Baldwin County Electric Membership Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 21, 1950

89 N.L.R.B. 704 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of BALDWIN COUNTY ELECTRIC MEMBERSHIP CORPORA-
TION, . EMPLOYER and LocAL UNION 505, INTERNATIONAL BROTHER-
HOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS , A. F. L., PETITIONER,
Case No. 15-RC-326.-Decided April'' 1,1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before R. E. Stark,
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 National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Members Reynolds, Murdock, and
Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer, a nonprofit cooperative, organized pursuant to
the provisions of the National Rural Electrification Act and the laws
of the State of Alabama, furnishes electric power to the rural areas
of Baldwin and Monroe Counties, Alabama. No other public utility
company furnishes electricity in the area served by the Employer.
The Employer does not generate electricity, but purchases its require-
ments of electricity from the Alabama Power Company and from a
municipal utility, owned and operated by the town of Foley, Alabama.
This latter utility does not generate electricity, but also purchases its
requirements from the Alabama Power Company. Heretofore, the
Board has found that the Alabama Power Company, which furnishes
electric service to a large portion of the State of Alabama, is engaged
in commerce as defined in the National Labor Relations Act.' During
the period from May to October 1949, the Employer's purchases of
electricity amounted to $30,868.28.
The Employer furnishes electricity principally to farm users. Its
sales to such farm users amounts to approximately $210,000 annually.
I Alabama Power Company, 18 NLRB 652.
89 NLRB No. 95.
704
BALDWIN COUNTY ELECTRIC MEMBERSHIP CORPORATION 705
However, about 19 percent of the Employer's sales , amounting to
approximately $25,000 annually, are made to nonfarm users. The
greater part of such sales are made to companies engaged in interstate
commerce and an agency of the United States 2
Upon the basis of the foregoing, we find that the Employer, is en-
gaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor. Rela-
tions Acts .
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. We find that all regular full-time outside employees of Baldwin
County Electric Membership Corporation, including helpers, engaged
in operation, maintenance, and servicing of outside electric power
lines, but excluding office clerical employees and supervisors as defined
in the Act, 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 the Employer, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was
heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the
.unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were
employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work
during said payroll period because they were ill or on vacation or
temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargain-
ing, by Local Union 505, International Brotherhood of. Electrical
Workers, A. F. L.
3 During the 6-month period from May to October!1949, inclusive,' the' Employer' s sales
of electricity to lumber companies, which are engaged in interstate commerce, amounted to
$8,300.92, and sales to the United States Fleet Storage Basin, which operates under the
United States Maritime Commission, amounted to $1,081.28.
3 Buckeye Rural Electrical Co-operative, Inc., 88 NLRB 196; East Central Oklahoma
Cooperative Inc., 87 NLRB 604; White Mountain Power Company, 85 NLRB 962.