The Nestle Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 10, 1951

92 N.L.R.B. 1250 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

In the Matter of THE NESTLE COMPANY, INC., EMPLOYER and- INTER-
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, DISTRICT No. 9, PETITIONER
In the Matter of THE NESTLE COMPANY, INC., EMPLOYER and COFFEE
PROCESSORS FEDERAL LABOR UNION No. 24562, AFL, PETITIONER
`Cases Nos. 14-RC-1203 and 14-RC-1220.-Decided January 10, 1951
DECISION, ORDER, AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing was held in these
cases before Harry G. Carlson, 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 National Labor
:Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Murdock and Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. International Association of Machinists, District No. 9, herein-
-after termed the IAM, is a labor organization claiming to represent
"certain employees of the Employer.
Coffee Processors Federal Labor Union No. 24562, AFL, hereinafter
termed the Coffee Processors, is a labor organization claiming to
.represent certain employees of the Employer.
. 3. A question affecting commerce exists 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. The IAM requests that we find appropriate a unit consisting of
.all maintenance mechanics at the Employer's Granite City, Illinois,
.plant, excluding office and clerical employees, watchmen, guards, pro-
-fessional employees, supervisors as defined in the Act, and all other
employees. The Coffee Processors requests a unit of all production
and maintenance employees at the plant including the maintenance
:mechanics, but excluding office and clerical employees, guards, watch-
men, professional employees , industrial nurses, laboratory workers,
.92 NLRB No. 179.
1250
THE NESTLE COMPANY, INC. 1251
,engineers, firemen, general heat-power and light department em-
ployees, and supervisors as defined in the Act. The Employer agrees
with the unit contention of the Coffee Processors and both the Em-
ployer and the Coffee Processors oppose the unit asked by the IAM.
The bargaining history at the Employer's Granite City plant dates
from -1944 when the plant was placed in operation. In that year,
the IAM, pursuant to a consent election agreement, was certified by
the Board as representative of a unit of all production and mainte-
nance employees and bargained for that broad unit for several years.
In 1948, following further consent election agreements, the Interna-
tional Union of Operating Engineers, Local 149, AFL,1 was certified
.as representative of a unit of all licensed engineers, firemen, and coal
passers at the plant, and the IAM was again certified as representative
of the remaining employees. Following an election conducted by the
Board in 1949, the IAM was decertified and the Employer, in Sep-
tember of that year, recognized the Coffee Processors as representative
of all employees excluding the powerhouse group. The Employer's
maintenance mechanics have, at all times, been a part of the broad
production and maintenance unit.
There are approximately 50 employees engaged in production and
maintenance work at the Granite City plant, of whom 5 are classified as
maintenance mechanics. The plant consists of 2 connected build-
ings housing 4 main departments known, respectively, as warehouse
and roasting, extracting, drying, and filling and packing. Manufac-
turing processes are concentrated in one of the plant J Luildings while
filling, packing, and warehousing are done in the other. A machine
shop occupies a partitioned space connected with the engine room in
the manufacturing building and is equipped with a drill press, lathe,
and power saw.
The plant is on a 40-hour workweek and operates with three daily
shifts. The maintenance mechanics comprise the entire maintenance
force at the plant and are distributed among the three shifts? Three
mechanics are assigned to the day shift while one man works each of the
remaining shifts. The maintenance mechanics' work consists of gen-
eral maintenance of the plant equipment and includes electrical and
carpenter work as well as painting. The Employer characterizes the
duties of these employees as "rough repair" work and most, if not all,
.precision jobs are done by outside .machinists. The .maintenance me-
chanics now employed by the Employer did not serve an apprentice-
ship and the only requirement for applicants to the position is general
' A representative of Local 149 of the Operating Engineers appeared at the hearing but
did not request intervention in this proceeding.
2 The maintenance mechanics are, at present, working 6 days a week . The Employer,
however, asserts that the normal workweek for all employees is limited to 5 days.
1252 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
mechanical aptitude. The mechanics spend. two-thirds of their time
working in the plant on the maintenance and repair of the production
machinery although small repair jobs are done in the machine shop.
Although the maintenance mechanics are under the general supeirvi-
sion of the chief engineer 3 and receive work assignments from that
individual, they are often supervised by the foremen of the depart-
ments in which they may be working.
Vacancies among the plant personnel are filled through a posting
system in which the maintenance employees compete on even terms
with production workers. Seniority is established on a plant-wide
basis although departmental seniority is recognized to a limited extent.
There has been, as a result, a limited number of transfers between the
production and maintenance groups. Contract benefits are shared by
all employees although the mechanics receive a slightly higher wage
rate. A uniform pattern of plant-wide bargaining for maintenance
and production personnel exists at the other four plants of the
Employer.
There is no contention herein that the maintenance mechanics are
skilled craftsmen entitled to severance from the established bargaining
unit on that ground. The IAM, however, contends that these mechan-
ics are severable because they constitute a well-defined departmental
group. We do not agree. A maintenance group without craft char-
acteristics is not severable from a plant-wide unit of production and
maintenance workers merely because of its distinct function 4 It is
apparent from this record that notwithstanding their unique func-
tional assignments, the members of the group here in question are
closely identified in interest with their fellow employees in the plant-
wide unit. The maintenance mechanics are neither segregated from
the production workers in this plant, nor sharply differentiated front
other employees with respect to the, skill and background experience
required as qualifications for their jobs. The essential unity of inter-
est among all the employees in the plant is strongly indicated by their
6-year history of bargaining. We find, therefore, that these mainte-
nance workers do not have in common such distinctive characteristics
as the Board ordinarily requires to justify the severance of depart-
mental groups .-5 Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition in Case
No. 14-RC-1203.
8 The chief engineer is responsible for all plant equipment and maintenance work as well
as the supervision of these employees.
4 See Celanese Corporation of America , 84 NLRB 207. Moreover, the Board is ordi-
narily reluctant to grant severance of a maintenance group where there is a history of
collective bargaining on a plant -wide basis. See Hotpoint, Inc., 85 NLRB 485, and cases
cited therein.
5 Cf. Borden's Soy Processing Company, 88 NLRB 1208.
THE. NESTLE COMPANY, INC. 1253
In Case No. 14-RC-1220 , we find that all production and mainte-
nance employees at the Employer 's Granite City, Illinois , plant, in-
cluding the maintenance mechanics , but excluding office , and clerical
employees, guards, watchmen, professional employees , industrial
nurses, laboratory workers, licensed engineers , firemen , coal passers,
and all supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective - bargaining within the meaning of Sec-
tion 9 (b) of the Act.
ORDER
IT Is HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed in Case No. 14-RC-1203
be, and it hereby is dismissed.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]