Chicago Surface Lines

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 19, 1944

58 N.L.R.B. 1140 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of THOMAS J. FRIEL AND CHARLES C. RENSHAW, AS
TRUSTEES OF CHICAGO RAILWAYS COMPANY, DEBTOR , AND EDWARD
J. FLEMING AND CHARLES H. ALBERS, AS TRUSTEES OF CHICAGO CITY
RAILWAY COMPANY, DEBTOR , AND AS TRUSTEES OF CALUMET AND
SOUTH CHICAGO RAILWAY COMPANY, DOING BUSINESS AS CHICAGO
SURFACE LINES and DIVISION 241, AMALGAMATED ASSOCIATION OF
STREET, ELECTRIC RAILWAY AND MOTOR COACH EMPLOYEES OF
AMERICA, A. F. of L.
In the Matter of THOMAS J. FRIEL AND CHARLES C. RENSHAW, AS
TRUSTEES OF CHICAGO RAILWAYS COMPANY, DEBTOR, AND EDWARD
J. FLEMING AND CHARLES H. ALBERS, AS TRUSTEES OF CHICAGO CITY
RAILWAY COMPANY, DEBTOR, AND AS TRUSTEES OF CALUMET AND
SOUTH CHICAGO RAILWAY COMPANY, DOING BUSINESS AS CHICAGO
SURFACE LINES and STREET RAILWAY TEAMSTERS' AND CHAUFFEURS'
UNION No. 739, A. F. of L.
Cases Nos. 13-R-03JE4 and 13-R-2394 respectively.-Decided
October 19, 1944
Messrs. William J. Flaherty and David R. Watson, both of Chicago,
Ill., for the Company.
Mr. William Levine, of Chicago, Ill., for Division 241.
Messrs. Daniel D. Carmell, Leo Segall, and Robert W. Boal, all of
Chicago, Ill., for the Teamsters.
Mr. Harry Sacker, by Mr. Samuel M. Sacher, of New York City, for
the Transport Workers.
Mr. David V. Easton, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon an amended petition duly filed by Division 241, Amalgamated
Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees
of America (AFL), herein called Division 241, and upon a second
58 N. L R. B., No. 214.
1140
CHICAGO SURFACE LINES 1141
amended petition duly filed by Street Railway Teamsters' and Chauf-
feurs' Union No. 739, International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor, herein called the Teamsters, al-
leging that questions affecting commerce had arisen concerning the
representation of employees of Thomas J. Friel and Charles C. Ren-
shaw, as Trustees of Chicago Railways Company, Debtor, and Edward
J. Fleming and Charles H. Albers, as Trustees of Chicago City Rail-
way Company, Debtor, and as Trustees of Calumet and South Chicago
Railway Company, doing business as Chicago Surface Lines, herein
called the Company,' the National Labor Relations Board consolidated
the cases by an order dated August 14, 1944, and provided for an ap-
propriate hearing upon due notice before Russell Packard, Trial Ex-
aminer. Said hearing was held at Chicago, Illinois, on September
11 and 12, 1944. The Company, Division 241, the Teamsters, and
Transport Workers Union of America, C. I. 0., herein called the
Transport Workers, appeared, participated, and were afforded full
opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and
to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an opportunity to file briefs
with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE CODIPANY
Chicago Surface Lines is the operating name for the street railway
system of the city of Chicago. This system consists of the facilities
of 4 Illinois corporations : Chicago Railways Company, Chicago City
Railway Company, Calumet and South Chicago Railway Company,
and The Southern Street Railway Company. As of the date of the
hearing in this consolidated proceeding, each of these Companies was
in receivership, and, by order of the United States District Court,
Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, in-which receivership
proceedings were pending, were operated as a unit through the agency
of a Joint Board of Management and Operation, under the name
"Chicago Surface Lines." In its operations, which extend to all sec-
tions of the city of Chicago, the Company operates some 3600 street-
cars over 73 routes. The mileage operated on such lines totals 1100
single track miles. In addition, the Company operates 229 gasoline-
' On October 1, 1944, subsequent to the hearing, all parties executed a stipulation
amending the name of the Company to read as set forth above The stipulation is hereby
approved and made part of the record, and all the papers in the proceedings are hereby
amended in accordance therewith.
1142 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
engine busses over 23 routes for a total of 156 miles, and 1.52 single-
way trolley busses over 6 routes for a total of 51 miles. It employs
approximately 16,650 employees.
In the maintenance of its business, the Company operates 19 electric
substations, 16 operating car stations, 4 bus stations, 5 storage car
houses, 3 storage-buildings, 3 shop plants (each consisting of several
buildings), '6 garages, 6 material yards, and 10 small terminal
buildings.
The Company is the largest of the 3 local transportation systems
in the city of Chicago, carrying approximately 76 percent of all
revenue passengers using the 3 systems annually. During the fiscal
year ending January 31, 1944, the Company transported approxi-
Inately 844,791,000 revenue passengers for a total car mileage of
about 131,652,000 miles. In addition, during the same period, there
were approximately 59,000,000 revenue transfers between the other
2 transportation systems of the city of Chicago and the Company
under an arrangement providing for such transfers. The gross in-
come of the Company for this period was approximately $64,791,000.
During the above-mentioned fiscal period, the, Company purchased
from points outside the State of Illinois equipment and supplies,
such as gasoline, oil, electric equipment, steel railways, and wire, in
substantial amounts. All streetcars and trolley busses of the Com-
pany are operated by electricity purchased from the Commonwealth
Edison Company, an Illinois public utility corporation. The Coin-
pany services each of the 6 main passenger stations and many of the
freight stations of the 25 railroads engaged in the interstate move-
ment of passengers, mail, and freight to and from the city of Chi-
cago. It also runs lines to the Municipal Airport, from which op-
erates most of the interstate and foreign air traffic entering the city
of Chicago. The Company furnishes public transportation service
to a great majority of the industries located in the city, and to the
employees of many firms engaged in interstate commerce and war
production. Checks made from time to time in various industrial
plants in the city of Chicago disclose that the Company transports
on, the average of from 35 to 40 percent of the employees of each
industrial plant served by it.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Division 241, Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Rail-
way and Motor Coach Employees of America; and Street Railway
Teamsters' and Chauffeurs' Union No. 739, International Brother-
hood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of Amer-
CHICAGO SURFACE LINES 1143
ica are labor organizations affiliated with the American Federation
of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company.
Transport Workers Union of America is a labor organization affili-
ated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to
membership employees of the Company.
M. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION; THE ALLEGED QUESTION
CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Both Division 241 and the Teamsters have requested recognition
from the Company as the collective bargaining agent of those em-
ployees whom they now seek to represent. The Company has re-
fused these requests, asserting that said requests could not be granted
in view of the contractual relations between the Company and the
Transport Workers.
-The Company and the Transport Workers executed an agreement
effective as of June 1, 1942, which provided, inter alia, for recogni-
tion . of the Transport Workers by the Company as the collective
bargaining representative of its Track Department employees. This
agreement further provided that it "shall remain in force until and
including May 31, 1943." The-record indicates that the Company
continues to recognize the Transport Workers as the representative
of its employees in the Track Department. However, since the con-
tract by its terms has expired, and the record does not indicate that
any new written agreement has been consummated between the par-
ties, we find that the agreement of June 1, 1942, does not constitute
a bar to a current determination of representatives.
A statement of the Trial Examin'er for the Board, read into the
record at the hearing, indicates that Division 241 represents a sub-
stantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found
appropriate.2
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concern-
ing the representation of employees of the Company, within the mean-
ing-of-Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
In view of our finding hereinafter with respect to the employees
sought to be represented by the Teamsters in Case No. 13-Rr2394, we
find that no question affecting commerce concerning the representation
of employees of the Company has arisen upon the basis of the Team-
sters' petition within the meaning of the afore-mentioned Sections of
the Act.
2The Tiial Examiner stated that Division 241 submitted a sworn statement of its
secretary which indicated that 26 employees in the unit proposed by Division 241 are dues
paying members thereof. The record indicates that there are 36 employees in the
proposed unit.
The Transport Workers relies upon its contract with the Company and its continued
recognition by the Company as the representative of certain of the employees in the
proposed unit, for the establishment of its interest.
1144 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT ; THE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE UNIT
In Case No. 13-R-2344, Division 241' seeks a unit comprised of all
common laborers in the Company's Building Department, excluding
superintendents and foremen. In Case No. 13-R-2394 the Teamsters
desires to add to the unit it currently represents "all helpers of truck
drivers employed in the Utility [Department] of the Company." The
Transport Workers disputes the appropriateness of the unit sought
by Division 241. The Transport Workers also contends that the group
sought by the Teamsters, currently a part of the unit of Track De-
partment employees represented by the Transport Workers, should
not be separated therefrom. The Company is neutral.
Background
On February 22,1943, Railway Construction and Maintenance Work-
ers Union, an unaffiliated organization hereinafter referred to as the
Railway Union, filed a petition in a representation case,3 seeking to,
represent all employees of the Company's Track Department, exclud-
ing division superintendents and general foremen. The investiga-
tion which followed the filing of this petition indicated that the Trans-
port Workers and Track Layers Construction and Repairmen's Union,
Local 1009, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein
called Local 1009, also claimed an interest in these employees. The
Company and the three organizations agreed upon a consent election
among the employees in the Track Department; they further agreed
that employees of various other departments of the Company who were
members of Local 1009 should be included within the voting group, and
that such employees would be transferred to the Track Department
pay roll. Thereafter, the Company transferred employees in its
Material and Supplies, Building, and Electrical Department to the
pay roll of the Track Department. Among the employees so trans-
ferred were several laborers in the Building Department.4 On or
about March 24, after the pay-roll transfers had taken place, various
other labor organizations which had membership among the employees
of the Company were notified of the pending proceeding, although
not of the pay-roll transfers. The file in that proceeding indicates
that Division 241 was among those labor organizations so notified, and
that it waived any interest or right to intervene therein.5 On March
s Case No 13-R-1654
The record indicates that some of these employees so transferred were members of
Division 241.
6 Division 241 Introduced into evidence testimony to the effect that it received no notifica-
tion , and, in its brief, contends that the notice in the Board ' s file indicates that "an election
was to be held to determine the bargaining agency for the track department . Division 241
had no interest in and represented nobody in that department The notice was not
received but even if it had been . it did not contain the slightest suggestion that building
department laborers would be affected "
CHICAGO SURFACE LINES 1145
26, the Company, the Railway Union, Local 1009, and ±he Transport
Workers executed an Agreement for Consent Election, and on April
4, an election was held pursuant to said Agreement. On April 10,
the Regional Director issued a Report on Consent Election, wherein he
found that the Transport Workers had been designated and selected
by a majority of the employees in the voting group. On December 7,
Division 241 filed a motion with the Regional Director to vacate and'set
aside the election held on April 4, and thereafter, on February 7, 1944,
the Regional Director issued his determination that he would not grant
the motion. On February 29, Division 241 filed the original petition
in Case No. 13-R-2344.
Case No. 13-R-234
As hereinbefore indicated, Division 241 seeks a unit comprised of
common laborers in the Building Department of the Company. This
group consists of approximately 36 employees, 13 of whom were
transferred to the Track Department pay roll in order that they
might be eligible to vote in the consent election of April 4, 1943.
However, no physical change in the work of these 13 employees took
place after the pay-roll transfer. They performed the same duties,
under the'same supervisors, and alongside the employees with whom
they had previously been working and who were not so transferred.
The Track Department's supervisors do not direct the work of the
transferred employees and these employees are not called upon to do
Track Department work. They are under the supervision of the
Building Department and are part of its staff of laborers. The rec-
ord indicates that, other than the bookkeeping transfer from one
pay roll to another, there have been no transfers of personnel between
the Track and Building Department.
For many years, the Company has recognized Division 241 as the
representative of its members among the Company's employees. The
most recent agreement between these parties, effective as of June 1,
1943, provided for recognition of Division 241 as the representative of
certain classifications of employees of the Company who are members
of Division 241. Among these classifications are "all laborers, mem-
bers of [Division 241]." The Trial Examiner reported that his
check of the designations submitted by Division 241 indicated that,
of the 13 Building Department laborers on the Track Department pay
roll, 8 are dues paying members of Division 241, and that of the
remaining 23 Building Department laborers, only 18 are members of
Division 241:
Thus, it appears that a homogeneous, functionally coherent unit
was divided into 2 groups solely because certain of its members were
adherents of an organization which no longer represents them. The
Company recognized 1 organization, the Transport Workers, as the
1146 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
representative of 1 of these groups, although its agreement with an-
other organization, Division 241, requires that it recognize that or-
ganization as the representative of at least 8 of the members of that
group. With respect to the second group, only 18 are represented
for the purposes of collective bargaining, and the remainder are
unrepresented.
This anomalous situation, when coupled with the facts that Divi-
sion 241 had not originally been notified of the pay-roll transfer, and
has, since it has gained such knowledge, protested against it, requires
that we make a determination de novo. We shall, therefore, elim-
inate all artificial groupings, and we find that all laborers in-, the
Company's Building Department, without regard to the pay roll upon
which they may be listed, excluding superintendents, foremen, and
all' other 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.
Case No. 13-R-2394
The Teamsters, currently recognized by the Company as the repre-
sentatives of all truck drivers, chauffeurs,. and helpers in the Com-
pany's Utility Department, seeks to add to this unit all helpers ooj
truck drivers. The record indicates that the Teamsters specifically
seeks to represent 10 laborers in the Track Department as part of its
current unit.
The 10 employees involved are included within the unit of Track
Department employees currently represented by the Transport Work-
ers. The Utility Department has control of the chauffeurs and truck
drivers employed by the Company. It assigns certain trucks and
other vehicles to various other departments of the Company. In
many instances, the truck driver or chauffeur is not supplied with a
helper by the Utility Department. For this reason, the departments
to which these trucks are assigned designate certain employees to act
as helpers. The record indicates that the 10 employees presently
sought by the Teamsters have been those usually assigned to act in
such capacity. However, they are listed upon the Track Depart-
ment pay roll as laborers, are under the supervision of the same
supervisors as other Track Department laborers, and may be with-
drawn from the trucks and assigned to general laboring duties in
the discretion of such supervisors. The record further indicates
that these employees perform the general duties of laborers, even
CHICAGO SURFACE LINES 1147
though they have been assigned to assist the drivers, and they are not
subject to any control by supervisors in the Utility Department.'
Under these circumstances, we are of the opinion that the group
sought to be represented by the Teamsters is not properly a part of
the unit which it currently represents. Accordingly, we shall dis-
miss the Teamsters' petition.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen in Case No. 13-R-2344 can best be resolved by an election by
secret ballot. The Transport Workers contends that eligibility to vote
in the election should be determined as of the date on which the petition
in this case was filed. No adequate reason having been offered to sup-
port this contention, we shall follow our customary procedure and
shall direct that the employees of the Company eligible to vote in the
election shall be those in the appropriate unit who were employed dur-
ing the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direc-
tion of Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set
forth in the Direction.7
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act,
and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it, is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain represent-
atives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Thomas J. Friel
and Charles C. Renshaw, as Trustees of Chicago Railways Company,
Debtor, and Edward J. Fleming and Charles H. Albers, as Trustees of
Chicago City Railway Company, Debtor, and as Trustees of Calumet
and South Chicago Railway Company, doing business as Chicago
Surface Lines, Chicago, Illinois, 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 Thirteenth Region, acting in this mat-
ter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to
9 The record also indicates that helpers supplied to the drivers by the Company 's Electri-
cal Department are represented for the purposes of collective bargaining by the labor
organization representing that department , and not by the Teamsters
' The Transport workers desires to be designated upon the ballot as "Transport Workers
Union , Local 236 , C I. 0 ," and Division 241 desires to be designated thereon as "Division
241, Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of
America, A . F. of L." Both requests are granted The Teamsters indicated that it did
not desire to participate in the election in this proceeding
1148 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, 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
for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to date of the
election, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Division
241, Amalgamated Association of Street Electric Railway and Motor
Coach Employees of America, affiliated with the American Federation
of Labor, or by Transport Workers Union, Local 236, affiliated with
the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining, or by neither. - '
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the petition for investigation and certifi-
cation of representatives of employees of Thomas J. Friel and Charles
C. Renshaw, Trustees of Chicago Railways Company, Debtor, and
Edward J. Fleming and Charles H. Albers, as Trustees of Chicago
City Railway Company, Debtor, and as Trustees of Calumet and
South Chicago Railway Company, doing business as Chicago Surface.
Lines, Chicago, Illinois, filed by Street Railway Teamsters' and Chauf-
feurs' Union No. 739, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauf-
feurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, in Case No. 13-R-2394, be, and, it
hereby is, dismissed.