Westinghouse Electric Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 22, 1950

92 N.L.R.B. 196 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter Of WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORPORATION , EMPLOYER
and FEDERATION OF WESTINGHOUSE INDEPENDENT SALARIED UNIONS,
'PETITIONER
Cases Nos.. -RC-804 and 4-RC-805.-Decided Noven&ber 22,1950
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9 ( c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before John Wood,
Jr., 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 Act, the Board
has:delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-mem-
ber panel [Chairman Herzog and Members 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 Act.
. 2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the represen-
tation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section
V (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
. 4. The Petitioner in Case No . 4-RC-804 seeks a unit of salaried
professional employees to be included in a unit of salaried office,
clerical , and technical employees petitioned for in Case . No. 4-RC-805.
The parties are in substantial agreement as to the scope of the pro-
fessional and clerical units. They differ , however, on the question of
inclusion or exclusion of certain time and motion analysts.
Although the Petitioner contends that the time and motion analysts
are not professional employees , and therefore should properly be in-
cluded in the clerical unit, it is nevertheless willing to accept their in-
elusion in a, professional unit if the Board so determines. The
Employer, however, contends that the time and motion analysts, al-
though concededly professional in character , should nonetheless be
excluded from any unit found appropriate on the ground that they
serve in a managerial capacity. It urges that in other respects their
interests and activities are essentially dissimilar to and different from
92 NLRB No. 38.
196
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORPORATION 197
the interests of the other employees in the proposed units.' Ap-
parently there is no history of collective bargaining for any of the
employees involved in this proceeding.
The parties agree that the functions of the time and motion analysts
involved herein are identical in all respects with the function of the
time-study employees involved in an earlier case affecting this Em-
ployer.2 There the Board found time-study employees to be profes-
sional employees within the meaning of the Act, and included them in
a unit of professional employees therein found to be appropriate.
The Petitioner in effect asks for a reconsideration of this issue; and
without presenting any additional facts, argues that upon the record in
the earlier case'.the Board should have reached a. different conclusion.
We do not agree. We find, on the basis of the present record, and
the record in the earlier case, and without restating the reasons
therein clearly set forth, that the time and motion analysts herein in-
volved are professional employees within the meaning of the Act.
We find the Employer's contention that the time and motion
analysts should be excluded from both units on the ground that as
management representatives they participate in the grievance proce-
dure, to be without merit. The record discloses that the time and mo-
tion analysts participate in the grievance procedure only in its initial
stage, and only to the extent of undertaking to justify the results of
any time studies which they conduct. Except for obvious clerical
errors, they have no authority to alter in any respect the results of
their time studies. Such authority is lodged only in their supervisor.
Although we believe that the precise issue raised by fhe Employer's-
contention was ih fact- considered and decided by the Board in the
earlier case, we now conclude, on the basis of the record as a whole,
that the time .and motion analysts are not managerial employees, for
they do not to any substantial degree formulate, determine, or effectu-
ate management policy.3 Moreover, as professional employees, we
find, contrary to the contention of the Employer, that the interests of
the time and motion analysts in their terms and conditions of employ-
men differ in -no important respect from the interests of the other
professional employees included in the unit the appropriateness of
which was the subject of stipulation by the parties. • Accordingly, we
I The Employer also contends that, in passing on the issue of the inclusion or exclusion
of the time and motion analysts, some weight should be accorded to the express desire
of these employees, as manifested by their letter addressed to a Board agent, to be
excluded from the unit. We find no merit In this contention.
2 Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 89 NLRB 8.
'General Electric •Company, 89 NLRB 726 ; For&Motor Company (Chicago Branch), 66
NLRB 1347. " See'also4 ise; Smith & Company, Inc., 83 NLRB 1019.
198 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
shall include the time and motion analysts in the voting group of pro- .
fessional employees.'
As noted above, the Petitioner has requested that the professional
employees be included in a single unit with the office, clerical, and
technical employees. Except for its objection to the inclusion of time
and motion analysts in any unit of employees, the Employer does not
specifically oppose the Petitioner's request for a single unit. Nor, for
that matter, are the interests.of the professional group under the cir-
cumstances of this case so divergent from the interests of the other
employees as to preclude their inclusion in a unit of cffice, clerical,
and technical employees.'
However, under Section 9 (b) (1) of the Act the Board is pre-
cluded from including professional employees in a unit of nonpro-
fessional employees unless a majority of such professional employees
vote for inclusion in the nonprofessional unit. Therefore, in order to
ascertain the desires of the professional employees as to such inclu-
sion, and to determine the issues with respect to representation for all
employees concerned, we shall direct separate elections in the follow-
ing voting groups 6 of employees :
1. All office employees, clerical employees, and technical employees,
who are paid by salary, employed at the Employer's home radio
division plant at 1354 Susquehanna Avenue, Sunbury, Pennsylvania,
excluding production clerks and helpers, secretaries to the plant or
division manager, the manager of manufacturing and the manager
of industrial relations, buyers, employees in the industrial relations
department, expediters, internal auditors, paymaster cashiers, stylists,
all other professional employees, guards, and supei••yisors as defined
in the Act.
2. All salaried professional. employees of the Employer at its home
radio division plant at 1354 Susquehanna Avenue, Sunbury, Pennsyl-
vania, including time and motion analysts, all design engineers, plant
layout engineers, headquarters equipment engineers, nurses, and
Junior engineers, but excluding-field service engineers, stylists, doctors,
attorneys, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
The employees in voting group 1 will be asked simply whether or
not they desire to be represented for purposes of 'collective bargain-
ing by the Petitioner. The employees in group 2 will be asked
whether or not they desire to be included in a single unit with the
office, clerical, and technical employees, and whether or not for pur-
9 See F. TV. Sickles Company, 81 NLRB 390, 400.
5 General Electric Company, supra.
6 Apart from the inclusion of the time and motion analysts , the parties stipulated
generally to the composition of the voting groups as appropriate units.
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORPORATION 199-
poses of collective bargaining they desire to be represented by the
Petitioner.
. If a majority of the professional employees vote for inclusion in
a unit of office , clerical , and technical employees, they will be so in-
cluded. Their votes on the second question will then be counted
together with those of the employees in voting group 1 for the pur-
pose of deciding whether or not all of the employees in the single
combined unit desire to be represented for purposes of collective bar-
gaining by the Petitioner. If, on the other hand, a majority of the
professional-employees in voting group 2 vote against inclusion in a
unit of office , clerical, and technical employees , they will not be in-
cluded. Their votes on the second question then will be separately
counted in order to determine whether or not as a separate professional
unit they desire to be represented for purposes of collective bargaining
by the Petitioner.?
Our unit determination , therefore , is based, in part, upon the results
of the election amoiig the professional employees . However, we now
make the following findings in regard to the appropriate unit :
(a.) If a majority of the professional employees vote for inclusion
in the same unit with the office, clerical, and technical employees,
we find that all office employees , clerical employees , and technical em-
ployees, who are paid by salary, and all salaried professional em-
ployees of the Employer employed at its home radio division plant
at 1354 Susquehanna Avenue, Sunbury, Pennsylvania, including time
and motion analysts, all design engineers , plant layout engineers,
headquarters equipment engineers, nurses, and junior engineers, but
excluding field service engineers, stylists, doctors , attorneys , and also
excluding production clerks and helpers , secretaries to the plant or
division manager, the manager of manufacturing and the manager
of industrial relations , buyers , employees in the industrial relations
department , expediters , internal auditors , paymaster cashiers , stylists,
all other professional employees , guards, and supervisors as defined
in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for collective bargaining
purposes within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
(b) If a majority of the professional employees do not vote for
inclusion in the same unit with the office, clerical , and technical em-
ployees, we find that the following groups of employees at the Em-
ployer's home radio division plant at 1354 Susquehanna Avenue,
Sunbury, Pennsylvania, constitute separate units appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the Act:
' Sonotone Corporation , 90 NLRB 1236.
`ZOO DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
(1) All office employees, clerical employees, and technical em-
ployees, who are paid by salary, excluding production clerks and
helpers, secretaries to the plant or division manager, the manager
of manufacturing and the manager of industrial relations, buyers,
employees in the industrial relations department, expediters, internal
auditors, paymaster cashiers, stylists, all other professional employ-
ees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
(2) All salaried professional employees, including time and mo-
tion analysts, all design engineers, plant layout engineers, headquar-
ters equipment engineers, nurses, and junior engineers, but excluding
field service engineers, stylists, doctors, attorneys, guards, and super-
visors as defined in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this
volume.]