Public Case No. R 1998-027
Carpenters’ District Council, Local 795 v.
CSt. Louis County, Department of Public Works, Clayton, Missouri and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1 and Journeymen & Apprentice Plumbers of the United Association of USA and Canada, Local 35, Intervenors
Carpenters’, Local 795 filed a representation petition seeking to represent a bargaining unit consisting of all Inspector I and all Inspector II within the St. Louis County Public Works Department. The Carpenters’, however, contended that the Inspector III’s were supervisors and should be excluded from the bargaining unit. St. Louis County supported the Carpenters’ position of a department-wide unit of Inspectors. However, the County took no position with regard to the inclusion of the Inspector III’s within such unit. The IBEW, Local 1, filed an intervenor petition seeking to represent a bargaining unit consisting of the Electrical Inspection Supervisor, Electrical Inspector I, Electrical Inspector II, and Electrical Inspector III. The County objected to the inclusion of the Electrical Inspection Supervisor position on the grounds that it was a supervisory position or a managerial position and should therefore be excluded from a bargaining unit of Inspectors. The Plumbers, Local 35, also filed an intervenor petition seeking to represent a bargaining unit consisting of the Plumbing Inspector I, Plumbing Inspector II, and Plumbing Inspector III. The IBEW and the Plumbers contended that the Electrical Inspectors and the Plumbing Inspectors constituted separate craft units which required separate representation.
The Board held that the Electrical Inspectors and the Plumbing Inspectors did not constitute separate craft units which required separate representation. The Board also held that the Inspector III’s were not supervisors within the meaning of the Public Sector Labor Law. Finally, the Board held that a department-wide unit consisting of all Inspector I, Inspector I, and Inspector III was an appropriate unit and ordered an election therein. The Board did not reach the issue concerning the Electrical Inspection Supervisor.