United States Time Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 24, 1949

86 N.L.R.B. 724 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter Of UNITED STATES TIME CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, LODGE No. 325,
PETITIONER
In the Matter .Of UNITED STATES TIME CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, LODGE No. 325,
PETITIONER
Cases Nos. 30-RC-134 and 32-RC-135, respectively.-Decided
October 04, 1949
DECISION
ORDER
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon separate petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing was held
before William P. Alexander, 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 [Members Houston, Reynolds, and
Murdock].
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. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.2
3. A question affecting commerce exists in Case No. 32-RC-134
concerning the representation of employees of the Employer within
the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the
Act. No such question affecting commerce exists in Case No. 32-RC-
135, for reasons set forth in paragraph 4, below.
The Petitioner moved at the hearing to amend the unit descriptions in both petitions.
The Intervenor objected, and the hearing officer referred the motions to the Board. The
Petitioner's motions are hereby granted, as the parties had full opportunity to litigate all
unit issues raised by the amended petitions. Matter of Wm. F. Crome & Co., 80 N. L.
R. B. 086.
2 At the hearing, Clock Workers Union No. 24011, A. F. I,., herein called the Intervenor,
appeared and moved to intervene because of its current contractual interest. The motion
was granted without objection.
86 N. L. R. B., No. 122.
724
UNITED STATES TIME CORPORATION 725
At the hearing, the Intervenor moved to dismiss the petitions on
the ground that they were not timely filed. The hearing officer referred
this motion to the Board.
In 1946, following a consent election,3 the Intervenor was certified
as the bargaining agent for the production and maintenance employ-
ees, including the employees now sought by the Petitioner. On April
16, 1947, the Employer and Intervenor entered into a collective bar-
gaining agreement 4 effective June 4, 1947, for a 2-year term, and
thereafter from year to year, in the absence of written notice of desire
to amend, modify, or cancel, given by either party to the other at least
60 days before any anniversary date. On April 1, 1949, the Intervenor
notified the Employer of its desire to negotiate a new contract. On
the same day, the Petitioner notified the Employer of its claim to
represent the employees herein concerned. On April 8, 1949, the
Petitioner filed the instant petitions. Thereafter, on July 19, 1949, the
Employer and the Intervenor executed a new collective bargaining
contract, effective June 4, 1949, for a 1-year period .5
The Intervenor argues that the petitions were untimely because
they were filed less than 60 days before the termination date of the
1947 contract. This contention lacks merit. The Petitioner's claim
of representation, served before the automatic renewal date, was
sufficient to raise a question concerning representation, and was fol-
lowed within 10 days by a formal petitions Moreover, the 1947 con-
tract cannot constitute a bar to a present election, as the Intervenor's
timely notice prevented its automatic renewal, and caused it to expire
on June 4, 1949.7 Furthermore, the 1949 contract cannot be consid-
ered as a bar, as it was executed after the filing of the petitions.,,
Accordingly, we hereby deny the Intervenor's motion to dismiss the
petitions on the grounds stated.9
4. In Case No. 32-RC-134, the Petitioner seeks a unit of all tool
makers and all other employees employed in the toolroom, Department
2333. In Case No. 32-RC-135, the Petitioner requests a unit of all
employees employed in the maintenance department, Department
2351. Alternatively, the Petitioner would be willing to accept a single
8 Case No. 15-R-1630.
'In this contract, the Intervenor acted jointly with Office Employees Local Union No.
105, and Federal Labor Union No. 24176, also affiliates of the American Federation of
Labor.
6 This contract contained automatic renewal and 60 -day notice provisions substantially
similar to those in the 1947 contract.
6 Compare Matter of General Electric X-Ray Corporation, 67 N. L. R. B. 997.
7 Matter of C. A. Swanson and Sons, 81 N. L. R. B. 321 ; and Matter of Brunswick Balke
Collender Company, 81 N. L. R. B. 877.
8 Matter of C. A. Swanson and Sons, supra ; and Matter of The New York and Pennsyl-
vania Company, Incorporated , 81 N, L. R. B. 1326.
8 The Intervenor 's motion will be granted , however, insofar as it applies to Case No.
32-RC-135, for reasons set forth in paragraph numbered 4.
867351-50-vol. 86-47
726 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD,
unit combining the two units sought in the separate petitions 10 The
Employer and the Intervenor oppose any change in the present unit
of all production and maintenance employees.
The Employer is engaged in the manufacture of alarm clocks and
wrist and pocket watches at several plants. The instant proceeding
concerns only the Employer's plant at Little Rock, Arkansas, at which
approximately 409 employees are employed.
Case No. 32-RC 134
The Employer's plant is composed of a single building. The tool-
room, Department 2333, is located in a separate area enclosed on two
sides by a wall and on the third side by an 8-foot wire fence. On the
fourth side there is a series of columns, which are spaced sufficiently
far apart to permit entrance into the toolroom. The entire personnel
of the toolroom consists of three tool makers. They are under the
supervision of an assistant foreman, who also supervises the mainte-
nance department."
The tool makers repair, build, and maintain the tools and dies used
in the production departments. They are the only employees in the
plant who perform these functions. While the majority of their work
is done in the toolroom, they spend from 15 to 20 percent of their time
repairing and adjusting tools and dies outside the toolroom. There is
no interchange between the tool makers and other employees.
The Employer has no formal apprenticeship for tool makers, nor
does it train its own tool makers. All tool makers are hired from the
outside. Normally, to become a good tool maker requires a minimum
of 4 years' experience. The tool makers receive the highest rate of
pay of any of the Employer's non-supervisory employees. Moreover,
the contracts between the Employer and the Intervenor, both past and
present, provide for departmental seniority.
In view of the foregoing, we are persuaded that the tool makers
comprise an identifiable, homogeneous group with interests separate
from those of other plant employees. They possess the skills tradi-
tional to their craft. Accordingly, we conclude that the tool makers
may, if they so desire, constitute a separate unit, notwithstanding the
history of collective bargaining on a plant-wide basis." However, we
will not make any final unit determination until we have first ascer-
tained the desires of the employees involved.
The unit descriptions are given herein as amended on motion of the Petitioner.
u This assistant foreman reports to a general foreman who is in charge of the toolroom,
the maintenance department , and all parts fabrication departments.
"Matter of Robertshaw -Fulton Controls Company ( American Thermometer Company),
7T N. L. R. B. 316.
UNITED STATES TIME CORPORATION 727
Approximately 3 months before the petition was filed, the toolroom
contained classifications of employees other than tool makers, such as
machinists, grinders, and die makers. However, the other classifica-
tions were laid off some time before the petition was filed.
The manager of the Employer's plant testified that he did not know,
and could not possibly know, when any of these other classifications
of employees would be called back to work, but stated that it was
possible that if business picked up, other classifications might be added
to the toolroom in the future. The Petitioner therefore desires the
unit description to be broad enough to embrace other allied classifica-
tions -of employees who might possibly be added to the toolroom in
the future. The Intervenor, on the other hand, maintains that the
unit description should be limited to the single classification-tool-
makers-now employed in the toolroom. We agree. There appears
to be no reasonable likelihood that other classifications of employees
will be added to the toolroom in the near future. Furthermore, we
are unable to ascertain from the present record what the future duties
and skills of such employees might be. Accordingly, we shall refrain
from making any decision as to the unit placement of such classifica-
tions at this time.13
We shall, accordingly, direct an election among all tool makers in
the Employer's Little Rock, Arkansas, plant, excluding supervisors,
as defined in the Act. If the employees in this voting group select the
Petitioner as their bargaining representative, they shall be taken to
have indicated their desire to be represented in a separate unit.
Case No. 32-RC-135
The maintenance department, Department 2351, consists of one
carpenter, one electrician, one fireman, and three porters. These em-
ployees perform only maintenance functions. The carpenter is located
in the carpentry shop, and performs the usual duties of a maintenance
carpenter. The electrician is engaged in electrical maintenance and
works throughout the plant. While he may occasionally use the equip-
ment in the carpentry shop, he keeps his hand tools and equipment
in a small case in the assembing department. The fireman's post is
in the boiler room. The porters have a small room where their equip-
ment is kept, but they are assigned specifically to certain departments.
Their function is to keep the plant clean and to take care of the rest
rooms. At times, the carpenter and electrician assist each other in
13 Matter of Continental Can Company , 76 N. L. R. B. 131 . Our decision herein is with.
out prejudice to the right of the Petitioner, or any other labor organization, to petitioh
the Board in the future for the appropriate unit placement of other classifications of
employees hired as toolroom personnel.
728 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the performance of their work and the fireman likewise occasionally
assists the electrician and the carpenter.
The maintenance department unit sought by the Petitioner is pri-
marily a multi-craft unit, including unskilled employees. While we
have permitted the formation of similar units in the absence of a
prior collective bargaining history,14 it has been our policy to refuse
to establish such multi-craft units in the face of a substantial history
,of collective bargaining on a plant-wide basis.16 Accordingly, we
find that the unit sought by the Petitioner in case No. 32-RC-135 is
inappropriate, and we shall dismiss the petition in that case.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition in Case No. 32-RC-135, filed
by International Association of Machinists, Lodge No. 325, be, and
it hereby is, dismissed.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 16
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, 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 Region in which this
case was heard, 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 pay-roll period immediately preceding the
date of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not
work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation
or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining,
by International Association of Machinists, Lodge No. 325, or by Clock
Workers Union No. 24011, A. F. L., or by neither.
14 Matter of Armstrong Cork Company , 80 N. L . R. B. 1328.
15 Matter of George S . Mepham Corporation , 78 N. L. It. B. 1081.
1 Any participant in the election directed herein may , upon its prompt request to, and
approval thereof by, the Regional Director , have its name removed from the ballot.