Kentucky Utilities Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 12, 1945

64 N.L.R.B. 120 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

I
In the Matter of KENTUCKY UTILITIES COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, A. F. OF L.,
Case No. 11-R-798.-Decided October 12, 1915
Messrs. W. H. Townsend and E. W. Brown, of Lexington , Ky., and
Mr. L. P . Hite , of Paducah , Ky., for the Company.
Mr. W. IT. Wilson , of Akron, Ohio, for the Union.
Mr. Donald B. Brady, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Internationl Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers, A . F. of L., herein called the Union , alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Kentucky Utilities Company, Lexington , Kentucky ,' herein
called the , Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided
for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before William O.
Murdock, Trial Examiner . - The hearing was held at New Albany;
Indiana, on July Q, 1945 . 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 hear-
ing 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 :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Kentucky Utilities Company, a Kentucky corporation, is engaged in
the production, transmission and distribution of electrical energy, the
production and distribution of gas, and ice, and in the pumping, puri-
fication and distribution' of water.' Its distribution lines connect with
the distribution lines of the South Fulton Power and Light Company
and Dixie Power and Light Company, both of which are located in
Tennessee. The Company's operations cover the entire State of Ken-
64 N. L R. B., No. 26.
120
KENTUCKY UTILITIES COMPANY 121
tucky. It sells electricity to and purchases electricity from the Ten-
nessee Valley Authority , and exchanges electricity in emergencies with
the Central Illinois Public Service Company.
The Company divides its, operations and facilities into divisions
and this proceeding is concerned only with the Western Division with
headquarters located in Paducah, Kentucky . The' purchases of the
Western Division for the calendar year ' 1944 were principally coal,
operating and construction materials, and electrical energy, which
were valued in excess of $500,000 , of which more than 25 percent
came from outside the State of Kentucky.
The Company supplies electrical energy to interstate railroads,
telegraph companies, radio stations , numerous large corporations
engaged in interstate commerce, several ordnance works and one mili-
tary camp. The Company's Western Division sales in 1944 were of
a-value in excess of $1,000,000.
We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting
to membership employees of the Company. -
III. THE QUESTION^CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition t6 the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of its employees in the Western
Division until the Union has been certified by the Board in an appro-
priate unit.
A statement of a Field Examiner', introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Union 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.
'The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted - 60 authorization cards ; and
that the cards were dated 15 in August and October 1944 , 38 in November , and December,
) 5 during
'
1945, and 2 were undated . There are approximately 138 employees in the appro-
priate unit.
At the hearing, the Company argued that the Field Examiner's report was incompetent
to prove that the Union actually represents any of the employees affected by this proceed-
ing, and contended accordingly that the Union had failed to prove the essential allegations
of its petition This contention presents no proper basis for dismissal 'of the petition. As
we have pointed out many times , a union is not required to prove by legal evidence at the
hearing in a proceeding under Section 9 (c) of the Act the number of employees its repre-
sents but only to exhibit to the Board ' s administrative agents, who duly report thereon
to the Board , a sufficient showing in support of its representation claims sufficient to
warrant further investigation via the hearing and an election . See Matter of Buffalo
Arms Corporation, 57 N L R B. 1560; Matter of Amos-Thompson Corporation, 49
N. L. It. B. 423; Matter of Bakelite Corporation , 60 N. L . R. B. 318.
n
-122' DECISIONS OF NATIONAL , LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT''
We find, in accordance with the , stipulation , of the , parties, that all
,production , maintenance , and distribution employees of the Company
,in its Western Division , including turbine room operators , boiler oper-
atives, service foremen at Barlow, Fulton , Earlington , and Greenville,
but excluding chief operators at ice plants , district engineers , assistant
.division engineers , district , division , and local'managers , power plant
superintendent , assistant power plant superintendents , meter super-
intendents, gas plant superintendents , crew foreman , commercial man,-
tigers , superintendents of construction , substation superintendents,
commercial service engineers ,, clerical employees , office , employees,
-service advisors , janitors and janitresses , temporary employees and
seasonal , employees , and any 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.
L
V. TIIE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em-
ployees 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 III, 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 - Kentucky Utilities
Company, Lexington , Kentucky , 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 Director for the Eleventh 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 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 , includhig employees who, did
h
KENTUCKY UTILITIES COMPANY 123
not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca-
tion 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 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 determine whether or not they desire to be represented
by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, A. F. of L., for
the purposes of collective bargaining.