111 N.L.R.B. 881 (N.L.R.B. 1955)

Peter Kiewit Sons Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsMar 7, 1955

111 N.L.R.B. 881 (N.L.R.B. 1955)

PETER KIEWIT SONS COMPANY 881 PETER KIEWIT SONS COMPANY anid AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TECHNI- CAL ENGINEERS, LOCAL No. 159, AFL, PETITIONER GRINNELL CORPORATION and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TECHNICAL EN- GINEERS, LOCAL No. 159, AFL, PETITIONER REYNOLDS-NEWBERRY, JOINT VENTURE and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TECHNICAL ENGINEERS, LOCAL No. 159, AFL, PETITIONER. Cases Nos. 9-RC-2350,9-RC-2351, and 9-RC-2352. March 7, 1955 Decision and Direction of Elections Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before Harold M. Kennedy, 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 these cases , the Board finds : 1. Each Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain em- ployees of the Employers. 3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the representation of employees of the Employers within the meaning of Section 9 (c) ( 1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Employers perform construction work for the Atomic En- ergy Commission pursuant to cost-plus -fixed-fee contracts . The Peti- tioner seeks to represent in separate units the cost engineers of each of the three companies . Kiewit employs 17 cost engineers , Grinnell em- ploys 14 cost engineers , and Reynolds -Newberry employs 11 cost engi- neers. The function of the cost engineers is to compute and record the cost of labor and materials which go into the construction of each particular building, pipeline, powerline , etc., of that part of the proj- ect which the Employers have contracted to build. They do this by personal observation of the various construction crews and by obtain- ing from construction crew foremen daily written statements detail- ing the amount of time the crew devoted to a particular construction operation . The cost engineers translate this information into a nu- merical code, which they enter on cards. These cards are then punched by an IBM machine operator , thus giving the Employer an easily 'obtainable record of all cost items . The cost engineers consult a stand- ard code book in order to determine the proper codes to assign to the information they obtain . Certain of the cost engineers work in the office as distinguished from the field. They audit the cost cards of the field cost engineers , prepare similar cards for items requisitioned from the Employers ' supply depots, and may abstract from the IBM 111 NLRB No. 145 882 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD cards information relating to a particular item and prepare reports based on such information. No college education is required for employment as a cost engineer. The previous employment background of the cost engineers has been mainly in the fields of accounting, payroll, timekeeping, and other clerical fields. The Employer contends that the units requested by the Petitioner are inappropriate because the cost engineers are neither professional nor technical employees. We agree that the cost engineers are not pro- fessional or technical employees. Their training and their functions are essentially that of clerical employees. However, it appears that the Employers' office clerical employees are represented in separate cer- tified units by a union which did not intervene in this proceeding.' In the proceedings which resulted in certification of separate office cler- ical units for each Employer, the cost engineers were excluded from the units by stipulation. Moreover, there does not appear to be any other residual group of unrepresented employees with whom the cost engineers could be grouped. Under these circumstances, we find that the cost engineers of the respective Employers constitute appropriate units for purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. Accordingly we shall direct elections to be held in the following appropriate units : All cost engineers employed by Peter Kiewit Sons' Company at its Pike County Atomic Energy Project, Portsmouth, Ohio, excluding supervisors as defined in the Act and all other employees. All cost engineers employed by Grinnell Corporation, at its Pike County Atomic Energy Project, Portsmouth, Ohio, excluding super- visors as defined in the Act and all other employees. All cost engineers employed by Reynolds-Newberry, Joint Venture, at its Pike County Atomic Energy Project, Portsmouth, Ohio, exclud- ing supervisors as defined in the Act and all other employees. [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.] 1 Peter Ksewit Song' Co., 106 NLRB 194; Reynolds -Newberry, Joint Venture, 9-RC-2078, and Grennell Corpo,ation, 9-RC-2051, not reported in printed volume of Board Decisions and Orders. PACIFIC MOULDED PRODUCTS and UNITED RUBBER , CORK, LINOLEUM AND PLASTIC WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER . Case No. 21-RC- 3783. March 8,1955 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 Martin Zimring, hearing 111 NLRB No. 142.