TWENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT - National Labor Relations Board

56 Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the National Labor Relations Board
(1) Craft Status
Craft status and the consequent right to separate representation
was recognized in one case 83 involving both welders and experimental
mechanics who were highly skilled welders, because they were engaged
in the same industry as the welders found to be craftsmen in Hughes
Az2 craft 84 and exercised duties and skills similar to those of the
elders in that case Pointing out that the smaller group of experimental
mechanics, who were employed in a previously unrepresented
department, may not be merged with the larger unit of welders, who
were previously represented in the existing production and maintenance
unit, without a self-determination election, a Board majority
dismissed the petition, since a unit of welders excluding the experimental
mechanics would include only a segment of the employer's
welders, and the petitioner's showing of interest did not cover experimental
mechanics 85
In another case, cabinetmakers at a department store were held by
a majority of the Board to constitute a craft group appropriate for
separate representation because they exercised the skills generally
attributed to cabinetmakers—an occupation broadly recognized in
industry as entailing a high form of skill—and they utilized in their
work the traditional tools of the carpentry craft 85 However, finishers,
furniture road servicemen, and benchmen were held in the same
case to have no craft status In none of the latter classifications
were the employees required to serve any apprenticeship or formal
training Although they had long employment in their jobs, the
Board majority was not convinced that upon attainment of job proficiency
they pgssessed and exercised the high degree of manual
dexterity and judgment necessary to qualify as true craftsmen Nor
were they held to be a functionally distinct department severable
within the narrowly confined criteria of American Potash,
The Board dismissed a petition for severance of papercutters in a
setup paper box department because the papercutters were held to
have no craft status 87 They did not exhibit the range of skills, the
long period of training, or the high degree of judgment and manual
dexterity required for severance on a craft basis
(2) Craft and Departmental Severance
As heretofore, severance of true craft groups, or functionally
distinct and homogeneous traditional departmental groups, from
Aerofet General Corp, 129 NLRB 1492, Members Panning and Kimball dissenting
" Hughea Aircraft Co, 117 NLRB 98 (1957)
For discussion of showing of interest aspect, see above. P 33
I" May Department Stoics Co • 129 NLRB 21, Member Rodgers dissenting
87 II Burt Co • 130 NLRB 1115, Members Fanning and Kimball dissenting in other
respects