Southern Maryland Hospital Center, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 29, 1985

274 N.L.R.B. 1470 (N.L.R.B. 1985)

1470 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Southern Maryland Hospital Center , Inc. and Office
and Professional Employees International
Union , Local 2, AFL-CIO, Petitioner . Case 5-
RC-12207
29 March 1985
DECISION ON REVIEW AND ORDER
BY CHAIRMAN DOTSON AND MEMBERS
HUNTER AND DENNIS
On 19 October 1984 the Regional Director for
Region 5 issued a Decision and Direction of Elec-
tion in the above-entitled proceeding (pertinent
portion attached) in which he found appropriate a
unit of all technical employees employed by the
Employer at its Clinton, Maryland location, ex-
cluding certain other employee classifications.' In
so doing, the Regional Director rejected the Em-
ployer's contention that only a unit of all nonpro-
fessional employees is appropriate as well as its
contention that certain of the excluded classifica-
tions properly belong in a technical unit.
In accordance with Section 102.67 of the Board's
Rules and Regulations, the Employer filed a timely
request for review of the Regional Director's deci-
sion. The Employer alleged that there were errone-
ous findings of fact and a departure from official
Board precedent in the Regional Director's deci-
sion.
By telegraphic order dated 5 December 1984 the
request for review was granted.
The Board has reviewed the entire record in this
case and has decided to affirm the Regional Direc-
tor's Decision and Direction of Election as modi-
fied. Pursuant to the Board's procedures, the elec-
tion was held as scheduled on 5 December 1984,
and the ballots were impounded pending the
Board's decision on review.
We conclude, essentially for the reasons stated
by the Regional Director, that a technical unit is
appropriate in this case. The Regional Director ap-
plied the disparity of interests test as defined in St.
Francis Hospital, 271 NLRB 948 (1984), and found
"sharper than usual differences between the wages
and working conditions of technical employees and
i The unit found appropriate by the Regional Director consists of all
technical employees employed by the Employer at its Clinton, Maryland
location, including licensed practical nurses (LPNs), X-ray technologists,
certified respiratory therapists , respiratory technicians , nuclear medicine
technologists , radiology technologists , radiology sonographers , CT tech-
nologists, operating room technicians , medical laboratory technicians/-
CASP-certified, medical technologists , surgical assistants , medical labora-
tory technicians/AMT-registered , intravenous technicians, physical ther-
apy assistants , histology clinical coordinators , radiology clinical coordina-
tors, dialysis technicians , operating room X-ray technicians , special pro-
cedures technicians/radiology, education coordinator and technicians,
laboratory section heads , electroencephalographic (EEG) technicians,
and mental health counselors , but excluding all other employees, guards
and supervisors as defined in the Act
those in the overall nonprofessional unit." The Re-
gional Director found that the differences in wages
between service and maintenance employees and
technical employees can vary as much as 25 to 35
percent. Although some nontechnical employees
earn as much as some technical employees, a 25 to
35 percent variance constitutes a substantial dispari-
ty in wages. There is also, as found by the Region-
al Director, a difference in qualifications, training,
and skills between the two groups. Technical em-
ployees' functions involve the use of independent
judgment and specialized training, whereas service
and maintenance employees need only a high
school education. There is no temporary inter-
change between service and maintenance and tech-
nical employees because of the higher skills and
specialized functions of technical employees, and
there is minimal permanent transfer from nontech-
nical to technical classifications.
We note that this is a large general service hospi-
tal which employs approximately 1200 nonsupervi-
sory employees in approximately 30 departments.
Although there is some degree of integration and
contact between technical and nontechnical em-
ployees because of the "team" concept of patient
care, such interaction is necessary to the delivery
of patient care in a large facility such as this one.
However, such contact does not overcome the fact
that technical employees, unlike other nonprofes-
sional employees, perform a highly specialized
function due to their greater training and skill.
Indeed, much of the work-related contact between
technical and nontechnical employees involves
merely the delivery of materials and carrying of
messages by service employees.
Based on the above, we agree with the Regional
Director that substantial dissimilarities exist be-
tween the technical and nontechnical employees.
Thus, the technical employees have specialized
training , are highly skilled, receive substantially
greater pay, do not interchange with other employ-
ees, and rarely permanently transfer to or from
other employee groups. Accordingly, we find the
differences between the technical and nontechnical
employees here sufficiently disparate to warrant a
separate technical unit.
We have also examined the several disputed clas-
sifications excluded by the Regional Director as
not meeting the requirements of a technical em-
ployee. After a careful review of the record, we
agree with the Regional Director that the EKG
technicians, the echocardiographic technician, the
monitoring technicians, the emergency room tech-
nicians, the pharmacy technicians, the printer, the
phlebotomists, the darkroom technician, the central
supply technicians, the delivery room technicians,
274 NLRB No. 212
SOUTHERN MARYLAND HOSPITAL
and the nursery technicians should be excluded
from the technical unit. We affirm the Regional Di-
rector's findings with respect to all unit placement
issues with one exception, the draftsman.
The Regional Director excluded the draftsman
from the technical unit on the ground that he does
not share a community of interest with technical
employees. The Employer employs one draftsman
who has a 4-year college degree and previous ex-
perience with architectural firms. He prepares blue-
prints for new construction and renovation projects
at the Hospital. The Regional Director excluded
him from the technical unit because he works in a
trailer in the rear of the Hospital, has little, if any,
working contact with technical employees, and his
tasks are completely different from those of techni-
cal employees. We note, however, that he meets
the Board's definition of a technical employee, as
his work is of a technical nature involving the use
of independent judgment and requiring the exercise
of specialized training which he acquired in a 4-
year college. See, e.g., Mosler Safe Co., 188 NLRB
650, 652 (1971); General Electric Co., 147 NLRB
558, 559 (1964). Although the draftsman does not
appear to share a substantial community of interest
with other technical employees, he shares even less
of a community of interest with service and main-
tenance or business office employees. Because he
meets the definition of a technical employee, we re-
verse the Regional Director and include him in the
technical unit. Accordingly, we amend the Region-
al Director's unit description to include the drafts-
man.
ORDER
It is ordered that this case be remanded to the
Regional Director for Region 5, and that, within
10 days of the date of this decision, the Regional
Director open and count the ballots of the employ-
ees in the unit found appropriate herein, prepare
and cause to be served on the parties a tally of bal-
lots, and issue the appropriate certification. The
ballots of the EKG technicians, the echocardiogra-
phic technician, the monitoring technicians, the
emergency room technicians, the pharmacy techni-
cians, the printer, the phlebotomists, the darkroom
technician, the central supply technicians, the de-
livery room technician, and the nursery techni-
cians, if any, shall remain unopened.
APPENDIX
Southern Maryland Hospital Center (herein referred to
as the "Employer" or the "Hospital"), a Maryland cor-
poration, operates a 308 bed full-service general hospital
in Clinton, Maryland. The Hospital's facility is composed
of two connected buildings. One building, consisting of
two stories, contains the operating rooms, recovery
1471
rooms, laboratories, radiology department, and several
support services such as the power generating equip-
ment, the maintenance shop and the cafeteria The other
four-story building primarily contains patients' rooms.
The Hospital employs approximately 1,200 non-supervi-
sory employees in approximately 30 departements, and
there is no history of collective bargaining.
By the instant petition, the Office and Professional
Employees International Union, Local 2 (herein Petition-
er) seeks to represent the Hospital's technical employees
in a seperate technical unit. The Hospital's position is
that the petitioned-for unit is inappropriate in that the
only appropriate unit for non-professional employees is
one consisting of all non-professional employees. This
case was consolidated for hearing with Case 5-RC-
12208, wherein Petitioner seeks to represent the Hospi-
tal's professional employees in a separate unit. By a sepa-
rate Decision and Direction of Election issued this date,
I have severed that case from the instant one and direct-
ed an election in the professional unit. I note also that
Case 5-RC-12202, which was consolidated for hearing
along with this case and 5-RC-12208 was severed and
withdrawn by an Order dated September 20, 1984.
After the close of the consolidated hearing, and after
the parties had filed their original briefs in this matter,
the Board issued its decision in St. Francis Hospital, 271
NLRB 948 (1984) (St. Francis II). In St. Francis II, the
Board determined that a "disparity of interests" test
could best effectuate the Board's statutory obligation to
determine appropriate bargaining units in the health care
field. Thereafter, pursuant to my order allowing briefs to
be filed discussing the effect of St. Francis II as it applies
herein, both the Employer and Petitioner have filed sup-
plemental briefs. Both parties declined the opportunity to
reopen the record in order to present additional evi-
dence.
After duly considering the St. Francis II decision and
the briefs filed by the parties, I find, for the reasons ex-
pressed below, that the Employer's technical employees
constitute a separate appropriate unit and, accordingly, I
shall direct an election in such a unit. In so finding, I
have carefully considered the Board's instruction in St.
Francis II ". . . to here that the phrase `disparity of in-
terests' properly emphasizes that more is required to jus-
tify a separate unit in a health care insitution than in a
traditional industrial or commercial facility." In examin-
ing this record, I have found sharper than usual differ-
ences between the wages and working conditions of
technical employees and those in the overall nonprofes-
sional unit and, accordingly, have granted the requested
unit. In the event that an election was directed in the re-
quested unit, the Hospital and Local 2 agreed upon the
inclusion of the following classifications in a technical
unit:
licensed practical nurses (LPNs), X-ray technolo-
gists, certified respiratory therapists, respiratory
technicians, nuclear medicine technologists, radiolo-
gy technologists, radiology sonograhers, CT tech-
nologists, operating room technicians, medical labo-
ratory technicians/CASP-certified, medical tech-
nologists, surgical assistants, medical laboratory
1472 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
technicians/AMT-registered, intravenous techni-
cians, physical theraphy assistants , histology clinical
coordinators, radiology clinical coordinators, dialy-
sis technicians, operating room X-ray technicians,
special procedures technicians/radiology, education
coordinator and technicians and laboratory section
heads.
The parties are in apparent agreement that the above-
noted employees perform work which involves the use
of independent judgment and possess specialized training
usually acquired in college or technical schools or
through specialized courses There are about 200 em-
ployees employed in the classifications noted above,
while the parties dispute the unit placement of about 100
employees whose status I shall resolve infra. There are
approximately 415 additional employees employed in
service and maintenance positions at the Hospital.
The Hospital's policies are determined by its Board of
Directors and its Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Francis
Chiaramonte The Executive Vice President, Sebastian
Suriam,, functions as the Chief Administrator for the
Hospital. Immediately subordinate to Suriam are the fol-
lowing five Vice Presidents: Operations, Nicholas Bala-
gurcik; Nursing, Margaret Miller, Professional Services
and Community Relations, James McCallum; Finance
and Data Processing, Phillip Schaper; and Personnel and
Labor Relations, Audrey Di Florio. Each of the more
than 30 hospital departments is supervised by a depart-
ment director who reports to the vice president oversee-
ing that particular department. All of the above-noted in-
dividuals, including department directors, were stipulated
to be supervisors within the meaning of Section 2(11) of
the Act by the parties In accordance with the parties'
agreement, and with no contrary record evidence, I shall
exclude them from the unit.
The record reflects that the Hospital's department re-
views and approves all cases of serious disciplinary
action before such discipline becomes effective While
across-the-board wage increases are determined by the
personnel office, department directors exercise some dis-
cretion regarding the granting of merit increases within
the parameters established by the personnel department.
`Departmental directors cannot hire employees directly,
but rather notify the personnel office when positions are
to be filled. Applicants for positions are preliminarily
screened by the personnel office to insure that the mini-
mum job requirements are met. The applicant is then
sent to the department director who makes an effective
recommendation regarding the applicant. The record re-
flects that technical employees are employed in 8 of the
Hospital's 30 departments. There is no evidence that
technical employees are supervised by individuals other
than their departmental supervisor, except to the extent
that they are given direction of Hospital policies by the
personnel department Accordingly, while there is some
evidence of generalized policies being controlled by the
personnel department, the record clearly demonstrates
that departmental supervisors separately supervise the
employees within their department.
Employee benefits are uniform throughout the Hospi-
tal and include vacation pay, nine paid holidays, sick
leave, jury duty, funeral leave pay, tuition reimbursement
program, and a profit sharing retirement program With
respect to wages, however, the record reflects a sharper
than usual difference between the employees in the clas-
sifications stipulated to be technical and those in the
service and maintenance units. At the hearing, the parties
entered into a stipulation reflecting that the Hospital
maintains a wage scale going from Grade 3 through
Grade 19 Each pay grade is 3 to 4 percent higher than
the one below it. Many of the service and maintenance
employees are paid at Grades 3 through 6 The first clas-
sification stipulated to be technical, I.V. tech, is paid at
Grade 13, while Grades 14, 15, and 16 comprise the larg-
est grouping of technical employees, and some technical
employees are even paid at the Grade 17 and 18 level. It
is therefore apparent that the differentiation between the
wages of service and maintenance employees and those
of technical employees can easily vary between 25 and
35 percent, and sometimes more
That there is a sharp distinction between the wages of
the average service and maintenance employee and the
average technical employee is reflective of the differ-
ences in qualifications, training and skills between the
two groups As noted above, the employees stipulated to
be technicals herein meet the Board's requirement that
their functions involve the use of judgment and special-
ized training usually acquired in college or technical
schools or through specialized courses. The employees in
the service and maintenance classifications need only
have a high school education. Service and maintenance
positions such as cafeteria and laundry employees re-
quired minimal skills, while other service and mainte-
nance employees are required to utilize specialized equip-
ment, they acquire the skills necessary to perform their
tasks through experience and on-the-job training, rather
than through any formal educational process.
Another factor the Board considers in determining an
appropriate unit is the amount of temporary interchange
between or transfers to the petitioned-for unit, the Em-
ployer introduced evidence reflecting 23 permanent
transfers from employees in one department to another
that have occurred in the past several years. Only four
such tranfers from employees in one department to an-
other that have occurred in the past several years. Only
four such transfers involve employees who transferred
into technical classifications from service classifications.
One employee, Steve Wilson, transferred from a position
as a nursing float messenger to a position as a mental
health couselor, which I find herein to be a technical
classification. The record reflects, however, that Wilson
received qualifying training before the transfer was effec-
tive. Another employee transferred from a position as an
enviromental services aide to become an operating room
technician, a concededly technical position. Two other
employees transferred from nontechnical positions to
become I.V techs. The record does not reflect what ad-
ditional training employee other than Wilson received
before their transfers. Several transfers were made to po-
sitions which I find to be appropriately excluded from
the technical unit as service and maintenance employees,
although the Hospital contends they are technical Thus,
SOUTHERN MARYLAND HOSPITAL
in a hospital of this size, such a limited number of trans-
fers into technical classifications reflects a sharper than
usual difference between the interests of technical em-
ployees and other nonprofessional employees
Another factor required for consideration under St.
Francis II is the degree of integration between the peti-
tioned-for unit and the work functions of other employ-
ees The Employer argues that Hospital employees have
considerable daily contact, primarily because of a "team"
concept of patient care, and that such a high degree of
functional integration precludes a separate technical unit.
The record reflects a certain degree of functional inter-
action between physicians, RNs, LPNs, and some techni-
cal employees, and between some technical employees
and service and maintenance employees to here. It ap-
pears, however, because of the sophisticated nature of
the Hospital's provision of health care services the inter-
action between various hospital employees is necessarily
divided along the lines of their particularized skills. A
large general service hospital such as the Employer's uti-
lizes modern technology to the fullest and hence requires
skillful and trained technical personnel. Certainly, the in-
dependent judgment and specialized skills of professional
employees supercedes that of technical employees who
work with them on any given assignment, although the
technical employee may render useful assistance. In like
regard, the interaction of technical employees with serv-
ice and maintenance employees normally is in the nature
of assistance in moving a patient or the delivery of
equipment and supplies rather than the actual perform-
ance of the technical employees' duties. The delivery of
health care in a large acute care facility such as the Em-
ployer's necessarily involves a substantial number of indi-
viduals acting in concert in order to care for patients
properly Specifically, several types of technical employ-
ees such as X-ray technicians and respiratory therapists
have contact with service employees in patient care
areas, but that in no way diminishes the specialized tasks
that technical employees perform Much of the interac-
tion stressed by the Employer involves nothing more
than delivery of materials and the carrying of messages
by service employees Moreover, many technical em-
ployees work primarily in laboratory sections and have
minimal job-related contacts with service and mainte-
nance employees
Finally, with respect to employee hours, the record re-
flects that certain departments such as respiratory, ther-
apy, X-ray, and the laboratory, which employ primarily
technical employees, have their own separate schedules
in order to properly staff their departments
In conclusion, I find that in contrast to the remaining
employees (and apart from the professional employees)
the large number of technical employees employed by
the Hospital have special educational requirements, are
more skilled, receive substantially more compensation,
have separate supervision, and are not so functionally in-
tegrated with the service and maintenance employees as
to blur the sharp differences that exist between the inter-
ests of the two groups The facts that the Hospital has
uniform benefit and labor relation policies and that tech-
nical employees have work related contact in providing
health care services with other nonprofessional employ-
1473
ees does not detract from their compelling separate inter-
ests. Accordingly, after a careful consideration of the di-
rections of St. Francis II and with an appreciation of the
concerns of Congress regarding unit determinations in
this field, I am convinced that substantial dissimilarities
exist between technical and service and maintenance em-
ployees at this Hospital and, accordingly, shall direct an
election in the requested technical unit.
As noted above, the parties stipulated that certain em-
ployee classifications were technical employees if I
should find a separate technical unit to be appropriate
The parties are in disagreement , however, over the unit
placement of several classifications in such a unit. Al-
though the Board's St. Francis II decision set forth a new
standard in determining apporpriate units in the health
care industry , it did not alter the criteria utilized to de-
termine whether certain classifications are technical em-
ployees. Accordingly, in accepting the parties stipulation
with respect to the classifications noted above and in de-
termining whether the following categories of employees
are technical employees, I have applied the Board's long-
standing definition that technical employees are those
"who do not meet the strict requirements of the term
`professional employee' as defined in the Act but whose
work is of a technical nature involving the use of inde-
pendent judgment and requiring the exercise of special-
ized training usually acquired in colleges or technical
schools or through special courses." Barnert Memorial
Hospital Center, 217 NLRB 775 (1975); Litton Industries
of Maryland, 125 NLRB 722 (1960). The Board, in the
past, has noted that technical status is evidenced by the
fact that such employees are certified, registered or li-
censed; employees who do not possess such attributes,
however, may meet the standard required of a technical
employee and be included in such a unit.
EKG Technicians
The Hospital employs approximately 5 employees in
the classification of Electrocardiographic Technician.
The Employer would include these employees, in the
technical unit while Petitioner would exclude them as
service and maintenance employees. An EKG technician
attaches leads from an EKG machine to a patient ;and
monitors the machine while it records the pulses and
rates of a patient's heart The record reveals that EKG
technicians must be high school graduates and that the
skills necessary to perform the job are learned by on-the-
job training of anywhere from a month to one year.
With respect to the one echocardiographic operator, the
record reveals only that more specialized training of in-
definite duration is required in this position and that a
special school must be attended. There is no evidence
that a certification or license is issued by this unnamed
school . Since neither position requires a license or regis-
tration and since both classifications involve a routine
procedure in which the operator does not analyze the
test results, I shall exclude the position of EKG techni-
cian and echocardiographic technician from the techni-
cal See Barnert Memorial Hospital Center, 217 NLRB
744, 777 (1975); St. Elizabeth's Hospital, 220 NLRB 325,
327 (1975).
1474 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Monitoring Technicians The Printer
The Employer employs 16 individuals in this classifica-
tion and would include them in a technical unit, whereas
Petitioner wishes to exclude them. Monitoring techni-
cians are employed in the hospital's cardiac care unit and
perform such functions as attaching electronic leads to
patients so that heart rhythms can be displayed on a
screen If a monitor reflects that a patient is experiencing
irregular heartbeats, the technician notifies a nurse The
technicians do not interpret the readings on the monitor.
The only prerequisite for the position is a high school
education After obtaining the position an employee un-
dergoes a 6-week on-the-job training course. Since these
employees possess no specialized training and are not re-
quired to analyze the readings reflected by the equip-
ment, I find that they do not meet the Board's definition
of a technical employee and I shall exclude them from
the unit
Emergency Room Technicians
The Employer employs approximately 13 emergency
room technicians Petitioner contends they are service
and maintenance employees while the Employer asserts
they are technical employees These employees elicit
medical histories from emergency room patients, take
vital signs and perform such tasks as preparing splints
for broken limbs or drawing blood samples. Qualifica-
tions for, this position include a high school diploma
and/or training as a military corpsmen. I conclude that
these employees possess no specialized training and per-
form routine procedures in which they utilize no inde-
pendent judgement and accordingly, I shall exclude them
from 'the unit. In so concluding, I note that the emergen-
cy service technicians found by the Board to be techni-
cal employees in Jewish Hospital Assn., 223 NLRB 614 at
621 (1976) had similar working conditions similar to
LPN's and possessed greater skills than those involved
herein.
Pharmacy Technicians
The Employer employs 12 employees in this classifica-
tion which it contends is technical in nature. Petitioner
would exclude these employees from a technical unit
Their duties are performed under the supervision of the
pharmacy director Thomas Wilson and staff pharmacists
and involve the receipt of medication orders, the filling
of such orders, and the preparation of drug profiles on
individual patients The only requirements for this posi-
tion are a high school diploma and on-the-job training. I
also note that such employees are paid at grade 6, far
below most of the classifications stipulated to be techni-
cal employees. Since they do not possess specialized
formal training and do not utilize independent judgment,
I shall exclude pharmacy technicians from the requested
unit. Medical Arts Hospital, 221 NLRB 1017, 1018 (1976).
The pharmacy technicians in dispute in the instant case
are distinguishable from those found to be technical em-
ployees in Duke University, 226 NLRB 470, on the basis
that in Duke University the pharmacy technicians were
required to complete a 6 month course of study and re-
ceive a certificate of completion before being hired.
The Employer employs one employee as a printer who
it contends is a technical employee Petitioner asserts the
printer is a service and maintenance employee The
printer operates various pieces of equipment including an
offset press, binding machines, and a copying machine.
Robert Copeland, who presently occupies the position, is
a high school graduate and has completed a program in
printing from a commercial school There is no evidence
that Copeland's additional training is a prerequisite for
the job and the record demonstrates that the nature of
the printer's work is routine and does not require inde-
pendent judgment acquired through specialized training.
Accordingly, the printer is excluded from the unit as a
service and maintenance employee
The Draftsman
The Employer employs one draftsman, Ashok Bhusari
The Employer would include the draftsman in the tech-
nical unit whereas Petitioner would exclude this position
on the basis that he is either a managerial employee or,
alternatively, on the basis he does not share a community
of interest with technical employees Bhusari has a 4-
year college degree and had previous experience with ar-
chitectural firms prior to working for the Hospital Bhu-
sari prepares blueprints for new construction and renova-
tion projects at the Hospital He works in a trailer in the
rear of the hospital facility and his primary working con-
tracts are with outside contractors and architects He re-
ports directly to the chief executive officer, Dr Chiara-
monte, and to Executive Vice President Suriani. He does
not attend management meetings Bhusari does not pur-
chase materials and supplies, pledge the Employer's
credit, or have any role in the selection of a particular
contractor to perform construction work at the Hospital
This record convincingly demonstrates that Bhusari does
not formulate, determine or effectuate the Employer's
policies but rather that any discretion he exercises in his
work must conform to the Employer's established policy.
Accordingly, Bhusari is not a managerial employee Tex-
tron, Inc, 219 NLRB 384 (1975).
Although he is not a managerial employee, I shall ex-
clude Bhusari from the technical unit found appropriate
herein on the ground that he does not share a communi-
ty of interest with technical employees. In so finding, I
note that Bhusari works in a separate office located out-
side of the Hospital proper and that he has little, if any,
working contact with technical employees. Moreover,
his tasks are completely different from those of technical
employees and he apparently is supervised only by Dr
Chiaramonte and Suriani. Accordingly, in view of his
lack of shared concerns and working contacts with tech-
nical employees I shall exclude him from the technical
unit
Phlebotomists
In its laboratory the Employer employs approximately
11 phlebotomists whose primary function is to draw
blood from patients. The Hospital would include these
employees in a technical unit, while Petitioner would ex-
SOUTHERN MARYLAND HOSPITAL
elude them According to the testimony of William
Hartzfield, the Employer's chief medical technologist,
the hospital's phlebotomists must have a high school edu-
cation and either on-the-job training or some formal
training at a phlebotomy school for a period of two to
three months Hartzfield testified that most of the Hospi-
tals phlebotomists learned their skills on the job There is
no evidence to indicate they hold a registration of certifi-
cation of any kind Phlebotomists are paid at the grade 5
level with the lead phlebotomist rising to the grade 7
level I conclude there is no evidence that specialized
training is required to perform this job. The equipment
utilized is relatively simple and it does not require the
use of independent judgment. Accordingly I shall ex-
clude this classification from the technical unit. Middlesex
General Hospital, 239 NLRB 837, 838 (1978).
The Darkroom Technician
The Employer employs one darkroom technician, Lor-
raine Honeycutt, in the radiology department. Her pri-
mary function is to develop exposed X-ray film through
the use of a Kodak "Xomat" machine The Employer as-
serts this employee is a technical while Petitioner con-
tends she should be excluded as a service and mainte-
nance employee The requirement for this position is a
high school education, and training is provided on the
job Since there are no special training and educational
requirements for this position, and since the performance
of the job involves a routine function I conclude it is not
a technical position and therefore I shall exclude it from
the unit . St. Elizabeth's Hospital of Boston, supra.
Central Supply Technicians
The Employer employs approximately 15 employees in
this position, two of whom are referred to as lead techni-
cians. The Employer would include these employees as
technicians, while Petitioner would exclude them as
service and maintenance employees These employees
sterilize and decontaminate hospital equipment, much of
which is used in the operating room. The only prerequi-
site for this position is a high school education and 1 to 2
years of simply supply experience. Currently, three of
the Hospital's central supply technicians are taking a
course in Central Supply Management at the Washington
Hospital Center After the completion of this course they
will be eligible to take an examination which, if passed,
will result in a certification by the Central Supply Man-
agement Association I find that central supply techni-
cians do not meet the Board's standards for technical em-
ployees in that no formal education or specialized train-
ing is required to obtain the position and there is no evi-
dence to establish that the job requires the use of inde-
pendent judgment Accordingly, they are excluded from
the technical unit
Delivery Room Technicians
The Employer employs one delivery room technician,
Evelyn Middleton The Employer would include this po-
sition as a technical position while Petitioner would ex-
clude it as a service and maintenance position . The deliv-
ery room technician ' s duties involve the maintenance of
1475
equipment, the passing of instruments during the delivery
of infants, and maintenance of the sterility of the delivery
room area, which is contiguous to the Hospital's operat-
ing room The delivery room technicians do not normal-
ly assist at any surgical procedures, unlike operating
room technicians who are stipulated to be technical em-
ployees When a birth takes place by cesarean section, an
operating room technician is called to assist. Only if no
operating room technician is available would a delivery
room technician assist at a birth by cesarean section.
Thus, it appears assisting at any surgical procedure is not
a regular part of the job duties of delivery room techni-
cians The prerequisite to obtaining this position at the
Hospital is a high school education and one year of prior
experience as a delivery room technician The record is
devoid of evidence indicating that formal education or
specialized training is required before one becomes a de-
livery room technician I shall exclude this classification
from the unit because the delivery room technician is not
licensed or registered and there is insufficient evidence to
conclude that independent judgment is utilized in the
performance of the duties or that these duties regularly
include any technical functions such as assisting at surgi-
cal procedures
Nursery Technicians
The Hospital employs four employees as nursery tech-
nicians. The Employer would include this position as
technical while Petitioner would exclude it as a service
and maintenance position Nursery technicians assist in
the care of infants both in the nursery and in the inten-
sive care nursery, where premature and ill infants are
kept . In this connection , technicians monitor heartbeat
and respiration as well as preparing reports on infant de-
velopment. All tasks are performed under the supervision
of a nurse. The prerequisite for this position is a high
school diploma. Afterwards, on-the-job training is given
by a nurse practitioner for an indefinite period of several
months. Since there are no formal education or training
requirements for this position and since there is no indi-
cation that these employees utilize independent judgment
in the performance of their duties, I shall exclude them
from the unit
Mental Health Counselors
The Hospital employs eight mental health counselors
in its psychiatric unit The Hospital contends these em-
ployees are technicals, while Local 2 asserts they are
service and maintenance employees Mental Health coun-
selors participate along with psychiatrists and registered
nurses in counseling and group therapy sessions w;tki pa-
tients and their families . Mental health counselors assist
professional employees in carrying out treatment plans
and reporting their observations of patient development.
At the present time, in order to become a mental health
counselor an employee must have a Bachelor of Science
degree in psychology, be an LPN or possess an Associ-
ate Arts degree in mental health technology. Because of
the training and education requirements of this position
and because the nature of the work demonstrates the use
of independent judgment, I conclude that these employ-
1476 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ees meet the Board's standard for technical employees
and therefore they are included in the unit
Electroencephalographic (EEG) Technicians
The Hospital employs one employee, Brad Leavitt, as
an EEG technician The EEG technician operates equip-
ment that involves the placement of electronic leads on a
patient's head for the purpose of measuring brain activity
and brain waves. As reflected in the job description for
the position, the Hospital's requirement for EEG techni-
cians is specialized training in an accredited school for
EEG technicians, or a certificate from the American
Board of Registered Electroencephalographic Techni-
cians. Leavitt possesses a certificate issued by the above-
noted Board reflecting that he has successfully complet-
ed their examination. The Hospital's administrator testi-
fied that, at present, new and more sophisticated equip-
ment is used by the EEG technician than was used in
1981 Since the job description introduced into evidence
reflects that EEG technicians evaluate data, thereby re-
flecting the use of independent judgment, and because of
the certificate possessed by Leavitt, I conclude he is a
technical employee and thus included in the technical
unit