NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

VII. PRINCIPLES ESTABLISHED 189
are usually considered as having interests distinguishing them from
the latter. 27 Where it appears, however, that in fact their work
is of a more or less mechanical nature, requiring little or no skill,
they may be included in a plant unit.23 In Matter of Hubinger
Company, 29 the two participating unions differed as to the inclusion
of the company's laboratory employees in a plant unit. The Board
said :
* * There was no evidence in the record to indicate that any of the
production or maintenance employees of that department are engaged in
research, experimental, or any other kind of technical work. No special training
other than a high school education is required, and most of the employees
are engaged solely in gathering samples from the various departments of the
Company. If, however, any employees of the laboratory department are engaged
in research or experimental work, they should not be included in the
same unit with the other production and maintenance employees.
In Matter of U. 8. Testing Co., Ine., 30 the company operated two
laboratories on separate floors. The union claimed that employees
in one of these laboratories constituted an appropriate unit, and the
company contended that employees in both laboratories should be
considered together. In holding in favor of a separate unit as claimed
by the union, the Board pointed out that:
The bulk of the testing done on the fifth floor, however, relates to the physical
qualities of raw silk and yarns. This testing requires mere visual or mechanical
skill. It is to be contrasted with the general chemical testing of a wide variety
of products carried on in the fourth-floor laboratory. It can be no mere chance
that most of the fourth-floor employees have academic training while those on
the fifth floor have not. Indeed, the fifth-floor supervisor is shown to have no
academic training along technical lines.
In two cases, 31 the Board has held that apprentices hired under arrangements
made between an employer and a State agency should be
excluded from a bargaining unit for other employees. However, in
another case, 32 the Board held that the fact that the company signed
individual contracts with those of its apprentices who were minors,
and with their guardians, did not warrant the exclusion of apprentices
from a plant unit, in view of other factors pointing to a similarity of
interests between the apprentices and the other employees.
Finally, the Board has held that doctors and nurses 33 and messengers
34 have interests which are sufficiently dissimilar from those
2% Matter of Hoffman Beverage Company and Joint Local Executive Board of International
Union of United Breicery, Flour. Cereal. and Soft Drink Workers of America, 3 N. L.
R. B. 584; Matter of Southern Chemical Cotton Company and Textile Workers Organizing
Committee, 3 N. L. R. B. 869; Matter of American Sugar Refining Company and
Committee for Industrial Organization, 4 N. L. R. B. 897: and Matter of Interlake Iron
Corporation and Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers of North
America, Local No. 1657, 6 N. L. R. B. 780.
=8 Matter of The B. F. Goodrich Company and United Rubbers Workers of America,
Local No. 43, 3 N. L. R. B. 420; and Matter of Marlin-Rockwell Corporation and Local No.
338, United Automobile Workers of America, 5 N. L. R. B. 206.
.9 Matter of Hubinger Company and Corn Products Workers Union No. 19931 and Hub-
Diger Company Employees Representation Plan, 4 N. L. R. B. 428.
Matter of U. S. Testing Co., Inc. and Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists &
Technicians, C. I. 0., 5 N. L. R. B. 696.
Matter of Marlin-Rockwell Corporation and Local No. 338, United Automobile Workers
of America, 5 N. L. R. B. 206 • and Matter of Fairbanks, Morse & Company and Pattern
Makers Association of Beloit, 7 N. L. R. B. 229.
22 Matter of Bendix Products Corporation and International Union, United Automobile
Workers of America, Bendix Local No. 9, 3 N. L. R. B. 682.
33 Matter of Westinghouse Airbrake Company and United Electric and Radio Workers of
America, Railway Equipment Workers Local No. 610. 4 N. L. R. B. 403.
3-t Matter of Armour ct Company and Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen
of North America, Local Union No. 413, 5 N. L. R. B. 975; and Matter of Interlake Iron
Corporation and Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers of North
America, Local No. 1657, 6 N. L. R. B. 780.