235 N.L.R.B. 1354 (N.L.R.B. 1978)

Boston Gas Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsMay 3, 1978

235 N.L.R.B. 1354 (N.L.R.B. 1978)

Local I-RM- 9(c) Officer AFL-CIOZLC. 3(b) thit C o m ~ a n v 1 J Bosron Gar 1 barga~nrng u n ~ t 12007), 4 4 W . 446-6 Massachusetts.2 11, con- center. 1354 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Boston Gas Company, Employer-Petitioner and Union No. 446-G, Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO and Local 12007, United Steelworkers of America, AFGCIO-CLC and Local 317, Brotherhood of Utility Workers of New England, Inc. and Local 12003, United Steelwork- ers of America, AFL-CIO-CLC. Cases 10 18 and 1-UC-222 May 3, 1978 DECISION AND ORDER Upon petitions duly filed under Section of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hear- ing was held before Hearing Robert A. Pulcini of the National Labor Relations Board. Following the hearing, and pursuant to Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations and Statements of Procedure, Series 8, as amended, this proceeding was transferred to the Board for decision by direction of the Regional Director for Region I. Thereafter, timely filed briefs were received from all parties, except Local 12003, United Steelworkers of America, Pursuant to the provisions of Section of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. The Board has reviewed the Hearine Officer's rulings made at the hearing and finds they are free from prejudicial error. They are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in this proceeding, the Board finds: 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. and it will effectuate the " purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein. 2. The Unions are labor organizations within the meaning of the Act and claim to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. In December 1973. Boston Gas (herein called Boston Gas) acquired the operating facilities of the Mystic Valley Gas Company (herein called Mystic Valley), the Lynn Gas Company (herein called Lynn), and the North Shore Gas Company (herein called North Shore). The Employer continued to recognize the collective-bargaining agreements then outstanding covering the employees of each company. Mystic Valley employees were represented by Local 12007, United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO-CLC (herein called Steelwork- Company, 22 NLRB 628 (1975). Other employees who had been part of the Exchange Street were not transferred from the Lynn and Malden stores, but are now 235 NLRB No. 187 ers Local under an agreement expiring March 3 1, 1975, and Lynn employees were represent- ed by Local Union No. 446-G, Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO (herein called Local 446-G), under an agreement expiring June 19, 1975. North Shore employees were represented by Local 317. Brotherhood of Utility Workers of New En- gland, Inc. (herein called Local 317). Boston Gas employees were represented by Local 12003, United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO-CLC. These agreements covered production, distribution, service, and clerical employees of the respective companies. Prior to the acquisition, Mystic Valley's customer inquiry center was located in Malden, Massachu- setts, and the Lynn customer inquiry center was located at 90 Exchange Street, Lynn, Massachusetts. Following the acquisition, the Employer integrated the separate customer inquiry centers into the Ex- change Street facility by transferring approximately 38 former Mystic Valley employees to 90 Exchange Street, where they joined 34 employees represented by Local Several other former Mystic Valley employees at various locations were transferred administratively to the Lynn inquiry center. Conflict- ing claims of representation arose at the new loca- tion. Subsequently, on November 13, 1975, the Board issued a decision' in which it found the Lynn customer inquiry center to be a new operation and directed an election. As a result, Local was certified on February 12, 1976, as the exclusive bargaining representative of the employees in the merged unit. The Exchange Street facility in Lynn, Massachu- setts, proved inadequate because of space limitations, and this factor, coupled with recent technological developments, prompted the Employer to consoli- date its customer inquiry and service functions in a single location. In December 1976, the Employer transferred the employees of the customer activities department from the Exchange Street location to the newly opened Malden operating center, Malden, Some of these transferred employees had been transferred 2 years previously from Malden to Lynn. In view of the conflicting claims of representation made to the Employer, it filed, on August 1977, the RM and UC petitions now before the Board for consideration. The Employer contends that no ques- tion concerning representation exists, and that those employees transferred from Lynn to the Malden operating center should be added by accretion to the present Malden area bargaining unit, represented by Steelworkers Local 12007. The Employer also supervised from the Malden operating They were formerly super- vised from the Exchange Street location. clerk- 446-G unit.4 customer- (i.e., o~eration" restrooms, 446-G 4 4 W Malden Lynn 4 44&G jurisdict~on revresents avvroximatelv emvlovees . , ther; U ~ o n s to represent the the ~ ~ l d ~ ~ operahng center, whe;eas h a 1 4 4 6 6 repr;sents approxlmate- clting 102.61(b)(3) Natlonal Ruies Rcgulac~ons. Ser~es bas~s ly transferred Lynn' this interpretati& 1355 BOSTON GAS COMPANY tends that various fringe classifications should be included in the Malden unit: one adjuster (Pleasant St., Malden), four cashiers (two at Pleasant St., Malden, and two at Exchange St., Lynn), one customer relations (Exchange St., Lynn), eight meter readers (who report to Washington St., Salem), and one field adjuster (who works out of the Malden center). The Steelworkers Local 12007 seeks to have the employees transferred from Lynn to the Malden center added to the existing bargaining unit as an accretion. The Steelworkers Local 12007 points out that 38 of these employees were transferred from Malden to Lynn in March ,1974, and have now simply returned to their former jobs and former work locations. In the event that an accretion is not found, the Steelworkers Local 12007 urges the Board to direct an election in the former Mystic Valley bargaining unit.3 Local 446-G urges that the peti- tions be dismissed because the unit sought by the Employer and the Steelworkers Local 12007 is inappropriate. Local contends, inter alia, that there is no common supervision, no community of interest, and no personal contact among employees in the proposed Local 317 currently represents only one position at the Malden operating center, the former North Shore field adjuster. Local 317 con- tends that he should be excluded from any newly defined unit at Malden because neither of the other two Unions claims to represent him and his job duties remain unchanged. At the hearing, Steelworkers Local 12007 stated that it wished to represent employees at the Malden center now represented by Local 446-G, but it has since disavowed any such interest. The Employer's decision to merge all related activities for its northern division was dictat- ed by considerations of efficiency and service. Recent technological advancements have made pos- sible the random accessing of customer records at remote locations. The Employer therefore decided to consolidate at one location, the Malden operating center, employees who handle billing inquiries, "ons" and "offs," and requests for service on gas appliances and equipment. This consolidation enables a custom- er of the Employer to call one telephone number regarding all of the above services. Cross-training of the affected employees (the 17 former Lynn employ- ees represented by Local 446-G, and 8 clerks represented by Steelworkers Local 12007) was under- taken from August 2 to October 31, 1977: on the latter date, the Employer implemented its "one call 3 The Steelworkers would exclude from the unit the field adjuster, store employees, and Salem meter readers. Local also argues that the Board has no of the RM or UC case because was no demand by both same employees. Rule of the Labor Relations Board and 8, as amended. We find no for novel of that rule. does it all" operation at Malden. These employees are performing functions similar to those performed in the past, although they now have more advanced equipment to use. They are implementing the Em- ployer's overall policies and procedures with respect to customer inquiries and requests for service. Al- though some employees have assumed additional functions clerks who formerly handled only billing requests now also receive requests for service), we do not view this change in job duties as being so fundamental as to require a finding that a "new has resulted.5 Rather. we view it as primarily a physical move of certain functions, combined with the introduction of new, more ad- vanced equipment. At the Malden operating center are employees in service and distribution classifications, as well as the customer activity employees. All employees at the center share common facilities, such as the lunch- room, first aid room, and parking lot. Employees represented by Steelworkers Local 12007 and Local work in contiguous areas and perform similar functions. All employees working in customer activity classifications share common lines of supervision and perform the same or similar job duties. We find merit in the Employer's position that finding an accretion is the proper method of resolv- ing the conflicting claims presented by the Unions, where, as here, there is no basic change in the nature of the facility in question, and there is also no reason to question the majority status of the predominant Union, here, Steelworkers Local 12007.6 We believe that this will effectuate the purposes of the Act to group together in collective-bargaining units only employees who have substantial material interests in wages, hours, and other conditions of employment, and to promote stability in labor relations. By dismissing both petitions, as Local urges us to do, we would tend to frustrate these purposes of the Act. In view of the foregoing, we find that no question concerning representation of the Malden operating center employees had been presented, and we shall dismiss the petition in Case 1-RM-1018. 4. The Employer seeks a unit comprised of all employees of the Employer now represented by Steelworkers Local 12007 under an agreement dated April 1, 1975, with an accretion of employees formerly located at or administratively attached to 5 Cf. Boston Gas Company, supra, in which we found that a new operation resulted from the Employer's prior consolidation. Steelworkers Local 12007 . . 184 at 1756 1-RM-9397 12007, 13 446G, 12007. inelude 1- IT AFL-CIO-CLC, employer's inqulry Boston Ga.? suprlr DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the Lynn customer inquiry center, as certified in Case (excluding Lynn sales personnel). This unit consists of approximately 183 employees now represented by Steelworkers Local in- cluding customer service representatives who report to Wohurn. Massachusetts, and 11 sales personnel who report to Malden, Massachusetts. The accretion to the unit consists of approximately 80 employees now represented by Local includ- ing inquiry clerks, utility clerks, senior clerks, junior clerks, credit representatives, adjusters, stenogra- phers, messengers, and collectors, all of whom were transferred from Lynn to Malden: adjusters, cash- iers. and clerk-customer relations, who report to the Malden and Lynn stores but are supervised from the Malden operating center: and 8 meter readers who report to Salem, Massachusetts. We agree that all of the foregoing employees are administratively a part of the Malden operating center and that the employees so transferred are properly deemed an accretion to the existing unit of Malden employees represented by Steelworkers Lo- cal The Employer also seeks to in the expand- ed unit the field adjuster who is a member of the Local 317 bargaining unit. It is undisputed that the 1974 consolidation did not affect this position in any Company, way, and the incumbent did not vote in the prior election. His reporting location was changed from Exchange Street, Lynn, to the Malden operating center, but his contacts with other employees have not increased. He reports to the Malden center once a day to pick up assignments and leave collections. In view of the fact that there are no changes in the duties and working conditions of the field adjuster. other than the change in reporting location, and since there are no conflicting representational claims with respect to this position, we find no compelling reason to disturb his present status and shall there- fore exclude him from the newly defined unit. ORDER It is hereby ordered that the petition in Case RM-1018 be, and it hereby is, dismissed in its entirety. IS FURTHER ORDERED that the existing bargaining unit at the Employer's Malden, Massachusetts, facili- ty. currently represented by Local 12007, United Steelworkers of America, be, and it hereby is, clarified to include those employees formerly located at or administratively attached to the Lynn customer center, as described herein.