Gulf Refining Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 18, 1945

64 N.L.R.B. 304 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter Of GULF REFINING COMPANY (TULSA PIPE LINE DIVI-
SION) and-INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGPNEERS, AFL
Case No. 14-R-1191.-Decided October 18, 1945
Messrs. Russell G. Lowe, R. S. Harrison, J. R. Murphy, and Rush
Greenslade, of Tulsa, Okla., for the Company.
Mr. H. C. Scheppel, of Carlyle, Ill., and Mr. John H., La Rowe, of
Independence; Kans., for the AFL. '
Mr. Donald H. Frank, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ,ELECTION
STATEMENT Or THE CASE
Upon an ' amended petition duly filed by International Unioli of
Operating Engineers, AFL, herein called the AFL, alleging that'a
question affecting commerce had arisen 'concerning the representation
of employees of Gulf Refining Company (Tulsa Pipe Line Division),
Tulsa,' Oklahoma, herein called the Company; the' National Labor
Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before Ryburn L. Hackler, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held
at St. Louis, Missouri, on June 25, 1945.. The Company and the AFL
appeared,-and participated:: All' parties-Were, afforded, full ' oppor-
tunity to be heard, to examine and cr'o'ss=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 :
I
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Gulf Refining Company is a Delaware corporation with the prin-
cipalw operating office, of its Tulsa Pipe Line Division located at Tulsa,
Oklahoma, where it is engaged in the tF an' sporatation of petroleum .
through the States of New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri,
04 N. L.R.B,No.55. -
304
GULF REFINING COMPANY 305'
IllinoisIndiana, and Ohio. Among its operations, the Company
maintains and operates a, trunk pipe-line system extending from New
Perryman, Oklahoma, to Cincinnati, Ohio. The Company is also.
engaged in buying and gathering oil in Illinois, which it runs to the
main line stations of that trunk line, for transportation: During
1,944, approximately 50,000 barrels of crude oil were pumped daily
through' the Company's trunk line from New Berryman, Oklahoma,,
to ' Centralia, Illinois ; and approximately 57,000 barrels, from Edge-
wood, Illinois, to Dublin, Indiana. _
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act, and we so find.,,
If. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Union of Operating Engineers, affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to
membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
'j he.SCompany'has refused to grant recognition to the AFL as-the
exclusive-bargaining representative of certain of the,Conipany,'s em-
ployees until the AFL has been certified by the Board in an appropriate
unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into, evidence at the
]rearing, indicates that the AFL represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.'
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. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The AFL seeks a unit of all the Company 's operating and mainte-
nance employees employed at its stations , from and including the
New Perryman , Oklahoma, station, to and including the Adgate Ter-
minal near Lima, Ohio, and the Cleves Terminal near Cincinnati,
,Ohio, but - excluding the clerical employees , traveling maintenance
gang, Edgewood gang, ,telephone linemen, telegraph operator -clerk,
watchman, chief engineers, pump station foremen , and any other
supervisory employees within our usual definition . The Company
The ^Fie1d Examiner reported that the" 'AFL submitted 62 authorization cards, 60 of
which bore names 'of'persons appearing on the Company's pay roll of March 1945, which
contained the names of 128 employees in the appropriate unit; and that the cards were
dated 3 in May, 13 in June; 1 in October, 7 in November, 7 in December 1944, 2 in January,
1 in'February , 25 in March 1945 , and 1 was undated.
670417-46-vol. 64-21
-306, DECISIONS OF NATIONAL, LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
agrees that the appropriate unit would exclude the clerical employees,
chief engineers, and pump station- foremen. The parties agree that
engineer-iperator-gaugers, assistant engineer-operator-gaugers, pipe
liners, welders, gauger-operators, and laborers should- be included in
the unit. Controversy exists over the AFL's proposed exclusion of the
traveling maintenance gang,, Edgewood gang, -telephone linemen,
telegraph operator-clerk, and the watchman.
The Company's Tulsa'Pipe Line Division is,composed of two pipe-'
line systems, known as the Oklahoma-Kansas Division and'the East-,
ern Division. The station's of the. latter are the ones involved in this,
proceeding. The New Perryman Station is the 'connecting point of
the two divisions, receiving the collected oa' from the Oklahoma-
Kansas Division, and pumping ^1t -eastward to the Eastern Division.
The Company contends that the New Perryman Station is part of
.9es at Newthe Oklahoma Kansas Division and therefore, ei ploy
Perryman should be excluded froth the unit sought.2 This, contention
is based on the following facts: (1) the Oklalioina-Kansas pipeline,
including the original Perryman Station, was- built some 20 years
prior to the building of the Eastern Division 3 and was built for .a
different- company than the one for 'which the Eastern Division was
built, which historically would make Perryman a Part of the Okla; '
homa-Kansas Division; (2) certain pipe liners at the New Perryman
Station spend from 85 to 100 percent of their time working on the,
Oklahoma-Kansas lines; (3) the New Perryman Station uses a method
of measurement of oil flow different from that used by the eastern
stations; (4) Eastern Division stations are'headed bj^ chief engineers
whereas•the New Perryman Station is headed by a pump station fore-
man; and (5) the New Perryman Station, unlike the other stations
involved,- is in Oklahoma. We do not consider these factors as con-_
trolling. The record reveals that in 1939 Mr. Arthur Ray became
Division Superintendent of the Eastern Division, and that the direc-
tive of the Company, annoupcing his appointment, made the New
Perryman Station a part of the Eastern Division ,under his super'
vision. In addition to being a part of the Eastern Division for ad-
ministrative purposes since that time, the New Perryman Station
prepares its pay roll as part of, the 'pay roll of 'the western half -of
the Eastern Division. We are of the opinion that the employees
2 we'' do not consider that'the" exclusion of the New_ Peiri iiian Station from the unit
found' appropriate in ,Tatter of Gulf Refining Coinpanu, Tulsa Pipe'Line Division, 55 -
N L R B 984, is binding here, for the reason that in that Decision the parties agreed-
to the composition of the unit and no evidence was taken as to the propriety' of the
inclusion or exclusion of the New Perryman Station The election in that case did not
result in a majority vote for-a collective bargaining representative with the-result that
no collective bargaining history 'has been predicated upon our prior unit finding
'3 The New Perryman station was built in 1930, the same year as was the Eastern
Division.
GULF REFINING COMPANY 307
of the New Perryman Station are appropriately included in the unit
sought. -
The Company would include in the unit the following categories of
employees which the AFL seeks to exclude : -
7'raveliv.g mmz,aintenance gang: This crew consists of approximately
nine pipe liners and six machinists, with headquarters in Tulsa, where
they are carried on the division pay roll and are under the supervision
of the Company's master mechanic. Although they comprise -the
maintenance gang- for the entire Tulsa pipe-line system, 98 percent
of their work for the past'2 years has been performed in the Eastern
Division, and the general superintendent for the Tulsa Pipe Line
testified that he considers the members of this crew to be a permanent
dart of the Eastern Division's personnel. Their duty consists of
major and emergency overhaul; althougll they do no operational
work, they do Jrdt work on field lines but work exclusively at stations,
coining into daily contact with station employees and receiving advice
and assistance from the station engineers. Each station has, addition-
ally, its own maintenance crew which performs the more routine main-
tenance functions. We regard the traveling maintenance gang as
having a community of interest in employment conditions with the
other station eulployces in the Eastern Division, and we shall include
ilieul in the unit hereinafter found appropriate 4 .
'lfdgewvood gang: 5 This crew consists of one welder and five pipe
liners. These employers spend a large part of their tine performing
maintenance work in the Centralia oil fields. About one-half of their
tune, however, is spent at the Edgewood and other stations, repairing
station lines, pipes, lend manifold connections. They are carried on
the pay roll of the Division Superintendent of that part of the Eastern
Division which is east of the Mississippi River. They come into daily
contact with eastern station employees, working with or in conjunc-
tion with them. We find that these employees have a community
of interest in employment conditions with'the other employees who
work at Eastern Division stations, and we shall include them in the
unit hereinafter found appropriate." - - ,
Telegraph operator-clerk: The Company employs one man' at its
Dublin Station who spends one-half of his time performing clerical
duties for the Division'Superintendent and spends the other half per-
forming telegraphic operation. At the various stations the routine
One of the gang's machinists is designated as head machinist or gang foreman, in
charge of their maintenance activities The record indicates that he possesses no super-
visoiy authority and we shall therefore include him, as a member of the gang, in the unit.
hereinafter -found alnronriate.
Also known as "combination field and station men."
A construction foreman is in charge of the, Edgewood gang His authority includes the
right to effect changes in the status of the employees constituting the Edgewood gang We
shall therefore exclude him , as a supervisory employee, from the unit hereinafter found
appropriate.
7M. Y. Hudson.
308 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
telegraphic operations are handled by the assistant engineer-operator-
gaugers. This is true of the Dublin Station. The parties agree that,
the assistant engineer-operator-gaugers are properly included in the
unit. Under the circumstances we are of the opinion that this em-
ployee is essentially a clerical employee, and we shall exclude him from
the unit hereinafter found appropriate 8
Watchman: The Company employs one watchman 9 at the Dublin
Station. He is neither militarized`nor deputized. He is in charge of
the gate to the Station, where he checks the employees as they enter:
He reports anyone who enters intoxicated or disorderly. It is clear
that his duties are not of a monitorial nature, and we shall include him
in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.10
Telephone linemen: These three employees are on the Tulsa pay
roll, and their top supervision comes from that office. On the other
hand, these employees perform their repair and maintenance duties
only in the Eastern Division where their work assignments come from
the engineer in charge of the station at which they are located- and to
whom they report their findings upon investigation and their work
,progress. We believe these facts sufficiently illustrate their community
of interest in employment conditions with other employees working
in the 'Eastern Division Stations, and we shall include them in the
unit hereinafter found appropriate.
We find that all the Company's `operating and maintenance em-
ployees employed at its stations from and including the New Perry-
man, Oklahoma, Station, to and including the Adgate Terminal and
the Cleves Terminal, including the traveling maintenance gang, Edge-
wood gang, watchman, and telephone linemen, but excluding the cler-
ical employees, telegraph operator-clerk, chief engineers, and pump.
station foremen, and any other supervisory employees with authority
to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in
the status of employees, or effectively"-recommend such action, con-
stitute 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 the
employees of the Company are-certain part-time laborers. The Com-
pany would include them in the group of eligible voters, whereas the
8 Cf. Matter of Magnolia Pipe Line Company, 61 N •L R B 723 . and Matter of Gulf
Refining Company ( Houston Division ), 62 N L. R. B 1385 , wherein the telegraph operators
peiformed operational duties , and clerical duties closely allied with operational and tele-
graphic duties, during the periods when they were-not engaged in telegraph operation,
and wherein they came into frequent contact, with other operational workers
° G E 'Symons..,
10 See Mattel of Champion Sheet Metal Company, Inc., 61 N L R. B 511 . '=`°•^
GULF REFINING COMPANY 309 '
AFL seeks their exclusion. These employees are for the most part
farm boys who are called to work from a list kept. by the Company
for use whenever an emergency arises or regular employees are on
vacation." These workers in the past year worked from 1 to 60 hours
per. month. They have no expectancy of permanent future employ-
ment. We are of the opinion that these men are casual' employees
who have not sufficient interest in the terms and conditions of em-
ployment to entitle them to vote and we shall exclude them, from the
voting group. We shall direct that the employees of the Company
eligible to vote in the election shall be, with the exception of the part-
time employees, those in the appropriate unit who were employed
during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the
Direction of Election 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 Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article 111, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions 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 Gulf Refining
Company' ( Tulsa Pipe Line Division ), Tulsa, Oklahoma , 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 direc-
tion and supervision of the Regional Director for the Fourteenth
Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Rela-
tions Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said
Rules and Regulations , among the employees in the ' unit found ap-
propriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay'-
roll period immediately preceding the date of this 'Direction , includ-
ing employees Who did not work during the 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 them-
selves in person at the polls, but excluding casual part-time employees,
and any who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not
been rehired or, reinstated prior to the date of'the election, to deter-
mine whether or not they desire to be represented by International
Union of Operating Engineers , AFL; for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of 'the
above Decision and Direction of Election.
' Certain part-time employees have in the past been obtained by the Company to work
at the Centralia, Breeze, and Valmeyer Stations, not from its list of available part-timers,
but through a hod carriers' union.