69 N.L.R.B. 868 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

Felmont Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsJul 24, 1946

69 N.L.R.B. 868 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of FELMONT CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL UNION .OF OPERATING ENGINEERS, AFL Case No. 14-R-1,3341.-Decided July 24, 1946 Messrs. Charles Wham, John P. Wham, and V. O. Simms, all of Centralia, Ill., and Mr. R. M. Haskell, of New York City, for the Company. Mr. John L. Matthews, of Centralia, Ill., for the Union. Mr. Warren H. Leland, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by International Union of Operating Engineers, AFL, herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em- ployees of Felmont Corporation, Centralia, Illinois, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an ap- propriate hearing upon due notice before Charles K. Hackler, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Centralia, Illinois, on May 16, 1946. 'The Company and the Union appeared and participated. All parties 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 opportunity to file brief with the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Felmont Corporation, a Delaware corporation maintaining its prin- ciple office in New York City, is engaged in the production of crude 69 N. L. R. B., No. 105. 868 FELMONT CORPORATION 869 oil. For this purpose the Company operates oil fields located in various places in the United States. We are concerned in this pro- ceeding with the Company's Illinois district, consisting of two fields about 14 miles apart, one located in Centralia, and the other in Patoka, Illinois. During the year 194:5, Sohio Pipe Line Company transported from the Company's Centralia field 229,814.51 barrels of crude oil, valued at $314,845.88. During the same period, Sohio Pipe Line Company transported from the Company's Patoka field 1,273,253.68 barrels of crude oil, valued at $1,744,347.54. Approximately 90 percent of all such oil was transported by Sohio Pipe Line Company to points outside the State of Illinois.' We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED International Union of Operating Engineers is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to mem- bership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the exclusive bargaining representative of certain of its employees until the Union 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 Company, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. TILE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Union seeks a unit confined to all production and maintenance workers of the Company's Patoka field, including pumpers, roust- abouts, field mechanics, linemen, water plant operators, assistant water plant operators, the truck driver, the common laborer, car- penters, the production gauger, caterpillar operators, pulling unit operators, and the warehouse clerk, but excluding drilling crews, clerical employees, gang pushers, head roustabouts, chief mechanics, assistant chief mechanics, foremen, and all other supervisory em- ployees. The Company contends, however, that the appropriate unit should encompass similarly classified employees at its Centralia field. Furthermore, the Company would include in the unit certain of the drilling crew members, and would exclude the warehouse clerk. The record discloses that the Patoka field embraces 20 leases with 69 producing oil wells, 3 water supply wells, and 45 water input 870 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD wells. There are approximately 5 or 6 buildings used in connec- tion with the operation of the wells, including a field warehouse, shop, and small generating plant. About 14 miles distant is the Centralia field, with a total of 75 producing wells. On one of the Centralia leases are located the main warehouse, shop, and office buildings of the Company's Illinois district. The general superin- tendent, with offices at Centralia, supervises the operations at both fields. All hiring is done at the central office at Centralia, where the names of all employees of both fields are carried on one pay roll. Production records are received at the main office from both the Patoka and Centralia fields.' In 1943, the Company undertook at the Patoka field a program of "secondary recovery," in which water under pressure is used to facilitate the extraction of oil. This program occasioned an in- crease in the number of field employees at Patoka, which has re- mained constant until the present time. The program further ac- counts for the presence of water plant operators at Patoka, and their absence at Centralia, where the "secondary recovery" program is not in effect. Due to their greater experience with "secondary recovery" methods, certain production personnel at Patoka are not interchanged with workers at Centralia.' The Company annually posts a vaca- tion schedule for its employees at Patoka, without regard to the personnel requirements at Centralia. In addition, at each field there is a head roustabout and a gang pusher in immediate charge of the production and maintenance employees. It is clear from the record, moreover, that the producing facilities at Patoka and Centralia are entirely separate and distinct. There is no operational connection between the two fields and, in this respect, each constitutes a dis- tinct entity,' independent of the other. Significantly, despite the Union's more extensive organizational efforts, effective organization has been limited to the employees at Patoka. Considering the separate supervision of employees at the Patoka field, its somewhat different personnel, its independent operations, and the geographic distance between the two fields, we are of the opinion that a unit confined to production and maintenance employees at the Patoka field is appropriate for the purposes of collective bar- gaining? I There is little interchange between production workers at Patoka and employees simi- larly engaged at Centralia. 2 See Matter of Tomlison of High Point, Inc., 66 N. L. R. B . 1347 ; Matter of Kentucky Fluorspar Company, 52 N. L. R. B. 227 : and Matter of The Ohio Oil Company, 58 N. L. It . B. 644. FELMONT CORPORATION 871 Drilling Crews: The Company presently has four drilling crews on the rotary, and four on the cable tools. These employees are supervised by a tool pusher. After the well is drilled and the casing set and cemented, the crews drill out the cement, and shoot and clean out the well when necessary. These crews are engaged in preparing the well for production of water intake. Ordinarily they do not work on wells which are in production; occasionally the cable tools must be used by drilling crews to recondition or rework a well. During infrequent periods a few members of the drilling crews may be placed on production jobs during a lag in drilling operations. The Company contends that drilling crew employees who from time to time are engaged in other types of work should be included in the unit. However, it is clear that these individuals are primarily drilling crew members, and that they accompany their rigs to any point in the Illinois district where the Company requires their pres- ence. The Company has recently acquired some leases located be- tween Centralia and Patoka, and it is contemplated that all the drill- ing crews now employed by the Company will perform the necessary drilling operations. None of the drilling crew employees are assigned to Patoka on a permanent or near permanent basis. For these rea- sons, we shall exclude all members of the drilling crews from the unit hereinafter found appropriate. Warehouse Clerk: The. warehouse clerk is hourly paid and is re- sponsible for movement of equipment into and out of the warehouse at the Patoka field. He is the only employee with clerical duties at Patoka, and it is his additional responsibility to insure that produc- tion records are either mailed or delivered to the Centralia office. He performs some manual labor in connection with receiving materials coming into the warehouse. We are convinced that the warehouse clerk has interests intimately related to those of the production and maintenance employees at Patoka. Therefore, we shall include him in the unit hereinafter found appropriate. We find that all production and maintenance employees engaged at the Company's oil field at Patoka, Illinois, including pumpers, roust- abouts, field mechanics, linemen, water plant operators, assistant water plant operators, the truck driver, the common laborer, carpenters, the production gauger, caterpillar operators, pulling unit operators, and the warehouse clerk, but excluding drilling crews, clerical em- ployees, gang pushers, head roustabouts, chief mechanics, assistant chief mechanics, 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 872 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among em- ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay- roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec- tion herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. 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 Re- lations 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 representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Felmont Corpora- tion, Centralia, Illinois, an election by secret ballot shall be con- ducted 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 Fourteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among 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 elec- tion, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented-by International Union of Operating Engineers, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining. CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election.