The Bunker Hill Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 13, 1964

146 N.L.R.B. 331 (N.L.R.B. 1964)

THE BUNKER HILL COMPANY 331
During the calendar year 1962, the Employer's gross revenues
amounted to approximately $587,000, of which $365,000 represented
gross annual sales of goods, products, commodities, and/or revenue
from services, while $222,000 represented dues and initiation fees
of members.
The Employer contends that the Board should not assert jurisdic-
tion because its operations do not satisfy the jurisdictional standard
for retail enterprises.
The Board decided in Walnut Hills Country Club i that the retail
standard is the applicable standard for operations of the nature en-
gaged in by the Employer. In Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board
(Chartiers Country Club),' the Board, in determining whether or not
the gross volume of business of a nonprofit 'organization such as the
Employer's herein meets the Board's retail standard, did not count
the annual dues of members as income derived from its retail opera-
tions. As the Employer's retail sales are less than the $500,000
required,3 we find that it will not effectuate the policies of the Act
to assert jurisdiction herein. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the
petition.4
[The Board dismissed the petition.]
1145 NLRB 81.
z 139 NLRB 741.
Carolina Supplies and Cement Co., 122 NLRB 88, 89.
Member Leedom , who did not participate in the decision in Walnut Hills, supra, con-
curs in the result in this case as he would not under any circumstances assert jurisdiction
over an operation such as this. See, e.g ., his dissenting opinion. in Walter Carl Ray,
at at., d/b/a Ray, Davidson & Ray , 131 NLRB 433, 436.
The Bunker Hill Company and Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders,
Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers, AFL-CIO, Petitioner
The Bunker Hill Company and International Union of Mine,
Mill and Smelter Workers, Petitioner
The Bunker Hill Company and Local Lodge No. 1425, Inter-
national Association of Machinists , AFL-CIO , Petitioner
The Bunker Hill Company and United, Steelworkers of America,
AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Cases Nos. 19-RC-3317, 19-RC-3318,
19-RC-33t30, and 19-RC-3324. March 13, 1964
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon'petitions duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before Hearing Officer
John N. Zimmerman. The Hearing Officer's rulings made at the hear-
ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
146 NLRB No. 43.
332 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with these cases to a three-
member panel [Chairman McCulloch and Members Leedom and
Fanning].
Upon the entire record in these cases, 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 representation
of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c) (1)
and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Metal Workers presently represents a unit composed of the
Employer's production and maintenance employees, including those
employees herein sought to be severed, under a 5-year contract executed
on December 22, 1960. For 18 years prior thereto, this unit was
represented by Mine-Mill. In 1953, the Board found units composed
of, electricians, carpenters, and bricklayers to be appropriate craft
units, permitted severance of these units from the then existing
production and maintenance unit, and certified the Unions now rep-
resenting these three crafts. The Employer has continued to recog-
nize these latter Unions, none of which is involved here, on a craft
basis since 1953. On January 5, 1961, the Board, in Case No. 19-RD-
187, certified incumbent Metal Workers as collective-bargaining repre-
sentative of the Employer's production and maintenance employees,
excluding therefrom the above three craft units.
The Boilermakers, Plumbers, and Machinists herein seek to sever
from the existing production and maintenance unit various alleged
craft units.2 Mine-Milli and Steelworkers each seeks to represent
' We shall refer to the Petitioners as follows , listing them in the order in which they
appear in the caption , namely, Boilermakers , Mine-Mill Machinists , and Steelworkers.
Northwest Metal Workers Union , Independent , hereafter called Metal Workers, which
presently represents a certified unit of production and maintenance employees at the
Employer 's Bunker Hill operations , intervened on the basis of its contractual interest.
Local Union No. 44, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing
and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, AFL - CIO, hereafter called
Plumbers, intervened in Case No . 19-RC-3317, on the basis of an adequate showing of
interest.
Petitioners Mine-Mill ( Case No. 19-RC-3318 ) and Steelworkers (Case No. 19-RC-3324),
filed their petitions for a unit of the production and maintenance employees presently rep-
resented by Metal Workers.
2 There is no contention to the contrary and we find that the existing production and
maintenance unit represented by Metal Workers is an appropriate bargaining unit.
8 The Metal Workers contends that the petition of Mine-Mill should be dismissed on the
ground that this Union was, on May 4, 1962, found by an order of the Subversive Activities
Control Board to be a Communist-infiltrated organization . On June 29, 1962, Mine-Mill
filed a petition for review of this order in the U S. Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia, and further filed a petition for redetermination before the Subversive Activities
Control Board. Section 13(a) (h) of the Internal Security Act of 1950, as amended by
the Communist Control Act of 1954 , provides , inter alia, that when such an order becomes
"final ," a labor organization may not serve as an employee representative or exercise any
other rights or privileges under the National Labor Relations Act. As the order is not
yet "final," we find , contrary to the Metal Workers , that Mine Mill is eligible to file the
petition in this case.
THE BUNKER HILL COMPANY 333
the currently certified production and maintenance unit, or, in the
alternative, the currently certified production and maintenance unit,
excluding therefrom such craft units as the Board may herein find
appropriate.
The Employer's Operations
The Employer operates two mines, the Bunker Hill Mine located
at Kellogg, Idaho, and the Crescent Mine located some 2 miles distant
from Kellogg. The crude lead and zinc ores extracted from these
mines are conveyed to and processed through a single concentrator
located at Kellogg in order to separate the lead ores from the zinc
ores and to refine these ores to a higher percentage of lead and zinc.
The lead ores are then taken by rail car to a smelter located 1 mile
from the concentrator where they are subjected to a pyrometallurgical
process which produces lead and related metals. The zinc ores are
taken by rail car to the Employer's zinc plant, also located about 1 mile
from the concentrator, where they are subjected to an electrolytic proc-
ess which produces zinc and related metals. The resultant lead and
zinc are further processed at the Employer's sulphuric acid and phos-
phoric acid plants located in or near the zinc plant. The record fur-
ther shows that, if the mine operations ceased functioning_or operat-
ing, the remaining plant operations could continue for only 'a limited
time, and that if the concentrator ceased operation, the Employer's
operations would be required to shut down almost immediately.
The Units Requested for Severance
All of the employees in the units sought to be severed from the exist-
ing production and maintenance unit are engaged in maintenance
work and, for the most part, work straight day shifts. Production
employees work three shifts daily.
Case No. 19-RC-3317
The Boilermakers seeks a unit including boilermakers, blacksmiths,
-maintenance mechanics (excepting maintenance mechanics known as
"drill, doctors"), and riggers.
With regard to the boilermakers, the record shows that, although
they occasionally perform some outside maintenance work, they-nor-
mally perform their duties in machine shops located in the mine sur-
face plant and the smelter plant. Their work areas are shared by
blacksmiths, machinists, and plumbers. The boilermakers' work area
in the zinc plant is not indicated in the record. Using such tools as
nibblers, presses, shears, rolls, and drills, the boilermakers fabricate
from sheet and plate steel and structural shapes the various bins,
chutes, car bodies, and structural members used,in the maintenance
of the plants. They also read blueprints and do layout work. They
334 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
work under the supervision of a boilermaker-leadman who, in, turn,
reports to a foreman in charge of several crafts. The boilermakers
perform only maintenance work, and there is no interchange of tools
or employees with other crafts or with production employees. In
addition, there is a formal 4-year apprenticeship program recognized
by the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, U.S. Department of
Labor, and which follows the standards imposed by the registered
Standards of Apprenticeship. The Employer contends, despite the
above, that a craft unit is inappropirate because -all boilermakers are
not centrally located and supervised. We find no merit in this con-
tention.' We are satisfied that these employees exercise the usual
skills of the boilermakers craft.'
As to the blacksmiths, four of them work in a blacksmith shop lo-
cated in an unidentified area. These blacksmiths are engaged in
sharpening mine drill steel. The remaining blacksmiths are located
in the mine surface plant, the smelter, and the zinc plant. They
report to and work in the same areas as the boilermakers and ma-
chinists, but work under the immediate supervision and direction of
a blacksmith-leadman. Using the tools of their trade, they cut, re-
shape, and otherwise fabricate steel rods and bars for all of the various
tools required in the Employer's operation. There is no interchange
in work, tools, or employees between blacksmiths and other craftsmen
or production workers. The Employer has also adopted a formal
4-year 'apprenticeship program for blacksmiths. We find these em-
ployees to be craftsmen.6
The maintenance mechanics classification sought by the Boiler-
makers encompasses employees with varying skills and duties. Some
of these mechanics work exclusively underground in the mines. There
they do cutting, burning, welding, and repairing of mechanical equip-
ment. They are also responsible for the maintenance and repair of
the main underground pipe systems which go through 120 miles of
tunnel. These systems consist of the main air line, the operational
or process water system, and the domestic water system. In carrying
out this pipework, the maintenance mechanics appear to perform'the-
same duties underground as the pipefitters do on the surface. Al-
though the maintenance mechanics are fully qualified to do the re-
' The Employer contends , inter alia, that craft groups.herein sought are inappropriate
because the employees involved are subject to different supervision . However , the mere
fact that craft employees have common supervision with employees outside their craft does
not prevent craftsmen from being represented in a unit of their own craft , Kennecott
Copper ' Corporation, 138 NLRB 118, 122 ; B. H. Hadley, Inc., 130 NLRB 1622, and cases
cited therein.
5 Stauffer Chemical Company of Nevada , 113 NLRB 1255 , 125T-1258 ; Sinclair Rubber,
Inc, 96 NLRB 220, 225; International Paper Company , Southern Kraft Daviaion, 94
NLRB 483, 496.
9 Kennecott Copper Corporation , Ray Mines Division, 106 NLRB 390 , 393; Kimble
Glass Company, 102 NLRB , 933, 936.
THE BUNKER HILL COMPANY 335
quired underground pipefitting, the maintenance mechanics are not
generally so skilled as the above-ground pipefitters who go through
a longer and a formal rather than an informal apprenticeship pro-
gram. The maintenance mechanics assigned to the underground
operation do not report to the surface maintenance mechanics' shop,
but regularly report directly underground to a maintenance foreman.
In addition to the above-described maintenance mechanics, other
maintenance mechanics report to a centrally located maintenance
mechanics' shop for assignments throughout the Employer's above-
ground operations. Although these maintenance mechanics normally
work under the immediate direction of a maintenance mechanic-
leadman or foreman, their work at the concentrator and mine shop is
performed under the direction of a production supervisor. Their
principal duties consist of installing, removing, repairing, maintain-
ing, inspecting, and otherwise providing general maintenance to the
Employer's mechanical process equipment, and they may be required
to oil, cut, weld, and burn. In addition, their duties at the zinc plant
require them to take apart and clean various acid and dust control
pipes, tasks which production workers also perform.
All maintenance mechanics, whether above or below ground, have
an informal 2- or 3-year -apprenticeship program. With the exception
of the above-described pipework performed by the above-ground
maintenance mechanics at the zinc plant, maintenance mechanics do
no production work, and there is no interchange with any other
"craft" or production employees. However, because the maintenance
mechanics sought by the Petitioner are a heterogeneous group of em-
ployees with differing skills and functions,7 and because in relation
to the boilermakers and blacksmiths they are, under different super-
vision, have an informal rather than a formal apprenticeship pro-
gram, and perform different work and exercise different skills, we
find that maintenance mechanics lack a special community of interest
with the boilermakers and blacksmiths. Accordingly, we shall deny
the Petitioner's request with respect to these employees.
The riggers sought to be included by the Boilermakers spend almost
100 percent of their time working at the Employer's smelter under
the supervision of a maintenance mechanic foreman. Their duties
consist of moving heavy equipment with special rigging equipment.
Riggers do not interchange with employees of other crafts or with
the production employees, and they also have a formal 4-year ap-
prenticeship training program.
The work of the riggers, however, differs substantially from that
of the boilermakers and blacksmiths. Moreover, the record contains
7 See Clayton cE Lambert Manufacturing Company, Ordnance Division , 111 NLRB
540, 541.
744-670-65-vol. 146-23
336 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
little or no evidence that there is any relationship, functional or other-
wise, between the work of these two groups of employees, nor does it
establish that there is any similarity in the skills exercised by the
riggers and the boilermakers and blacksmiths." We shall, accord-
ingly, deny the Petitioner's request with respect to these' employees
because we perceive no justification for severing riggers from the
production and maintenance unit and combining them with the boiler-
-makers and blacksmiths .9
On the basis of the entire record, we find that the boilermakers and
blacksmiths are craftsmen and that together, if they so desire, they
may be represented as a separate unit by the Boilermakers 10 which
has traditionally represented them.li
Case No. 19-RC-3317
The Plumbers, who intervened in Case No. 19-RC-3317 on the basis
of an adequate showing of interest, seeks a unit composed of all
employees engaged in plumbing, steamfitting, pipefitting, and lead-
burning work, or, in the alternative, such of the employees sought as
the Board might find to constitute an appropriate unit.
The Employer's pipe shops are located in partitioned-off rooms in
the mine surface Land zinc plants, and also in the smelter. The pipe-
fitters are supervised by a pipefitter-leadinan who, in turn, reports to
the water superintendent at the mine surface plant, the maintenance
superintendent at the zinc plant, and the shop foreman at the smelter.
Using such tools as pipe machines, grinders, drill presses, pipe benders,
and regular plumber's and pipefitter's tools, the pipefitters work
throughout the Employer's surface operation. They do some soil
work, a small amount of copper work, and otherwise perform ad-
mittedly skilled pipefitting, steamfitting, and plumbing work on every
type of pipe, except lead. Pipefitters have their own seniority group-
ing, a separate, formal 4-year apprenticeship program, and do not
interchange personnel, work, or tools with other crafts, nor do they do
any production work. We find that these employees who are engaged
in plumbing, steanifitting, and pipefitting work are craftsmen.12
s Contsnental'Oil Company, 95 NLRB 165, 166.
e Continental Oil Company, supra, at 166
1s We are aware that the unit which we have found to be appropriate is smaller and,
therefore , differs from the unit sought by the Boilermakers . Accordingly, if the Boiler-
makers does not desire to participate in the election to be held in the smaller unit found
appropriate , we shall permit it to withdraw its petition upon appropriate notice to the
Regional Director.
u Kennecott Copper Corporation, 138 NLRB 118, at 121 , and cases cited therein ; Stauffer
Chemical Company of Nevada; suprg, at 1258.
u Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation, Shipbuilding Division, San Francisco Yard,
117 NLRB 579 , 582-583. See also Kennecolt Copper Corporation, supra, at 121-122,
Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation , Shipbuilding Division , San Francisco Yard,
supra, at 583 ; Stauffer Chemical Company of Nevada , supra, at 1259.
THE BUNKER HILL COMPANY 337
The lead burners, working primarily with lead, perform the ad-
mittedly highly skilled operations of fabricating, installing, maintains
ing, and repairing lead equipment throughout the Employer's surface
operation. No other employees of the Employer perform lead-
burning work. Some lead burners work daily in the cell room of the
zinc plant forming and shaping lead necessary in the cell room opera-
tion. The remainder of the lead burners work elsewhere in the Em-
ployer's operation on lead pipes, lead sinks, lead-lined cell boxes, and
lead steam coils; they burn lead, line lead tanks, and lay lead floors.
All of these employees are directed by a lead-burner leadman under
the supervision of a multicraft supervisor located in the zinc plant.
The le td burners also have their own seniority grouping and a sep-
arate, formal 4 -year apprenticeship program. They do not inter-
change personnel, work, or tools with any other craft, nor do they
do any production work. Based,on these facts, we find that the lead
burners are also craftsmen.13
Accordingly, as the Plumbers is the traditional representative of
the employees it seeks, we find that all of the Employer's employees
engaged in the above-described plumbing, steamfitting, and pipefitting
work, as well as those engaged in lead-burning work, constitute a
homogeneous group of craftsmen and that together they are entitled
to separate representation if they so desire.''
Case No. 19-RC-3320
The Machinists seeks a unit consisting of all machinists, mainte-
nance mechanics known as "drill doctors," toolroom attendants, their
helpers and apprentices working in the Employer's machine shops
located in the mine surface plant, the zinc plant, and the smelter, or,
in the alternative, such of the petitioned-for employees as the Board
might find to constitute 'an appropriate unit.
Machinists normally perform their work in standard-equipped ma-
chine shops located in the mine surface and zinc plants and the
smelter. Occasionally, however, machinists will set up precision
equipment calling for close tolerance outside their shops. They work
under the immediate supervision of 'a machinist-leadman. While the
exact nature of their maintenance duties is not clear, it is undisputed
that they are skilled journeyman machinists. In addition, the ma-
chinists have their own seniority grouping and a separate, formal
4-year apprenticeship program. They do no production work nor do
they interchange personnel, work, or tools with any other craft. We
are satisfied from the record that these employees exercise the usual
skills of the machinists' craft.
13 Allied Chemical & Dye Corporation, National Airline Division, 71 NLRB 1217.
14 See Stauffer Chemical Company of Nevada, supra, at 1259.
338 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Machinists would also include those maintenance mechanics
known as "drill doctors," or floor or bench mechanics. These em-
ployees, two in number, are located in the machine shop in the mine
surface plant, and are employed almost exclusively in repairing, re-
building, and otherwise maintaining mine air drill equipment and
air operating machines which are used by production workers. The
record contains no evidence as to their supervision. Although they
are apprenticed to the maintenance mechanics, whom the Machinists
do not seek to represent, the record is not clear as to the type or dura-
tion of their informal apprenticeship program. Accordingly, be-
cause it appears that their work not only is limited in scope, but also
because the record does not show that the "drill doctors" possess the
degree or range of skills characteristic of craftsmen, we shall exclude
these two employees from the unit.
The toolroom attendants' job has historically been filled by incapaci-
tated employees. Although the present toolroom attendants are ma-
chinists, the record shows that these jobs have been filled by produc-
tion workers for as long as 20 years. Toolroom attendants normally
maintain an inventory of tools, dispense tools to the various crafts-
men, and need very little experience to perform their work. There is
no formal training program for toolroom attendants. Because they
lack a special community of interest with the machinists sufficient to
warrant their inclusion in this unit,15 and because of the dissimilarity
in their qualifications, training, and skills, we shall exclude the tool-
room attendants from the unit."'
On the basis of the entire record, we find that the' machinists are
craftsmen, and, as the Machinists is an organization which tradi-
tionally represents such craftsmen,'' we find further that these em-
ployees may constitute a separate appropriate unit if they so desire.
Moreover, as the record shows that helpers and apprentices who enter
the Employer's apprenticeship program are in a direct line of progres-
sion to the job of machinist, we shall also include them in the unit.
In view of the foregoing, we shall make no final unit determinations
at this time, but shall direct that the questions concerning representa-
tion that have arisen be resolved by separate elections by secret ballot
among employees in the following voting groups, excluding from
groups (a) through (c) all other employees and supervisors,as defined
in the Act :
(a) All boilermakers and blacksmiths.
(b) All plumbers, pipefitters, steamfitters, and lead burners.
(c) All machinists and their helpers and apprentices.
1 Armstrong Tire and Rubber Company, 104 NLRB 892, 895.
16 American Cyanamid Company, Organic Chemicals D,vision, 110 NLRB 89, 91.
17 %ennecott Copper Corporation, supra, at 120-121.
INT'L BROTHERHOOD ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL 5 339
(d) All production and maintenance employees excluding any craft
units heretofore certified by the National Labor Relations Board
(such as electricians, carpenters, and bricklayers), employees in vot-
ing groups (a) through (c), and all supervisory, technical and clerical
employees, gatemen, office clerical employees, guards, and watchmen
as defined in the Act.
If a majority of the employees in any of voting groups (a) through
(c) select the union seeking that group as a separate unit, those em-
ployees will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a
separate bargaining unit, and the Regional Director conducting the
elections is hereby instructed to issue a certification of representation
to such union for such voting group, which the Board under the
circumstances finds to be an appropriate unit for purposes of collec-
tive bargaining. If a majority in all the foregoing voting groups
vote for separate representation, and if a majority in voting group
(d) vote for Metal Workers, Mine-Mill, or for the Steelworkers, the
union winning the election shall be certified as the representative of
the employees in such group, which under these circumstances the
Board finds to be an appropriate unit.
However, if the majority of the employees in voting groups (a),
(b), or (c) do not vote for the union which is seeking to represent
them in a separate unit,'their ballots shall be pooled with those for
group (d).18 If a majority in the pooled group vote for Metal
Workers, Mine-Mill, or the Steelworkers, the winning union shall be
certified as the representative of employees in the pooled group, which
under those circumstances the Board finds to be an appropriate unit.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.]
CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH, concurring :
I concur in the result.
18 If the votes are pooled , they are to be tallied in the following manner: The votes for
the labor organizations seeking separate units in any of the groups shall be counted as
valid votes but neither for nor against the labor organizations seeking to represent the
production and maintenance unit. All other votes are to be accorded their face value.
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers , Local No. 5,
AFL-CIO and Jack C. Stemnock, Robert A. Stemnock and
Alex Stemnock , a Partnership , d/b/a Bethel Electric. Case No.
6-CC-300. March 16, 1964
DECISION AND ORDER
On October 1, 1963, Trial Examiner Arthur E. Reyman issued his
Decision in the above-entitled proceeding , finding that the Respond-
146 NLRB No. 41.