PPG Industries, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 21, 1970

185 N.L.R.B. 32 (N.L.R.B. 1970)

32 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
PPG Industries , Inc. (Auto Glass Center) and Gla-
ziers, Glass Workers And Bevelers Local Union
No. 1433, affiliated with Painters and Allied
Trades of America , AFL-CIO. Case 16-UC-41
August 21, 1970
DECISION AND ORDER CLARIFYING UNIT
BY MEMBERS FANNING , MCCULLOCH , AND BROWN
Upon a petition jointly filed by the Union and
the Employer under Section 9(b) of the National
Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing was
held on February 10, 1970, before Hearing Officer
Paul F. Cleveland. On February 16, 1970, the Regional
Director for Region 16 issued an Order transferring
the case to the National Labor Relations Board.
Thereafter, briefs were timely filed by the Petitioners.
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.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's rul-
ings made at the hearing and finds that they are
free from prejudicial error. The rulings 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, and it will effectuate the
purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
2. The Union is a labor organization within the
meaning of the Act.
3. In April 1959, the Union was certified by the
Board as the bargaining representative in a multiem-
ployer unit of employees performing work under the
jurisdiction of the outside glaziers' working agreement,
which includes outside glaziers employed by the
Employer at its Branch Warehouse located at 301
Archer Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma.' By their joint peti-
tion here, the parties ask the Board to determine
whether the "hackout" man employed at PPG Indus-
tries' Auto Glass Center located at 1301 Third Street,
Tulsa, should be included in the previously certified
multiemployer unit of outside glaziers.
The Employer's Branch Warehouse is engaged in
the sale of flat glass at both retail and wholesale,
and in conjunction with this operation it employs
inside glass workers who do fabrication work in the
' Case 16-RC-2486, unreported in the bound volumes of the Board's
decisions On the same date the Union was also certified for a multiemploy-
er unit of employees performing work within the jurisdiction of the
inside glass workers' agreement which also includes inside glass workers
at the Employer's Branch Warehouse Case 16-RC-2485
shop and outside glaziers who perform installation
work on existing and new residential and commercial
buildings. Approximately 17 employees at the Branch
Warehouse, including a manager, clerical and sales
employees, two drivers, two inside glass workers,
and four outside glaziers. Both the outside glaziers
and the inside glass workers are represented by the
Union under separate bargaining agreements between
the Union and the multiemployer association of which
the Employer is a part.
In July 1966 PPG Industries opened the Auto
Glass Center at a location approximately 1 mile from
the Branch Warehouse. The employees for this facility
were newly hired and the complement currently con-
sists of a manager, a secretary- sales clerk, two auto
glass installers and the "hackout" man whose unit
placement is here in dispute. The Auto Glass Center
is essentially engaged in the sale and replacement
of auto glass, but it also performs the functions of
replacing glass in existing commercial and residential
buildings and some new residential and commercial
glazing.
Both the Branch Warehouse and the Auto Glass
Center are under the administrative jurisdiction of
the Dallas Branch of PPG Industries' Glass Division,
Contract and Supply Department, and the manager
at each location is accountable to the district manager
for the Dallas Branch. However, subject to such
accountability to the district manager, the managers
at the two locations have considerable autonomy in
managing the day-to-day operations at their respective
locations. Each manager is responsible for ordering
and pricing merchandise, maintaining inventory, and
directing the work force. The manager of the Auto
Glass Center, like his counterpart at the Branch
Warehouse, has authority over personnel matters,
including the authority to hire and discharge and
otherwise regulate the terms and conditions of employ-
ment of those assigned to the center. Each location
utilizes separate profit and loss statements, which
are submitted monthly to the district manager. There
is no history of transfer or interchange between the
employees at the two locations. Although the Auto
Glass Center does purchase some of its glass from
the Branch Warehouse, it is billed by the warehouse
on the same basis as other commercial customers.
As to the "hackout" man employed at the Auto
Glass Center, he performs a variety of duties including
glazing work, picking up raw material from suppliers,
delivering products to customers, installing auto glass,
and driving customers' cars to and from the center.
The record reveals that the "hackout" man spends
from 20 to 30 percent of his work time on nonglazing
work, and the remainder of his time is devoted to
the replacement or installation of new glass for residen-
185 NLRB No. 13
PPG INDUSTRIES, INC
tial and commercial customers . Because the "hackout"
man works alone his glazing work is limited to small
jobs. Although the "hackout " man makes frequent
trips to the Branch Warehouse for the purpose of
picking up materials and supplies , his contacts with
the employees at that location are limited to these
occasions , and the manager of the Auto Center is
solely responsible for his supervision . At the present
time , pursuant to an agreement reached by the
Employer and the Union as a condition of submission
of this petition , the "hackout" man is paid the wage
scales provided in the bargaining agreements applica-
ble to the employees at the Branch Warehouse. As
to other employment benefits, the "hackout" man
enjoys some that are equal or superior to those in
the contracts , and others that the warehouse employ-
ees do not share.
Although there is a similarity in some of the work
performed at the two locations , we find that the
Auto Glass Center , or more particularly the classifica-
tion of "hackout" man employed at that location,
does not constitute an accretion to the existing mul-
tiemployer unit . The Auto Glass Center is an essential-
ly autonomous economic unit and the manager at
that location has considerable authority over its opera-
33
tions , particularly with respect to personnel matters
and working conditions , which he exercises without
reference to his counterpart at the Branch Warehouse.
There is no interchange between the employees
assigned to the two locations , the opportunities for
contact between the two groups of employees are
limited , and there is a variation in the terms and
conditions of employment enjoyed by the "hackout"
man as compared to those accorded the employees
at the Branch Warehouse .' Accordingly , based on
all the facts , we conclude that the "hackout" man
sought has interests seperate from those of the employ-
ees in the existing unit, and we shall dismiss the
petition.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the petition herein be,
and it hereby is, dismissed.
= Super Valu Stores, Inc and K's Super Yalu of Peoria , Inc, 177
NLRB No 63, Patterson -Sargent Division of Textron, Inc, 173 NLRB
No 203 , and Beacon Photo Service, Inc.,163 NLRB 706