Union Carbide and Carbon Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 24, 1951

92 N.L.R.B. 1555 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

In the Matter of CARBIDE AND CARBON CHEMICALS DIVISION (Y-12
PLANT), UNION CARBIDE AND CARBON CORPORATION , EMPLOYER and
ATOMIC TRADES & LABOR COUNCIL , A. F. OF L., AND ITS AFFILIATED
UNIONS, INCLUDING LODGE No. 480, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
MACHINISTS , PETITIONER
Case No. 10-RC-1044 .Decided January 24, 1951
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a second amended petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of
the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before James W.
Mackle, 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 [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Reynolds].
.Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Petitioner asserted, no party denied, and we find that the
Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act.
2. The Petitioner and the Intervenor, United Gas, Coke and Chem-
ical Workers of America, C. I. 0., are labor organizations claiming to
represent employees of the Employer.3
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 appropriate unit :
The Petitioner seeks to represent all hourly paid production, main-
tenance, and service employees at the Employer's Y-12 site,4 including.
1 The hearing officer referred to the Board the Intervenor ' s motion that the Board send
an investigator to the Y-12 plant, on the ground that no unit determination could be made
on the basis of the record in this proceeding . The motion is denied , as the record
adequately presents the facts in the case.
2 The Board has previously asserted jurisdiction over the Employer and the plant involved
herein. 88 NLRB 437. The Employer here stipulated to the same facts.
8 The Intervenor contended that the Petitioner is operating under two different names
or identities , having demanded recognition and filed the original petition under the name
Atomic Metal Trades Council , A. F. of L., and that the Intervenor was entitled to determine
the correct one. We find no merit in this contention , as the petition on which this proceed-
ing'is based was filed under the name Atomic Trades & Labor Council and any certification
of the Petitioner will so name it . We note that .the Intervenor. does.not contend that any
compliance requireme'nts are being evaded. The Petitioner 's showing of interest is not
litigable ; Sampel Time Control, Inc., 80 NLRB 1250.
* At the hearing the petition was amended to substitute the word "site" for the word
"plant."
92 NLRB No . 234. 1555
1556 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
sales store employees and some 23 maintenance employees who are car-
ried on the payroll of the Employer's Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(X-10), but excluding all other Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(X-10) employes who work at the Y-12 site, office clerical employees,
technical employes, professional employees, guards , and supervisors.
The Employer agrees with the Petitioner's unit contention. However,
the Intervenor asserts that this unit is inappropriate , principally as it
encompasses only a segment of the employees at the Y-12 site. It con-
tends that the appropriate unit should include all employees of the
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (X-10) who work at the Y-12 site,
excluding, however, the 23 maintenance employees . In addition it
would include, and the Petitioner and the Employer would exclude,
Y-12 employees in the categories of assay analyst, junior assay analyst,
development technician, laboratory analyst, junior laboratory analyst,
assistant steam plant engineer , electrical dispatcher, equipment dis-
patcher, glassblower, property inventory clerk,- and shipping and
receiving clerk.
At Oak Ridge , Tennessee , the Employer operates three atomic energy
installations known as the K-25 plant ; the Oak Ridge National Lab-
oratory or X-10 plant; and the Y-12 plant. At all three plants the
Employer performs production and research on various atomic mate-
rials . The plants. are separately supervised and perform different
production and research operations. Each plant is operated as a sep-
arate entity with no interchange of employees. However, the over-all
operation of the three plants is coordinated by a general staff. of the
Employer's officials.
The Y-12 installation , the only one involved in this proceeding, is
engaged primarily in the production. of stable isotopes . There are
approximately 1,500 employes involved in the Y-12 operation. There
is no history of collective bargaining on the part of most of the em-
ployees sought in this" petition.
In addition to the Y-12 production operations set out above , various
research operations are carried out by the Employer at the Y-12 site.
True, these operations are considered by the Employer to be operations
of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (X-10). However, the record
discloses that the research employees, with the exception of the 23
maintenance employees sought by the Petitioner , are either profes-
sional or technical employees or supervisors whom the parties agreed
to exclude . On the other hand, the 23 maintenance employees, al-
though now part of the X-10 unit currently represented by the Peti-
tioner and separately supervised , work regularly and permanently at
the Y-12 site, and on the same types of work as are in the agreed
CARBIDE AND CARBON CHEMICALS DIVISION 1557
unit. Accordingly, we shall include them in the unit hereinafter found
appropriate.5
The 'Y-12 plant is divided into functional divisions called the man-
ufacturing office division, the engineering division, the maintenance
division, the chemical production division, and the industrial relations
division. The production, maintenance, and service employees sought
by the Petitioner, as well as the employees in the categories sought by
the Intervenor, are to be found in these divisions. In addition to the
functional divisions of the Y-12 plant, the Employer, for payroll
purposes, divides its employees into hourly, weekly, and monthly cate-
gories., At the hearing the Employer's plant superintendent stated
that the manual production, maintenance, and service employees are
all to be found in the hourly paid groups, and that only administrative,
technical, clerical, professional, and subprofessional. employees, and
supervisors, are to be found on the weekly and monthly payrolls. The
.Intervenor disagrees with the Employer, asserting that the following
categories of employees, not listed on the hourly payroll, should be
included in the unit :
Assay Analysts and Junior Assay Analysts
These employees work in the assay laboratory, where they prepare
samples sent in from all over the United Sates, and conduct analyses
using technical equipment.. After completing an analysis, they make
computations and interpretations of the data obtained, and prepare
a report which is submitted to the physicists and chemists. These
employees . are required to have. 3 years' experience in industrial
chemical work. The sole difference between assay analysts and junior
assay analysts is their proficiency in performing the various tests and
their familiarity with the job.
Development Technicians
These employees, under the supervision of professional employees,
develop, operate, and evaluate new equipment to determine its. suita-
bility for the purposes for which it is designed. Before being as-
signed to the job of development technician all employees are required
to have 1 year of college training in the basic sciences and 4 years'
experience in research projects. They perform no production duties
and work exclusively with professional employees.
5 Cf. Kohlenberger Engineering Corporation,, 71 NLRB 818, where the petitioning union
sought a group currently represented by another union.
1558 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Laboratory Analysts and Junior Laboratory Analysts
The laboratory analysts perform analytical chemical tests under the
supervision of chemists. In the performance of their duties they
are required to use complicated apparatus, exercise judgment, and
evaluate the work performed in reports to the chemists. The junior
laboratory analysts, who are training to be laboratory analysts, per-
form less complicated analytical operations.
From the foregoing it is clear that the assay analysts, the junior assay
analysts, the development technicians; the laboratory analysts, and
the junior laboratory analysts are technical employees.6 We shall,
in accordance with Board policy, exclude them from the miit.7
Assistant Steam Plant Engineers
These employees direct the operations of the Employer's 2 steam
plants containing 15 boilers. They have authority effectively to
recommend the hiring and discharging of boiler room employees. We
find that they are supervisors and shall exclude them from the unit.
- Electrical Dispatchers
These employees operate the switchboards which transmit high
tension current throughout the plant. On occasion they may.convey
to the plant electricians instructions and information with respect to
the proper throwing of switches and the handling of electric cur-
rent. As these maintenance employees possess no supervisory au-
thority, we shall include them in the unit.
Property Inventory Clerks
These employees maintain the records of the Employer's property.
They check all property wherever it is located on the Y-12 site.
Although they are supervised by the office manager, they perform a
substantial portion of their duties in the plant. We shall include
them in the unit as factory clericals.
Receiving and Shipping Clerks
These employees, located in the Employer's warehouse, maintain
records of incoming and outgoing shipments.. In accordance with
our usual policy we shall include them as factory clericals s
9 See Monsanto Chemical Company, Mound Laboratory , 89 NLRB 1478 , and,cases cited
therein.
4 See Continental Motors Corporation , 73 NLRB 888, and cases cited therein.
8 Waterous Company, 92 NLRB 76.
CARBIDE AND CARBON CHEMICALS DIVISION 1559
Equipment Dispatcher
This employee is located in the maintenance division, where he
dispatches mobile equipment as requested by the transportation fore-
man. He maintains records of the equipment dispatched, and
conveys instructions to the maintenance employee to whom the equip-
ment is assigned. We find. that he is a factory clerical and shall
include him in the unit.
Glassblower
The Employer would exclude this employee, on the ground that
glassblowers have been excluded by agreement of the parties from
the unit at its K-25 and X-10 plants, and also because he is carried
on the Employer's weekly payroll. We find no merit in these conten-
tions. The record discloses that this employee makes glass equip-
ment for the use of Y-12 research employees. He is a skilled em-
ployee, but does not possess or exercise any technical or professional
training. We find he is a production or maintenance employee and
shall include him in the unit.
Sales Store Employees
The Employer and the Petitioner would include employees at the
surplus sales store, which is located 8 miles outside the Y-12 site.
The record discloses that the Y-12 site is a restricted area, and that
the Employer operates this store outside the restricted area for the
purpose of selling unserviceable plant material to the public. The
store is operated by Y-12 personnel, who are classified as "service"
personnel. This classification includes materials handlers, stock-
keepers, and laborers who perform manual service duties. These
employees are on occasion interchanger with production, mainte-
nance, and service employees at the Y-12 site. In addition to the
manual service employees there is a property sales supervisor, secre-
tary, and record clerk who perform supervisory and office clerical
duties. We shall include in the unit the materials handlers, the stock,
keepers, and the laborers.9 However, we shall exclude the property
sales supervisor, the secretary, and the records clerk from the unit as
they are supervisors or office clerical employees.
We find that the following employees of the Employer constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within
the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act :
A See Maas Brothers, Inc ., 88 NLRB 129.
1560 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
All production, maintenance , and service employees at the Y-12
site, Oak Ridge , Tennessee , including electrical dispatchers, equip-
ment dispatchers , property inventory clerks, sales store employees,
glassblowers , shipping and receiving clerks, and maintenance em-
ployees on the payroll of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (X-10),
but excluding assay analysts , junior assay analysts, development
technicians, laboratory analysts, junior laboratory analysts , assistant
steam plant engineers , office clerical employees , technical employees,
professional employees, guards , and supervisors as defined in the
Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]