Wescom, Inc.Download PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsJul 25, 1977230 N.L.R.B. 1159 (N.L.R.B. 1977) Copy Citation WESCOM, INC. Wescom, Inc. and District Lodge No. 55, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case 38-RC-1988 July 25, 1977 DECISION ON REVIEW AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION BY CHAIRMAN FANNING AND MEMBERS JENKINS AND MURPHY On January 11, 1977, the Acting Regional Director for Region 13 issued a Decision and Order in the above-entitled proceeding in which he found inap- propriate the requested unit of production, mainte- nance, and quality assurance employees at the Employer's Gardner, Illinois, plant. Thereafter, in accordance with Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended, the Petitioner filed a timely request for review of the Acting Regional Director's decision on the grounds, inter alia, that, in finding the requested single-plant unit inappropriate, he made erroneous findings as to substantial factual issues and departed from officially reported precedent. By telegraphic order dated February 24, 1977, the Board granted the Petitioner's request for review. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. The Board has considered the entire record in this case with respect to the issue under review and makes the following findings: The Employer is an Illinois corporation which is engaged in the manufacture, assembly, and packag- ing of printed circuit boards to be used in telecom- munications systems at various locations in the State of Illinois. Its main facility, employing some 1,200 employees, is located at Lemont Road in Downers Grove, Illinois. The Employer also maintains a facility at Walnut Street in Downers Grove, Illinois, which employs approximately 125 employees, and a facility at Gardner, Illinois, which employs approxi- mately 175 employees. The Gardner facility is approximately 55 miles from the Downers Grove facilities. The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit composed of approximately 175 production, maintenance, and quality assurance employees at the Employer's Gardner, Illinois, plant. The Employer contends that the only appropriate unit would consist of all its I The Black and Decker Manufacturing Company. 147 NLRB 825., 828 (1964). We note that the two plants in the Black and Decker case were located 24 miles apart and that. in the instant case. the Gardner plant is 230 NLRB No. 181 production, maintenance, and quality assurance employees at its three Illinois locations. In finding that the petitioned-for unit of employees at the Employer's Gardner plant is inappropriate, the Acting Regional Director relied largely on his findings that the Employer's Illinois plants are a totally integrated production operation which share administrative services, that labor relations are centrally controlled and that employees in all three plants have similar skills and work under similar conditions. As noted by the Acting Regional Director, the Gardner plant comprises two departments of the Employer's operation. Department 71, located solely at Gardner, is responsible for the assembly of printed circuit board modules. Department 84, with employ- ees at both the Gardner and Lemont Road locations, is responsible for quality control at all three plants. In finding that the Employer's three plants are a totally integrated production operation the Acting Regional Director relied on the following record evidence: that the printed circuit boards and compo- nent parts assembled at the Gardner plant are shipped from and returned to the Lemont Road plant; that the final testing and assembly of the mechanical shells and enclosures built at the Walnut Street plant and the modules assembled at either the Gardner plant or the Lemont Road plant is done at the Lemont Road plant; and that shipment of the finished telecommunications system to customers is from the Lemont Road plant. Although it is apparent that a substantial degree of product integration exists, we do not find such integration is so severe as to negate the identity of a single-plant unit. Thus, it has been long recognized that "modern manufacturing techniques combined with the increased speed and ease of transport make it possible for plants located in different States to have a high degree of production integration and still maintain a separate identity for bargaining purpos- es." In addition, we note that product integration is not accompanied by substantial interchange of employ- ees between the Gardner plant and the Downers Grove plants. The record shows seven instances of employee transfer since 1974. It appears that all transfers were permanent rather than temporary. Of the seven, three were to positions as group leader or as supervisor, one involved a rehire after a break in service, and at least one was specifically for the convenience of the employee concerned. This limited number of transfers in a 3-year period does not located approximately 55 miles from the Employer's two Downers Grove plants. 1159 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD establish a significant impact on the community of interest of the 175 employees of the Gardner plant. Nor does the Acting Regional Director's reliance on centrally controlled labor relations, shared admin- istrative services, and similarity of skills and condi- tions of employment require a finding that only an overall unit is appropriate. Instead, we find consider- able evidence that the Gardner plant employees have a separate identity for bargaining purposes. Thus, although there is only one personnel department, the record shows that interviewing and hiring is done separately at the Gardner plant. Further, the supervi- sors at Gardner are responsible for day-to-day operations and implementation of personnel policies at the Gardner plant. In addition, there appears to be limited contact between nonsupervisory employees of the Gardner plant and the Downers Grove plants and the record shows that notices for jobs at the Downers Grove plants are not posted at the Gardner plant. Nor is departmental seniority significant here, inasmuch as Department 71 is located solely at Gardner and the only other department at Gardner is the quality control department. Based on the foregoing and the record as a whole, we are unable to agree with the Acting Regional Director that the Employer has rebutted the pre- 2 The Petitioner would exclude from, but the Employer would include in, the petitioned-for unit the following employees: Linda Ruffati, Tina Spezio, Debbie Wonnell, and Melinda Scovall. The Acting Regional Director did sumption that a single-plant unit is appropriate. In so finding, we rely on the relatively wide geographical separation of the plants; the substantial degree of autonomy in the day-to-day supervision of the Gardner employees; the fact that the Gardner plant does its own interviewing and hiring; and the lack of substantial interchange or transfer of employees between the Gardner plant and the Employer's Downer Grove plants. In addition, there is an absence of bargaining history for any of these employees and no labor organization seeks to represent the employees on a broader basis. We therefore 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: 2 All production, maintenance, and quality assurance employees of the Employer at its Gardner, Illinois, plant; excluding office clerical employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. [Direction of Election and Excelsior footnote omitted from publication.] not pass on their unit status. Therefore, we shall direct that these four employees vote subject to challenge. 1160 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation