Cities Service Refining Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 30, 1946

70 N.L.R.B. 1051 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of CITIES SERVICE REFINING CORPORATION, EMPLOYER
and LOCAL 87, OFFICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION, AFL,
PETITIONER
Case No. 15-R-1654.Decided August 30, 1946
Messrs. Edward Everett, Jr., and A. H. Heitzler, of Lake Charles,
La., for the Employer.
Mr. T. K. Steitzlein, of Lake Charles, La., and Mr. C. A. Stafford, of
Dallas, Tex., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Herbert J. Nester, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a second amended petition duly filed, hearing in this case was
held at Lake Charles, Louisiana, on June 17,1946, before Lewis Moore,
Jr., Trial Examiner. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hear-
ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All
parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Cities Service Refining Corporation, a Delaware corporation, is en-
gaged in the refining of crude petroleum and the production of pe-
troleum by-products and other derivatives. In_ the operation of its
Tutwiler Refinery at Lake Charles, Louisiana, the Employer utilizes
crude petroleum, a substantial part of which is transported to its
refinery from the State of Texas. The Tutwiler Refinery processes
more than 100,000 barrels of petroleum daily, which is valued at in
excess of $150,000. In conjunction with the Tutwiler Refinery, the
Employer also operates a Butadiene Plant as agent for the Reconstruc-
tion Finance Corporation, Office of Rubber Reserve. The Butadiene
Plant is owned by the Government and is engaged in the production
70 N. L. R. B., No. 86.
1051
1052 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of butadiene for the furtherance of the synthetic rubber program.
Both the Tutwiler Refinery and the Butadiene Plant are involved in
this proceeding.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
HI. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
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
The Petitioner urges as appropriate a unit composed of all office
employees at the Employer's basic refinery and Butadiene Plant, in-
cluding all telephone operators, but excluding all confidential em-
ployees, executives, secretaries to executives, safety inspectors and
supervisory employees with authority to hire and discharge.' The
Employer is in accord with the general composition of the proposed
unit but opposes the inclusion of certain supervisory and confidential
employees hereinafter discussed.2
The Employer urges the exclusion of the following employees con-
tending that they are vested with supervisory authority ; the Peti-
tioner would include them.
Clerk A Supervisors (yield and cost department) : There are two
employees in this classification. They have one stenographer as-
' There are approximately , 125 employees in the proposed unit.
2 The parties are agreed that the following employees are either supervisory or confi-
dential Stenographer Sr. to the General Engineer ,' Section Heads, Major ( yield and cost
department), Chief Clerk (pay roll and material accounting ), Section Head (telephone ex-
change ), Section Head ( office service department ), Section Head ( transportation depart-
ment ), Chief Clerk ( Butadiene Plant), Executive Secretary to the General Superintendent,
Executive Secretary to the Assistant Superintendent , Secretary to the Technical Director,
Stenographer -Secretary to the Superintendent of Operations, Stenographer Sr. to the Office
Superintendent , Stenographer Sr. to the Process Superintendent , Stenographer-Secretary to
the Director of Labor Relations , Chief File Clerk C, Stenographer Sr. to the Medical Di-
rector , Stenographer - Secretary to the Butadiene Superintendent , Stenographer Sr. to the
Butadiene Assistant Superintendent , Stenographer Jr in the Butadiene Laboratory, Ste-
nographer Jr. in the Butadiene Medical , Department , Chief Clerk of the Butadiene Plant,
Clerks B, C , D, and E in the Personnel Department.
CITIES SERVICE REFINING CORPORATION 1053
signed to them jointly and although they direct her in the performance
of her duties , it is apparent that they exercise no authority that would
classify them as supervisory employees within the Board 's customary
definition thereof . We, therefore , shall include them in the unit.
Supervisors B and Clerks A ( pay-roll and material accounting de-
partment ) : There are 3 supervisors B and 2 Clerks A in this depart-
ment. Although these employees direct the work of approximately
12 or 14 other clerical employees , the entire department is supervised
by a chief clerk who alone has the authority to effectuate changes in
the status of employees in his department. We shall , therefore, in-
clude the Supervisors B and Clerks A.
Service Section Head ( office service department ) : Although this
department is under the general supervision of the Section Head, the
record discloses that the Service Section Head exercises exclusive
authority over the duplicating , mimeographing and multigraphing
employees and may effectively recommend changes in the status of
their employment . We are of the opinion that the Service Section
Head , like other section heads whom the parties agreed to exclude, is a
supervisory employee and we shall , therefore , exclude him from the
unit.
Transportation Supervisors and Shipping Clerks , Major ( transpor-
tation department ) : There are two employees in each of these cate-
gories under the general supervision of the department ' section head.
They are responsible for both outgoing and incoming shipments and
regulate the movement of all the Employer 's products , regardless of
the type of transportation involved . They have four clerks working
under them who prepare shipping manifests , bills of lading , and other
sundry instruments , and also keep all transportation records. Al-
though the employees in question instruct and direct the activities of
the other clerks in this department , the record does not indicate that
they can effectively recommend changes in the status of other em-
ployees . We shall include both the Transportation Supervisors and
the Shipping Clerks, Major, in the unit.
Clerks B and E, Reproduction ( general engineering ) : These two
employees are under the direct supervision of the General Engineer
and are engaged in the preparation of photostatic copies of various
:documents for use by management . Although some of these docu-
ments may pertain to plant operation , the record fails to establish,
however, that such documents contain confidential or advanced infor-
mation relating to the Employer 's labor relations . Accordingly, we
shall include these employees in the unit.
Stenographer Jr. (laboratory ), Clerk B (mechanical department),
Typist Sr . ( general engineering , Butadiene ) : These employees act as
secretaries to the Chief Chemist, Mechanical Superintendent and Gen-
c
1054 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
O
era] Engineer, respectively. The Chief Chemist directs the labor rela-
tions of all laboratory' employees; the Mechanical Superintendent and
General Engineer exercise like authority, respectively, in the mechan-
ical and engineering departments. It is apparent that the clerical
duties of employees in this group require them to act in a confidential
capacity to persons who exercise managerial functions in the field of
labor relations. We shall, therefore, exclude them from the unit.3'
Stenographer Sr. (process engineering department), Clerk D (yield
and cost department), Clerks C, and Accounting Machine Operator,
Jr. (pay-roll and material accoitnting department), Clark D, Typist
Sr., and Stenographer Jr. (plant-protection department) and Cost
Clerk, Major (process department) : The record reveals that although
the foregoing employees either perform or assist in the performance of
clerical functions involving matters confidential to the Employer's
business, such matters do not relate directly to labor relations. We,
therefore, shall include them in the unit.
Stenographer Sr. (yield and cost department, Butadiene) and Clerks
Al C, and D (pay-roll department, Butadiene) : The stenographer and
three clerks comprising this group have access to confidential records
pertaining to plant operations. The record, however, fails to establish
that these employees either perform or assist in the performance of
any functions relating directly to labor relations. We, therefore, shall
include them in the unit.
Telephone Operators: There are eight operators, exclusive of the
Section Head, who perform the usual switchboard duties incidental'
io the operation of the telephone exchange. The Employer would
exclude them because of their opportunity to monitor confidential
calls. The record discloses that although they might have occasion
to transmit and receive messages which concern labor relations, the
normal performance of their duties does not afford them access to
such information. We, therefore, shall include them in the unit.
We find that all office employees at the Employer's Tutwiler Re-
finery and Butadiene Plant, including the telephone operators,' and
all employees listed in Appendix A,5 but excluding the safety inspec-
tors, executives, all employees listed in Appendix B,s and all or any
other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, dis-
charge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em-
ployees, or effectively recommend such action; constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the clean-
ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
3 See Matter of Ford Motor Company ( Chicago Branch ), 66 N L Ii B 1317
4 Excepting the Section Head.
Appendix A lists all employees included in the unit pursuant to our Decision herein
e Appendix B lists all-employees excluded from the unit either by agreement of the parties
or pursuant to our Decision herein. _
CITIES SERVICE REFINING CORPORATION 1055
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Cities Service Refining Cor-
poration , Lake Charles , Louisiana , 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 Fifteenth Region, acting in this mat-
ter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to
Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of National Labor Relations Board
Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, among the employees
in the unit found , appropriate in Section IV, above, who were em-
ployed 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 the date of the elec-
tion, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by
Local 87, Office Employees International Union, AFL , for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining.
Mu. JAMES J. REYNOLDS, JR., took no part in the consideration of
the above Decision and Direction of Election.
APPENDIX A
General Engineering
Clerk B Reproduction (Holsworth)
-Clerk E Reproduction (Yoder)
Process Engineering
Stenographer, Senior (Burnett)
Yield and Cost
Clerk D (Barkate)
Clerk A, Supervisor ( Moeller)
Clerk A, Supervisor ( Stayton)
1056 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL - LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Pay roll and Material Accounting
Clerk C (Bringol)
Supervisor B (Campbell)
Clerk A, Section Head (Duhon)
Supervisor B (Greenberg)
Supervisor B (Laizure)
Accounting Machine Operator, Junior (Lui)
Clerk C (Marsh)
Clerk C (Read)
Clerk A (Theriot)
Transportation
Shipping Clerk, Major ( Bowden)
Transportation Supervisor- (Cannon)
Transportation Supervisor (Verdusco)
Shipping Clerk, Major (White, Russell)
Plant Protection Clerical
Clerk D (Foreman)
Typist, Senior (Lyons)
Stenographer, Junior (Mills)'
Process
Yield and Cost Clerk, Major (MacDonald)
Yield and Cost, Butadiene
Stenographer, Senior (NewmiEter)
Pay roll, Butadiene
Clerk C (Acosta)
Clerk D (Brand)
Clerk A (Wills)
CITIES SERVICE REFINING CORPORATION 1057
APPENDIX B
(*) Indicates exclusion by agreement of the parties
General Engineering
`Stenographer , Senior to the General Engineer ( Bivens)
Laboratory
Stenographer , Junior to the Chief Chemist ( Ibert)
Mechanical
Clerk B, Secretary to the Mechanical Superintendent ( Richard)
Yield and Cost
*Section Head, Major (Huber)
*Section Head, Major (Nagel)
Pay roll and Material Accounting
*Chief Clerk (Heimendinger)
Filing and Stenographic
*Executive Secretary to General Superintendent (Miller)
*Executive Secretary to Assistant Superintendent
*Secretary to the Technical Director (Murrell)
Stenographer-Secretary to Superintendent of Operations (Sim-
mons)
Stenographer, Senior to the Office Superintendent (Coker)
*Stenographer, Senior to the Process Superintendent (Craighead)
Stenographer-Secretary to the Director of Labor Relations (Red-
dell)
*Chief File Clerk C (Read)
Telephone Exchange
*Section Head (McInnis)
0 ffice Service
*Section Head (Thorp)
Service Section Head (Macholl)
1058 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Transportation
*Section Head, Chief , Clerk (White, L. N.)
Personnel
*Supervisor B (Lindsay)
*Clerk C (Jones)
*Clerk C (Primrose)
*Clerk D (Miller)
*Clerk D (Thompson)
*Clerk E (Fullington)
*Clerk E (Vidrine)
Medical
*Stenographer, Senior (Burch)
Butadiene Plant
*Chief Clerk (Chapmany
General Engineering, Butadiene
Typist, Senior Assistant to the General Engineer (Pousson)
Laboratbry, Butadiene
*Stenographer, Junior (Comeaux)
Mechanical, Butadiene
*Stenographer, Junior (Watson)
Stenographic, Butadiene
*Stenographer-Secretary to the Superintendent (Blalock)
*Stenographer, Senior to*the Assistant Superintendent ( Ellender)
a