TWENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT - National Labor Relations Board

Representation Cases 55
a General Considerations
The appropriateness of a bargaining unit is pi 'manly detei mined
on the basis of the common employment interests of the group involved
In making unit determinations, the Board also has continued
to give particular weight to any substantial bargaining history
of the group"
Extent of organization may be a factor but, under section 9(c)
(5), it cannot be given controlling weight
The Board has consistently held that jurisdictional or other limitation
concerning classifications of employees in no way restricts the
Board m its deteimination of the appropriateness of a bargaining
unit 80
It is the Board's practice to appiove consent-election agreement s
unless they contain provisions which contravene the statute or established
Board policy, even though the Board might not have found
the unit stipulated therein appropriate had the case been contested
before it on its ments However, such consent agreements Cannot destroy
a unit previously found appropnate 81
b Craft and Quasi-Craft Units
The Board has continued to apply the American Potash rules 82 in
passing on petitions for the establishment of craft units, or the severance
of craft or craftlike groups from existing larger units Under
these rules (1) A craft unit must be composed of true craft employees
having "a kind and degree of skill which is normally acquired
only by undei going a substantial period of apprenticeship or compai a-
ble training"; (2) a noncraft group, sought to be severed, must be
functionally distinct and must consist of employees who, "though lacking
the hallmark of craft skill," are "identified with traditional trades
or occupations distinct from that of other employees, which have
by tradition and practice acquired craftlike characteristics", and (3)
a representative mhich seeks to sever a craft or quasi-craft group
horn a broader existing unit must have traditionally devoted itself to
serving the special intei ests of the type of employees involved
T° See, e g , Republic Steel Corp • 131 NLRB No 107 , Grand Rapids General Moto' s, 131
NLRB No 63, where the Board dismissed the request for a single-plant unit because of the
controlling multiplant bargaining history, although three intervening consent elections for
a single-plant unit were held
80 Maybes Stone Co , 129 NLRB 487 • Minnesota Minsng d Mfg Co. 129 NLRB 789
al Grand Rapids General Motors, above, where the Board held that intervening singleplant
consent elections did not destroy the previously established multiplant unit
as American Potash ti Chemical Corp, 107 NLRB 1418 (1954) • Nineteenth Annual Re
port (1954), pp 38-41