American Cable & Radio Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 31, 1952

101 N.L.R.B. 1759 (N.L.R.B. 1952)

AMERICAN CABLE & RADIO CORPORATION 1759
All production and maintenance employees 10 employed at the Em-
ployer's Chicago, Illinois, packinghouse plant, including hourly paid
checkers and scalers, gang leaders, plant commissary employees, plant
tractor drivers, carlines, storeroom employees, matrons, printing and
stationery shop employees, and firemen; but excluding weekly paid
scalers and checkers, the chef, assistant chef, clerks in the plant com-
inissary, chauffeurs, shop fat drivers, sanitation tractor drivers, brick-
layers, office and clerical employees, general office employees, plant
protection employees, laboratory employees, office restaurant employ-
ees, commissary storekeepers, office stationery employees, superin-
tendents, division superintendents, foremen, sales employees, plant
clerical employees, timekeeping department employees, medical de-
partment employees, planning and methods department employees,
Koshermen, office janitors, all garage employees (including chauffeurs,
cripple cart drivers, utility chauffeurs, truck helpers, mechanics, greas-
ers, washers, mechanics' helpers, truck painters, and general handy-
man), brickmasons, wholesale meat market employees, retail meat
market employees, and all supervisors as defined in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
'° As the category of stable employees has been abolished, the parties have stipulated
to exclude this group from the unit.
AMERICAN CABLE & RADIO CORPORATION and COMMUNICATIONS WORg-
ERs of AMERICA , CIO, PETITIONER . Case No. 2-RC-4670. Decem-
ber 31, 1052
Decision and Direction of Election
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Harold L. Richman, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
:from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. American Cable & Radio Corporation, herein called AC & R, a
wholly owned subsidiary of International Telephone & Telegraph
Company, is a holding and management company operating an inter-
national and Nation-wide radio and communications system through
the three wholly owned operating companies involved in this case :
Mackay Radio & Telegraph Company, Inc., The Commercial Cable
Company, and All-America Cables & Radio, Inc., herein called
'Mackay, Commercial Cable, and All-America, respectively. AC & R
101 NLRB No. 235.
1760 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and the three operating companies have a common central head-
quarters, a central personnel filing system, the same president, vice
president, director of sales, director of industrial relations, and super-
intendent. Since January 1, 1948, the operations, which have been
carried on by the three subsidiary companies separately, have been
progressively consolidated.
In view of the common ownership and control of operations and
labor policies, we find that, for the purposes of this proceeding,
Mackay, Commercial Cable, All-America, and AC & R constitute a
single employer within the meaning of the Section 2 (2) of the Act.'
The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
Act.
2. The Petitioner, Communications Workers of America, CIO; and
the two Intervenors, the Commercial Telegraphers' Union, AFL, and
the American Communications Association, Independent,2 claim
to represent employees of the Employer. The United Communica-
tions Employees Association, Independent, intervened, but formally
withdrew on the last day of the hearing.
The Petitioner and the three Intervenors (here called CWA, CTU,
ACA, and UCEA, respectively) are labor organizations within the
meaning of the Act.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section
2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner requested one system-wide unit of all "live traffic"
employees of the three operating subsidiaries of AC & R in the con-
tinental United States and Hawaii. All parties, except ACA, were
willing to consent to an election in this unit. However, on the last
day of the hearing, CTU joined UCEA in urging a single system-
wide unit of "live" and "non-live" traffic employees. ACA contends
that only three single-company units of both "live" and "non-live"
traffic employees in the continental United States and Hawaii are
appropriate in view of the past bargaining history and Board certifi-
cations, but that if any single system-wide unit is found, it should
include the employees in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the
Canal Zone. AC & R contends that "live" and "non-live" traffic
employees should be separately represented on a system-wide basis,
i. e., covering all such employees of the three operating subsidiaries
I See American Relay and Controls , Inc., 81 NLRB 178.
2 The Employer objected to the presence of ACA at the hearing on the ground that ACA
was not in compliance with the filing requirements of Section 9 and on related grounds.
The hearing officer properly overruled this objection and rejected evidence in supp^rt of
the Employer 's position . The Board has held that compliance with these requirements is
an administrative matter, and not litigable by the parties in Section 9 and 40 proceedings
'under the Act.
AMERICAN CABLE & RADIO CORPORATION 1761
in the continental United States and Hawaii. The parties also dis-
agree as to the inclusion or exclusion of certain classifications of "live
traffic" employees.
Scope of Unit Generally
As noted above, all parties except ACA agree that the appropriate
unit should consist of employees of all three operating companies in
continental United States and Hawaii. ACA, in urging single-com-
pany units, contends that the Board should recognize the past practice
of the three companies and its own earlier unit determinations. The
other parties contend that operating conditions have changed mate-
rially since the period when three separate units existed and that the
actual history of bargaining shows a trend toward joint bargaining,
rendering the earlier history unpersuasive here.
From 1938 to 1948, there were separate units for Mackay, Commer-
cial Cable, and All-America, supported by two certifications in 1938.3
A different union represented the employees of each company, except
from 1946 to 1948 when ACA represented both Mackay and Commer-
cial Cable. In 1947, ACA and the representative of All-America
requested, but were denied, joint bargaining on behalf of the employees
of all three operating companies. In 1948, ACA was eliminated
because of its abortive strike,4 and Mackay employees have since then
been without recognized representation. After the strike, the two
separate units in Commercial Cable and All-America tended to merge
for the purposes of collective bargaining and, in 1951, created UCEA
to bargain jointly for both units. In 1951, the UCEA bargaining
committee consisted of employees of Mackay as well as of Commercial
Cable and All-America. UCEA requested, but because of the pen-
dency of a representation proceeding was refused, recognition as the
representative of the employees of Mackay as well as of those of
Commercial Cable and All-America.
Before the 1948 strike, there was no integration of all three sub-
sidiary companies, although the service, delivery, and printer mux
sections of Commercial Cable and All-America had been consolidated.
Following the strike, in mid-1948 and continuing through 1949 and
1950, AC & R integrated the operations of the three subsidiaries, both
by the physical intermingling of equipment and the relocation of
personnel so that today, with few exceptions, the operating personnel
of the three companies work side by side and indiscriminately handle
the traffic and perform the collateral work of the three companies.
The integration of "live traffic" operations, nearly all of which are on
8 Mackay Radio Corporation of Delaware, Inc., et at., 5 NLRB 6157; Commercial Cable
and Telegraph Co., Case No. 2-R-695 ( consent election).
! Sas Mackay Radio iE Telegraph Co., Inc., et at., 96 NLRB 740.
1762 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
a 24-hour, 7-day week, basis, is effected through a system of rotaries
and duty rosters. The employees in a section listed on the duty roster
rotate through the various tours. With few exceptions, the rosters
in the operating section contain employees of Mackay, All-America,
and Commercial Cable. Each operating section handles the traffic
of all three companies. Supervision at the central office follows the
same pattern of rotation. Since November 1950, all hiring for the
three operating companies has been done at a central hiring office in
New York City, by an employment manager on the Mackay payroll.
Under these circumstances, we find that the history of collective
bargaining does not preclude establishing a system-wide unit of three
operating companies which, as we have already found, constitute a
single employer.5 In addition, the chronology of ACA bargaining
suggests that the only basis for ACA's contention in behalf of the
continuation of the narrower bargaining unit here is the limited extent
of its own organization among the employees involved, an untenable
ground for finding such a unit appropriate.°
Puerto Rico
ACA urges the inclusion of the employees in Puerto Rico if the
Board finds that Mackay, Commercial Cable, and All-America con-
stitute a single employer for the purposes of the bargaining unit.
The remaining parties, on the other hand, agree on their exclusion.
There are 45 to 50 All-America employees in Puerto Rico. These
employees have never been part of any bargaining unit comprising
other employees of All-America, and they are currently represented
by two unions, one of which was certified in April 1951 as the repre-
sentative in two units pursuant to consent elections (Cases Nos. 4-RC-
159 and 4-RC-172). Under these circumstances, we see no reason-
able basis for disturbing these existing units, and accordingly ex-
clude the employees in Puerto Rico.'
"Live" and "Non-Live" Traffic Employees
ACA and CTU contend that the Board should include within the
appropriate unit both "live traffic" and "non-live traffic" employees.
"Live traffic" employees are those who are engaged in the transmis-
sion, recteption, handling, and delivery of messages and those who
maintain and service the equipment used in those operations. "Non-
5 See Mackay Radio Corporation of Delaware, Inc., et al., supra ; Kaiser Aluminum &
Chemical Corporation, 100 NLRB 107.
6 Section 9 (c) (5) of the Act ; see Southwestern Associated Telephone Company, 76
NLRB 1105.
tSee Alaska Salmon Industry, Inc., 61 NLRB 1508 ; Wirts Distributing Co., 82 NLRB
669. ACA made a similar contention with respect to the employees in the Virgin );elands
and the Canal Zone , but no evidence was adduced in support thereof . It is rejected.
AMERICAN CABLE & RADIO CORPORATION 1763
live traffic" employees are those engaged in administrative functions,
such as bookkeepers, accountants, stenographers, typists, and soli-
citors. The Employer likens "live traffic" employees to the produc-
tion and maintenance employees and the "non-live traffic" employees
to office clerical employees in a manufacturing plant.
ACA notes that some, but not all, "non-live traffic" employees have
been included in the contracts covering each operating company, in-
cluding Mackay, although the Board had certified a unit confined to
"live traffic" employees, in accordance with the agreement of the
parties. As the Employer and its three operating subsidiaries are
public utilities under regulation by the Federal Communications Com-
mission, CTU contends that the Board should find an over-all unit
appropriate as it has in cases involving public utilities, including the
present communications industry s
"Live traffic" is a 24-hour, round-the-clock operation, with em-
ployees rotating from shift to shift in the 7-day workweek. Employees
in the "non-live" category work from Monday through Friday be-
tween 9 a. m. and 5 p. in. The employees in "non-live" classifications
are physically separated from those in "live traffic," and there is no
interchange of employees among employees in "live" and "non-live"
classifications. Promotions are only within the respective classifica-
tions.
Under these circumstances, we agree with the Employer that the
dissimilarities between the two groups are such as to militate against
the inclusion of either group with the other without first ascertaining
the desires of the employees involved." Although all labor organiza-
tions are willing to represent a combined unit, none of them seeks to'
represent separately the "non-live" traffic employees. Accordingly,
we shall exclude the "non-live" traffic employees from the unit herein
found appropriate.10
Disputed Classifications
The parties disagree on the status of four classifications of em-
ployees and whether they should be included within a unit of "live"
traffic employees. As all parties agreed to have watch supervisors
at Palo Alto and Lobitos and the floor supervisor at San Francisco
vote subject to challenge, the only issues remaining involve part-time
messengers and error clerks, traffic control.
° The Western Union Telegraph Company , 58 NLRB 1283.
° See R. C. A. Communications , Inc., 2 NLRB 1109 ; 9 NLRB 915.
10 See Buckeye Rural Electric Co -operative, Inc., 88 NLRB 196; cf . Globe Wireless, Ltd.,
1,01 NLRB 1043 , where the record showed a degree of integration of operations which
warranted the grouping of the traffic and clerical employees in the same bargaining unit.
The record in the instant case supports no such finding.
1764 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
There are between 100 and 140 part-wire messengers, whom the
Employer would exclude and all the other parties include. The duties
of the part-time and full-time messengers are the same except that
full-time messengers are hired to work a 371/2-hour week; anyone
hired to work less than that is called "part-time." The part-time
employees ordinarily work between 22 and 26 hours a week. Although
there is a 300-percent annual turnover among part-time messengers,
that is insufficient to render their employment either temporary or
casual. The similarity of interests between full- and part-time mes-
sengers warrants the inclusion of the part-time messengers 11
There are four error clerks in the office of the traffic manager and
part of the traffic section of the operating department. Acting upon
customer complaints routed through the traffic manager's office, the
error clerks examine tapes of incoming messages and duplicates of the
messages received in order to trace errors and operating irregularities.
The Employer seeks to exclude error clerk, traffic control on the ground
that it is a "non-live" job classification and that it is "confidential."
Although the error clerks examine message tapes and duplicates which
are usually 1 or 2 days old, the purpose of the examination is to in-
crease the efficiency of the operators, which necessarily means increas-
ing the efficiency of "live traffic," and therefore is a "live traffic" job
within the Employer's own definition. This function is analogous to
that of time-study employees, inspectors, time-keepers, and bonus and
audit clerks in other industries, none of whom are regarded as "con-
fidential" employees 12 As we have found that the error clerks,
traffic control, are "live traffic" employees and "non-confidential," we
shall include them in the unit.
Accordingly, we find that the following employees of the Employer
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act :
All live traffic employees of the Employer in the continental United
States and Hawaii, as set forth in Appendix A, but excluding all other
employees, guards, watchmen, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
MEMBER HOUSTON took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
11 It is immaterial that some of the messengers are also students . Vulcan Mold cE Iron
Co., 62 NLRB 1219.
12 Aragon-Baldwin Mills, 80 NLRB 1042 ( time-study employees ) ; Parrett-Check Steel
Co., 88 NLRB 303 (inspectors ) ; Bethlehem Steel Co., 67 NLRB 1229 ( timekeepers), 61,
NLRB 854 (bonus and audit clerks).
AMERICAN CABLE & RADIO CORPORATION 1765
Appendix A
(1) Live traffic classifications in Mackay Radio and Telegraph Co.
Radio Operator "A"
R/Q Operator
Int'l. Printer Operator
Error Clerk Traffic Control
Senior Clerk
General Asst-Service Section
General Asst-Delivery Sect.
General Asst-Telephone Sect.
Radio Operator "C"
Printer Morse Operator
Route Clerk
Service Writer
R/Q Clerk
Delivery Clerk
General Assist-Delivery Section
Traffic Control Clerk
Printer,/Multiplex Operator
Check Clerk
Searcher/Filer
Telephone Operator-67 Broad St.
San Francisco, Marine Div.
(WSF)
Pick-up
Operating Technician
Teletype Technician
Shop Technician "A"
Shop Technician "B"
Call Box and Branch Office
icemen
Serv-
Installation and General Mainte-
nance Technicians
Conveyor Systems Technician
Building Maintenance Porter
RQ/Clerk/Cable Code Operator
Searcher/Filer , Revenue Account-
ing Section
Main/Branch Office Handyman
Branch Office Operator/Clerk
Messenger-Night/Evening
Messenger-Utility (Main Office
Only)
Messenger-Marine
Messenger-Full Time
Messenger-Part Time
Machinist and Tool Maker
Shift Engineer Transmitting Sta-
tion
Transmitting Station Mainte-
nance Technician
Machinist
Shop And Installation Technician
Painter
Chauffeur/General Utility Man
Combination Stockroom/Record
Clerk
Groundman/General Utility Man
Porter
Plant Maintenance Technician
Receiving Station Technician
Shop And Installation Technician
Rigger
Maintenance Technician
Branch Office Operator/Clerk
Combination Service Clerk
Messenger/Motor, Washington,
D. C.
Coastal Station Operator -Ma-
rine Div.
Marine Service Engineers A and
B
Marine Teletype Operator/Clerk
General Utility Man
Marine Service Repairman
Apprentice, Operating Technician
(2) Live traffic classifications in All-America Cables and Radio,
Inc. and Commercial Cable Co.
Cable Operator "A" Cable Operator "B"
R/Q Operator Int'l. Printer Operator
1766 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Error Clerk-Traffic Control
Senior Clerk
General Assist-Service Section
General Assist-Delivery Sect.
General Assist-Telephone Sect.
Printer Morse Operator
Route Clerk
Service Writer
R/Q Clerk
Delivery Clerk
Traffic Control Clerk
Printer/Multiplex Operator
Check Clerk
Searcher/Filer
Telephone Operator, 67 Broad St.
San Francisco, Marine Division
Pick-up/B e f t Inspector/T ii b e
Clerk/Ditto Machine Operator
Operating Technician
Teletype Technician
Shop Technician "A"
Shop Technician "B"
Call Box and Branch Office Serv-
iceman
Installation and General Mainte-
nance Technicians
Conveyor Systems Technicians
Branch Office Operator/Clerk
Messenger-Night/Evening
Messenger-Utility (Main Office
Only)
Messenger-Marine
Messenger-Full Time
Messenger-Part Time
Building Maintenance Porter
Main/Branch Office Handyman
LOUISVILLE PLANT OF THE MINNEAPOLIS -MOLINE COMPANY and LODGE
681, DISTRICT #27, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS,
AFL, PETITIONER . Case No. 9-RC-1735. December 31,1952
Decision and Direction of Elections
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Orville E. Andrews,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing
are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed."
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member
panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Murdock].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
1 At the hearing, the Intervenor , Local 715 , United Automobile Workers of America,
AFL, moved to dismiss the petition on the grounds that it did not clearly set forth the unit
sought ; that the issues presented had been decided in a previous proceeding ; and that there
had been no change affecting the employees in question since the Board 's decision in that
proceeding. We find no merit in these contentions . The motions to dismiss are therefore
denied.
101 NLRB No. 244.