The Davison Chemical Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 30, 1953

105 N.L.R.B. 925 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

THE DAVISON CHEMICAL CORPORATION 925
represented separately , if they so choose in the elections
hereinafter directed.'
Accordingly, we find the following units of employees of
the Employer at its French Road plant, Utica, New York,
are appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining within
the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act:
(1) All production and maintenance employees, including
the truckdrivers and chauffeur, the plant clericals classified
as clerk typists, the expediters, the plant model shop workers,
the working leaders, ' but excluding the laboratory assistants,
the draftsmen , the clerks in the superintendents ' offices,,'
office clerical employees , guards, professional employees,
foremen, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
(2) All drafting detailers , drafting designers , drafting
tracers, drafting calculators, but excluding the tool designers,
all other employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.]
6 See Bethlehem Steel Company, 95 NLRB 1508.
7By stipulation.
8 By stipulation.
THE DAVISON CHEMICAL CORPORATION, LAKE CHARLES
DIVISION' and LODGE 1317 OF DISTRICT 31, INTERNA-
TIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, AFL, Petitioner
THE DAVISON CHEMICAL CORPORATION, LAKE CHARLES
DIVISION and LAKE CHARLES METAL TRADES COUNCIL,
AFL, Petitioner. Cases Nos. 15-RC-936 and 15-RC-937.
June 30, 1953
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Acts a hearing was held before Clarence
L. Stephens , hearing officer . The hearing officer ' s rulings
made at the hearing are free from prejudicial 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 [ Members Houston , Murdock, and
Peterson].
Upon the entire record in this case , the Board finds:
1 The names of the Employer and the Petitioner in Case No. 15-RC-936 appear as amended
at the hearing.
2 The petitions herein were consolidated by order of the Regional Director on May 4, 1953
105 NLRB No 94.
926 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning
of the Act.'
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent
certain employees of the Employer.'
3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the rep-
resentation of employees of the Employer within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and ( 7) of the Act.
4. The Employer ' s Lake Charles , Louisiana, plant, the
only one here involved , is a new plant which started operating
in or about the month of April 1953. The Employer is engaged
at this plant ` in the production and sale of petroleum cracking
catalysts and sodium silicate . The entire plant is administered
by a division manager assisted by 2 superintendents in charge
of production and 2 superintendents in charge of maintenance.
There is no prior history of collective bargaining.
The Lake Charles Metal Trades Council, AFL , hereinafter
called the Trades Council , and the United Gas, Coke and
Chemical Workers of America , CIO, hereinafter called the
CIO, 'seek a unit of production and maintenance employees.
Lodge 1317 of District 31, International Association of Ma-
chinists , AFL, hereinafter called the IAM, seeks a unit of
all maintenance employees . The Trades Council and the CIO
contend that a unit of maintenance employees is inappropriate
and that only a plantwide unit is appropriate . The Employer
takes no position with respect to these overall unit conten-
tions.
We find, in accord with the customary policy of the Board,
that the plantwide production and maintenance unit proposed
by thel.Trades Council and the CIO may be appropriate.
On the other hand, the maintenance unit which the IAM
seeks may also be appropriate . The proposed grouping includes
a lead maintenance man, electricians , instrument mechanics,
carpenters , oilers , painters - insulators , and general main-
tenance men , all of whom work in an area geographically
separated from the remaining workers . The employees have
common supervision, devote a portion of their time to work
of a particular craft, do not interchange with employees in
any other department , and have their own seniority system
apart from that of the production employees . In such circum-
stances , and in the absence of a history of collective bargain-
ing on a broader scale, we have heretofore found that similar
groups of maintenance employees may appropriately be rep-
resented apart from production employees , if they so desire.5
3 The transcript herein, in reporting at page 12 the Employer 's admission that it is engaged
in commerce, attributes to the Employer the statement that "approximately one third of that
amount [ $9,000,000 of Employer -produced goods] will be shipped [ annually] to points outside
the State of Texas." Inasmuch as the plant here involved is located in Louisiana , this is
obviously a typographical error, and the transcript is hereby corrected to read "the State of
Louisiana " in lieu of "the State of Texas "
4Lake Charles Metal Trades Council, AFL, the Petitioner in Case No. 15-RC-937, appears
as an intervenor in Case No 15-RC-936 . United Gas , Coke and Chemical Workers of America.
CIO, has intervened in both Cases Nos. 15-RC-936 and 15-RC-937.
5Monsanto Chemical Company, Muscle Shoals Chlorine Caustic Plant . 102 NLRB 273;
Armstrong Cork Company, 80 NLRB 1328.
THE DAVISON CHEMICAL CORPORATION 927
We shall accordingly grant such employees a self-determination
election.
There remains for determination the unit placement of
3 stock clerks and 5 laboratory technicians . The Trades
Council and the CIO would include these employees in the
production and maintenance unit. The Employer would exclude
them from any unit or units herein found appropriate. The
IAM does not desire to represent them.
The stock clerks : These employees work in the plant
storeroom which is located in the same building as the
maintenance shop. Their duties are to receive , store, and issue
tools and equipment , maintain perpetual inventory cards,
assist in coding of IBM stock record cards , do typewriting
in the keeping of records , and prepare requisition slips for
supplies and materials withdrawn from the storeroom. They
are salaried employees receiving employee benefits (vaca-
tions and group insurance ) different from those of the hourly
paid production and maintenance employees , and they do little
physical labor . However , notwithstanding certain workcharac-
teristics which are distinguishable from those of the production
employees , we believe that the stock clerks are engaged
primarily in , work related to the Employer's production
operations. We find therefore that these employees are factory
clericals and, in accordance with our usual policy , we shall
include them in the production and maintenance voting group.'
The laboratory technicians : These employees perform their
duties exclusively within the plant laboratory located in the
administration building , are supervised by a chief chemist,
and have little , if any , work contact with the production and
maintenance employees . They perform chemical tests on
materials entering the plant and on materials that have been
processed. Two of the five technicians have college degrees
in chemistry and the other three are high school graduates with
previous experience in chemical work. They are salaried
employees enjoying benefits ( vacations and group insurance)
different from those of the hourly paid production and main-
tenance employees . They are covered by separate seniority
and promotion systems, and , largely because of their special
training , are not interchanged with the hourly paid employees.
We find that these employees are technical employees who
may not be included in a unit of production and maintenance
workers in view of the Employer ' s objection to their inclu-
sion. ' We shall therefore exclude the laboratory technicians
from the production and maintenance unit sought.
Upon the above findings , we shall direct that separate
elections be conducted for the following groups of employees
at the Employer ' s Lake Charles, Louisiana , plant.
(1) All maintenance employees , excluding all other em-
ployees in the operations and yard departments, the stock
clerks , the laboratory technicians , office clerical employees,
611emtz Manufacturing Company, 100 NLRB 1521.
7 Bell Aircraft Corporation , 98 NLRB 1277
928 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined
in the Act.
(2) All production and/or operating employees, including
the employees in the yard department and stock clerks, but
excluding maintenance employees, office clerical employees,
professional and technical employees, the laboratory tech-
nicians, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
If a majority of the employees in each of the voting groups
both select either the Trades Council or the CIO, they will
be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a single
appropriate unit. If a majority of the employees in voting
group (1) select a labor organization which is not selected
by the employees in voting group (2), the employees in voting
group (1) will be taken to have indicated their desire to
constitute a separate unit and the union so selected may be
certified for such unit. If a majority of the employees in
voting group (2) alone vote for either the Trades Council
or the CIO, the union selected may be certified for such unit.
The Regional Director is instructed to,issue a certification
of representatives consistent herewith to the bargaining agent
or, agents selected for such unit or units, which the Board,
under the circumstances, finds to be appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the Act.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.]
NORMAN S. CORPORATION, d/b/a SANDY'S and RETAIL
CLERKS INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION, LOCAL UNION
NO. 1691, AFL, Petitioner.` Case No. 15-RC-913. June 30,
1953
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was heldbefore John H. Immel,
Jr., hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the
hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed.' The Employer's motion to dismiss the petition on
jurisdictional grounds is denied for reasons which appear
below.
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 [Members Murdock, Styles, and
Peterson].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
1. Norman S. Corporation, a Louisiana corporation, herein
called the Corporation, operates 2 retail shoe stores, known
1 The petition and other formal papers were amended at the I earing to reflect the Em-
ployer's correct name.
105 NLRB No. 113.