284 A.D. 808 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1954
Appeal by petitioner from an order denying its petition to stay an arbitration proceeding. Order reversed on the law, with $10 costs and disbursements, and petition granted, without costs. The appellant is engaged in interstate commerce. In April of 1952, the National Labor Relations Board conducted an election to determine the exclusive bargaining representative of certain of appellant’s employees, for which purpose said board had specified certain bargaining units as appropriate, amongst which was the unit “production and maintenance employees”. As a result of the election, the respondent was determined to be such representative for the said units. A collective bargaining agreement was then consummated between the parties to this proceeding and, upon its expiration on May 28,1953, a second agreement was made. Both agreements set forth the bargaining units as they were fixed by the said board. It is claimed by the appellant that, during the term of the first agreement, it established an engineering and development laboratory, and for the first time employed “ engineering laboratory technicians ” for work therein, whose duties are generally those of assistants to its engineers in research and development work. There are seventeen such “ technicians ” in appellant’s employ. Respondent, contending that these “technicians” are actually doing the work of appellant’s pilot shop, the employees in which shop are undisputably within the unit of "production and maintenance employees ”, sought arbitration of the dispute under the provision of the extant (second) agreement that either party to the agreement may submit to arbitration “ a grievance involving the effect, interpretation, application, claim of breach ■ or violation of this agreement ”. Thereupon, appellant filed a petition with the said board for action upon respondent’s claim “ to be recognized as the representative of ” the “ Engineering Laboratory Technicians ”, as such term “ representative ” is defined in subdivision (a) of section 9- of the National Labor Relations Act (U. S. Code, tit. 29, § 159, subd. [a]). The said board scheduled a preliminary hearing on the petition and,