Westinghouse Electric Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 6, 1961

129 N.L.R.B. 1204 (N.L.R.B. 1961)

1204 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ing the same effect to elections conducted by responsible State agencies
as to elections conducted by the Board, where, as here, such elections
afford the employees involved an opportunity to express their true
desires as to a collective-bargaining agent, and are not attended by
irregularities. As the election conducted by the Virgin Islands agency
was conducted within the last 12 months, the Regional Director was
warranted in dismissing the petition. See Blue field Produce cfi Pro-
vision Company, 117 NLRB 1660, 1663; Olin Mathieson Chemical
Corporation, 115 NLRB 1501. We conclude, accordingly, contrary
to the contention of the Petitioner, that in dismissing the petition
herein, the Regional Director properly applied these principles.
MEMBER KIMBALL, dissenting :
I dissent from the determination of the majority to adhere, in this
case , to its practice of recognizing an election conducted by a State
or Territorial agency within the 12-month limitation of Section
9 (c) (3). Noting that the Board clearly has jurisdiction in this case ,l
I rely upon Section 4(a) of the Rules and Regulations of the Labor
Relations Act, Title 24, Chapter 3, Virgin Islands Code, which pro-
vides that the "Commissioner [of the Virgin Islands Department of
Agriculture and Labor] shall not assume jurisdiction in any certifica-
tion affecting businesses trading in interstate commerce when the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has jurisdiction." I would, therefore,
conclude that the election and subsequent certification issued by the
Commissioner were null and void ab initio. I would further find that,
even if the election held by the Commissioner were otherwise valid
under the laws of the Virgin Islands, the Board's Decision in Blue-
field Produce cPc Provision Company, 117 NLRB 1660, 1663, is dis-
tinguishable from the instant case on the ground that, in that case, it
was not contended by any party that the election therein was attended
with any irregularities, whereas in this case the appellant contends,
inter alia , that the unit was arbitrarily determined; there was no
advance agreement as to voting eligibility, as required by the Virgin
Island statute; and challenged, but not properly identified, ballots
were arbitrarily allowed to be counted. I would, therefore, overrule
the Regional Director's dismissal of the petition.
1Floridan Hotel of Tampa, Inc., 124 NLRB 261; Southwest Hotels, Inc., 126 NLRB
1151, and Section 2(6) of the Act.
Westinghouse Electric Corporation , Sharon Transformer Divi-
sion and Sharon Westinghouse Employees Association, Peti-
tioner. Case No. 6-RC-2621. January 6, 1961
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Joseph Mark Maurizi, hear-
129 NLRB No. 132.
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORP., SHARON TRANS. DIV. 1205
ing 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-member
panel [Members Rodgers, Jenkins, and Kimball].
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 organizations involved claim to represent employees
of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section
9(c) (1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner seeks to sever from an existing production and
maintenance unit a group of 11 clerical employees, contending they
are office clerical employees. It therefore asks that the Board find that
these 11 clerical employees are part of its existing office clerical unit
and amend its certification accordingly. In the alternative, however,
it is willing that the Board direct a self-determination election for
the purpose of ascertaining whether the said employees desire to be-
come part of the Petitioner's unit. The Employer agrees in substance
with the Petitioner's contention that the employees are part of the
Petitioner's existing unit, but contends that neither an election nor an
amendment of the Petitioner's certification is necessary to effectuate
such result. The Intervenor, International Union of Electrical, Radio
and Machine Workers and its Local Union 617, maintains that the
employees are essentially plant clericals, and that, in any event, be-
cause of their history of collective bargaining they may not be severed
from its existing production and maintenance unit without a self-
determination election.
The Petitioner has been the certified bargaining representative for
a unit of salaried office clerical employees since 1940. The Inter-
venor is the certified bargaining agent for -a unit of production and
maintenance employees and has represented such employees since 1950.
The 11 salaried employees involved in this proceeding constituted
at one time the stores ledger section in the stores and shipping depart-
ment. Of the 11 employees, 6 are stock controllers, 2 are keypunch
operators, 1 is a store ledger clerk, 1 an inventory clerk, and 1 a
secretary-sternographer. Their general function was to maintain at
proper levels plant inventories of raw materials and supplies. From
the original certification in 1940 until 1945, the stores ledger section
was located adjacent to the production area, but successive moves in
1945 and 1955 resulted in its present location in the general office
building which is occupied mainly by managerial , professional, and
office clerical workers.
1206 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
On August 1, 1959, the Employer effectuated a reorganization at its
Sharon plant in which the main stores ledger section was dissolved
-and its function integrated into the purchasing department, thereby
permitting a more flexible use of the inventory control function in the
operations of the purchasing department. As a result of the change,
the 11 clerical employees became an administrative part of such
department and were ultimately made responsible to the purchasing
agent. The group is physically located in the main purchasing de-
partment offices and spend most of their time in contact with the
buyers, assistant buyers, and other clerical personnel who are repre-
sented by the Petitioner. They now spend most of their time at their
desks with few or no visits to the production floor. They work the
same hours as do other office clerical employees, and their method of
pay and coded ratings are the same as the clerical employees repre-
sented by the Petitioner. Furthermore, as a result of the reorganiza-
tion, a line of progression to other office clerical positions now em-
braced in the Petitioner's unit was opened to the stock controllers,
whereas, under the terms of the agreement with the Intervenor, no
further progression was available for them.
In view of the foregoing, and on the record as a whole, we find that
the stock controllers and other categories of employees formerly com-
prising the stores ledger section are now office clerical employees who
under normal circumstances and under established Board policy are
not a proper part of a production and maintenance unit. However,
because of the past bargaining history of these employees, we shall,
consistent with Board policy, afford them an opportunity to express
their desires with respect to their choice of representatives.' We shall,
therefore, direct an election in the following voting group :
All stock controllers, keypunch operators, stores ledger clerk, in-
ventory clerk, and secretary-stenographer, formerly constituting the
stores ledger section of the stores and shipping department at the
Employer's Sharon, Pennsylvania, plant, excluding all other em-
ployees and supervisors as defined in the Act.
If a majority of the employees in the voting group vote for the
Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to be in-
cluded in the unit now represented by the Petitioner, and the Regional
Director conducting the election directed herein is instructed to issue
a certification of results of election to the Petitioner to such effect.
In the event a majority does not vote for the Petitioner, these em-
ployees shall remain a part of the existing production and mainte-
nance unit and the Regional Director will issue a certification of re-
sults of election to such effect.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
11Vestinghouse Electric Corporation, 118 NLRB 1043, 1048.