Union Oil Co. of California

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 7, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 937 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter Of UNION OIL COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA, EMPLOYER and
PAUL JONATHON WILLIAMS, JR., PETITIONER and OIL WORKERES
INTERNATIONAL UNION, CIO, LOCALS 128 AND 326, UNION
Case No. 01-RD-23.-Decided March 7,1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition for decertification duly filed, hearing in this case
was held at Los Angeles, California, on July 1, 1948, before George
H. O'Brien, hearing officer.' The hearing officer referred to the Board
a motion by the Union to dismiss the petition on the grounds that the
employees in question are not professional employees, and do not con-
stitute an appropriate unit. For the reasons hereinafter stated, the
motion is denied. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing
and 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 power in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Reynolds and Styles].
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Petitioner, an employee of the Employer, asserts that the
Union is no longer the representative, as defined in Section 9 (a) of
the amended Act, of the employees designated in the petition.
The Union is recognized by the Employer as the exclusive bargain-
ing representative of the employees designated in the petition.
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 determination of representatives :
The Petitioner requests that a decertification election be held among
chemists employed in the manufacturing and research departments
1 Further processing of the petition has been delayed because of the pendency of unfair
labor practice charges which have now been dismissed.
88 NLRB No. 185.
937
938
D
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
at the Employer's Wilmington, California, and Oleum, California, re-
fineries. He contends that these employees are professional employ-
ees, and constitute a separate appropriate unit, apart from a more
inclusive unit of which they are now a part and which is currently
represented by the Union. The Union denies that the chemists are
professional employees, and contends that they do not constitute a
separate appropriate- unit. The Employer asserts that the chemists
are professional employees, but takes no position with respect to their
unit placement.
At its refineries in Wilmington and Oleum, the Employer is engaged
in the business of refining crude oil and other petroleum products.
All operating, maintenance, and clerical employees at both the Wil-
mington and Oleum refineries have been grouped together for a num-
ber of years in a single over-all unit, and have been covered by a series
of bargaining agreements between the Employer and the Union.
Since January 1943, chemists at the two refineries have been included
within the scope of such agreements.2
The chemists 3 are part of the personnel within a laboratory depart-
ment at each refinery. In addition to the chemists, the laboratory
personnel includes employees classified as research technicians, re-
search assistants, laboratory technicians, and inspectors.
The chemists analyze organic and inorganic compounds, both chem-
ically and physically, to provide laboratory data on routine and special
samples submitted by the Employer's manufacturing, research, and
other departments.4
To perform the work properly, the chemists must determine the
most suitable test procedures ; they must devise and improvise, by the
2 In August 1941, the Board conducted a consent election among the employees at the two
refineries ; and chemists voted in the election without challenge. Prior to that time
chemists were not represented for collective bargaining purposes. In October 1942, an
issue arose between the Employer and the Union as to whether chemists at the Oleum
refinery were covered by the then existing bargaining agreement ; this issue was resolved
in January 1943, when the Employer and the Union agreed to consider chemists at both
the Oleum and Wilmington refineries as within the scope of their collective bargaining, and
the Regional Director approved the settlement.
8 The chemists are divided into 2 categories : they commence working with a "B" rating,
and are promoted to an "A" rating on the basis of job performance and length of service.
The duties performed by both categories are similar, and their performance varies only
with employee skills as developed during employment in the laboratory. There are 21
chemists employed at the Wilmington refinery, and 8 chemists employed at the Oleum
refinery.
* The test and analyses thus performed include complete qualitative and quantitative
analyses of unidentified inorganic and organic substances; chemical analyses of hydro-
carbons or their derivatives, including olefins, diolefins, aromatics, naphthenes, and
paraffins ; metal analyses ; microanalyses ; analyses for basic constituents of samples
submitted ; acid content of greases, oils, gasolines, and solvents ; gum and induction tests ;
water and foamite analyses ; tests for ashes, carbon residues, sulfurs, chlorines ; poten-
tiometric titrations for acidimetry, sulfides, mercaptans, and chlorides ; freezing tests ;
B. T. U. determinations ; melting points specific gravities ; saponification numbers and
percent unsaponifiable ; wax determinations ; and emulsion breaking.
UNION OIL COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA 939
use of independent judgment and initiative, new or revised laboratory
techniques and equipment; 5 and they must also record, calculate,
evaluate, and interpret test data, performing computations which
frequently involve the application of complex chemical equations and
calculations." Many of the tests performed by the chemists are repeti-
tive and routine, but less than half of the time of all the chemists is
spent on such work; and, although the inspectors and technicians
occasionally perform tests similar to those performed by the chemists,
the inspectors and technicians perform only tests of a relatively
routine type, for they lack the training, the ability, and the experience
in interpretation which are required of the chemists.7
In addition to their usual analytical and testing duties, the chemists
aid in the training of technical trainees and inspectors, assigned toy
the laboratory. Thus, they demonstrate test procedures, and explain
the significance of test results and the close correlation between control
testing and refinery operations. The chemists also make occasional
visits to the laboratories of other companies in their area in order to
discuss and solve mutual analytical problems.
The chemists receive general supervision from a laboratory super-
visor or foreman, who outlines the work to be done and also gives
detailed directions for the performance of unusual or difficult oper-
ations. During night and week-end shifts, however, the chemists
work mostly on their own initiative, utilizing information and in-
structions relayed by chemists on previous shifts. The activities in-
cluded within the scope of the chemists' assignments, moreover, are
frequently of a confidential nature.
To qualify for chemist positions, applicants are required to hold
a bachelor's degree in chemistry, or in an allied science, from a
recognized college or university. In addition, applicants must have
had training and experience in analytical procedures and laboratory
operations; must be skilled in the use of higher mathematics and the
application of equations and formulas to solve test problems; and
must also possess manual dexterity in handling delicate laboratory ap-
paratus. Applicants are also judged on their ability to work with a
minimum of supervision and to exercise initiative and good judgment
in the performance of their work.
° The chemists are required to keep abreast of technical developments in their particular
fields by searching technical literature and laboratory manuals for references to new or
modified testing methods applicable to analytical laboratory operations.
8 The data obtained from the results of the tests performed by the chemists are used in
plant control , in the determination of commodity conformance to test specifications, and
to aid in evaluating experimental research investigations, pilot plant operations , customer
complaints , and competitor samples.
7Inspectors , technicians , and other laboratory personnel , with the exception of chemists
and senior inspectors are paid a daily wage ; the chemists and senior inspectors are paid a
monthly salary.
940 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
On the basis of the entire record in this case, we find that the
chemists meet the requirements of, and therefore are, professional em-
ployees within the meaning of Section 2 (12) of the amended Act.
Accordingly, we find that the chemists at the Oleum and Wilmington
refineries, excluding supervisors, may constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the Act.8 We shall direct that an election by secret ballot
be held among employees in this group. If the employees in the
voting group do not select the Union, the Union will be decertified as
to them; if, on the other hand, they select the Union, they will be
taken to have indicated their desire to be included in the over-all unit
of employees at the Wilmington and Oleum refineries now represented
by the Union.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Union Oil Company of Cali-
fornia, at Wilmington, California, and Oleum, California, an election
by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later
than 30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and
supervision of the Regional Director for the Twenty-first Region, and
subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations among the employees in the voting group
described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during
the payroll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction.
inchiding employees who did not work during said payroll period
because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, but ex-
cluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged for
cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the
election, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to
reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be repre-
sented by Oil Workers International Union, CIO, Locals 128 and 326.
8 See Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company, Inc ., 78 NLRB 814 ; Illinois Bell
Telephone Company, 77 NLRB 1073.