63 N.L.R.B. 941 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

Michigan Bell Telephone Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsSep 18, 1945

63 N.L.R.B. 941 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter Of MICHIGAN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY and MICHIGAN TELEPHONE EMPLOYEES' FEDERATION Case No. 7-R-1866.-Decided September 18, 1945 Mr. James Morgan Smith , of Detroit , Mich., for the Company. Mr. Leon A. Cousens , and Miss Frances V. Smith, of Detroit, Mich., for the MTEF. Mr. Joseph L. Smith, of Detroit, Mich ., for the ACA. Mr. Bernard Goldberg, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by Michigan Telephone Employees' Fed- eration, herein called the MTEF, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Michigan Bell Telephone Company, Detroit, Michigan, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Robert J. Wiener, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Detroit, Michigan, on January 26, 1945. The Company, the MTEF, and American Communications Association, C. I. 0., herein called the ACA, appeared and partici- pated? All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bear- ing 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 : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Michigan Bell Telephone Company, a Michigan corporation, is engaged in the business of furnishing telephone service, both local 1 The American Communications Association , C I 0 , appeared only for the purpose of requesting that its name appear on the ballot in the event an election was ordered. 63 N. L. R. B., No. 150. 941 942 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD and out-of-State, to subscribers within the State of Michigan. The Company's annual revenue is in excess of $1,000,000. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Michigan Telephone Employees' Federation, affiliated with the Na- tional Federation of Telephone Workers, is a labor organization ad- mitting to membership employees of the Company. American Communications Association, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to mem- bership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused the MTEF's request for recognition as the bargaining representative of the. Company's accounting depart- ment employees. A statement of a.Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear- ing, indicates that the MTEF represents a substantial number of em- ployees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2 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. TIIE APPROPRIATE UNIT There is no disagreement between the parties with respect to the specific categories of employees to be included in the appropriate unit; the single issue presented is whether the accounting department shall constitute a separate bargaining unit, as contended by the Company, or shall be merged with the traffic department unit presently rep- resented by the MTEF, as advocated by the latter. The Company's operations are divided into a number of depart- ments, among which are the traffic department with approximately 6,400 employees scattered in 200 offices throughout the State of Michi- gan, and the accounting department with about 865 employees con- centrated in 5 offices in 3 cities of the State. The traffic department's principal function is to make telephone connections and the greatest number of its employees are telephone operators. The accounting department is responsible for the accounting, auditing, tax and pay- roll work of the Company and employs various categories of clerks. 2 The Field Examiner reported that the MTEF submitted 455 application cards ; that the names on 355 of the cards also appeared on a list of the Company 's employees as of December 7, 1944 ; and that there are 865 employees in the appropriate unit. The ACA submitted no evidence of representation. MICHIGAN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY 943 All of the Company's departments function With a considerable degree of autonomy ; each has a general personnel supervisor in charge of collective bargaining and personnel matters. The traffic department, is known as an operating department and together with the com- mercial, plant and engineering departments 3 is under the general supervision of the vice president and general manager; the account- ing department is called a staff department and its head, the comp- troller, reports directly to the president. Not only is the work and supervision of the 2 departments dissimilar, but the terms and condi- tions of employment of the 2 groups of employees differ in a number of important respects, e. g., accounting department employees are all weekly paid, traffic department employees are both weekly and hourly paid; the traffic department must function every hour of the year, requiring the employees to work in shifts, the accounting de- partment keeps regular 1-shift office hours. Finally, there is very little interchange of employees between the 2 departments. As stated above, the MTEF is presently recognized as the collec- tive bargaining representative of the employees in the traffic depart- ment 4 and two other unions are the representatives of the employees in the commercial and plant departments, respectively. There has thus been created a history of collective bargaining on a departmental basis. The MTEF has introduced no evidence of special community of interest between the employees in the traffic and accounting de- partments other than the fact that they are employees of the same Company. We are of the opinion, therefore, that there presently exists no sufficient reason for a modification or abandonment of the existing pattern of bargaining for each department as a separate unit. Accordingly, we find that all employees of the Company's account- ing department, including all those listed on Appendix "A" attached hereto, but excluding those employees listed on Appendix "B" at- tached hereto, pay-roll control clerks in the office of the- pay-roll preparation supervisor,' reports clerk in the office of the supervisor of disbursements accounting methods,Â° service records clerks in the office of the service records supervisor,' stenographer in the office of the division auditor of receipts-Detroit,' stenographer in the office of the service records supervisor,9 senior clerks in pay-roll section,10 and 3 The MTEF has a collective bargaining contract with the Company covering the em- ployees of the traffic department; two other independent unions have contracts covering the employees of the plant and commercial departments, respectively. * Matter of Michigan Bell Telephone Company, 58 N. L. R B 622. Jean Cottingham, Dorothea J. Darr. Barbara M. McGiffin. Elmira A. Labadie, Adriana J Neirynck, Charlotte L. Schmidt, Doris J. Beutner, Betty Soper, Marjorie E. Thomas. N Virginia Warwick. Eleanor L. Brown. 10 Maryrita Casey, Stellamae Grohman, Helen A. Shemansky. 944 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD all other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, dis- charge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em- ployees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. TIIE DETERMiNATiON OF REPRESENTATIVES The ACA intervened in this proceeding to request that its name be placed' on the ballot in the event that an election was ordered. This request is denied since the ACA submitted no evidence of repre- sentation among the employees in the appropriate unit. 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 Yl The ACA urges that no decision be issued in this proceeding pend- ing the disposition of charges now before the Board, alleging, inter alia, that the Company has dominated and interfered with the MTEF in violation of Section 8 (2) of the Act. Notwithstanding the pen- dency of these charges, we shall order an immediate election. How- ever, any certification resulting from such election will be without prejudice to any determination we may subsequently make in Case No. 7-C-1307, respecting the status of the MTEF; 2 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 Michigan Bell Telephone Company, Detroit, Michigan, 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 super- vision of the Regional Director for the Seventh Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Board and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among the 11 The parties have agreed and we find that part -time and temporary employees shall be eligible to vote in the election but that occasional or casual employees shall be ineligible. n See Matter of Western Electric Company, Inc, 62 N L. R. B. 1505 ; Matter of Standard Ott Company of California , 58 N L R . B. 560 ; Matter of General Petroleum Corporation of California, 56 N. L R. B. 1366. MICHIGAN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY 945 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 the said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tem- porarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but ex- cluding 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 Mich- igan Telephone Employees' Federation, affiliated with the National Federation of Telephone Workers, for the purposes of collective bargaining. CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election. Schedule A Adding Machine Operator Addressing Machine Operator Advance Payment and Deposits Clerk Advertising Settlement Clerk Balancing Message Registers Clerk Calculating Machine Operator Cash Checking and Assembling Clerk Cash Record Work Clerk Checking Bills and Holdout Clerk Checking Closed Customers' Ac- counts Clerk Checking Orders Clerk Checking Vouchers Clerk Claims Clerk Class "C" Stock Record Clerk Coin Box Settlements Clerk Collect Tickets Clerk Controlling Records Clerk Custom Billing Clerk Customers' Billing Machine Op- erator Draft Records Clerk Draft Writing Clerk Duplicating Machine Operator Enclosing Bills Clerk Engineering C o s t Distribution Clerk Estimate Ledgers Clerk Final Accounts Clerk Final Bill Typist and Verification Clerk General Clerk General Equipment Inventory Clerk Information and Difference Re- ports Clerk Intermediate Clerk Invoice Classification Clerk Invoice Records Clerk Junior File Clerk Labor Distribution Clearance Clerk Labor and Motor Vehicle Distribu- tion Clerk Material Clerk Message Register Information Clerk Message Register Machine Opera- tor Message Register Order Work Clerk Messenger Miscellaneous Accounts Clerk 946 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL Mortality Records Clerk Motor Vehicle Expense Clearance Clerk Opening and Registering Mail Clerk Pay-roll Clerk Pay-roll Control Clerk Pay-roll Deductions Clerk Pay-roll Machine Operator P. B. X. Order Clerk Period Filing 'of Service Orders Clerk Perpetual Inventory Clerk Plant Unit Records Clerk Posting Cash and Adjustment Voucher Clerk Prepayments and Accrual Records Clerk Pricing Clerk Proof of Billing and Balancing Clerk Property Cost Records Clerk Reports Clerk Requisition Checking Clerk Returned Material Checking Clerk Rewrite Message Register Cards Clerk Senior Clerk LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Service Order Record Clerk Service Records Clerk Shipping Receipt Checking Clerk Special Billing Clerk Station Verification Clerk Statistical Assistant Statistical Clerk Statistical Records Clerk Stenographer Telegraph Settlements Clerk Toll Adding Clerk Toll Billing Typist Toll Information Clerk Toll Order Work Clerk Toll Recording Clerk Toll Sorting Clerk Toll Sorting Verification Clerk Toll Studies and Settlements Clerk Toll Ticket Rate Verification Clerk Typist Unidentified Tolls Clerk Voucher Clerk Voucher Register and Distribution Clerk Wage Records Clerk Work Assignment Clerk Work Report Reviewing Clerk Schedule B Chief Stenographer Clerk to Division Staff Head or District Superintendent Clerk-to General Staff Head or Division Superintendent Deputy Supervisor Pay-roll Change Report Review- ing Clerk Employment and Personnel Su- pervisor Employment and Personnel As- sistant Secretary