Wilson Foundry & Machine Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 26, 1949

81 N.L.R.B. 298 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of WILSON FOUNDRY & MACHINE COMPANY, EMPLOYER
and PATTERN MAKERS' ASSOCIATION OF DETROIT AND VICINITY, AF-
FILIATED WITH THE PATTERN MAKERS LEAGUE OF NORTH AMERICA,
AFL,1 PETITIONER
Case No. 7-RC-357.-Decided January 26,1949
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing officer
,of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's rulings
made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed.2
A motion to dismiss, made by the Intervenor and referred by the
hearing officer to the Board, is granted for reasons hereinafter stated.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Em-
ployer. The Intervenor 3 is a labor organization affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees
of the Employer.
3. The alleged appropriate unit :
The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all wood and metal pattern
makers, pattern and casting layout men, and pattern repairmen at
the Employer's plant, excluding pattern storage clerks, all other pro-
duction and maintenance employees and supervisors as defined in the
Act 4 The Intervenor and the Employer oppose the severance of this
unit from the existing production and maintenance unit. They con-
1 Petitioner's name appears as amended at the hearing.
2 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 con-
sisting of the undersigned Board Members [ Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and
Murdock]
s Local 658, International Union , United Automobile , Aircraft , and Agricultural Imple-
inent Workers of America.
4 The unit described appears as amended at the hearing.
81 N. L. R. B., No. 49.
298
WILSON FOUNDRY & MACHINE COMPANY 299
tend that the employees involved are not skilled journeymen, and that
the work performed is not of a true craft character and is an integral
part of the production process.
The Employer is engaged in manufacturing gray iron castings. Its
plant contains a pattern shop, operated as a separate department and
situated in the approximate center of the main building, walled off
from the remainder of the plant. There are approximately 44 em-
ployees in the department, 25 of whom are classified as pattern makers,
3 as pattern and casting layout men, 14 as pattern repairmen, and 2 as
pattern storage clerks. These employees work under the direct super-
vision of 2 foremen and the general supervision of the superintendent
of the pattern shop. Between 85 percent and 90 percent of the pattern
makers' and pattern repairmen's time is spent in the pattern shop,
and the remainder in the foundry or Core Room. The other em-
ployees work exclusively in the pattern shop.
Although the Employer utilizes patterns in its production process,
all such patterns are either purchased from job shops or supplied by
customers. No new patterns used in production are made in the
Employer's pattern shop. The employees classified as pattern makers
actually repair patterns or conform patterns purchased by the Com-
pany to the machinery and equipment used in the foundry. The
record indicates that prior to 1943 many of these employees had been
classified as pattern repairmen and were reclassified as pattern makers-
in 1943 and 1944 in order to justify wage increase before the War
Labor Board. Their duties have remained unchanged, however. In-
cluded among this group are two pattern makers who make small
wood patterns to be used for making various tool parts for the main-
tenance of foundry and Core Room machinery. Even here, however,.
about 80 percent of the replacement parts used on production equip-
ment are made in job shops outside the plant.
The pattern and casting layout men spend all of their time in the
pattern shop checking new patterns against engineering blue prints
to ascertain whether they conform to specifications. They also check
various patterns already in use to see whether they conform to speci-
fications or need repair. The pattern repairmen generally repair only
core boxes, a type of pattern used in the Core Room. They spend
approximately 95 percent of their time in the pattern shop and the
rest in the Core Room. The pattern storage clerks keep a record of
all incoming and outgoing patterns and store those not in use. They
work only in the pattern shop or adjacent crib.
Of the 25 employees classified as pattern makers only 7 had any
previous experience in a pattern shop prior to their employment by the
Employer and of these, 6 had only a fewjmonths' training in any type
300 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of pattern work. A few in this group of 7 were classified as pattern
makers prior to their present employment.5 Uncontradicted testi-
mony at the hearing disclosed that a pattern repairman could become
a pattern maker at this Employer's plant in 6 weeks to 3 months.
All new employees of the pattern shop are hired as pattern repairmen;
they are supervised by either the foreman or a senior employee at
the beginning but can become qualified repairmen in 4 to 6 weeks.
They are not required to have any previous experience, but those with
previous machine shop experience or an aptitude for such work are
preferred. There is no apprentice training program in the pattern
shop. The Employer has prepared a test to be taken by pattern re-
pairmen in order to qualify as pattern makers; but this can be taken
any time a pattern repairman feels himself qualified. The wages paid
pattern makers are no higher than those paid other groups in the
Employer's maintenance division.
The Employer has bargained with the Intervenor since 1937 on a
plant-wide basis. The record indicates that the Intervenor has al-
ways bargained on behalf of the pattern shop employees, and that
these employees have been represented among the Intervenor's
committeemen.
By excluding the pattern storage clerks from the unit requested the
Petitioner has indicated that it seeks to represent the pattern em-
ployees on a craft rather than a departmental basis. As is indicated
above, however, the pattern employees involved herein have, for the
most part, little of the craft training, and their duties involve few of
the craft characteristics normally found in cases in which the Board
has permitted separate representation of pattern makers despite a
bargaining history on a more inclusive basis.6 In this connection, we
note particularly the absence of any apprentice training program, the
relatively short period of time required to qualify as a "pattern maker"
and the fact that the tasks performed by these employees involve, for
the most part, maintenance operations requiring much less skill than
is required in connection with the usual work of pattern makers.
Under these circumstances, we find that the unit sought here by the
Petitioner is inappropriate 7
As the unit sought to be established by the Petitioner is inappro-
priate for collective bargaining purposes, we find that no question
exists concerning the representation of employees of the Employer,
No information could be obtained as to the remaining employees.
° Cf. Matter of General Electric Company (Lynn River Works and Everett Plant), 58
N L. R. B. 57; Matter of General Motors Corporation, Fisher Body Division, 77 N. L. R. B.
1159 ; Matter of Kaiser-Frazer Corporation, 73 N. L. It. B. 109; Matter of Westinghouse
Electric Corporation, 69 N. L. R. B. 215.
7 See Matter of Lennox Furnace Copany, 60 N. L. R. B. 1329.
WILSON FOUNDRY & MACHINE COMPANY 301
within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of
the Act. We shall therefore dismiss this 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 investigation and certification of representatives of em-
ployees of Wilson Foundry & Machine Company, filed by the Pattern
Makers' Association of Detroit and Vicinity, affiliated with the Pattern
Makers League of North America, AFL, be, and it hereby is, dismissed.