Lone Star Steel Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 3, 1947

71 N.L.R.B. 1335 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of LONE STAR STEEL Co., EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL
°"-BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL No. 304, AFL,
PETITIONER
Case No. 16-R-1667.--Decided January 3, 1947
Messrs. F. M. Ryburn, Jr., and F. M. Ryburn, Sr., of Dallas, Tex.,
for the Employer.
Mr. H. E. Gibbons, of Texarkana, Tex., and Mr. C. R. Carle, of
Shreveport, La., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Samuel G. Hamilton, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Dainger-
field, Texas, on September 20, 1946, before Elmer Davis, hearing offi-
cer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes .the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Lone Star Steel Co. is a Texas corporation with its home office at
Dallas, Texas, organized in 1942 for the general purpose of producing
steel on a 25-acre site near Daingerfield, Texas. The Defense Plant
Corporation furnished the money f or the construction of various facil-
ities, including a power plant, and leased all properties to the Em-
ployer. All physical properties are now owned by the Reconstruction
Finance Corporation. The original lease has been renewed on a
month-to-month basis under an oral agreement with the Reconstruc-
tion Finance Corporation. The projected steel mill has never ma-
terialized. This proceeding is concerned solely with the power plant,
which has been declared surplus and is now for sale.
Natural gas of a value of approximately $5,850 per month, which
is produced within the State of Texas by the Arkansas-Louisiana Gas
71 N. L. R. B, No. 212.
1335
1336 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Company and purchased by the Employer, is used in generating steam,
which in turn is used in producing electrical energy. After the Em-
ployer's own requirements are satisfied, approximately one-tenth of
the remaining energy produced is sold to the Navy Aeronautical Ex-
periment Station located on the 25-acre site. The remaining nine-
tenths is sold in Texas to the Southwestern Gas and Electric Company,
hereinafter called Southwestern. Approximately $15,000 per month
is received by the Employer from the sale of electrical energy. South-
western is engaged in the production, purchase, sale, and distribution
of electrical energy in Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas. In these three
States, it serves a large number of industrial and commercial con-
sumers. It has interconnections with the Public Service Company of
Oklahoma., the Arkansas Power and Light Company, and the Texas
Power and Light Company, as well as with the Employer. The energy
it purchases from the Employer is received in its interconnected system
at a point within the State of Texas.
The Employer contends that it is not engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the Act, and that the Board is, therefore, without
jurisdiction. While we do not agree with the Employer's position
that its operations are unrelated to commerce, we do not believe that
the assertion of jurisdiction in this case will effectuate the policies of
the Act. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, and pursuant to
Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, the National Labor
Relations Board hereby orders that the petition for investigation and
certification of representatives of employees of Lone Star Steel Co.,
Daingerfield, Texas, filed by International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers, Local No. 304, AFL, be, and the same hereby is, dismissed.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Order.