Opinion ID: 686689
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Similarity of Skills, Functions, and Working Conditions

Text: 15 The Regional Director found that [c]arpenters perform the same duties and utilize the same skills and equipment regardless of the job to which they are assigned. However, this part of the test, like the centrality of control factor, has meaning only in proportion to its level of specificity. It cannot be that merely being members of the same craft is enough to meet this criterion of the test, or the criterion is meaningless. Any bargaining unit of carpenters would be appropriate for the construction employer no matter how otherwise inappropriate or even absurd that unit might be. The Director's decision, as adopted by the Board, ignores the substantially uncontested evidence that the VA project required a much higher level of mastery of carpentry skills than required elsewhere. 16 For example, Jon Small testified that the VA project necessitated different employee requirements than those projects under his own supervision, and that the VA project was very difficult, requiring more mechanical work than at other sites. Rhett Stayer testified that [t]his is probably the most difficult drywall hanging job that you're going to encounter. Such a job required the use of a screw gun. Stayer said employees at the VA project had to be more efficient and faster with screw guns than elsewhere. Thus, he could only rely on the best people available. Likewise, Stayer said framing was more difficult at the VA project. Similarly, those carpenters that performed ceiling tile work had to be better skilled and quicker than their counterparts on other projects. 17 Consequently, Stayer testified that it was quite difficult for employees arriving at the VA project from other sites to handle their new responsibilities, again, undermining the Board's conclusion.