El Paso Electric Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 22, 1967

168 N.L.R.B. 983 (N.L.R.B. 1967)

EL PASO ELECTRIC COMPANY
El Paso Electric Company and Local Union No. 960,
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
AFL-CIO. Case 28-RC-1685
December 22, 1967
DECISION AND ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of
the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a
hearing was held on August 16, 1967, before L. L.
Porterfield, Hearing Officer of the National Labor
Relations Board. Thereafter, the Employer and
Petitioner filed briefs.
The Hearing Officer's rulings made at the hearing
are free from prejudicial error and are hereby af-
firmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board
finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the Act and it will effectuate the pur-
poses of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
2. The labor organization involved claims to
represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. No question affecting commerce exists con-
cerning the representation of certain employees of
the Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1)
and Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act, for the following
reasons:
On August 14, 1967, Petitioner filed a petition
seeking a separate unit of all meter readers, alleging
that there is a lack of functional integration between
the meter readers and other employees and that
they have a separate community of interest. The
Employer, a public utility, moved to dismiss on the
ground that the unit is inappropriate, contending
that meter readers are part of the accounting depart-
ment.
983
The meter readers perform the normal functions
of the job. Thus, they go to customers' homes, take
readings, record, and submit them to the accounting
department. Within the administrative framework
of the Employer, the meter readers are part of the
accounting department. Although the meter readers
do have their own immediate supervisor, his
authority is limited to routine matters. Hiring, fir-
ing, instruction, and discipline of meter readers are
done by accounting department supervisors, and
recommendations of the immediate supervisor are
fully investigated before any action is taken. Pay
rate procedures and benefits are the same for meter
readers and other employees of the accounting de-
partment. The job of meter reader is a starting posi-
tion in the accounting department and promotions
are made only within that department. When there
is a shortage of available meter readers, an em-
ployee of the accounting department, usually a
former meter reader, is temporarily given the task
of filling the vacancy, and ill or injured meter
readers are temporarily assigned work in the ac-
counting department.
On these facts, we find that the unit sought by
Petitioner is inappropriate. While we are not un-
mindful of the difference between the tasks and
working conditions of the meter readers and other
clerical personnel, we find that they are outweighed
by the common supervision, and the identical
benefits and pay rate procedures shared by the
meter readers and other accounting department em-
ployees, as well as the line of progression and in-
terchange of employees within that department. Ac-
cordingly, we shall dismiss the petition.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the petition filed herein
be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
168 NLRB No. 136