Southwestern Portland Cement Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 13, 1954

110 N.L.R.B. 1388 (N.L.R.B. 1954)

1388 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
SOUTHWESTERN PORTLAND CEMENT COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS, LOCAL 605, AFL AND UNITED GAS,
COKE, AND CHEMICAL WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONERS.
Cases Nos. 9-RC-2320 and 9-RC-2345. December 13, 1954
Decision and Direction of Elections
Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before
Joe F. Odle, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at
the hearing are free from prejudicial error and 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.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. Questions affecting commerce exist 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. In Case No. 9-RC-2320, International Union of Operating Engi-
neers, Local 605, AFL, herein called Operating Engineers, seeks to
represent a unit of operating engineers, assistant operating engineers,
and boiler operators working in the powerhouse, excluding assistant
boiler operators, power repairmen 2nd, and pump and conveyor opera-
tors. In Case No. 9-RC-2345, United Gas, Coke and Chemical Work-
ers of America, CIO, herein called the Chemical Workers, requests
a unit of production and maintenance employees, including all power-
house employees. The Employer agrees with the unit position of the
Chemical Workers, contending that the operations of the powerhouse
are integrated with the production processes and that the prevailing
pattern of bargaining in the cement industry is industrial in character.
There is no history of collective bargaining for any of the employees
in the plant involved herein.
The powerhouse is separately housed in a centrally located two-
story building and contains high pressure boilers, turbogenerators,
pumps, and compressors used for the generation of steam and electric
power required by plant operations. Stationed in the powerhouse are
approximately 23 employees, including 4 operating engineers, 4 assist-
ant operating engineers, 3 boiler operators, 3 assistant boiler operators,
6 power repairmen 2nd, and 3 pump and conveyor operators.
Powerhouse personnel perform the duties customarily associated
with their job classifications. The operating engineers, who are li-
censed by the State of Ohio, operate the power switchboard and tur-
bines, and observe instruments distributing electric power to the var-
ious departments in the plant. They are assisted by the assistant
110 NLRB No. 217.
SOUTHWESTERN PORTLAND CEMENT COMPANY 1389
operating engineers who inspect, regulate, and adjust compressors,
pumps, and auxiliary powerhouse equipment. The boiler operators
observe and operate steam boilers, water storage tanks, boiler fans,
and stream gauges. They are assisted by the assistant boiler operators.
The power repairmen 2nd perform ordinary repair and maintenance
work on the powerhouse equipment and, when required, perform the
duties of the assistant boiler or pump and conveyor operators. Fi-
nally, the pump and conveyor operators tend the special equipment
used for the disposal of dust collected from the power plant boilers
and flues.
All powerhouse employees are under the immediate supervision of a
powerhouse foreman. They spend all their time working in the pow-
erhouse, except for the assistant operating engineers who spend about
2 hours daily maintaining water-softening equipment located outside
the powerhouse. There is no interchange of employees or duties be-
tween powerhouse and other plant employees. Although powerhouse
personnel progress from the lowest classification to the highest job in
the powerhouse, the Employer has no formal training program for
them.
Under all the circumstances, we conclude that the interests of the
three powerhouse classifications requested by the Operating Engineers
(operating engineers, assistant operating engineers, and boiler oper-
ators) are not sufficiently distinguishable from those of other power-
house-employees to warrant establishing them in a separate unit. It
is clear from the record that the employees sought to be represented
by the Operating Engineers are not true craftsmen. It is equally clear
that all the power house employees constitute a functionally distinct
departmental group which we have permitted to be separately repre-
sented as a departmental group. In accordance with the Board's estab-
lished practice, we find that all employees in the powerhouse must
be included in the unit requested.' Accordingly, as the unit sought
by the Operating Engineers is too limited in scope, we find it is in-
appropriate 2 However, as the Operating Engineers has a sufficient
showing of interest in the broader traditional departmental group, we
shall order an election in that group and place the Operating Engi-
neers on the ballot.
In support of its position that only a plantwide unit, including all
the powerhouse employees, is appropriate, the Employer contends that
its plant operations demonstrate the same type of integration as that
involved in the basic steel industry. For this and related reasons, the
Employer urges that the Board's National Tube doctrine 3 be applied
to the cement industry. As we recently indicated in the American
Potash case ,4 the National Tube doctrine, based on the so-called inte-
' American Potash & Chemical Corporation, 107 NLRB 1418.
2 Packard Motor Car Company, 94 NLRB 1550 at 1551.
2 National Tube Company, 76 NLRB 1199.
' American Potash & Chemical Corporatson, supra.
1390 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
gration of operations theory, will not be further extended. We feel
that the right of separate representation should not be denied the mem-
bers of a craft or a traditional departmental group merely because
they are employed in an industry which involves highly integrated
production processes and in which the prevailing pattern of bargain-
ing is industrial in character.'
In view of the foregoing and upon the entire record, the Board finds
that the following employees may, if they so desire, constitute separate
appropriate units for the purposes of collective bargaining :
Voting group (1) : All powerhouse employees at the Employer's
Fairborn, Ohio, plant, including operating engineers, assistant oper-
ating engineers, boiler operators, assistant boiler operators, power re-
pairmen 2nd, and pump and conveyor operators, but excluding pro-
duction and maintenance employees, office clerical employees, guards,
professional employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
Voting group (0).- All production and maintenance employees at
the Employer's Fairborn, Ohio, plant, including assistant analysts,
assistant physical testers, physical testers, and laboratory assistants,
but excluding powerhouse employees, assistant chemical engineers,
assistant chief chemists, analysts in the laboratory department, junior
draftsmen in the engineering department, track foremen, assistant mill
foremen, assistant packhouse foremen, assistant yard foremen, as-
sistant electrical foremen, power maintenance foremen, guards, pro-
fessional employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act 6
We shall make no final unit determination at this time, but shall
first ascertain the desires of these employees as expressed in the elec-
tions hereinafter directed. If a majority of the employees in voting
group (1) vote for the Operating Engineers, they will be taken to have
indicated their desire to constitute a separate bargaining unit which
the Board, in such circumstances, finds to be appropriate for purposes
of collective bargaining. In that event, if a majority of the employees
in voting group (2) select the Chemical Workers, they shall also con-
stitute a separate appropriate unit for collective-bargaining purposes.
If, however, a majority of the employees in voting group (1) do not
vote for the Operating Engineers, that group together with employees
in voting group (2) will constitute a single appropriate unit and the
votes of employees in voting group (1) shall be pooled with those in
voting group (2).1
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.]
6 General Electric Company (Fitchburg Works), 110 NLRB 744.
6 Except for the exclusion of powerhouse employees , the voting group description is in
accordance with a stipulation of the Employer and the Chemical Workers.
7 If the votes are pooled, they are to be tallied in the following manner : The votes for
the union seeking the separate unit shall be counted as valid votes , but neither for nor
against any union seeking the more comprehensive unit , all other votes are to be accorded
their face value whether for representation by a union seeking the comprehensive unit
or for no union. American Potash & Chemical Corporation, 107 NLRB 1418.