Westinghouse Electric International Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 15, 1945

64 N.L.R.B. 226 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of WESTINGHOUSE 'ELECTRCC INTERNATIONAL 'COMPANY
and WESTINGHOUSE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SALARIED EM-
PLOYEES
Case No. 2-R-5656.-Decided October, 15, 1945
- Messrs. C: A. Reinwald, J. R. Rinehart; and, Harry S. Reizenstein,
all of New York City, for the Company.
Mr. 'W. G. Brewer,- Jr., of New York City, and Mrs. H. R. Fare-
brother,.of Brooklyn, -N. Y., for the Union.
Mr. Angelo J. Fiumara , of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF Till. CASE
Upon an amended petition duly filed by Westinghouse International
Association of Salaried Employees,' herein called the Union, ' alleg-
ing that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the
representation of employees of Westinghouse Electric International
Company, New York City, herein called the Company, the National
Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon
due-notice before Jerome I. Macht, Trial Examiner. The hearing
was held at New York City, on July 2, 1945. The Company and the
'Union appeared and participated. All parties were afforded full
opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses,
and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Exam-
nier's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error
and are hereby affirmed. Ally parties were afforded an opportunity.
to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Westinghouse Electric International Company, a subsidiary of
Westinghouse Electric' Corporation, is engaged in the selling and
'The formal papers were amended at the hearing to show the name of the Union as
indicated in the caption and in the body of the Decision.
64 N. L. R. B., No. 37. '
226
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC INTERNATIONAL COMPANY 227
'exporting of electrical apparatus and related equipment. The Com-
pany has its principal office in New York City and has warehouses
in New York City and Green Island, New York. The finished prod-
ucts handled by the Company are made principally by its parent
corporation. During the year 1944, the Company's sales exceeded
$1,000,000, of which 90 percent -represented shipments to places out-,
side the Stateof N'e`w' York.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
11. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Westinghouse International Association of, Salaried Employees,
unaffiliated , is a labor organization admitting to membership em-
ployees of the Company.
M. THE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE' UNIT
The`Union seeks a unit composed of all employees in the Com-
pany's order service department who report to the order service, man-
ager, with certain specified-exclusions. The Company maintains, that
the office and clerical unit,RQught is too restricted and that only a unit
which includes all its other employees doing similar work and who
are similarly classified is appropriate. -
The Company 'has no collective bargaining history. Substantially
all its approximately 400 employees are, office and clerical workers.
The Company has divided its office and clerical operations into 17
different departments, including the order service department, each
of which is under a separate supervisor and is separated from the other,
departments by means of partitions or walls. The order, service
department is under the supervision of an order service manager.
Emj)1oyd therein are about 43 employees who are designated by the-
followiiig iiidustrial classifications : record clerk, typist and dictaphone
operator, stenographer, application engineering record clerk, machine
operator, secretary-stenographer, order clerk, order correspondent,
engineering correspondent, and price clerk. Each, performs clerical
work typical of his individual classification. Their collective duties
consist -of receiving contract orders for,goods from customers and,
in cooperation with other departments2 of the Company, of clearing
the order preparatory to the manufacture of its subject matter. In
addition, they are to follow the order through the process of manu-
facture until it is finally completed, shipped, and billed.
Employed "-in other departments of the Company are employees
whom the .Union would exclude although they perform comparable
2 These include , among others , the Negotiating Department , License and Priorities Sec-
tion, Treasury Department, Accounting Department , and Traffic Department
228 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD e
and interrelated work in connection with the processing of customer
orders. Thus, there are approximately 33 stenographers and secre-
tary-stenographers, 19 typists and dictaphone operators, 1 order clerk,
1 engineering correspondent, 4 order correspondents, 2 record clerks,
and 2 price clerks whose functions are practically identical to those
of similarly classified employees/ in the order service department.
The record discloses also that, although the various departments are
under separate supervision and in separate offices,-their hours, wages,
and other working conditions are similar to those in the order service
department.
It is apparent, therefore, that, while the Union would group cer-
tain clerical employees in one unit, it would exclude a large number
of employees eligible for membership in its organization who do simi-
lar work and have allied interests. Accordingly, we find that the
proposed unit is inappropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing.3
IV. THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Since,, as we have held in Section III, above, the bargaining unit
sought by the Union is inappropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining, we find that no question affecting commerce has arisen
concerning the representation of employees of'the Company within
the meaning of Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act.
We shall, therefore, dismiss the petition:
ORDER
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact, and the entire record
in the case, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that
the petition for an investigation and certification ,of representatives
of employees of Westinghouse Electric International Company,
New York City, filed by Westinghouse International Association of
Salaried Employees, be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
DIR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the
above-Decision and Order.
3 See Matter of Bethlehem Steel Company ( Shipbuilding Divisaon ), 61 N. L . It. B. 526;
Matter of California Shipbuilding Corp., 57 N. L It. B. 1791.