a majority vote for the IAM,
they will be taken to have indicated their desire to be a part
of the production unit, and the IAM may bargain for them as
part of its existing unit. If a majority vote for the IBEW, they
will be taken to have indicated their desire to be a part of the
electrical department unit, and the IBEW may bargain for
them as part of its existing unit.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
7 The IBEW contracts, though not clearly disclosing whether the unit intended to be covered
has been craft or departmentwide in scope, nevertheless have listed among the included
categories not only the journeymen electricians and apprentices but also the apparently
less skilled or unskilled categories inthedepartment, such as coil winders and shop laborers.
Although for 2 years or more, the Employer has not employed coil winders or shop laborers,
such categories have in fact been employed by the Employer in the electrical department
during its representation by the 113E W.
8In addition to the facts mentioned before, the record shows that the controller assemblers
and the rest of the employees in the electrical department are separately supervised, sepa-
rately located, perform a type of work not performed elsewhere in the plant, have separate
facilities, and carry out almost all of their duties within the confines of the electrical depart-
ment.
9Board Member Murdock would find that the controller assemblers may appropriately
be included in the production unit represented by the IAM but not in the unit currently
represented by the IBEW, for the following reasons: (1) The unit currently represented by
the IBEW includes only craftsmen and their apprentices, (2) the controller assemblers are
not craftsmen but perform the purely production task of assembling elevator controllers. In
these circumstances Member Murdock would find that the controller assemblers may not
be added to the craft unit represented by the IBEW and would direct an election only to deter-
mine whether or not these employees desire to be represented as part of the production unit
currently represented by the IAM.
HUNT HEATER CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL UNION,
UNITED AUTOMOBILE WORKERS OF AMERICA, A. F. OF
L. Cases Nos. 10-CA-1616 and 10-CA-1749. June 18, 1954
DECISION AND ORDER
On March 15, 1954, Trial Examiner John H. Eadie issued
his Intermediate Report in the above-entitled proceeding,
108 NLRB No. 200.