Pacific Car and Foundry Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 8, 1947

73 N.L.R.B. 211 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter Of PACIFIC CAR AND FOUNDRY COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
NURSES & PROFESSIONAL WORKERS UNION, LOCAL No . 126, AFL,
PETITIONER
Case No. 19-R-0037.-Decided April 8, 1947
Messrs. Grosseup , Ambler c6 Stephan , by Mr. Pendleton Miller, of
Seattle, Wash., for the Employer.
Messrs. Ward Coley and William K. Dobbins , of Seattle , Wash., for
the Petitioner.
Miss Muriel J. Levor, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon an amended petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held
at Seattle, Washington, on December 27 and 28, 1946, before Daniel
R. Dimick, 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
Pacific Car and Foundry Company, a Washington corporation,
with its principal office and place of business at Renton, Washington,
is engaged in the construction and repair of railway freight cars and
in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of iron and steel products.
During the past year, the Employer purchased raw materials, con-
sisting chiefly of steel, iron, and lumber, valued in excess of $5,000,000,
of which 50 percent came to the plant from points outside the State of
Washington. During the same period, the Employer's sales of tractor
accessories and equipment, bus bodies, railway freight cars, and vari-
ous steel fabricated products amounted to approximately $16,000,000,
I The petition and other formal papers were amended at the hearing to disclose the cor-
rect name of the Employer
73 N L It B, No. 35
211
212 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of which 75 percent was shipped to points outside the State of
Washington.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
11. THE ORGANIZATION INVOL\n:D
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Em-
ployer.
III. THE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE. UNIT; Tlli? ALLEGED QUESTION
CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Petitioner contends that nurses working at the Employer's
Renton, Washington, plant constitute a unit appropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining. The Employer contends that nurses
are not employees within the meaning of the Act, and at the hearing,
moved to dismiss the petition on that ground.
The employees herein concerned are registered nurses whose duties
for the most part consist of the treatment of minor ailments and of
injuries received by employees at the plant in the course of their em-
ployment. Such, functions are neither managerial nor confidential
in character, nor need they cause any conflict between self-organiza-
tion and the faithful performance of duty. Accordingly, we find no
merit to the Employer's contention that they are not employees within
the meaning of the Act.2
At the time of the hearing, there were two nurses at the Renton
plant, a staff nurse, and a head nurse. The head nurse, in addition
to the duties of staff nurse, is required to formulate policy and pro-
cedure for the nursing department, is responsible for all records, and
supervises the work of staff nurses. She hires such nurses as are
required, after consultation with the personnel director, and has the
power to make effective recommendations concerning the status of
staff nurses. In view of these facts, the head nurse is a supervisory
employee -within our definition of the term. Accordingly, we shall
exclude the head nurse from the unit.
As we have frequently held, the principle of collective bargaining
presupposes that there is more than one eligible person who desires
to bargain, and the Act, therefore, does not empower the Board to
certify collective bargaining representatives where only one employee
is involved.3 One staff nurse cannot be considered as constituting an
2 Matter o f Electric Auto-Lite Company, 50 N L R B 68 , Matter of Bethlehem -Alameda
Shipyard, Inc, 59 N L R 13 1525
3 Matter of Central Foundry Company , 20 N L R. B. 131, and cases cited therein.
PACIFIC CAR AND FOUNDRY COMPANY 213
appropriate bargaining unit. Since, in the absence of a sufficient
n miber of eligible employees, the bargaining unit sought by the peti-
tion is inappropriate ,' we find no question has arisen concerning the
representation of employees at the Employer's plant.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, and the entire
record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders
that the petition for investigation and certification of representatives
of employees of Pacific Car and Foundry Company, Renton, Wash-
ington , filed by United Nurses & Professional Workers Union, Local
No. 126, AFL, be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Order.
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