The Permanente Metals Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 27, 1950

89 N.L.R.B. 804 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of THE PERMANENTE METALS CORPORATION , EMPLOYER,
and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL
UNION 73, AFL , PETITIONER
In the Matter of THE PERMANENTE METALS CORPORATION , EMPLOYER,
and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL
UNION 73, AFL, PETITIONER
In the Matter of THE PERMANENTE METALS CORPORATION , EMPLOYER,
and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS , LOCAL UNION 86,
INDEPENDENT , PETITIONER
In the Matter of THE PERMANENTE METALS CORPORATION , EMPLOYER,
and UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA,
MILLWRIGHTS AND MACHINE ERECTORS , LOCAL UNION 1862, AFL,
PETITIONER
In the Matter of THE PERMANENTE METALS CORPORATION , EMPLOYER,
and SPOKANE ALUMINUM COUNCIL, AFL, PETITIONER
In the Matter of THE PERMANENTE METALS CORPORATION , EMPLOYER,
and UNITED ASSOCIATION OF JOURNEYMEN AND APPRENTICES OF THE
PLUMBING AND PIPE FITTING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES AND
CANADA , AFL, PETITIONER
Cases Nos . 19-RC-298,19-RC-299, 19-RC-304,19-RC-305,
19-RC-06, and 19 RC-315. Decided April 27, 1950
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon petitions duly and separately filed, an order of the Regional
Director consolidating the above cases was duly made and filed on
June 30, 1949. A hearing on the consolidated case was held before
Robert E . Tillman, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made
at the hearings are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed.
89 NLRB No. 88.
804
THE PERMANENTE METALS CORPORATION 805
At the request of the Employer and the United Steel Workers of
America, CIO,' oral argument was heard before the Board on Jan-
uary 24, 1950. All parties, except the Petitioners, United Brotherhood
of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Millwrights, and Machine
Erectors, Local Union 1862, AFL and United Association of Journey-
men and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the
United States and Canada, AFL, were represented by counsel and
participated in the argument.
Upon the entire record in this consolidated case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local
Union 73, AFL, hereinafter referred to as the IBEW; the Interna-
tional Association of Machinists, Local Union 86, Independent, here-
inafter referred to as the IAM; the United Brotherhood of Carpenters
and Joiners of America, Millwrights and Machine Erectors, Local
Union 1862, AFL, hereinafter referred to as the Carpenters ; the United
Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and
Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, AFL, herein-
after referred to as the Pipefitters; and the Spokane Aluminum Coun-
cil, AFL, hereinafter referred to as the Council, are labor organiza-
tions within the meaning of the Act, claiming to represent employees
of the Employer.'
3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning representation
of certain employees of the Employer within the meaning of the Act
for the following reasons :
The IBEW seeks to establish separate units of electrical employees
at the Employer's Mead and Trentwood, Washington, plants, or in
the alternative, a single unit of all the electrical employees at both
plants. This Petitioner would include in its requested unit or units,
the operators, assistant operators, and floormen employed in the recti-
fier station at the Mead plant. The IAM, the Carpenters, and the
Pipefitters seek to establish separate units of machinists, millwrights,
and pipefitters, respectively, at the Trentwood plant, alone.
The Employer and the Intervenor oppose the various petitions and
move for their dismissal upon grounds hereinafter stated. The Coun-
cil, although contending for the appropriateness of a separate unit
' United Steel Workers of America, CIO, hereinafter referred to as the Intervenor, was
permitted to intervene on the basis of current contractual interests.
2 Objections raised by the Employer and the Intervenor to the petition of the Spokane
Aluminum Council, AFL, on the ground that the Council is not a labor organization within
the meaning of the Act, are found to be without merit. As this Petitioner has participated
in other Board proceedings in which it was formally found to be a labor organization, and
as nothing to the contrary appears in this proceeding , we find here that the Council is a
labor organization within the meaning of the Act.
806 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of all production and maintenance employees at the Trentwood plant
alone, opposes the requests of the other Petitioners for separate craft
units, offering in support of its position essentially the same arguments
tendered by the Employer and the Intervenor.
The Employer, one of a number of integrated Kaiser enterprises,.
is a Delaware corporation, having its principal office and place of busi-
ness in Oakland, California. It is engaged in the reduction of alu-
minum and in the processing and fabrication of aluminum into alu-
minum sheets and other products. It operates a number of aluminum
plants throughout the United States including plants at Mead and
Trentwood, Washington. Only the Mead and Trentwood plants are
involved in this proceeding.
The Mead plant is an aluminum reduction plant. The reduction
process is an electrolytic one, known as the Hall-Herolt process, in
general use throughout the industry. Essentially, the process con-
sists of passing an electric current through a solution of alumina,
which is aluminum oxide, in a suitable medium. The aluminum, in
molten form, is accumulated on the bottom of the electrolytic cell, is
periodically tapped off, transferred to crucibles, and then poured into
pig aluminum. The process is a continuous one. Alumina received at
the ore unloading building is placed in storage tanks, conveyed to the
electrolytic cells when received and there fed into the process through
hoppers located over each electrolytic cell. Each pot room contains 70
such cells and there appear to be 12 such pot rooms. The electrolytic
current is fed into the process through carbon anodes, or electrical
conductors. A special type of carbon is used for these anodes, which
are fashioned into blocks of specified size in what is known as the
carbon plant and in other buildings. The carbon anodes are consumed
in the process of producing the aluminum and are continuously re-
placed. The replacement is the function of employees classified as
carbon tapper changers. The electrolytic cells which are steel tanks
lined with a different form of carbon so as to be electrically conductive
also wear out in time and must be repaired and replaced. Such re-
pairs are usually made by utility men. Often in the process of re-
placing the electrolytic cells, production workers, rather than elec-
tricians, are used either to shunt out the cells or to connect them in
proper sequence.
Electrical energy is the third element essential to the electrolytic
process because, like a chemical reagent, it enters directly into the
process instead of merely activating electrically operated equipment.
Electrical energy is purchased from the Bonneville Power Adminis-
tration and transmitted to the rectifier station at the Mead plant.
THE PERMANENTE METALS CORPORATION 807
The function of the rectifier station is to convert the alternating cur-
Tent received from the Bonneville station to direct current, so as to
permit its use in the electrolytic process.
In addition to the pot rooms, rectifier station, and carbon plant,
the Mead plant'consists of other buildings and structures which house
:supporting services. The Mead plant has a capacity of 18 million
pounds of aluminum per month, practically all of which is shipped to
the Trentwood plant for further processing.
The Trentwood plant is asserted to be in all respects a typical
rolling mill, duplicating in function and equipment that of rolling
mills in the steel industry. The T'rentwood plant is subdivided into a
number of operational areas.3 In the remelt area, the pig aluminum
received from the Mead plant 4 is first melted in remelt furnaces fired
by oil burners. After alloying to the desired composition, the alumi-
num is cast into ingots. These ingots are scalped and preheated to a
fairly high temperature and then passed through a series of rolling
machines in the "hot-line" section of the plant. Further rolling of
the sheets from the hot-line takes place in the "cold mill" at lower
temperatures. In addition to the rolling machines themselves, a. large
variety of other machines are used in the processing of aluminum sheet,
and still other machines are used in fabricating aluminum products.
A review of the rolling mill operations involved herein indicates that
such operations are complex in character, and by their very nature
require an integration of men and machines to a degree common in the
basic steel industry but not ordinarily found in other types of
industry.
Contentions Regarding the Severability of the proposed Crafts and
of Craft Severance in the Aluminum Industries
The Employer and the Intervenor urge numerous grounds for
denying separate representation to the alleged craft groups sought by
the craft petitioners herein. They challenge the craft skills of the
employees sought to be separately represented, and contend that in
most instances these employees devote a substantial portion of their
time to work intimately connected with the production process. In
addition, the Employer and the Intervenor oppose the severance of
all craft and similar groups, upon the theory that there is the same
high degree of integration in the aluminum industry as exists in the
8 These areas have been identified as the remelt area, the "hot-line," the "cold mill," and
the shear, inspection, and shipping rooms.
4 Aluminum of a different quality is also received at Trentwood from the Employer's
Tacoma, Washington, reduction plant. .
808 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
basic steel industry.,' Thus they point to the similarity between the
production processes of the Mead plant and that of the open hearth
furnaces in a steel mill, and to the basic similarity in function and
design between rolling mills in the aluminum industry and the steel
industry. They urge further in support of their position that col-
lective bargaining in the industry has been almost exclusively on an
industrial or plant-wide basis; that the craft organizations have made
headway in the industry only when acting in concert on an industrial
unit basis; and that, the history of collective bargaining in the in-
dustry has been, in the main, a history of competitive effort by the
two major organizations, the Intervenor and the Aluminum Council.
Accordingly, insofar as our decision in Reynolds Metals Company 8
may be taken as indicating a contrary view, namely that craft sever-
ance is consistent with the policies of the Act in the reduction and
rolling mill phases of the aluminum industry, the Employer, Inter-
venor, and Council urge that the decision in that case be overruled.?
The Duties and Functions of the Alleged Craft Employees
The electrical department at the Mead plant includes the operators,
assistant operators, and floormen who make up the nonsupervisory
staff of the rectifier station. The primary function of the operators
is to regulate the flow of current to the electrolytic cells by the proper
manipulation of various controls. Daily demands for such regula-
tion from the production employees in the pot rooms are numerous,
even though production employees themselves attempt, in a manner,
to regulate the flow of current into the cells by adjusting the positions
of the anodes. The rectifier station operators do no electrical mainte-
nance or repair work on any of the equipment in the rectifier station.
This work is the sole responsibility of the group of electricians regu-
larly assigned there. Their principal duties are to overhaul and
repair the mercury-arc rectifiers, in the course of which they perform
whatever mechanical repairs may be necessary on the tanks and pumps
which are part of the rectifier cooling system. Included among the
rectifier electricians are three meter men who maintain and repair
the numerous electrical instruments and relays, located not only in
5 See Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company, 39 NLRB 617, 45 NLRB 423; Geneva
Steel Company, 57 NLRB 50, 66 NLRB 1159; National Tube Company, 76 NLRB 7.191;
American Rolling Mills Company, 76 NLRB 1209.
6 85 NLRB 110.
' As an additional reason why the Board should reconsider its decision in Reynolds
Metals, the Employer points out that on the occasion of oral argument before this Board
in Reynolds Metals no representative of that company appeared at the argument, and that
therefore the Board was deprived of the industry's point of view on this problem.
THE PERMANENTE METALS CORPORATION 809
the rectifier station but throughout the plant generally." The remain-
ing electricians in the Mead plant are divided into three groups, each
group being assigned to a separate location and being responsible for
the performance of the maintenance and repair work in the assigned
area.'
The electrical department at the Trentwood plant is divided into
four subdepartmental groups. Among them is the automotive repair
group which is not otherwise related to the electrical department, ex-
cept for the fact that it is under the same supervision as the electric
truck repair group. The employees in the electric truck repair group
are solely responsible for the maintenance and repair of the numerous
trucks used throughout the plant and for maintaining and repairing
the electric storage batteries used as a source of motor power for
these trucks. The third group of electricians consists of the pyro-
metric repairmen who test and repair the pyrometers, or heat record-
ing instruments, used for the measuring of furnace temperatures,
and who include among their duties the routine replacement of the
"pyods," or thermocouples.10
The fourth and largest of the subdepartmental groups is the one
engaged in the general maintenance of the vast amount of miscel-
laneous electrical equipment used throughout the plant. The greater
number of electricians in this group are on regular assignment in the
production areas," where they make numerous simple repairs with
respect to the equipment 12 which are so necessary in order to keep the
highly integrated production process in constant operation. Al-
though the electricians maintain an office in the area of the hot-line
8 Each electrolytic cell is equipped with a voltmeter and it appears that there are approxi-
mately 840 cells in use.
0 Thus one group is responsible for both maintenance and repair of all electric lift trucks
and cranes . This same group is also charged with duties incidental to the removal or
installation of electrolytic cells in the pot rooms . Much of this work is performed in
conjunction with crews of production employees especially recruited for this work. The
second group is responsible for the repair of electric motors, but does no motor rewinding as
the Employer is not equipped for such work . The third group is responsible for the
maintenance and repair of the miscellaneous electrical equipment located in the carbon
plant and other areas.
10 The thermocouples are parts of the heat measuring instruments which ere immersed
in molten metal and therefore are constantly being dissolved away.
11 These areas have been previously identified as the remelt area, the hot -line section of
the mill , the cold mill, and the shear , inspection , and shipping rooms.
n In the remelt area , the duties of the electricians include such simple tasks as repairing
damaged wires , cleaning contact points on switches and switch gears, replacing electric
bulbs, and the like . In other areas their duties include checking controllers , investigating
failures in remote control equipment , wiping off contact points , replacing contactors, loosen-
ing the electrically controlled valves which stick , and other simple repairs of like nature.
When changes are made on rolling machines , one of the principal functions of the mill-
wright, the electricians cooperate in such tasks by checking controls on the electric cranes
which are used by the millwright for this particular job. Electricians cooperate in other
ways in the work of the production departments by reestablishing the necessary electrical
connections when equipment units are shifted from one location to another in accordance
with production requirements.
810 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
which is considered to be their departmental headquarters, those of
the electricians who are assigned to the various production areas have
little occasion to report to the department headquarters for either in-
structions or work tools. As practically all the electrical work is per-
formed in the production areas, the few simple tools necessary for
the performance of this work are usually kept in the separate local
areas. There is evidence in the record to the effect that electricians
on regular assignment spend approximately 85 percent of their time
on work directly connected with the production processes, the remain-
ing portion being devoted to tasks that are considered to be repair
work. Although such of the electricians as are not on regular assign-
ment are responsible for the repairs of more serious breakdowns of
equipment, it appears even in their case that approximately half
their time is spent on maintenance and repair work intimately con-
nected with the production process. The major repairs or installation
of new equipment are handled by this latter group. However, such
work is performed under detailed supervision by the assistance of staff
engineers or control men.
As in the case of the electricians, the respective duties of the main-
tenance mechanics, or millwrights 13 as they are more commonly
known, and the pipe fitters 14 are to a large extent localized and con-
fined to the production areas. Likewise with respect to the character
of the maintenance work performed and its relation to the production
process, such duties follow closely the patterns established for the
electricians.
In the case of the machinists employed in the machine shop, which
is part of the mechanical department, the evidence in the record sup-
11 In the remelt area where the furnaces are of the reverberatory type and similar to the
open hearth furnaces in steel mills , the millwright ' s duties include the repair of furnace
doors and other parts , and seeing that latches and counterweights are in place . The mill-
wright is also required on occasion to remove certain of the furnace parts in order to permit
the periodic replacement of the brick linings. At the pouring stations in the same area,
the millwright checks the cast iron spouts on the transfer troughs and replaces them when
dissolved away. In other sections of the mill besides keeping constant watch to forestall
interruptions to the operations , millwrigh ts are also assigned the task of changing rolls on
the rolling machines whenever a change occurs in the production schedule.
14 There are some 60 miles of piping system to be maintained , including a complex
hydraulic system capable of furnishing hydraulic pressures up to 1 , 500 pounds per square
inch . In the remelt area one of the principal duties of the pipe fitters is to maintain the
oil burners and oil burning equipment used to fire the furnaces . The pipe fitters make
periodic checks of this equipment to see that burners are free of carbon and where necessary
replace the used burner with a clean one. When new furnaces are started, it is the pipe
fitters ' duty to light the fire and make certain that the burners are working properly. At
the pouring station the pipe fitter is required to see that sprays are kept open and to keep
constant watch on the hydraulic system in order to avoid serious damage to equipment.
In the rolling mill sections of the plant , the pipe fitters are constantly checking sprays to
see that they are unclogged. With each roll change hose on the spray system must be
disconnected and then connected again and similar connections must be made on the
pressure lubrication system.
THE PERMANENTE METALS CORPORATION 811
ports the conclusion that they exercise skills and perform duties cus-
tomarily associated with similar employees working out of contract
machine shops. However, it is stated that at least 45 percent of the
time of these machinists is spent on work directly related to the
production process.
The intimate connection between the maintenance departments and
the production process is further demonstrated by the Employer's
practice of recruiting employees for jobs in the skilled departments
among production workers, and by the fact that there exist plant-wide
seniority systems which result in frequent transfers between skilled and
production departments. In addition, it appears that the Employer
maintains no apprenticeship system; nor does it have a formalized
training program. In view of the character and scope of the main-
tenance work of the skilled departments and additional factors men-
tioned above, we believe that there exists in this industry a degree of
integration and interdependence of maintenance employees with the
production process that is not customarily found in other industries.
It is true that in the Reynolds Metals Company 15 case, we held that,
in the absence of persuasive proof as to the exact character of an in-
dustry, the predominant pattern of collective bargaining in an indus-
try was not alone sufficient to deny separate representation to groups
of employees organized along traditional craft lines. By the present
record, however, we have been presented with more cogent evidence
of the integrated and interdependent character of the more basic
operations in the aluminum industry and its similarity in major re-
spects to the basic steel industry. Therefore, because of further study
of these considerations and because of the history of collective bar-
gaining in the industry on a predominantly industrial pattern, we
now believe that the facts require us to reverse the conclusions reached
in the Reynolds Metals case and to find in this case, in conformity with
the decision reached with respect, to basic steel, that collective bar-
gaining on other than an industrial basis will not assure employees
in the aluminum industry the best opportunity to exercise the rights
guaranteed by the Act. Accordingly, we find that the craft units
sought by the various Petitioners are inappropriate. We shall there-
fore grant the several motions to dismiss the craft petitions herein.
In so doing, we expressly overrule the Reynolds decision, and hold
that the principles enunciated in the National Tube Company 11 case
are applicable in view of the continuous process and integrated opera-
tions here shown to obtain in the aluminum industry.17
16 85 NLRB 110.
76 NLRB 1191. See also American Rolling Mills Company, 76 NLRB 1209.
37 See also Weyerhaeuser, Timber , Company, . 87 NLRB 1076.
812 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Scope of the Appropriate Unit
The Council., as previously indicated, seeks a unit of production
and maintenance employees at the Trentwood plant alone, contend-
ing that a single unit of employees at both the Mead and Trentwood
plants is inappropriate. The Employer and the Intervenor, on the
other hand, contend that not only does the history of collective bar-
gaining at both plants dictate the appropriateness of a single unit of
employees at both plants, but also that the integrated nature of the
enterprise, wherein practically all of Mead's production of aluminum
is. destined for processing and fabrication at Trentwood, makes any
unit other than a single unit of employees at both plants inappro-
priate. An evaluation of the Employer's bargaining history requires
that consideration be given to the origin of the Mead and Trentwood
plants together with the Employer's proprietary interests therein.
The Mead and Trentwood plants were constructed for the U. S.
Defense Plant Corporation in 1942 and 1943, respectively, for opera-
tion by the Aluminum Company of America. The Aluminum Com-
pany ceased operations in these plants in 1945. The plants were sub-
sequently turned over to the General Machinery Company for stand-
by maintenance. The present Employer took over the operation of
the plants and commenced operations on or about April 1, 1946.
The present history of collective bargaining had its beginning in
1942. In that year, the Spokane Aluminum Trade Council was desig-
nated the bargaining representative for a unit of production and
maintenance employees at the Mead plant, following a consent elec-
tion in which Local 29, Aluminum Workers of America, CIO, par-
ticipated. In 1943, however, the Aluminum Workers won a newly di-
rected election and was certified on June 30, 1943, as the bargaining
representative at the Mead plant for the same unit. On September -
29, 1943, Local 38, Aluminum Workers of America, CIO, was in turn
certified as bargaining representative for a unit of production and
maintenance employees at the Trentwood plant. Thereafter, as the
result of a merger of the Aluminum Workers of America and the
Intervenor, the Intervenor succeeded to the former's position as bar-
gaining representative of the production and maintenance employees
at both plants'' Moreover, the Intervenor subsequently sought and
won bargaining representative status for certain units of miscella-
neous employees at both plants, and later, after a consent election on
"The record does not reveal what contractual relationship, If any, existed during that
period.
THE PERMANENTE METALS CORPORATION 813
January 18, 1946, during the period of stand-by maintenance by the
General Machinery Company, was certified as the bargaining repre-
sentative for the group of employees then employed for such stand-by
operations.
Against this background of representation proceedings, the Inter-
venor on May 16, 1946, entered into, an agreement with the Employer
for a single unit of production and maintenance employees at the
Mead and Trentwood plants, incorporating all units for which the
Intervenor or the Aluminum Workers of America had been designated
as bargaining representative. This agreement was to be in effect until
March 31, 1947, and for annual periods thereafter unless otherwise
terminated. The agreement recited that it was entered into by the
Intervenor on behalf of Local Unions 338 and 329 existing at the
Mead and Trentwood plants, respectively. Thereafter, notwithstand-
ing the existence of this two-plant agreement, the Intervenor, in a
proceeding initiated by petition of the IBEW, stipulated that a unit
of production and maintenance employees at the Employer's Trent-
wood plant alone constituted an appropriate unit, and consented to an
election among the employees in such unit. The Intervenor won the
election held on November 9, 1946, and following its certification as
bargaining representative for the production and maintenance em-
ployees in the Trentwood unit, on April 1, 1947, entered into a new
agreement with the Employer for all production and maintenance
employees at both the Mead and Trentwood plants. The Intervenor
again indicated in this agreement that it was entered into by the
Intervenor on behalf of its separate locals.
The history of collective bargaining in both plants would not alone
adequately establish the appropriateness of a single multiplant unit.
But when to such history there are added the fact that the Trentwood
plant is the natural outlet for all of Mead's production, the further
fact that under normal circumstances both plants would be a part of
a single integrated industrial unit,19 and the fact of this Employer's
centralized management and common labor policies'20 we are persuaded
that a single multiplant unit would be most appropriate. Under the
circumstances, we find that the unit appropriate for collective bargain-
19 The record indicates that the Mead and Trentwood plants when constructed for the
Defense Plants Corporation were set apart for security reasons only. Normally, as testified
to by one Employer witness, reasons of economy would require that the plants be contiguous.
20 Top management in the persons of the general and assistant general managers control
the day-to-day operations of the two plants. The industrial relations department, which
Is apparently responsible for the labor policy of the extensive Kaiser enterprises, formulates
uniform labor policies to be administered by local management at the various plants.
814 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ing purposes is a single unit of all production and maintenance em-
ployees at both the Mead and Trentwood plants. As it appears that
the unit sought by the Council is inappropriate, we shall dismiss its
petition.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that, the petitions filed in Cases Nos. 19-RC-
298, 19-RC-299, 19-RC-304, 19-RC-305, 19-RC-306, and 19-RC-315,
be, and the same are, hereby dismissed.
MEMBER STYLES took no part in the consideration of the above Deci-
sion and Order.