A. D. T. Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 9, 1947

73 N.L.R.B. 265 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of A. D. T. COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL UNION B-58, AFL,
PETITIONER
Case No. 7-R-2292.-Decided April 9, 1947
Lewis and Watkins, by Mr. Leonard A. Keller, of Detroit, Mich.,
for the Employer.
Messrs. Robert A. Wilson and Joseph A. Padway, both of Wash-
ington, D. C., for the Petitioner.
Mr. David C. Sachs, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed , hearing in this case was held at Detroit,
Michigan , on October 29, 1946, before Robert J. Wiener, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Ruling upon the Em-
ployer's motion to dismiss was reserved by the hearing officer for the
consideration of the Board. The Employer 's request for oral argu-
ment is also denied, inasmuch as the record and the briefs, in our
opinion, adequately present the issues and the positions of the parties.
Upon the entire record in the case, '. the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER ,
A. D. T. Company is a corporation organized under the laws of the
State of Michigan and maintains offices in 8 Michigan cities. These
proceedings concern the employees at its Detroit office where it employs
more than 114 employees. The Employer confines its operations to
the'State of Michigan.
The Employer is engaged in the business of supplying various forms
of protection against fire and unlawful entry by means of electric de-
1 The Employer 's request to correct the record in a minor respect is granted.
73 N. L R. B, No. 51.
265
266 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
vices 2 Signals originating on the customer's property are transmitted
to the Employer's central station over wires ]eased from the Michigan
Bell Telephone Company, Western Union Telegraph Company and
other wire-using companies. Upon receipt of such signals, an investi-
gation is made either by the Employer's employees, by the employees of
the customer, or by the fire or police department of the municipality.
In addition, the Employer also installs and maintains various forms
of automatic alarm devices, both visual and audible, which are not con-
nected with a central station. Ownership of the electric equipment
installed upon the customer's premises is retained by the Employer.
The Employer is a wholly owned subsidiary of American District
Telegraph Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the
State of New Jersey, hereinafter referred to as the New Jersey Com-
pany. The Western Union Telegraph Company, in turn, owns 71.4
percent of the stock of the New Jersey Company. All of the officers of
the Employer are officers of the New Jersey Company. The New Jer-
sey Company is the parent of other wholly owned subsidiary corpora-
tions, bearing similar names , all of which are engaged in the same busi-
ness as that of the Employer, but in different States' Each subsidiary
is incorporated under the laws of the State to which it confines its
operations. One of the wholly owned subsidiaries is American Dis-
trict Telegraph Company, Inc., a New York corporation, hereinafter
referred to as the New York Company. The New York Company,
among other things, manufactures, buys, and sells the electrical equip-
ment used by the operating companies of the system. Its sales within
the United States are made exclusively to the other subsidiaries of the
New Jersey Company at cost. Of the out-of-State purchases made by
the Employer in 1945 amounting to $67,750, purchases valued at $59,-
826 were made from the New York Company. The Employer does
not undertake to perform certain specialized functions for itself such
as administrative, accounting, auditing, advertising, engineering,
financial, and legal services, but instead these services are performed
for it by the New York Company. For these services the Employer
8 The services rendered by the Employer consist of the following : "A. D T. patrol su-
pervision for watchmen , guards, and manual fire alarm service ;" "automatic sprinkler
supervisory and water flow service ;" "aero automatic fire alarm service ," "burglary pro-
tection ;" "sound detection system for bank vaults ," "A D. T. holdup system ," "industrial
process and heating system supervision ," and "automatic fire control for ventilating and
air duct systems."
3 The number of such subsidiaries is not contained in the record . A registration form.
filed by the western Union Telegraph Company with the Securities and Exchange Com-
mission, a copy of which has been introduced into evidence , states that the New Jersey
Company "has 63 direct or indirect subsidiaries ; all of which , except 5, are 100 percent
owned " Sweet ' s Catalog , also introduced into evidence , contains the following description
of the operations of the A. D T . system : "The company operates central stations in 116
principal cities which , provide protection service in some 350 municipalities to approxi-
mately 32,000 subscribers. The property values protected by A. D. T., of which industrial
establishments represent the major portion, exceed 22 billion dollars."
A. D. T. COMPANY 267
paid the New Jersey Company the sum of $78,567 in 1945. In the
same year, the Western Union Telegraph Company received from the
New Jersey Company and its subsidiaries the sum of $172,126 for the
use of leased wire and telegraph service, and $45,917 for various man-
agement services.
Advertisements are inserted by the New Jersey Company in maga-
zines having a circulation in business circles over the signature of
"Controlled Companies of America District Telegraph Co." These
advertisements extol the protection services offered by the "A. D. T.
system," describing it as "the only nation-wide organization specializ-
ing in electric protection services." The New Jersey Company also
publishes a monthly magazine, "The A. D. T. Transmitter," which is
distributed to employees and customers throughout the country.
The Employer's gross investment in equipment, both on its own and
its customers' property, amounts to $1,180,750. Its gross income for the
year 1945 was $775,819. During the same year, it purchased equip-
ment and other materials valued at $74, 666, of which purchases valued
at $67,750,4 or 90.7 percent, were shipped from points outside the
State of Michigan. In the same year it paid approximately $30,000 to
Michigan Bell Telephone Company and approximately $10,000 to
the Western Union Telegraph Company for leased wires. Its office
in Detroit is rented from the Western Union Telegraph Company.
The Employer supplies its services to factories (including plants
of General Motors Corporation, Chrysler Corporation, Packard Motor
Car Company and other manufacturers), retail and wholesale estab-
lishments, warehouses, office buildings, banks and other financial in-
stitutions, and other miscellaneous customers. It also services certain
premises of public utility corporations such as the Detroit Street Rail-
way, the Michigan Consolidated Gas Company, the Detroit Edison
Company and two railroads. Of its gross income derived from the
Detroit area in 1945, amounting to approximately $575,000, approxi-
mately $209,875, or 36.5 percent, was received from factories and ap-
proximately $12,650, or 2.2 percent, was received from public utilities.
The Employer contends that its operations do not affect commerce
within the meaning of the Act. It is apparent, however, from the fore-
going that the A. 1). T. system comprises a single, closely interwoven
enterprise, nation-wide in character, that the Employer is an integral
part of this coordinated operation,-' and that the Employer performs
services essential to the operations of numerous enterprises whose ac-
tivities affect commerce. Upon consideration of all the facts, we find,
* This sum included purchases valued at $59,826 which, as noted above, were made from
the New York Company.
' N. L. it. B. v. Schmidt Baking Co , Inc., 122 F. (2d) 162 (C. C. A. 4) ; Matter of Atlan-
tic Company, 65 N L R. B 1274; Matter of National Transitads , Inc., 67 N. L. R. B 511 ;
Matter of Pangburn Company, Inc ., 64 N. L. R. B. 1551.
268 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
contrary to the contention of the Employer, that it is engaged in
interstate commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Re-
lations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of certain of its employees upon the ground
that it is not subject to the jurisdiction of the Board.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in accordance with the stipulation of the parties, that
all employees of the Employer in the Detroit Metropolitan area,
excluding office and clerical employees, part-time employees, resident
guards, and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote,
discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of
employees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with A. D. T. Company, Detroit,
Michigan, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as
possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this
Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director
for the Seventh Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National
Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 4,
among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV,
above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately
preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not
work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation
or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces
of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls,
but excluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged
A. D. T. COMPANY 269)
for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date
of the election, to determine whether or not they desire to be repre-
sented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local
Union B-58, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election. a