Phillips Oil Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 25, 1951

94 N.L.R.B. 1438 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

1438 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR - RELATIONS BOARD
labor relations. We find, therefore, that Comotois is not a confidential
employee, and we shall include her in the unit 11
We find that all office clerical employees of the Employer at its
Gardner, Massachusetts, plant, including the departments which both
parties have agreed to include'12 the janitorial department, the mer-
chandise development department, the general accounting department,
the auditing department, the section leader in the billing department,'3
the purchasing assistant and expediter in the purchasing department,14
the secretary to the vice president in charge of sales,16 the assistant to
the supervisor in the order and billing department,'s and the secretary
in the time-study department, but excluding time-study employees, the
nurses, all other employees, plant guards, professional employees,'' and
all supervisors as defined in the Act constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
^' Phillips Oil Company, supra.
12 The parties agree to include the cashier ' s department , adjustment department , credit
department, addressograph department , switchboard department , cost estimating depart-
ment, accounting reports department , timekeeping department , traffic department , advertis-
ing department, production department , salvage department , engineering department,
treasurer 's department , methods engineering department , sales accounting department,
filing department , utility department, material accounting department , payroll department,
labor analysis department, purchasing department , billing department , stenographic
department , accounts receivable department , and sales department.
13 Gertrude Dwyer.
is Victor Lesneski.
16 Justina Comotois.
Anne F. Holland.
17 The record does not reveal whether certain employees , included by agreement of the
parties, are professional employees within the meaning of the amended Act. The titles
of these employees ( e. g., oil burner specialist ; engineer , tool and die ; engineer , bill of
material ; engineer, equipment and building ; engineer , jr. tool and die ) indicate that they
may be professional employees not properly included in the office clerical unit. If they are
professional employees , they are excluded from the unit.
PHILLIPS OIL COMPANY and OIL WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION,
CIO, PETITIONER. Case No. 39-RC-294. June 25, 1951
Decision and Direction of Elections
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Charles Y. Latimer, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing 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 [Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Murdock].
94 NLRB No. 208.
PHILLIPS OIL COMPANY 1439
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 em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce 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.
4. The appropriate unit :
a. The contentions of the parties
The Petitioner seeks to represent a plant-wide unit covering the
operating, laboratory, and maintenance departments in the Em-
ployer's Sweeny refinery, excluding machinists 1 and such employees
as may be covered by contracts with other labor organizations .2 The
Petitioner is willing, however, to participate in separate elections
among maintenance department employees, in addition to a plant-wide
election, if the Board should direct such elections in accordance with
the unit requests of the intervening unions.
The Pipefitters 3 seeks the following' separate units: (1) All first
and second class instrumentmen and instrumentmen helpers; (2) the
toolroom mechanic and his helper; (3) all countermen and storehouse
helpers; (4) all general maintenance helpers; (5) all first and second
class pipe fitters and pipe-fitter helpers; and (6) all first and second
.class welders and welder helpers. However, as to the last two of
.these groups, the pipe fitters and the welders, the Pipefitters contends
that an election should be held therein only if previous Board certifica-
tions 4 do not bar a present determination of representatives.
The Boilermakers 5 seeks a unit of all first and second class boiler-
makers and boilermaker helpers.
1 Pursuant to a Board Decision and Direction of Election (88 NLRB 505), Lodge 128,
International Association of Machinists was certified on February 27, 1950, for a, unit
of machinists , maintenance equipment mechanics , and salvagemen in the maintenance
department of the Sweeny refinery. The certified union and the Employer executed a
contract covering these employees on October 3, 1950.
2 Except for the contract covering machinists , no such contracts had been executed
up to the time of the hearing. As indicated below, one of the intervening unions has
been certified by the Board for separate units of pipe fitters and welders and another for
a unit of electricians.
8 Local 211 , United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and
Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada, AFL.
'Following a Board Decision and Direction of Election (unpublished ), the Pipefitters
won an election in the welders ' unit on July 26, 1950, and was certified by the Board on
August 3 , 1950 . The Board also certified a predecessor local of the Pipefitters for the
pipe fitters ' unit on May 16, 1949, following a Board Decision and Direction of Election
(82 NRB 1227).
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers , Iron Ship Builders and Helpers of
America, AFL.
1440 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Carpenters 6 seeks a unit of all first and second class carpenters
and carpenter helpers.
The Operating Engineers 7 seeks a unit of all employees in the
material handling section, including crane operators, tractor oper-
ators, heavy truck drivers, and light truck drivers.
The Electrical Workers," although seeking to represent a unit of
all first and second class electricians and electrician helpers, claims
that its existing certification in this unit is a bar to an election now.,,
The Insulators 10 seeks a unit of all first, and second class insulators
and insulator helpers.
The Employer agrees that separate elections should be held in the
separate units sought by the various intervenors. However, the
Employer also contends that separate elections should be held for the
following groups of employees in the maintenance department: (1)
All painters and painter helpers, and (2) all laborers. Contrary to the
.contention of the Petitioner, the Employer urges the holding of
separate elections for employees in the operating and laboratory de-
partments.
b. The Employer's' operations and bargaining history
The Employer, a subsidiary of the Phillips Petroleum Company,
is engaged in the refining and processing of crude oil in the Sweeny
refinery, Old Ocean, Texas. The refinery, including terminal opera-
tions, consists of 3 departments, namely, operating, laboratory, and
maintenance, and provides employment for approximately 360 per-
sons exclusive of professional employees and supervisors. Each de-
partment is under separate supervision, the head of each department
reporting directly to the refinery superintendent. There are approxi-
mately 178 employees in the maintenance department, and each of the
divisions therein has separate intermediate supervision.1Y Also in-
cluded in the maintenance department are a group of general main-
tenance helpers, who are assigned as needed to the various divisions,
and a labor gang.
During World War II, the Sweeny refinery was operated by the
J. S. Abercrombie Company and the Harrison Oil Company as joint
6 Local 213, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL.
7 Local 450, International Union of Operating Engineers, AFL.
8 Local 716, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL.
9 After a Board Decision and Direction of Election ( 58 NLRB 1013 ), the Electrical
Workers was certified in 1944 for the electrical employees involved herein who at that
time were employed by a company other than the Employer herein.
10 Local 102, International Association of Heat , and Frost Insulators and Asbestos
Workers, AFL.
11 These divisions are : Mechanical , including the machinists ( an agreed upon exclusion
from all units in this case ) ; instrument and electrical ; pipe fitter-boilermaker-welder-
material handling ; miscellaneous crafts , including the carpenters, insulators , and painters;
and warehouse , including the countermen and storehouse helpers.
PHILLIPS OIL COMPANY 1441_
lessees of the United States Government. In 1944, the Board directed-
elections in various craft groups in the maintenance department, in-
cluding boilermakers and electricians, and in a plant-wide unit 12
The refinery was closed for a period of time after the war, and was
reopened when the facilities were purchased by the Alamo Refining'
Company, which, like the Employer, was a subsidiary of the Phillips.
Petroleum Company. In April 1949, the Board directed an election 13.
in a unit of pipe fitters identical with the unit sought by the Pipefitters
herein, and in the following month certified a predecessor local of the.
Pipefitters 14 as the bargaining representative for such unit. The.
'Board also certified the Pipefitters in a unit of welders on August 3,.
1950.
c. The proposed plant-wide unit
As noted above, the Petitioner has requested a plant-wide unit.
The record shows that there has been no substantial change in the
operation or organizational structure of the Sweeny refinery since
1944. The Employer has offered no persuasive reason in support of
its contention for separate units in the operating and laboratory de-
partments, and no union seeks to represent these employees separately.
Accordingly, we shall include both departments in the plant-wide
voting group sought by the Petitioner.
It has. been Board policy to grant separate self-determination elec-
tions to characteristic craft groups in this industry even in the face
of a history of bargaining on a broader basis 15 We see no reason
to depart from this policy here. There remains for consideration,
nevertheless, a determination as to the appropriateness of the various
voting groups requested.
d. The proposed craft groups
Pipe fitters, welders, boilermakers, carpenters, and electricians.-
Employees in each of these categories are engaged in the traditional
work of their respective crafts. In order to qualify for a first class
or journeyman grade in any of these classifications, employees must
have had at least 4 years' training in their particular craft. In addi-
tion to the fact that the Board has heretofore directed separate elec-
tions for four of these classifications'16 the record is clear that each of
12 5$ NLRB 1013. The Board issued certifications following the elections but, except
with respect to the electricians, the record does not disclose whether collective bargaining
contracts were consummated for the other units.
13 82 NLRB 1227.
14 This was Local 195, which was later subdivided, for' geographic reasons, into Locals
195 and M. The latter has jurisdiction over the Sweeny refinery'.
15 The. Atlantic Refining Company, 92 NLRB 651 ; General Petroleum Corporation, 77
NLRB 1380. See also the earlier Board cases, cited in footnotes 1 and 4, involving the
Sweeny refinery. .
16 See footnotes 4, 12, and 13, supra.
953841-52-vol. 94-92
1442 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
these groups of employees constitute a craft group of the type the
Board has consistently held entitled to separate self-determination
'elections.
As the previous elections among the pipe fitters, the boilermakers,
.and the electricians were all held more than a year ago, as the Peti-
tioner seeks to represent these employees in the plant-wide unit, and
gas these employees are not covered-by any existing contracts, we shall,
in accordance with the alternate position of these intervenors, direct
immediate elections for these groups of employees. However, as the
Board has conducted a valid election for welders within the most
recent 12-month period,17 we shall not, in accordance with Section 9
(c) (3) of the Act, direct another election for welders at this time.
Instrwmentmen.-These employees are responsible for the installa-
tion, maintenance, and repair of various types of pneumatic and
electrical instruments 18 They function as a cohesive unit, are under
separate supervision,19 and have their, own shop. The record shows
that instrumentmen receive the same rates of pay and are subject to
the same training and experience requirements as the other craft
groups in the maintenance department 20 We shall, therefore, es-
tablish them as a separate craft voting group21
Insulators.-The seven employees in this classification do all the in-
sulation work in the refinery, including the insulation of tile and brick
work and the plastering of various types of refinery equipment. A
first class insulator must have a thorough knowledge of the use, ap-
plication, and installation of all kinds of insulating material, and
must know how to mix different types of mortar and cement.
The Board has not heretofore found workers such as these to be
craftsmen,-- and we are not persuaded by the record before us that
these employees exercise sufficiently distinct skills to be accorded
craft status. Accordingly, we shall include the insulators in the re-
sidual production and maintenance voting group.
Material handling section.-This group of employees includes a
crane operator, a tractor operator, five heavy truck drivers, and one
17 See footnote 4, supra.
19 They spend most of their time on pneumatic instruments.
19 The instrumentmen are under the immediate supervision of an assistant maintenance
foreman . Together with the electricians , they are under the over-all supervision of the
electrical and instrument foreman.
20 Pipe fitters , boilermakers , electricians, welders, carpenters , and instrumentmen must
all have at least 4 years ' training in their particular craft before reaching the journeyman
level. If a first class craftsman is hired from outside the plant, he must have the minimum
4 years ' experience . The Employer considers its on-the-job training program. to be the
equivalent of an apprenticeship.
21 Goodyear Synthetic Rubber Corporation , 78 NLRB 1264 ; E. I. duPont de Nemours £
Company, 55 NLRB 699. Cf. International Paper Company, 94 NLRB 500; Carthage
Hydrocol, Inc., 91 NLRB No. 67.
22 Cf. Coosa River Newsprint Company, 90 NLRB No. 57 , and cases there cited with
respect to the noncraft status of pipe coverers.
PHILLIPS OIL COMPANY 1443
light truck driver, and they work inside the plant at the jobs indi-
cated by their respective classifications.
The employees in this section are not a craft group ,28 nor do they
constitute a functionally distinct departmental group of the type cus-
tomarily permitted to bargain as a separate unit. We shall there-
fore not hold a separate election among them. However, the Board
has frequently held that truck drivers may constitute a separate bar-
gaining unit?4 We ,shall, therefore establish the heavy and light
'truck drivers in a separate voting group, and shall include the crane
and tractor operators in the residual production and maintenance
voting group.
Toolroom mechanic and helper.-These two employees, whom the
Board excluded from the machinists unit in an earlier proceeding,25
and whom the Pipefitters seeks as a separate craft group, spend most
,of their time issuing and receiving tools used by all maintenance de-
partment employees. As it is clear from the record that these em-
ployees are not craftsmen, we shall include them in the residual
production and maintenance voting group.
Countermen and storehouse helpers; general maintenance helpers.-
These two groups of employees, also sought by the Pipefitters as craft
groups, are residual classifications in the maintenance department.
As there is no serious contention that these employees are craftsmen,
we shall include them in the residual production and maintenance
voting group.
Painters and laborers.-Apart from other considerations, as no
labor organization seeks to represent these employees separately, we
deny the Employer's request that they be established in separate voting
groups. The painters and laborers will be included in the residual
production and maintenance voting group.
In view of the foregoing determinations, we shall direct separate
elections among the employees of the Employer at its Sweeny refinery,
Old Ocean, Texas, in the voting groups set forth below, excluding from
each group all supervisors as defined in the Act :
(a) All pipe fitters, first and second class, and helpers.
(b) All boilermakers, first and second class, and helpers.
(c) All carpenters, first and second class, and helpers.
'(d) All electricians, first and second class, and helpers.
((e) All instrumentmen, first and second class, and helpers.
(f) All heavy and light truck drivers.
21 International Paper Company , 94 NLRB 483 , and cases there cited . The most skilled
and highest paid of the employees in this group are the crane operators , and the Board
. has consistently held such workers not to be craftsmen.
a' International Paper Company , 94 NLRB 483 and 500.
=Footnote 1, supra.
1444 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
(g) All remaining employees in the operating, laboratory, and
maintenance departments, including insulators, crane and tractor op-
erators, toolroom mechanic and helper, countermen and storehouse
helpers, general maintenance helpers, painters and painter helpers, and
laborers, but excluding office clerical and professional employees, first-
aid assistants, safety and equipment inspectors, project section em-
ployees, guards'26 welders'27 machinists '211 and all employees included in
voting groups (a), (b), (c), (d), (e),and (f).29
If a majority of the employees in any of the voting groups from
(a) through (f) vote for the respective intervening unions, they will
be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bar-
gaining unit.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this
volume.]
26 Including patrol and gatemen.
21 See footnote 4, supra..
28 See footnote 1, supra.
21 All parties stipulated to the following professional and supervisory exclusions : Design,
process, production, and resident engineers; senior engineers to the maintenance superin-
tendent and foreman ; mechanical engineer to the mechanical foreman ; electrical engineer to
the electrical and instrument foreman ; chief, supervisory, and analytical chemists ; refinery
superintendent and his assistant ; personnel officer ; general stills foreman and his technical
assistant; general stock supervisor; maintenance superintendent; mechanical, electrical,
and instrument, terminal, utilities, maintenance, warehouse, stock, night, and gang fore-
men ; assistant maintenance foreman general ; assistant maintenance foremen AFE ; and
assistant maintenance foreman.
POTLATCH FORESTS, INC. and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF PAPER
MAKERS, AFL and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF PULP, SULPHITE
AND PAPER MILL WORKERS, AFL, JOINT PETITIONERS
POTLATCH FORESTS, INC. and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELEC-
TRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL UNION 73, AFL . Cases Nos. 19-RC-701
and 19-KC-741. June 25, 1951
Decision and Direction of Elections
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Melton Boyd, hearing officer.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from pre-
judicial 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 these cases to a three-member
panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Reynolds].
I After the close of the hearing the Joint Petitioners moved to reopen the reeord , in order
to offer evidence that the Employer 's pulp and paper mill is designated a division of the
Company. In view of our decision herein, the motion is denied.
94 NLRB No. 216.