Inter-Mountain Telephone Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 15, 1948

79 N.L.R.B. 715 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of INTER-MOUNTAIN Ti:LEPIIONE COMPANY,' EMPLOYER
and COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA, DIVISION No. 49,
PETITIONER
Case No. 10-RC-172.Decided September 15, 1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Bristol,
Tennessee, on May 25, 1948, before Charles M. Paschal, Jr., hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-man
panel consisting of the undersigned Board Members.*
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organization named below claims to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The parties agree that a single company-wide unit is appropriate,
and-that the following job classifications should be excluded from the
unit : executive officers, general commercial manager, general traffic
manager, plant superintendent, general auditor, assistant general audi-
tor, equipment superintendent, assistant equipment superintendent,
office managers, exchange or district managers, assistant exchange or
district managers, -general commercial supervisor, chief operators,
assistant chief operators, evening and night chief operators, plant or
district engineer, construction supervisor, construction foremen, cable
foremen, equipment installation foreni.en, and guards.
The.parties disagree as to the following job classifications: local
supervisors, toll supervisors, collection supervisors, wire chiefs, gen-
* Chairman Herzog and Members Murdock and Gray.
79 N. L. R. B, No. 96
715
'716 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ,
eral books supervisor, revenue supervisor, disbursement supervisor,
pay-roll supervisor, toll-ticket supervisor, accounts-payable super-
visor, accounts-receivable supervisor, traveling chief operators, toll-
rate supervisors, secretaries to executives and department heads, per-
sonnel clerks, traffic engineer, engineers, accountant, trainees, and high
school vocational students. The Petitioner would include these dis-
puted classifications, whereas the Employer would exclude them.
Alleged.supervisors 1 -OF -
Local supervisors, toll supervisors, collection supervisors, 'wire
chiefs, general books supervisor, revenue supervisor, disbursement
supervisor, pay-roll supervisor and toll-ticket supervisors are each in
charge of from 2 to 20 employees. They responsibly direct and may
effectively recommend a change in the status of subordinates. We find
that they are supervisors within the meaning of the Act. We shall
therefore exclude them from the unit.
Alleged confidential employees
(a) Secretaries : There are six secretaries to executive officers and
department heads.2 The secretaries perform general secretarial work,
such as taking dictation , typing, and filing.
Evelyn Wiekel is secretary to the vice president ; Mrs. Fred Darnley
is secretary to the general traffic manager . These two officers handle
the Employer's labor relations . The secretaries type and file confiden-
tial material pertaining to labor relations . We find that these secre-
taries are confidential employees . We shall exclude them.3
Mrs. Ruby Hayter is secretary to the general commercial manager,
and shares offices with Evelyn Wiekel and Mrs. Darnley. She assists
Wiekel and Darnley in the performance of their secretarial duties,
-and has access to all confidential labor relations data. Under these
circumstances, we believe that she is also a confidential employee. We
shall exclude her from the unit.
Mrs. Owens is secretary to the general commercial superintendent;
Miss Lois Calhoun is secretary to the plant superintendent , the plant,
-engineer, and the equipment superintendent . The ' supervisors of these
secretarial employees do not handle labor relations negotiations or deal
1 As there are no personnel presently in the job classifications of accounts -payable super-
visor. accounts-receivable supervisor, traveling chief operator, and toll-rate supervisor, the
Board, at this time, finds it unnecessary to decide whether or not personnel in such classifi-
cations would be supervisors
2 This does not include Jf SI Owen, secretary to the piesident, who is excluded by agree-
ment of the parties
3 Matter of Art Metal Construction Company, 75 N L R B 80, -fatter of Southeastern
'Telephone Company , 70 N L. R. B. 4. -
I•I\TTER-MOUNTAIN TELEPHONE COMPANY 717
with confidential data pertaining to general labor relations, although
they are responsible for the personnel in their respective departments.
These secretaries handle and have access to personnel records that con-
tain recommendations for promotions, demotions, discharges and rate
or salary adjustments of employees coming within the jurisdiction of
the department. However, as indicated above, they do not act as con-
fidential secretaries to executives who handle the Employer's general
labor relations. Accordingly, we find that Mrs. Owens and Miss Cal-
houn are not confidential employees within the Board's definition.
We shall therefore include them in the unit.4
Joan Fearill combines the functions of secretary to the general
auditor and pay-roll supervisor. She spends 75 percent of her time
in the latter capacity. As pay-roll supervisor she is a supervisor-
within the Act's definition. We shall exclude her.
(b) Personnel Clerks: There are three or four such employees under
the supervision of the pay-roll supervisor and the disbursement
supervisor, neither of whom handles labor relations. The work of
these clerks consists of compiling, typing, keeping up to date and
filing personnel records of all employees. The records contain in-
formation concerning pay-roll changes or recommendations, raises,
promotions, demotions, dismissals, and other similar matters relating
to each employee. However, they do not pertain to the Employer's
general labor relations policy. The Employer considers the work-
of the personnel clerks as routine but confidential. As these employees
are not confidential assistants to managerial employees in charge of
the Employer's labor relations and do not have access to general labor
relations policy data, we find that they are not confidential employees.
We shall include them in the unit.,
Alleged professional employees
(a) 7'raffic engineer: Mr. H. J. Kleinhammer has occupied this
position since November 1947, being the first person to hold this job
title. His duties involve the preparation of studies in traffic loads
and equipment; the making of recommendations based on such studies
for changes in toll, trunk, and other equipment so as to provide ade-
quate equipment and facilities to handle the Employer's service; and
the approval of all equipment purchases made by the Employer. He
receives a monthly salary but no overtime pay. Mr. Kleinhammer
''SeeMatter of Art'-Metal Construction Company, supra; Matter of Cities Sfe,vice Refining
Corporation, 70 N. L. R B 1051 ; Matter of American Stove Company, Harvey Division,
70 N L R B 1059.
5 See Matter of American Window Glass Company, 77 N. L R. B. 1030; Matter of
Gale Pioduets, 77 N L R B. 254.
718 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
has had 6 years' experience in the telephone industry. Although he
has no college degree and is not a graduate of an engineering school,
he has had 2 years of college engineering training, some annual tech-
nical training with the Southern Bell Telephone Company in Atlanta,
Georgia, and extension college work pertaining to communications
engineering. He works with the general traffic manager, gelieral com-
mercial manager, and the plant superintendent. It appears that the
work of the traffic engineer is predominantly intellectual and varied
in character and involves the exercise of discretion and judgment.
We believe that the traffic engineer is a professional employee. We
-shall therefore exclude him from the unit .6
(b) Engineers: There are three persons in this category working
under the direct supervision of the district or plant engineer. Upon
request of the traffic or commercial department, they go into the field
and make estimates as to facilities and equipment required for repair
or new service. They prepare work orders for the removal and loca-
tion of lines and poles, for the use of underground or aerial cable,
for the extension or addition of lines, and for other similar matters.
In their work, the engineers use commercial surveys as well as Bell
System Practices as guides in determining the type, character, amount,
-size and location of outside equipment that is required to provide tide-
•quate facilities. All these employees are hourly rated and receive
overtime pay. None of them has a college degree and only one spent
as much as a year in college. All were previously employed by the
-Employer in non-engineering capacities. One worked in the store-
room of the repair shop, another was a rodman, and the third was
a groundman. It appears that neither their educational background
nor their work stamps these "engineers" as professional employees.
We shall include them.'
(c) Accountant: Although not a certified public accountant or a
college graduate, this employee has had training in accounting, par-
ticularly telephone accounting. He works at the Employer's central
.office under the supervision of the general auditor. He checks the
postings in the general books and statistical records and the work of
other employees in the accounting department. He makes audits
,of tests and prepares financial statements and studies in rate cases.
As the Employer admitted, the accountant is substantially a special-
ized bookkeeper. We find that he is not a professional employee.
We shall include him.8
6 See Matter of Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company , Inc., 78 N. L R B.
814; and Matter of Illinois Bell Telephone Company, 77 N. L. R. B. 1073
7 See Matter of Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company, Inc ., supra; ef . Matter
of Illinois Bell Telephone Company, supra. ,
8 See Matter of American Window Glass Company, 77 N. L. R. B. 1030; Matter of
.Jersey Publishing Company, 76 N. L. R. B. 467.
INTER-MOUNTAIN TELEPHONE COMPANY 719
Alleged temporary or casual employees
(a) Trainees: There are between 30 and 40 trainees or student
,operators who are being trained as telephone operators. They are
paid on an hourly basis and receive overtime pay. After a training
period of 60 days, trainees become full-time operators and receive the
pay of regular employees. During their training period, they receive
all the rights and benefits of other employees of the Employer, except
that their insurance is not effective until 30 days after their employ-
ment. As the trainees enjoy conditions of employment similar to those
of regular employees and have a reasonable expectation of becoming
regular employees, we shall include them in the unit.9
(b) High school vocational students: There are 16 high school
students who are presently employed by the Employer under an agree-
ment with local high schools to conduct a vocational training program
extending over a period of 1 to 2 years. These students work during
school hours, on holidays, on week ends and during the summer.
They receive the trainees' rate of pay as well as school credits in
vocational training. For purposes of State and Federal regulations,
such as workmen's compensation and Fair Labor Standards Acts,
these, students -are carried on the Employer's records as employees.
The Employer classifies them as part-time temporary employees.
Approximately 25 to 30 percent of the students become regular em-
Ploy ees of the Employer upon graduation from high school and receive
credit for the time that they were employed as vocational students.
The high school vocational students appear to be part-time employees
who are regularly-employed. Accordingly, we shall include them in
the unit.,,
We find that all employees of the Employer, including secretaries
to the general commercial superintendent and to the plant superin-
tendent, personnel clerks, engineers,,, accountant, trainees, and high
school vocational students, but excluding collection supervisors, local
supervisors, toll supervisors, wire chiefs, general books supervisor,
revenue supervisor, disbursement supervisor, pay-roll supervisor, toll-
ticket supervisors, secretaries to the president, vice president, general
traffic manager, and general commercial manager, traffic engineer,
executive officers, general commercial manager, general traffic mana-
ger, plant superintendent, general auditor, assistant general auditor,
9 See Matter of Muscle Shoals Broadcasting Company, 74 N L. R B. 171 ; Matter of
Perfection Garment Company. 72 N L R B 210
10 See Matter of National Cash Register Company, 74 N. L R B. 1350; Matter of Sussex
Hats , Inc., 73 N L R B 737
11 As we have found that the three employees having this job classification are not pro-
fessional employees within the meaning of the Act, we are including them in the unit.
720 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
equipment superintendent , assistant equipment superintendent, office
managers,- exchange or district managers , assistant exchange or dis-
trict managers, general commercial supervisor , chief operators , evening
and night chief operators, assistant chief operators, plant or district
engineer , construction supervisor, construction foremen , cable fore-
men, equipment installation foremen, guards, professional employees,
and supervisors as defined by the Act, constitute a unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Sec-
tion 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Inter -Mountain Telephone
Company, 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 Direc-
tor for the Tenth Region, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62
of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5,
among the employees in' the unit found appropriate in, paragraph
numbered 4, 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 , 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, and also exclud-
ing employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to de-
termine whether or not they desire to be represented by Communica-
tions Workers of America, Division No. 49, for purposes of collective
bargaining.