Washburn Wire Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 21, 1948

79 N.L.R.B. 1479 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Mattel ' Of WASHBURN WIRE COMPANY , INC.,' EMPLOYER and
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS , LOCALS #30 &
30-A, A. F. L., .PETiTjoNE$
Case No. 2-RC446. Decided October 21, 1948
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed. At the hearing, the Employer and the Intervenor
moved to dismiss thwpe°tition on the grounds that their current con-
tract is a bar to this proceeding and that the unit petitioned for is
inappropriate. The Petitioner moved that it be certified on the record
without an election. For the reasons stated below, the motion to dis-
miss is hereby granted and the Petitioner's motion is hereby denied.
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-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members. *
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 Petitioner is a' labor organization affiliated with the Amer-
ican Federation of'Labor, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
United Steelworkers of America, on behalf of its Local 2063, here-
in called the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees
of the Employer.
' The name of the Employer appears as amended at the hearing.
.Chairman Herzog and Members Murdock and Gray.
79 N. L. R. B., No. 2W) .
1479
1480 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
3. The alleged appropriate unit; the alleged question concerning
representation :
The,Petitioner seeks to represent a unit of all stationary operating
engineers employed by the Employer at its New York City plant.
The Employer and the Intervenor contend that the proposed unit is
inappropriate because it does not include all employees who work in
the engine room.
There are four stationary operating engineers at the Employer's
plant, all of whom work in the engine room under the supervision of
the repairman engineer and foreman. The repairman engineer and
foreman is, in turn, subject to the supervision of the Chief Mechanical
Engineer, who is in charge of the entire Mechanical Division, of which
the engine room is a subdivision. The engine rooin is located in the
basement of the plant in a separate enclosure.
Pursuant to city ordinance, all engines and boilers, while in opera-
tion, must be under the supervision of a licensed engineer. All the
stationary operating engineers are licensed by the City of New York.
In order to qualify for a license, they must have worked under the
supervision of a licensed engineer for a period of at least 5 years and
must have passed examinations conducted by the city's Civil Service
Commission. The engineers are charged with the operation of steam
engines, steam turbine equipment, boilers, and pumps in the engine
room. Their duties are to start and stop engines, turbines, and pumps
and to maintain them while in operation, to supervise the operation
of the boilers, to inspect the engines periodically, to make necessary
changes from oil to coal equipment as required, to make various
mechanical tests, and, in general, to supervise the operation of the
power in the plant. In order to perform these duties, they must have
a thorough knowledge of the operations and adjustment of engines
and auxiliary equipment. The record is clear that the stationary oper-
ating engineers are highly skilled employees who, the Board has,
repeatedly held, are members of a traditional'c'raft.2
The record reveals, however, that there are, firemen, oilers, coal
passers, and mechanical repairmen working in the engine room in close
contact with the operating engineers and under the same supervision.
'Each of the four stationary operating engineers works with a crew
consisting of a fireman, an oiler. and a coal passer. While these other
employees are not licensed and do not possess the skill' of the engineers,
they may advance to the status of engineers.' Although the Employer-
2 Matter of The Wooster Rubber Company , 77 N L R. B. 1044 ; Matter of Allied Ifills,
Inc , 76 N. L. R B. 973.
8 One of the engineers formerly worked at the plant as a fireman
WASHBURN WIRE COMPANY, INC. 1481
does not train these men, they are in effect serving an apprenticeship
to enable them to become licensed engineers.4
As the engineers work in close contact with the firemen, oilers, coal
passers, and mechanical repairmen, are under the same supervision,
and have interests in common, we believe that the proposed unit, which
is limited to engineers, is inappropriate.' We shall therefore dismiss
the petition.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed herein be, and it hereby
is, dismissed.
4 After sei ving in these jobs for 5 years, they will be qualified to take the Civil Service
examinations and, according to the testimony of the engine room foreman , should have
acquired the skill and knowledge of engines and boilers required to enable them to pass
these examinations.
The Board has directed self-determination elections among power house employees in
the following recent cases : Matter of The Consumers Brewing Company , 77 N. L R. B.
1244 ( engineers , firemen, and helpers ) ; Matter of Curtsss - Wright Corporation ( Aviation
Division ), 77 N. L R. B. 803 ( engineers , boiler operators , and firemen ) ; Matter of Kendall
Mills-Fsnssbing Division of The Kendall Company, 77 N. L. R. B . 385 (engineers and
firemen ) ; Matter of Kalamazoo Vegetable Parchment Company , 76 N. L . R. B. 1015 (engi-
neers, mechanics , oilers , firemen, and helpers ) : Matter of E. W. Bliss Company , Todedm
Works, 76 N L. R. B . 475 (engineers , firemen , and coal passers).