Reynolds Metals Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 9, 1949

84 N.L.R.B. 85 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter Of REYNOLDS METALS COMPANY, EMPLOYER and LOCAL
UNION No. 54, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BOOKBINDERS,
AFL
Case No. 9-RC-361.-Decided June 9, 1949
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before William
Naimark, 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 National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Reynolds and Gray].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Petitioner and the Intervenor are labor, organizations claim-
ing to represent employees of the Employer.
3. No 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 for the following
reasons:
The Petitioner seeks to represent a separate unit limited to the
die cutting employees at the-Employer's Louisville, Kentucky, plant
Number 10. The Petitioner's claim of representation is based upon
an agreement with the Intervenor, whereby the latter allegedly "re-
linquished jurisdiction" over the die cutters to the Petitioner.' The
i The motion made by the Intervenor, United Aluminum and Tinfoil Workers, Local No.
19388 , A F L, to dismiss the petition is granted for the reasons stated herein
•2 On March 6, 1947, the Employer and the Intervenor entered into a collective bargaining
contract covering all the Employer's production employees at this plant. On June 5, 1947,
following a Board-directed election (Matter of Reynolds Metals Company, 73 N L. R B.
353) the Intervenor was certified as the bargaining representative for these employees.
Thereafter the Intervenor agreed to relinquish jurisdiction over certain production em-
ployees, described as foil and paper cutters, to the Petitioner, who executed a contract
with the Employer in behalf of these employees on August 19, 1947, effective for the term
84 N. L. R. B., No. 11.
853396-50-vol. 84-7
85
86 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Petitioner also contends that these employees constitute a craft which
may be represented in a separate appropriate unit. The Employer
and Intervenor oppose the Petitioner's jurisdictional claim, and fur-
ther contend that the die cutters are not craftsmen but are produc-
tion employees who may not be severed from the broader production
unit which the Intervenor presently represents.
The Employer is engaged in printing and cutting labels and proc-
essing aluminum foil. All its production operations are performed in
the printing and the foil spooling departments. The products pro-
duced and the processes involved in these departments are unrelated.
Labels are printed and cut in the printing department, where 125
employees perform a series of related operations beginning with the
printing of sheets of labels by a rotogravure process.3 These sheets
are then aligned and further processed by dot pickers and joggers
preparatory to the cutting operations performed by die cutters and
straight knife cutters. Oval or irregularly shaped labels are cut
by die cutting machines. Square or rectangular labels are cut by
straight knife-cutting machines. After labels have been cut, they are
inspected and packed for shipment by other employees in the printing
department.
All the foregoing operations are performed on two floors of the
main building and in an adjoining wing; all these employees work
in close proximity to one another. With the exception of the roto-
gravure pressmen and straight knife cutters, all employees are either
semi-skilled or unskilled. Die cutters are trained in 3 weeks and
attain proficiency in 6 months, while straight knife cutters, whose
operations are more complicated and precise, require 2 to 7 years
training and experience. A salaried foreman has over-all supervision
of the production departments with intermediate working foremen
directly supervising each operation. The die cutters and straight
knife cutters have separate working foremen.
Vacation and other employee benefits are the same for all produc-
tion employees. All these employees are hourly rated, the rate for
of 1 year. Although this agreement was not renewed upon its expiration , the Employer
still recognizes the Petitioner as the bargaining representative for these employees.
In 1947, when the Petitioner and the Intervenor executed their agreement concerning the
foil and paper cutters, the only employees in these categories were the straight knife cutters
in the printing department. In August 1948 the Employer first installed several die cut-
ting machines in its printing department , and selected certain employees to operate these
machines whom it classified as die cutters . The Petitioner contends that because these
employees come within the purview of foil and paper cutters, it is their proper bargaining
representative . As we are dismissing the petition on other grounds, it is unnecessary to
pass on this contention. It is likewise unnecessary to decide the Intervenor 's contention
that its contract of March 6, 1947, constitutes a bar to this proceeding.
3 Employees operating the rotogravure presses are represented by a craft union pursuant
to an agreement dated June 5, 1947, wherein the Intervenor relinquished jurisdiction over
these employees.
REYNOLDS METALS COMPANY 87
die cutters being slightly higher than that of the dot pickers and
joggers and substantially less than the rate received by the straight
knife cutters. The die cutters, who had formerly been joggers and
stock boys ,4 are on a seniority list which also includes dot pickers and
joggers. The Employer testified that it anticipates seasonal slumps
in the demand for die cut labels, at which time the die cutters will be
assigned to duty with the joggers. Although the Employer expected
to resume die cutting operations shortly after the hearing, for 3 weeks
prior thereto, the die cutters had been working as joggers because of
insufficient work.
As it does not appear from these circumstances that the die cutters
have the skills or training of craftsmen or that they possess interests
which warrant their existence as a unit separate from the other pro-
duction employees represented by the Intervenor, we find that the
unit sought by the Petitioner is inappropriate.' Accordingly we shall
dismiss the petition.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed herein be, and it hereby
is, dismissed.
4 Employees who carry materials from one department to another are classified as stock
boys.
S Matter of Columbia Envelope Company, 74 N. L. R. B. 439.
I