Phalo Plastics Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 24, 1960

127 N.L.R.B. 1511 (N.L.R.B. 1960)

PHALO PLASTICS CORPORATION 1511
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
During all times relevant herein, the Foundry Department (UAW-AFL-CIO)
was not required to comply with Section 9(f), (g), and (h) of the Act as those
sections existed prior to the time they were eliminated by the Labor-Management
Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959.
[Recommendations omitted from publication.]
Phalo Plastics Corporation and United Steelworkers of America,
AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case No. 1-RC-5882. June 24, 1960
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, hearings i were held before John Madden, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearings are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member
panel [Members Bean, Jenkins, and Fanning].
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 organization involved claims to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the represen-
tation of certain employees of the Employer within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The parties are in general agreement 2 as to the appropriateness
of the units requested by the Petitioner, but the Employer would
include, and the Petitioner would exclude as supervisors, group leaders
George LePage, Ralph Darling and Arthur Cunningham on the first,
second, and third shifts, respectively, in the extrusion department;
Richard St. Onge on the first shift in the warehouse and materials
department; Adolphe Sokoloski on the first shift in the spooling and
shipping department; and George Sherran on the third shift in the
braiding and shielding department. The Employer also would
include, and the Petitioner would exclude as supervisors, floorladies
Helen Puza and Blanche Legare on the first and second shifts, respec-
tively, in the cord set department, and Ruth Severe and Joan Glatki
on the first and second shifts, respectively, in the assembly department.
1 Hearings were held on February 8 and 16, 1960, in Boston and Worcester , Massa-
chusetts, respectively.
2 Following a prior election held on December 19, 1958, the Board in its Supplemental
Decision , Direction, and Order , issued on March 31, 1959 , sustained Petitioner 's challenges
to the ballots of floorladies Joan Glatki and Blanche Legare. See Phalo Plastics Corpo-
ration, 123 NLRB 503.
8 As amended at the first hearing.
127 NLRB No. 170.
1512 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Employer is engaged in the manufacture of insulated wire and
cable for sights and assemblies for the electronics and appliance indus-
tries and operates a plant in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, with an
overall employment of approximately 450.
The top operating official of the Employer is Dwight McQuiston,
works manager, whose job it is to coordinate the operations of the
various production departments. Production orders are issued in the
form of job assignment cards which detail the raw materials to be
used and set forth dimensional characteristics and other pertinent
technical information. These cards are prepared in the production
auditing department in conjunction with Superintendent Gerald St.
Jean who determines the appropriate production unit and selects the
necessary materials. The job assignment cards are placed in racks
in the production departments and distributed to employees by group
leaders and floorladies. In addition to assisting in preparation of job
assignment cards, St. Jean is in charge of the extrusion department.
St. Jean is present during all of the first shift and part of the second
shift. Superintendent Arthur LeBert has overall supervision of
personnel on the second shift except for extrusion department per-
sonnel. William Skarin is supervisor and in full charge of both
the warehouse and materials department and spooling and shipping
department. Superintendent Lake is in charge of both the cord set
and assembly departments. Working directly under him are Arthur
Fortin, supervisor on the first shift in cord set, whose duties overlap
on the second shift the same as St. Jean's; and Robert McQuiston and
Richard Meyers, supervisors on the first and second shifts, respec-
tively, in assembly. None of the foregoing are on duty in the plant
on the third shift. All of the above officials are paid a straight salary.
It is the duty of group leaders LePage, Darling and Cunningham in
the extrusion department to remove job cards from racks where they
have been placed in proper sequence by Superintendent St. Jean and,
following instructions thereon, deliver them to the appropriate ma-
chine operators. They assist in the selection of tools, perform as relief
operators, make visual spot-check observations of finished work,
and report disciplinary problems to Superintendent St. Jean, either
directly or by phone.
In the warehouse and materials department, it is the general
function of group leader St. Onge to determine in what part of the
warehouse incoming materials are to be stored. However, Supervisor
Skarin is in charge of the whole warehousing operation which has five
employees including the group leaders.
The function of group leader Sokoloski in the spooling and shipping
area is principally the same as that of the group leaders in the extru-
sion department as regards distribution of work assignments. Also
PHALO PLASTICS CORPORATION 1513
necessary is a familiarity with the routing and grouping of materials
for trucking companies.
In the braiding and shielding department, which has 12 to 14 em-
ployees all located in 1 room, group leader Sherran serves the same
function as the group leaders in the extrusion department. He does
not assign work but rather distributes job cards and checks materials.
The duties of floorladies Puza, Legare, Severe, and Glatki are basic-
ally the same as the duties of the group leaders discussed above. They
distribute the prepared job assignment cards, help in the selection of
tools and in setting up equipment, and in moving materials from one
machine to another. They act as intermediaries between the 40 or
so women employees in their respective departments and their super-
visors. It does not appear that they function as relief operators.
The foregoing evidence, while indicating that group leaders and
floorladies are charged with some leadership responsibilities, discloses
that their direction of the work of others is routine in nature and does
not require the use of independent judgment .4 Nor, except for group
leaders Cunningham and Sherran, who are the only representatives
of management present in the plant during the third shift operations
of their departments, does it appear that they possess any of the other
statutory indicia of supervisory status. Thus, none of the group lead-
ers or floorladies has authority to hire, fire, or discipline employees,
or effectively to recommend such action; they do not attend any super-
visory meetings; requests for permission to leave the plant are merely
transmitted by them to higher officials ; they are not consulted for their
opinions when determinations are made as to periodic increases for
individual operators; they are hourly paid at a rate slightly higher
than the rate for regular operators; they punch a timeclock; they
enjoy the same benefits and hospitalization as the production workers;
and they are docked for being absent just as are production workers.
Accordingly, we find that group leaders LePage, Darling. St. Onge,
and Sokoloski, and floorladies Puza, Legare, Severe, and Glatki are
not supervisors within the meaning of the Act and we shall include
them in the unit.
However, as group leaders Cunningham and Sherran on the third
shift in the extrusion department and braiding and shielding depart-
ment are each solely responsible for the production of the employees
under them at a time when no other supervisors are present in the
plant, we find that they are supervisors within the meaning of the
Act and we shall exclude both of them from the unit.'
In view of the foregoing, we find that the following employees at the
Employer's plant in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, constitute a unit
4 See Lampcraft Industries , Inc, 127 NLRB 92; and Illinois Canning Co., 125 NLRB 699.
Southern Industries Company, et al., 92 NLRB 998.
1514 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act :
All production and maintenance employees, including shipping-
room employees and inspectors both in production and quality control
departments, group leaders George LePage, Ralph Darling, Richard
St. Onge, and Adolphe Sokoloski, and floorladies Helen Puza, Blanche
Legare, Ruth Severe, and Joan Glatki, but excluding all office clerical
employees, professional employees, group leaders Arthur Cunningham
and George Sherran, guards, and all other supervisors as defined in
the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
Local 220, International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine
Workers of America and its president, Edward L. Lussier
and Package Machinery Company. Case No. 1-CB-603. June
:27, 1960
DECISION AND ORDER
On December 28,1959, Trial Examiner Charles W. Schneider issued
his Intermediate Report in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that
the Respondents had engaged in and were engaging in unfair labor
practices in violation of Section 8 (b) (3) of the Act and recommend-
ing that they cease and desist therefrom and take certain affirmative
action, as set forth in the copy of the Intermediate Report attached
hereto. The Trial Examiner also found that the Respondents did not
violate Section 8(b) (1) (A) of the Act and recommended that the
complaint be dismissed with respect to this allegation. Thereafter,
the Respondents, the General Counsel, and the Company filed excep-
tions to the Intermediate Report and supporting briefs.
The Board i has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner made
at the hearing and finds that no prejudicial error was committed.
The rulings are hereby affirmed. The Board has considered the Inter-
mediate Report, the exceptions and briefs, and the entire record in
the case, and, for reasons given below, concludes that the complaint
should be dismissed in its entirety.
1. The Trial Examiner found that Respondents directed employees
of the Company to refuse to work overtime and to engage in inter-
mittent work stoppages during bargaining negotiations for the pur-
pose of compelling the Company to agree to a bargaining contract and
thereby violated Section 8(b) (3) of the Act. In arriving at this
' Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the Board has delegated its
powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Leedom and
Members Bean and Jenkins].
127 NLRB No. 174.