W.F. & John Barnes Co.Download PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsOct 30, 195196 N.L.R.B. 1136 (N.L.R.B. 1951) Copy Citation 1136 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Employer as the exclusive bargaining representative for the employees designated in the petition. 3. No 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, for the following reasons : T. E. Martin, the Petitioner herein, was employed as a foreman in a subsidiary corporation of the Employer until 1942. Since that date, he has worked as a machine operator in the tub cover department of the Employer. As part of his duties, he trains new employees-from two to five in number-and directs their work until they are able to operate their own machines. The evidence is undisputed that he has the authority to make effective recommendations regarding the reten- tion or the discharge of new employees.' Moreover, he has attended meetings of foremen pertaining to the work of his department and has substituted for the foreman of the department during the latter's absence. We find that the Petitioner is a supervisor within the meaning of the Act, and is therefore ineligible to represent the Employer's em- ployees in this proceeding? We shall for this reason dismiss the petition.3 Order IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed herein be, and it hereby is, dismissed. 1 The Employer 's manager testified that he would accord great weight to such recom- mendations 2 Clyde J. Merril, 77 NLRB 1375 See also Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co, 86 NLRB 61. 8 We find it unnecessary therefore to consider the other issues raised in this proceeding. W. F . & JOHN BARNES COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED ArrrOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT & AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA (UAW-CIO) , PETITIONER . Case No. 13-RC-2091. Octo- ber 30,1951 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 Richard C. Swander, 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-member panel [Members Houston, Murdock, and Styles]. 96 NLRB No. 186. W. F. & JOHN BARNES COMPANY 1137 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 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 requests that the Board find appropriate a unit consisting of all production and maintenance employees including receiving clerks, stock clerks, the serviceman and assembler, shipping clerks, inspectors, the truck dispatcher, and trainees but excluding all office and clerical employees, production routers, stock chasers, time- keepers, shop clerks, nurses, draftsmen, guards, leadmen, foremen, and all other supervisors as defined in the amended Act.' The Em- ployer contends that draftsmen, shop clerks, production routers, stock chasers, timekeepers, nurses, and leadmen should be included in the unit found appropriate. Draftsmen: Approximately 50 employees are classified as drafts- men and are assigned to the Employer's drafting department where they work as designers or layout men, detail men, and checkers. These employees are located in drafting rooms adjacent, in each case, to the manufacturing department wherein the plans and blueprints are to be used for production. Draftsmen work approximately the same hours as the production employees and receive an hourly rate of pay comparable to skilled machine workers. The great majority of these employees have no formal engineering training and are taught the requisite skills on the job. Several years of this training are required for journeymen status in the drafting department. The Employer asserts that the unique nature of its product, specially designed and built machine tools, make the draftsmen an integral part of the pro- duction process and that these employees, accordingly, should be in- cluded in the over-all unit. On the other hand, the record shows clearly that the drafting employees are separately supervised, perform no production cr maintenance work, and do not interchange with shop ,employees.2 The Board finds that the Employer's drafting employees are highly skilled technical employees whose work and interests are disparate from those of the production and maintenance force. We I Both parties are in agreement that certain production and maintenance employees, now situated in a separate building due to space limitations in the main plant , should be included in the unit. I Although production employees sometimes request and are given transfers to positions in the drafting department , there is no instance shown in the record where draftsmen have transferred to production jobs, except in supervisory capacities . Draftsmen, on the other hand , often become members of the sales or executive force of the Employer. 1138 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD shall therefore exclude the draftsmen from the unit hereinafter found appropriate.' Nurses : The Employer employs two registered nurses to furnish first aid to the office and plant personnel of the plant and to employees of two separate companies also occupying the plant building. The nurses, who are salaried employees, each work a separate shift. Al- though the nurses work the same hours as other employees and come into daily contact with employees included in the unit, the Board has consistently held that nurses have basic interests and duties dis- similar to production and maintenance personnel. Accordingly, we shall exclude the nurses from the unit.' Production routers and stock chasers : Seven employees classified as production routers and three or four other workers classified as stock chasers are engaged in controlling and expediting production at the plant. The production routers are situated in offices adjoining the machine shop and work the same hours and are in the same gen- eral pay range of the Employer's skilled machinists. The duties of these employees consist primarily of routing the completed drawing furnished by the draftsmen through those production departments whose work will be necessary for the manufacture of the item. When delays occur, the production router acts as an expediter in securing lost parts and replacements. Stock chasers, in turn, work with pro- duction department foremen and workers in assisting the flow of work through the plant. As the individual component pieces are manufactured in the plant they are sent to a central tool bin where they are collected and turned over to the assemblers for the assembly of the machine being manufactured. Stock chasers at the tool bin generally assist and expedite this process. As in the case of the pro- duction routers, stock chasers work the same hours and are on the same general wage basis'as the production and maintenance employ- ees. On the entire record the Board finds that the production routers and the stock chasers are factory clerical employees sharing a com- munity of interests and working conditions with production and main- tenance employees .,5 Accordingly we shall include the production routers and stock chasers in the unit hereinafter found appropriate. Timekeepers and shop clerk: The Employer has three employ- ees in the classification of timekeeper. For cost accounting purposes, the Employer uses time clocks, situated in the plant tool cribs, for determining the cost and time of production of the special machines 3 See The Sheffield Corporation , 94 NLRB 1781 ; S. B. Whistler and Sons, Inc., 92, NLRB No. 197, and cases cited therein . See also Kelsey Hayes Wheel Company, 85 NLRB 666. Compare Metal Cutting Tools, Inc, 13-RC-440, March 2, 1949, not reported in printed volumes of Board decisions. * See Boeing Aircraft Company, 86 NLRB 368 5 See Chase Aircraft Company, Inc., 94 NLRB 1158; and General Motors Corporation, 88 NLRB 450. W. F. & JOHN BARNES COMPANY 1139 it designs and builds . The timekeepers are stationed in the tool cribs and operate the time clocks as well as occasionally handing out tools. The timekeepers are responsible to the cost accounting department of the plant rather than to the production department supervisors, and keep job, as distinguished from personnel, records. The shop clerk is stationed in the plant with the cut-off saw operator. This employee does light manual work assisting the cut-off saw operator in the cutting of steel stock and handles the requisitions for the stock. On the entire record, the Board finds that the timekeepers and the shop clerk , while performing little or no production work, have interests and working conditions in common with the production and maintenance employees , and should be included in the unit hereinafter found appropriate 6 Leadmen : In addition to between 30 and 35 foremen , the Employer has up to 20 employees who work in the capacity of leadmen with crews of 4 or 5 other employees under their direction . The Petitioner requested the exclusion of the leadmen from the unit on the ground that they are supervisory personnel while the Employer denies that the leadmen have such authority. The employees in this classifica- tion are normally the highest paid in their departments and are re- sponsible for the "coordination " of the men and work of their crews. While it was testified that the leadmen do not have authority to hire, discharge , transfer , promote , lay off, recall , or reward employees, it also appears that a leadman 's dissatisfaction with the work of a member of his crew would normally lead, upon his complaint, to a transfer or dismissal of the offending employee. The evidence also leads to the conclusion that the leadman is responsible for the per- formance of the employees in his crew . Upon the entire record, the Board finds that the leadmen may effectively recommend changes in status of individuals under their responsible direction and are super- visors as defined in the amended Act. The Board finds that all production and maintenance employees of the Employer's machine tool plant at Rockford , Illinois , includ- ing receiving clerks, stock clerks, the serviceman and assembler, shipping clerks, inspectors , the truck dispatcher, trainees , production routers, stock chasers, the shop clerk and timekeepers , but excluding office and clerical employees , draftsmen , nurses, guards , professional employees, leadmen , foremen, and all supervisors as defined in the amended Act , constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col- lective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. •[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this volume.] 6 See Hotpoint, Inc, 85 NLRB 485; and Electrical Reactance Corporation , 92 NLRB 1256. Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation