The Novelty Steam Boiler Works

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 17, 1938

7 N.L.R.B. 969 (N.L.R.B. 1938)

In the Matter of THE NOVELTY STEAM BOILER WORKS and LOCAL 101,
WELDERS, BURNERS, APPRENTICES , A. F. OF L.
Case No. B-317.-Decided June 17, 1938
Steel Tank Manufacturing Industry-Investigation of Representatives: peti-
tion for, dismissed, where no question concerning the representation of em-
ployees in a unit which could be found appropriate has arisen.
Mr. Owsley Vose and Mr. Charles V. Latimer, for the Board.
Mr. Herbert Fuchs, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On May 29, 1937, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron
Ship Builders, Welders & Helpers of America, Monumental Welders
Lodge No. 101,' herein called the Union, filed with the Regional
Director for the Fifth Region (Baltimore, Maryland) a petition
alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning
the representation of employees of The Novelty Steam Boiler Works
Company,2 Baltimore, Maryland, herein called the Company, and
requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pur-
suant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat.
449, herein called the Act. On August 5, 1937, the National Labor
Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Sec-
tion 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1,' as amended, or-
dered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to con-
duct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
On August 31, 1937, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear-
ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and upon
the Union. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on September
'Incorrectly designated as Local 101 , Welders, Burners, Apprentices , A. F. of L. in the
order directing investigation.
2 Incorrectly designated as The Novelty Steam Boiler Works in the order directing
investigation.
969
970 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
20, 1937, at Baltimore, Maryland, before John H. Diefenderfer, the:
Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board was repre-
sented by counsel and the Company by its president. The Board and.
the Company participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be:
heard, to examine and to cross -examine witnesses , and to introduce:
evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties . During the:
course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on
objections to the admission of evidence . The Board has reviewed the:
rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors were'
committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Company is a Maryland corporation engaged in the manufac-
ture and sale of steel tanks at a plant in the City of Baltimore. The:
principal raw material used by the Company is steel, most of which is.
shipped to the plant by rail from mills in Ohio and Pennsylvania_
Most of the machines in use at the Company's plant were purchased
from manufacturers located outside the State of Maryland.
The steel tanks produced by the Company are used for the storage`
of liquids. They are sold, directly or indirectly, to gasoline stations;
and to manufacturers and distributors of oil burners . About 60 per-
cent of the Company's sales are made to customers outside the State;
of Maryland.
The Company competes with similar businesses on a nation-wide:
scale. It has a weekly pay roll between $800 and $4,500, and manu-
factures between 200 and 600 steel tanks monthly . At the time of the:
hearing it employed 61 men.
II. THE UNION
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers , Iron Ship Builders,,
Welders & Helpers of America, Monumental Welders Lodge No. 101,,
is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor. Neither the constitution of the International Brotherhood nor-
the charter of the Union was introduced in evidence . It was testified,,
however, that the Union admits to membership welders, burners, and
apprentices employed in boiler shops in and around Baltimore, with
the qualification that candidates must be classified and principally
employed as welders or as burners.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS
III. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
971
The manufacture of steel tanks at the Company's plant involves the
successive processes of laying-out, shearing, punching, rolling, break-
ing, angle rolling, baffling, welding, and caulking. Each process prior
to welding requires, or may require, work With the acetylene burning
torch. Of the Company's 61 employees, 15 use electric welding tools
.and are classified as welders.
The Union contends that the welders alone comprise a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining. - It claims to repre-
sent the proposed unit by virtue of a,petition signed by 13 of the
15 welders designating it as their bargaining agent. The Union's
president testified that welding is differentiated from other work at
-the plant in that it requires a degree of special experience and skill ;
-that insurance companies and other institutions conduct examinations
for the certification of qualified welders; that welders are exposed
-to special occupational hazards, and that they consider themselves
and are generally considered to be highly skilled craftsmen. He
stated, also, that all other employees of the plant are excluded from
membership in the Union because they are classified and principally
employed neither as welders nor as burners.3
The record indicates that the welders in the Company's employ
frequently participate in work of the plant other than welding, re-
ceive approximately the same pay as other employees, and work in
close proximity with them. The president of the Company testified
.that 46 of its employees, who use the acetylene burning torch, includ-
ing the 15' welders, are properly classifiable as burners within the
meaning of the Union's membership qualifications.
In Matter of Great Lakes Engineering Works and Welders Inter-
national Association 4 we said :
In most industries welding and burning are operations per-
formed by skilled workmen in connection with their work iii a
broader field, as for example, the craft of boiler making. Weld-
ing and burning are performed in connection with the construlc-
tion and repair of boilers which requires, in addition, craftsmen
particularly skilled in other operations. This is also true of
3 We note that the Union excludes workers and types of work which fall within the
jurisdiction claimed by its International , e g. "The construction , erection, assembling, and
repairing of all boilers , drums , tanks, parts , and work in connection therewith, including
. . . steam, air, gas, oil, water, or other liquid tanks or containers . . also all
:acetylene and electric welding or any other welding process used on work coming under
your classification " (Constitution of International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron
,Ship Builders and Helpers of America, U S Department of Labor Bulletin No 618 ;
Handbook of American Trade-Unions, 1936 Edition)
4 5 N L It. B. 788, decided March 4, 1938
972 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
nearly every industry requiring use of the burning or welding
process. Consequently, welders and burners, or either alone,
do not constitute a distinct craft and are in most cases neces-
sarily merged into crafts with which their work is associated-
In that case We recognized an exception to the general rule upoD
a showing that the welders and burners there involved had been
segregated into one department under one foreman for a period of
20 years. The instant case offers no occasion for departure from the-
rule. We find that a unit composed solely of the welders employed
at the Company's plant is not appropriate for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining. The petition filed in this proceeding relates.
solely to representation of the welders. We need not determine what.
would be an appropriate unit if the petition were broader in scope.
IV. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Since, as stated in Section III, we are unable to find an appropri-
ate unit within the scope of that alleged in the petition filed in this
case, we must find that no question has been raised concerning the-
representation of employees of the Company in an appropriate
bargaining unit.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon 1 he entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSION OF LAW
No -question concerning the representation of employees of The
Novelty Steam Boiler Works Company in a unit which could be-
found appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining has
arisen within the meaning of Section 9 (c) of the National Labor-
Relations Act.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and conclusioft
of law the National Labor Relations Board hereby dismisses the
petition for investigation and certification filed by International
Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Welders &
Helpers of America, Monumental Welders Lodge No. 101.
MR. EDWIN S. SMITH, dissenting :
Under the circumstances of this case, I believe the unit consisting
of the welders, which was petitioned for by the Union, is appropriate,
and that the Union should be certified as representing the welders
for the purpose of collective bargaining.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 973
The union seeking to represent the welders is the only labor organ-
ization in the plant. There is no contention by another union that
the welders do not represent an appropriate unit or that collective
bargaining would best be promoted by combining the welders with
other employees to form a more comprehensive unit. Whenever a
labor organization seeking to bargain for a more representative and
inclusive unit should appear on the scene, it would be proper to con-
sider further the validity of the appropriateness of the welders as
a unit. Currently this problem does not exist. The Union has a
local in Baltimore composed of welders, to which the welders in this
case belong.' The welders employed by this Company are a skilled
group, having common economic problems in respect to their em-
ployer. For the more advantageous solution of these problems they
are seeking to bargain collectively. It seems to me entirely in accord
with the letter and spirit of the Act that permission to do this should
be granted them- by the Board.