The Bendix Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 21, 1967

168 N.L.R.B. 371 (N.L.R.B. 1967)

THE BENDIX CORPORATION 371
The Bendix Corporation , Launch Support Division'
and Teamsters Local Union No. 769, affiliated
with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Chauffeurs , Warehousemen& Helpers of America,
Petitioner2 and International Union , United Au-
tomobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement
Workers of America, UAW, AFL-CIO,' Petitioner
and International Association of Machinists and
Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO,4 Petitioner. Cases
12-RC-2720,12-RC-2734, and 12-UC-5
November 21, 1967
DECISION, ORDER, AND DIRECTION OF
ELECTION
BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS
FANNING AND BROWN
Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section
9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as
amended, consolidated hearings were held before
Hearing Officer Obediah R. Miller of the National
Labor Relations Board. Thereafter, the Employer
and International Association of Machinists and
Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO, each filed a brief.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connec-
tion with this case to a three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's
rulings made at the hearing.and finds that they are
free from prejudicial error. They are hereby af-
firmed.
Upon the entire record in these cases, including
the briefs of the Employer and IAM,5 the Board
finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the Act and it will effectuate the pur-
poses of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to
represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. The Employer, since 1964, has been engaged
in providing all direct support required for launch,
vehicle, and spacecraft operations at Kennedy
Space Center and at Cape Kennedy Air Force Sta-
tion pursuant to a contract with NASA (Contract
NAS-100-1600). The direct support provided by
the Employer consists of operation, maintenance,
and site management of launch complexes, test
facilities, and ground support equipment; requisi-
tioning and dispersal of propellants and gases; the
storage and dispersal of ordnance and materials;
and the operation of support shops and specialized
laboratories. The engineering functions necessary
to support the foregoing activities are also provided
by the Employer. Its responsibility encompasses
the operation and maintenance of a significant
number of ground systems which directly support
NASA's programs for the Atlas Centaur, Titan-
Gemini, Saturn 1, the uprated Saturn, and the Apol-
lo Saturn V vehicle operation.
The Employer's nonadministrative work force at
the space center consists of about 750 hourly rated
production and maintenance workers, and a com-
plement of about 400 nonadministrative salaried
employees, variously classified as techinicians, lo-
gistics employees, and propellant samplers. On
March 12, 1965, the IAM, Petitioner in Case
12-UC-5, was certified as exclusive collective-bar-
gaining representative of all hourly production and
maintenance workers employed under the Em-
ployer's contract with NASA at Cape Kennedy.6
Thereafter, on August 5, 1965, the IAM and the
Employer executed a collective-bargaining agree-
ment, scheduled to expire on March 1, 1968, adopt-
ing the unit specified in the Board's certification.
The instant proceeding involves the claims of the
various petitioning labor organizations for all
nonadministrative salaried employees. There is no
bargaining history for the employees sought.
Thus, in Case 12-RC-2720, the Teamsters seeks
to represent separately all salaried logistics person-
nel. In Case 12-RC-2734, the UAW seeks
separate representation of the remaining un-
represented salaried employees, comprising techni-
cians and propellant samplers. On the other hand,
the IAM opposes an election in any unit, claiming
that all salaried logistics personnel, technicians, and
propellant samplers constitute an accretion to the
existing production and maintenance unit
represented by it, and that its subsisting contract
covers these classifications and hence bars a
present election with respect to them. Accordingly,
the IAM, in Case 12-UC-5, urges the Board to
clarify its certification expressly to include the clas-
sifications sought by the UAW and Teamsters, and
to dismiss their respective RC petitions.
We find no merit in the IAM's contention that the
salaried classifications constitute an accretion to
the unit covered by its subsisting collective-bargain-
ing agreement. In this connection, the record shows
that certain of the presently disputed classifications
were in existence at the time of, but excluded from,
the representation proceeding which culminated in
IAM's certification for the hourly production and
The name of the Employer appears as amended at the hearing
s Hereinafter also referred to as Teamsters
' Hereinafter also referred to as UAW
Hereinafter also referred to as IAM.
The IAM's request for oral argument is hereby denied as, in our
opinion , the record and briefs adequately present the issues and positions
of the parties
6 The unit certified (Case l2-RC-2092, not published in NLRB
volumes) was as follows /
168 NLRB No. 55
All production and maintenance employees of the Employer em-
ployed at the John F Kennedy Space Center in the separate adminis-
trative division responsible for Contract NAS-I00-1600, but exclud-
ing all other employees including office clerical employees, technicial
and professional employees , executive and management employees,
analysts , co-ordinators , planners, schedulers, statisticians , liaison
men, accountants , estimators , timekeepers , buyers, administrators,
laboratory and test employees , guards , and supervisors as defined in
the Act.
336-845 0 - 70 - 25
372 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
maintenance employees . That the parties intended
their exclusion from said unit is amply demon-
strated by the fact that the lAM's bargaining agree-
ment merely incorporates the terms of the Board's
certification, and, while listing the hourly paid job
classifications, omits reference to the salaried lo-
gistics , technician , and propellant sampler posi-
tions . In these circumstances , the addition of some
400 salaried employees to the unit of about 750
hourly employees now represented by IAM
without affording them an opportunity to select or
reject such representative appears unwarranted.7
As we find it inappropriate to add the salaried em-
ployees to the IAM' s unit on petition for clarifica-
tion , we shall dismiss that petition . Accordingly, we
find that IAM's subsisting collective -bargaining
agreement does not bar an election herein and that
a question affecting commerce exists concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer
within the meaning of Sections 9(c)(1) and 2(6) and
(7) of the Act.
4. As indicated, Teamsters seeks a separate unit
of logistics personnel , and UAW seeks a separate
unit of technicians and propellant samplers. The
Employer and the IAM contend that the separate
units, as requested , are inappropriate , and maintain
that the only appropriate unit is one consisting of all
unrepresented technicians , propellant samplers,
and logistics personnel . We find merit in the posi-
tion of the Employer and LAM insofar as they con-
tend that the separate units requested are inap-
propriate.
Concerning the logistics employees sought by
Teamsters, the record shows that they are engaged
in the procurement and storage of parts, materials,
and tools, which they thereafter issue to both hourly
and salaried employees upon request . They also
maintain open bench stock at some locations and
stock- and tool-rooms at other locations . They are
classified as parts analysts , expeditor , material
analyst, and component specialist . All are required
to be high school graduates and the parts analysts
are required to have additional training in business
accounting . In the order noted above, they are
required to have experience varying from 6 years'
experience in logistics work for analyst to 1 to 2
years' experience as stockmen in the missile indus-
try, operating toolcribs, issuing spare parts, and
maintaining records, in the classification of com-
ponent specialist . The salary range is from a top pay
of $777 monthly for analyst to $531 monthly for
component specialist . The logistic employees are
not separately located but are assigned to various
areas within the installation also occupied either by
employees represented by the IAM or those sought
by the UAW herein, or both. As their work is in-
tegrated with and is performed in areas geographi-
cally proximate to that of both salaried and hourly
employees , it requires frequent contacts with other
workers.
The technicians and propellant samplers sought
by the UAW (numbering over 300 employees), like
the logistics employees, are not separately located,
but perform their work in areas shared with other
employees. They are specialists, who, broadly
speaking, are engaged in material, component and
facility analysis, and other activities designed to as-
sure safety of operation within the phases of the
program covered by the Employer' s contract with
NASA. More specifically, there are about 67
technicians who monitor work being done by all
employees to assure that specifications are met and
to check parts for conformity to specifications. An
additional 39 technicians are responsible for
checking high-pressure gaslines throughout the
complex to detect leaks . Some 20 others analyze
gas samplers to determine their moisture and
hydrocarbon content, while 5 others utilize X-ray
and other methods to determine if any systems have
flaws which could cause leaks . Of the remaining
technicians , 16 operate and maintain equipment
measuring the amount of gas distributed to the vari-
ous complexes ; 42 maintain and validate the high-
pressure systems, cranes , and doors on several
buildings; 36 maintain and activate the electrical
supply systems in such buildings and perform elec-
trical work on cranes located therein; 18 assist the
astronauts in simulated tests and are responsible for
rescue operations in the event of malfunction; 53
are responsible for operation , maintenance, and
repair of life-support equipment ; and 10 others are
responsible for the maintenance, validation, and
operation of various other types of test equipment.
The 31 propellant samplers are responsible for
removing gas samples from the system and trans-
porting them to the lab for analysis by other techni-
cians.
Generally, all technicians are required to be high
school graduates with 2 years of training in their
specialized field plus several years of experience.
The propellant samplers are required to be high
school graduates with 1 year of experience in the
sampling of propellants . All technicians are in the
salaried grade 8 ($557 to $777 monthly), while
propellant samplers are in salaried grade 6 ($465 to
$642 monthly).
Propellant samplers, technicians , and logistics
employees have the same fringe benefits , but their
fringe benefits are different from those of the hourly
employees . Each of the three categories of salaried
employees regularly work in different departments,
to which production and maintenance employees
may also be assigned . The technicians and propel-
lant samplers have different lines of supervision up
to a certain level. However, beyond that level, their
supervision, like logistics employees , is the same as
I Gould-National Batteries , Inc , 157 N LRB 679,681.
THE BENDIX CORPORATION 373
that of hourly paid employees. While the record
shows there is some overlapping of the duties of
hourly and salaried employees, and that they work
side by side, other hourly employees have no work
contact with salaried employees.
Neither the UAW nor the Teamsters has in-
dicated the grounds on which it predicates its claim
for separate representation of technicians and
propellant samplers and logistics personnel, respec-
tively. It is clear from the record, however, that
neither grouping qualifies as a craft, departmental,
or process unit wich the Board recognizes as ap-
propriate for purposes of collective bargaining. Nor
does it appear that the technicians and propellant
samplers are wholly or predominately composed of
technical employees with an independent communi-
ty of interest sufficient to warrant separate
representation. Accordingly, as the UAW and
Teamsters merely seek separate representation of
a segment of unrepresented employees, we find that
the units sought by the UAW and Teamsters are in-
appropriate. However, as the various labor or-
ganizations involved in this proceeding have in-
dicated a willingness to participate in an election in
any unit found appropriate herein, and as the
salaried employees sought encompass all un-
represented nonadminstrative employees of the
Employer at this location, they constitute a residual
unit which may be appropriate for separate
representation, and we find that a question concern-
ing representation has been raised as to them.8
Accordingly, we find that the following em-
ployees constitute and appropriate unit for pur-
poses of collective bargaining:9
All technicians, propellant samplers, logistics em-
ployees occupying salaried classifications at the
Employer's Cape Kennedy and Merritt Island,
Florida, operations, excluding all other employees,
office clerical employees, professional employees,
guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the petition in Case
12-UC-5 be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
[Direction of Election 10 omitted from publica-
tion.]
8 The Board is administratively advised that the UAW has made a
showing of interest sufficient to warrant an election in an overall unit of
non-administrative salaned employees However , as the unit ultimately
found appropriate herein is at variance with that sought by UAW, we shall
permit it to withdraw its petition on notice to the Regional Director for
Region 12 not later than 5 days after issuance of this Decision Should the
UAW withdraw its petition , the election we direct shall be contingent
upon the Regional Director's being administratively satisfied that the
Teamsters has made a sufficient showing in the more comprehensive unit
" As the IAM seeks to separately represent the residual unit in the
event of an election, and since the Employer contends that 1AM should be
permitted to participate in the election under the same terms as the UAW
and the Teamsters, Chairman McCulloch and Member Fanning have de-
cided to dispense with the usual provisions for self-determination election
which would require the lAM to represent the salaned employees as part
of its existing production and maintenance unit, if at all
Member Brown dissents from the majority's failure to require a self-
determination election whereby residual employees could vote on
whether or not they wish to be represented by IAM as part of the existing
production and maintenance unit
10 An election eligibility list, containing the names and addresses of all
the eligible voters in the voting group found appropriate , must be filed
with the Regional Director for Region 12 within 7 days after the date of
this Decision, Order, and Direction of Election This list may initially be
used by the Regional Director to assist in determining an adequate show-
ing of interest by Teamsters Local Union No 769, affiliated with the In-
ternational Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen &
Helpers of America The Regional Director shall make this list available
to the parties to the election when it shall be established that the election
will be conducted. No extension of time to file this list shall be granted by
the Regional Director except in extraordinary circumstances. Failure to
comply with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside the elec-
tion whenever proper objections are filed Excelsior Underwear Inc , 156
NLRB 1236