The McBride Glass Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 17, 1948

78 N.L.R.B. 1028 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of JAMES A. MCBRIDE D/B/A THE MCBRIDE GLASS COM-
PANY, EMPLOYER and THE AMERICAN FLINT GLASS WORKERS UNION
OF NORTH AMERICA, A. F. L.,1 PETITIONER
Case No. 6-R-1840.-Decided August 17, 1948
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. 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 National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-nman panel consisting of Members Houston, Mur-
dock, and Gray.
The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
The labor organization involved claims to represent employees of
the Employer.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds that no question
of representation exists concerning the representation of employees
of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Sec-
tion 2 (6) and (7) of the Act for the following reasons :
The Petitioner has requested that it be certified as bargaining repre-
sentative of a unit composed of all pressers,2 blowers, gatherers, foot-
setters, and moldmakers 3 in the Employer's plant. The Employer
moved to dismiss the petition on the grounds (1) that the unit sought
is inappropriate, and (2) that the Petitioner is disqualified from
acting as the representative of any employees of the Employer because
of the control exercised by supervisors over the Petitioner's local which
' The name of the Petitioner appears in the caption as amended at the hearing.
2 The record shows that , at the time of the hearing, the Employer had discontinued its
press department and had no pressers on its pay roll.
3 At the hearing , the Petitioner moved to amend its petition to include moldmakers in the
appropriate unit. The motion was granted by the hearing officer.
78 N. L. R. B., No. 139
1028
THE McBRIDE GLASS COMPANY 1029
has been organized in the Employer's plant. The Employer's motion
was referred by the hearing officer to the Board. The motion to dis-
miss is granted for the reasons hereinafter indicated.
The Employer is engaged in the manufacture and sale of low-priced
glass stemware, with its only plant in Salem, West Virginia. The
principal departments of the plant are the blow department, the press
department, and the decorating shop. At the time of the hearing,
only the blow department was in operation. The blow department
uses the "continuous tank" method of manufacture, operating on a
continuous 24-hour basis for 5 days each week, Monday through Fri-
day. At the-beginning of the week, sufficient raw materials are made
up and placed in the tank to last for the entire workweek.
The initial work of blowing and shaping the stemware is performed
by a unit of five employees who work together in a "shop." The
gatherer takes the molten glass from the tank and hands it to the
blower. The blower blows and shapes it into the desired form, and
hands it to a carry-over boy, who in turn hands it to the footsetter.
The bit-boy gathers a small amount of glass sufficient for the modeling
of the foot or base on which the item of ware rests, and brings it to
the footsetter. The footsetter then models the foot and places it on
the form. After this step, the piece of ware is taken by the carry-over
boy to a conveyor to be taken to the lehr, a tunnel-shaped oven con-
taining a continuous wire belt. As the glassware passes slowly
through the lehr, it is subjected to a heat treatment. The ware is
then removed from the lehr and given its first inspection, all faulty
and imperfect pieces which are detected at this stage being discarded.
Thereafter, the surplus glass resulting from the ware being attached
to the blowpipe is cut off. This cutting process leaves a rough top
edge on each piece of ware which is ground off and then made smooth
by a glazing process consisting of the application of heat on the top edge
of the ware. Thereafter, the glassware is put through a second an-
nealing oven, or lehr, for the purpose of removing the strain resulting
from the glazing process. After the ware has passed through this
lehr, it is given its final inspection and packed for shipment.
The record discloses that there are 15 "shops" in the plant, each shop
consisting of 5 men, headed by the blower .4 The blower is required to
hire his own shop, before being hired by the Employer.5 He exer-
cises complete authority to hire and fire the men in his shop. We find
' The blower and the footsetter are the most highly skilled of the shop group. They are
paid the same piece rate , which is the highest in the shop.
5 This practice is peculiar to the Employei's plant , and is not followed generally in the
industry The Employer adopted this practice at least a decade ago. The fact that sep-
arate units of skilled workers have been established in other glass manufacturing plants,
as pointed out by the Petitioner, is therefore not material here.
798767-49-vol 78-66
1030 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
that the blowers are supervisors within the meaning of the amended
Act, and, as such, must be excluded from the proposed unit .6
The remainder of the unit proposed by the Petitioner, i. e., the
gatherers and the footsetters, are production workers. They are hired
as "boys," or unskilled help, and are trained on the job for the more
skilled positions, but they do not serve a formal apprenticeship. The
period of training varies according to the skill and aptitude of the indi-
vidual employee. The tasks performed by these employees are repeti-
tive, and the skill required of them is similar to that required for the
tasks performed by other employees engaged in production. The work
• of the employees sought by the Petitioner is closely integrated with
that of the bit-boys and carry-over boys in their shops, who are not
included in the proposed unit, and is also closely integrated with the
work of the entire production department. It is apparent that these
employees lack the requisite skill for craft classification. Accordingly,
we find the proposed unit inappropriate, and we shall order that the
petition be dismissed.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the entire record in this case , the National Labor
Relations Board hereby orders that the petition filed in the instant
matter be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
MEMBER GRAY took no part in the consideration of the above Decision
and Order.
6 The Employer contends that the Petitioner is disqualified from acting as the representa-
tive of the employees herein involved because of the control of its local by supervisors. The
local of the Petitioner is composed of about 45 members, about 15 of whom are blowers.
Blowers occupy important offices in the local , including president , corresponding secretary,
financial secretary , and chairman of the negotiating committee . The record contains no
evidence with respect to the extent to which the local participates with the International
as the bargaixiingtepresentative of the employees . In view of the fact that the local is
not the Petitioner, and in view of our dismissal of the petition on the ground that the unit
sought is inappropriate , we find it unnecessary to pass upon this contention of the Em-
ployer. Cf. Matter of Alaska Salmon Industry , Inc., 78 N. L R B 185