92 N.L.R.B. 639 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

Shellmar Products Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsDec 11, 1950

92 N.L.R.B. 639 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of SIIELLMAR PRODUCTS CORPORATION, ' EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL PRINTING PRESSMEN AND ASSISTANTS UNION OF NORTH AMERICA, AFL, PETITIONER Case No. 8-RC-1048.-Decided December 11, 1950 DECISION AND ORDER Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Bernard Ness, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju- dicial 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 Murdock and Styles]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. It converts and fabricates 'protective packaging material. 2. The labor organizations involved claim 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 a unit composed of all employees in the ink department, with certain exclusions, contending that these employees constitute a craft group entitled to separate representation. The United Paperworkers of America, Local 262, CIO, hereafter called the Intervenor, asserts that such employees are not a craft group and are part of an existing industrial unit. The Employer takes a neutral position. Under the general supervision of the plant superintendent the plant operations are divided into departments, each of which has a department superintendent in charge. The ink department is com- posed of 35 employees in the following classifications : Head ink matchers, ink matchers, ink mixers, ink mixers' helpers, and 1 ware- houseman. Due to fire hazard precautions, the ink department is separated from most of the rest of the plant by a wall. The head ink matchers mix inks for color matching to customers' standards, aid and assist other ink department employees in the ink 92 NLRB No. 121. 639 64u DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD mixing processes, and work with the planning department in ascer- taining the amount of ink for particular jobs. They spend about 75 percent of their time, in other manufacturing departments assisting in problems connected with the use of ink. At all times they remain under the supervision of the ink department superintendent. The ink matchers make up inks and blend colors for. manufacturing de- partments according to specified formulas. The ink mixers make bulk amounts of standard base inks according to simple formulas, and also mix pigments, extenders, and thinners. The ink mixers' helpers carry materials and act as servicemen to the mixers. In addition, they clean drums and other equipment in the ink depart- ment. The warehouseman operates the truck between the ink de- partment, the main plant, and the ink warehouse, delivering ink equipment between the departments. He also maintains inventories of inks for the ink department. No apprentice program exists in the plant for ink department employees. The practice has been to hire helpers from outside .with no prior experience. It was testified that a helper may become a 'satisfactory mixer within a period of 2 months, may progress from a mixer to a matcher in 2 months, .and from a matcher to a head matcher in 3 months. Since 1941, the Intervenor has represented the ink department employees as part of an industrial unit. These employees have been -covered in such a unit under contracts between the Intervenor and the Employer, including a contract which expired on September 18, 1950. We find that the employees sought to be separately represented by the Petitioner are not craft employees. And we find no other basis for their establishment as a separate unit, especially in view of the long history of bargaining in an industrial unt. As we find the unit requested in the petition to be inappropriate, we will order the peti- tion herein dismissed. ORDER IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition in this proceeding be, and it hereby is, dismissed.