Westinghouse Electric Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 3, 1948

80 N.L.R.B. 121 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter Of WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORPORATION , EMPLOYER and
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS , LOCAL No.
38, A. F. OF L., PETITIONER
Case No. 8-RC-97.-Decided November 3, 1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing offi-
cer of the National Labor Relations Board. 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-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 labor organizations named below claim to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. We find that a question affecting commerce exists 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.:'
'Houston, Reynolds , and Gray.
1 United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America , Local No 777 ( CIO) asserts
as a bar to this proceeding its contract executed with the Employer on April 1, 1947, and
supplements thereto, and its certification of May 27, 1947 . The contract was for a term
of 1 year with a yearly automatic renewal clause unless notice to terminate is given by
either party at least 30 days before the yearly terminal date. Pursuant to an exchange
of letters in January 1948, the parties began negotiations concerning substantive changes
in the contract , including an extension of the terminal date. The petition in the instant
case was filed on February 18, 1948. We are of the opinion that the conduct of the parties
in negotiating substantial changes in the contract forestalled its automatic renewal. A
new contract was finally executed on June 20 , 1948, embodying substantial substantive
changes and extending the terminal date to April 1 , 1950. Inasmuch as the certification
year elapsed on May 27, 1948 , prior to the execution of the new contract , we find the cer-
tification to be no bar to a present determination of representatives . We also find that
the new contract having been executed after the filing of the petition , is similarly no bar.
80 N. L. R. B., No. 26.
121
122 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
4. The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all maintenance elec-
tricans employed in the maintenance department at the Employer's
Cleveland plant, including helpers and electrician group leaders, 2 but
excluding all office and clerical employees, all other employees, and all
supervisors. The Employer and the Intervenor contend that the pro-
posed craft unit is not appropriate on the grounds that a history of
collective bargaining on a more inclusive plant-wide basis, and the
high degree of integration in the nature of the industry militate
against the propriety of severing the proposed unit from the existing
plant-wide unit of production and maintenance employees.
The proposed craft unit embraces 16 maintenance electricians, em-
ployed in the maintenance department of the plant, which is located
in a section of the plant separate and apart from the production de-
partment. The maintenance electricians are primarily engaged in re-
pairing and overhauling electrical controls, splicing wire, wiring mo-
tors, and bending conduit pipe, which duties require the exercise of
special skills and aptitudes of the electrical craft.
All maintenance electrians have had considerable electrical expe-
rience, and many have had technical schooling and training, which is
encouraged by the Employer. They are classified in various grades
according to skill, training, and ability. Five are in Class 6, the lowest
class; nine are in Class 8, the next higher class; and two are in Class 9,
(group leaders) the highest class. Two years' experience in electrical
work and some schooling are usually necessary to qualify a man for
a Class 6 maintenance electrician's job, and an additional 2 years' ex-
perience to qualify him for a Class 8 job. They work under the super-
vision of a foreman electrician 3 They are engaged exclusively in
work relating to electrical repair and maintenance except in cases of
emergency, or where a minor repair job is merely incidental to their
electrical work.
The maintenance electricians constitute a highly skilled craft group,
such as the Board has, on numerous occasions, established as separate
units for purposes of collective bargaining.4 Under these circum-
stances, we believe that the maintenance electricians at the Employer's
Cleveland plant may, if they so desire, constitute a separate unit, not-
2 All the parties agree , and the record indicates, that the two electrician group leaders
are not supervisors within the meaning of the Act and should be included in the bargaining
unit.
3 The record discloses that the maintenance electricians (including group leaders) work
under the supervision of the maintenance foreman, who is also a licensed electrician but
has general maintenance experience . The electrician on the afternoon shift serves as group
leader for all maintenance employees on that shift , and a millwright acts as group leader
for all maintenance employees on the third shift including the electrician on that shift.
4 Matter of Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp , 75 N. L . R B 1276 ; Matter of Goodrich
Chemical Company, 75 N . L. R. B. 1142; Matter of Waldorf Paper Products Company,
76 N. L. R. B. 127 ; Matter of Lockheed Aircraft Corporation , 77 N. L . R. B. 507.
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORPORATION 123
withstanding the Board's previous more inclusive unit determination
respecting them,5 and the history of collective bargaining predicated
thereon 6
However, the Board will not make any unit determination until it
has first ascertained the desires of the employees involved. We shall
direct that an election be held among all maintenance electricians em-
ployed by the Employer at its Cleveland, Ohio, plant, including help-
ers and electrician group leaders, but excluding all office and clerical
employees, all other employees and all supervisors as defined in the
Act. If, in this election, the employees select the Petitioner, they will
be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bar-
gaining unit.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 7
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with Westinghouse Electric Corpora-
tion, Cleveland, Ohio, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted
as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date
of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the Eighth Region, and subject to Sections 203.61 and
203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 5, as amended, among the employees in the voting group de-
scribed in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, 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 reinstated prior to the date of the election, to deter-
mine whether or not they desire to be represented by International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No. 38, A. F. of L., for the
purposes of collective bargaining.
5 Section 9 (b) (2) of the amended Act provides that the Board shall not "decide that
any craft unit is inappropriate . . . on the ground that a different unit has been estab-
lished by a prior Board determination, unless a majority of the employees in the proposed
craft unit vote against separate representation ." See Matter of Westinghouse Electric
Corporation, 53 N. L. R. B. 1073.
6 Matter of The American Fork & Hoe Company , 72 N. L. R. B. 1025; see also Matter of
Westinghouse Electric Corporation , 75 N. L. R. B. 638.
4 Inasmuch as the Intervenor has not complied with the filing requirements of Section 9
of the Act, we shall make no provision for its participation in the election.