Niagara Mohawk Power Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 2, 1950

91 N.L.R.B. 607 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of NIAGARA MOHAWK POWER CORPORATION, EMPLOYER
and UNITED PLANT GUARD WORKERS OF AMERICA, AMALGAMATED
BUFFALO LOCAL UNION No. 516, PETITIONER
Case No. 3-RC-500.-Decided October 2, 1950
DECISION AND ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before William Naimark, 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-member
panel [Members Houston, Reynolds, and Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent employees
of the Employer.
3. No 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, for the following
reasons:
The Petitioner seeks a unit consisting of the guards , gatemen, and
watchmen at the Employer's Huntley station near Buffalo, New York,
excluding supervisors.
The Employer and the Intervenor 1 object to the proposed unit on
the ground that the employees sought are not "guards" within the
meaning of the Act and should, therefore, be included in the existing
plant-wide unit. The Employer contends further that even if these...
employees are guards, the unit sought is inappropriate because it does
not include employees in other plants of the Employer who have
similar duties.
The Employer is engaged in the electric and gas utility business in
New York State. Its operations, together with those of the Niagara
Falls Power Company, a wholly owned subsidiary, constitute a State-
wide public utility system, embracing the same properties as were
1 Local Union 1339, International Brotherhood of Electrical workers.
91 NLRB No. 102.
607
608 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
formerly included in the Niagara Hudson system . These properties
include 4 steam-electric stations and more than 70 hydro-electric
stations extending throughout upper New York State.
Prior to 1949 , bargaining for the employees in the Niagara Hudson
system, as it was then known , was on a division -wide basis , reflecting
the administrative organization of the system into three divisions.2
Despite this history, the Board on September 29, 1948, determined
that system -wide , units were alone appropriate,3 and in November 1948,
the International' Brotherhood of Electrical Workers was certified
as the representative of separate system-wide units consisting of (1)
production and maintenance employees and (2 ) technical , office, and
clerical employees .' Guards and watchmen were excluded from both
units . System-wide contracts covering the employees in the foregoing
units were executed by the Employer on June 1, 1949 , and June 1,
1950. These contracts did not purport to include employees in the
classifications sought by the instant petition.
The Employer employs at its Huntley station four watchmen, four
gatemen, a relief man, and an escort . There is only one watchman
and one gateman on duty at a time. However, four of each category
are needed to cover three shifts, 7 days a week. ' Shift assignments
rotate.
On the day shift, the watchmen do odd maintenance jobs about the
gatehouse, such as shoveling snow or sprinkling lawns. On the two
other shifts they patrol the grounds, checking for fires and inspecting
equipment. The duties of the gateman are the same on each shift.
They are stationed at the gatehouse, where they control admissions to
the plant and prevent the unauthorized movement of material -to
and from the plant. While neither the gatemen nor watchmen are
armed or deputized, they may be called upon to assist in quelling
disturbances.
The escort accompanies visitors and trucks to their destination
within the plant.
The relief man spends two-thirds of his time in relieving either the
gatemen or watchmen, dividing his time equally between the duties
of both categories. The remaining one-third of his time he acts
as an escort.
Under these circumstances, and upon the entire. record, we find
that the gatemen , watchmen, and relief man are guards within the
meaning of the Act,' but that the escort is not a guard.
2 These were the Eastern , Central , and Western Divisions.
3 Niagara Hudson Power Corporation . 79 NLRB 1115.
4 The certifications were subsequently amended to consolidate both units into a single
.unit.
Thomas A. Edison Co ., Inc., 90 NLRB No. 154.
NIAGARA MOHAWK POWER CORPORATION 609
The question remains whether the proposed unit, limited to em-
ployees in a single plant of the Employer, is sufficiently comprehensive.
In-the Seagram case's a majority of the Board held that where an
employer has bargained on a multiplant basis for his other employees,
a unit limited to the guards at one of the employer's • plants is not
appropriate. This holding was in accord with the Board's policy of
predicating., its unit determinations for a special classification of em-
ployees of an employer on the over-all bargaining pattern established
with respect to other groups of employees of the same employer.? -
In the instant case, it is clear that bargaining for other employees
.of the Employer has been on a multiplant, system-wide basis. The
record shows, moreover, that the Employer has a total of 18 gatemen
and watchmen, at 5 different plants, who perform duties similar to
those of the instant employees.8
. Under these circumstances, we find that as the proposed unit does
not include all the Employer's guards, it is too limited in scope to be
appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining. We shall, there-
fore, dismiss the petition.'
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed herein be, and it hereby
is, dismissed.
6 Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., 83 NLRB 167.
7 See cases cited in Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., supra.
There are three watchmen at the Electric Building in Buffalo, New. York, three more
at the Dewey Service building in Buffalo, four gatemen at the Oswego station, Oswego,
New York, seven watchmen in the Albany service building, Albany, New York, and one
gateman at the Employer's plant in Troy, . New York. In addition, five watchmen are em-
ployed at the Schoellkopf station of the Niagara Falls Power Company, about 1.2 miles
from the Huntley station. As indicated above, the Niagara Falls Power Company is a
wholly owned subsidiary of the Employer and an integral part of the same system.
6 Member Styles concurs in the result. Although he would not follow the rule of the
Seagram case on the facts in that case, he believes that the Seagram rule may properly be
applied in a case like the present, involving a public utility, system covering a relatively
limited geographical area. Member Houston, although dissenting in the Seagram case,
considers the majority holding there disposition here and deems himself bound by that
decision.