Colorado-Wyoming Gas Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 14, 1947

72 N.L.R.B. 647 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of COLORADO-WYOMING GAS COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
OIL WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, C. I. 0., PETITIONER
Case No. 17D-R-1.Decided February 14, 1947
Mr. IV. L. Thackrey, of Denver, Colo., for the Employer.
Mr. B. J. Rickey, of Casper, Wyo., and Mr. Harry S. Costilow, of
Adams City, Colo., for the Petitioner.
Messrs. C. A. Graham and Henry Herbolsheimer, of Denver, Colo.,
for the Intervenor.
Mr. Bernard L. Balicer, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
.Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Denver,
Colorado, on December 23, 1946, before Howard W. Kleeb, 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 the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Colorado-lWWyoming Gas Company, a subsidiary of Public Service
Company of Colorado, is a Delaware corporation licensed to do busi-
ness in the States of Colorado and Wyoming, with its main office in
Denver, Colorado. It transports by pipe line and sells natural gas
from a point near Littleton, Colorado, to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and
to various cities and towns in northern Colorado. In maintaining
' The Intervenor offered to prove at the hearing that signatures to application cards
which were submitted to the Board by Petitioner to show substantial interest had been
obtained by misrepresentation, and that the employees who signed these cards had subse-
quently advised the Petitioner in writing that they had revoked their designations. In
its brief the Intervenor moved to dismiss the petition on the same basis as the foregoing
offer of proof. The Intervenor concedes that the employees knew the nature of the instru-
ments which they were signing. The offer of proof was properly rejected by the hearing
officer and the motion to dismiss is hereby denied See Matter of 0. D. Jennings CC Com-
pany, 68 N. L . R. B 516 , and cases cited therein
72 N. L. R. B., No. 123.
647
648 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the flow of natural gas, the Employer owns and operates compressor
stations at various places in Colorado. The Employers' purchases of
natural gas, its principal raw material, are made in the State of
Colorado and annually exceed $900,000 in value. Its yearly sales
are valued in excess of 1 million dollars, of which 11 percent is sold
outside the State of Colorado.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
International Union of Operating Engineers, Local Union No. 1,
herein called the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees
of the Employer.
III. 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 2
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
In accord with the agreement of the parties, we find that all em-
ployees of the Employer's system, located between Sullivan, Colorado,
and Cheyenne, Wyoming, employed as linemen, oilers, mechanics,
operators, welders and leadmen, excluding clerical and office employees
.and all 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 appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
,of Section 9 (b) of the Act.3
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Colorado-Wyoming Gas Com-
pany, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible,
2 Although the Employer and the Intervenor entered into a contract on March 22, 1946,
neither the Employer nor the Intervenor contends that the contract is a bar to the instant
proceeding
3 There are approximately 32 employees in the appropriate unit.
COLORADO-WYOMING GAS COMPANY 649
but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction,
under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the
Seventeenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National
Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 4,
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 the date of the election, to determine whether they desire to
be represented by Oil Workers International Union, C. I. 0., or by
International Union of Operating Engineers, Local Union No. 1, .
A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.