Northwestern Bell Telephone Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 9, 1948

79 N.L.R.B. 549 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of NORTHWESTERN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY, EM-
PLOYER and COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA, DIVISION No. 45,
PETITIONER
Case No. 18-RC-76.-Decided September 9,1948
DECISION'
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. 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 National Labor
Relations 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 the case,' the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. TINE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE PARTIES INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
Roy E. Aske and Karl P. Motter, herein jointly called the Inter-
venor, represent a committee of outside Plant Engineers employed by
the Employer.
* Houston, Reynolds , and Gray.
'The Petitioner' s request for oral argument is denied inasmuch as the record, in our
opinion, adequately presents the issues and positions of the parties.
79 N. L. R. B., No. 73.
549
809095-49-vol. 79-36
550 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Northwestern Union of Telephone Workers,' predecessor to the
Petitioner in this case, has represented since 1941 a unit of the non-
supervisory employees of the Employer in the Plant, Traffic, Coln-
mercial, and Accounting Departments. The last contract between the
Telephone Workers and the Employer was effective from May 6, 1947,
to March 31, 1948. In the summer of 1947, the parent organization,
National Federation of Telephone Workers, was dissolved and the
Petitioner requested recognition as its successor. On February 24,
1948, the Petitioner and the Employer entered into an agreement
which provided that the Employer would recognize the Petitioner as
the bargaining agent for all employees in the bargaining unit covered
by previous contracts with the Telephone Workers, the Petitioner
having furnished evidence of its majority status. This agreement
then recited that a controversy existed between the parties as to
whether or-not Plant Engineers, Groups I and II, Service Engineers
1 and II, and PBX instructors should be included in the bargaining
'unit as heretofore. The parties agreed that after May 31, 1948,' the
categories in question should be excluded from the bargaining unit
and the Petitioner should 'file a petition with the National Labor
Relations Board for the purpose of securing a determination as to
whether or not such categories appropriately belong within the larger
bargaining unit represented by the Petitioner. In effect, therefore, the
Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the bargaining repre-
sentative of the afore-mentioned categories of employees unless the
Board finds them appropriately' a part of the system-wide unit.
The Employer contends that the three categories in question are
members of management and therefore not within the coverage of the
Act. The Petitioner contends that the categories are not managerial
and that they properly belong within the established unit. The Inter-
venor contends that Plant Engineers, Groups I and II, are professional
employees and that, accordingly, the Board may not decide that they
appropriately belong in the established unit of non-professional em-
ployees until a majority of such professional employees have voted
for inclusion in such unit.
.We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of Plant Engineers, Groups I and II, within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
For the reasons hereinafter set forth in Section IV,•we find that no
question affecting commerce ` exists concerning the representation' of
s Affiliated with the National Federation of Telephone Workers.
Or after the date of the termination of the then existing contract, whichever date was
earlier. '
NORTHWESTERN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY .551
'Service Engineers I and II and PBX instructors, within the meaning
,of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act, and we
.shall therefore dismiss the petition with respect'to those employees.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT; DETER31INATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Petitioner seeks to include the Plant Engineers, Service
Engineers ,4 and PBX instructors in the system-wide unit of em-
ployees represented by the Petitioner. As indicated above, the
Employer contends that all three categories are management personnel
and should therefore be excluded from the established bargaining
'init. The Intervenor is concerned only with the Plant Engineers,
contending that they are professional employees and must therefore
be given an opportunity in an election to express their desires regard-
ing their inclusion in the over-all unit.
Plant Engineers
The Employer employs approximately 128 Plant Engineers. `Until
recently the Plant Engineers were in the' Plant Department. About
2 years ago Plant Engineers were transferred to the Engineering De-
partment. The Plant Engineers are responsible for designing and
planning the extension, construction, and upkeep of outside telephone
plant.5 Based on studies provided by traffic and commercial engineers
and in some instances, independent study and research, the outside
Plant Engineer must become thoroughly familiar with such matters
as the rate of growth in population and the trend of residential and
industrial development in the particular area-where new or additional
plants are required. Outside plant engineering involves some knowl-
edge of civil and mechanical engineering, mathematics, economics,
and, to a larger extent, electrical engineering. A substantial portion
.of this type of knowledge is of the sort usually acquired in scientific
courses in institutions of higher learning. Forty-nine percent of the
'Employer's Plant Engineers attended universities or colleges. Nearly
all of the Plant Engineers have been with the Employer for a number
of years and have received training in various craft jobs before being
placed in engineering positions. The Employer does not appear to
have established any formal classroom training for its Plant Engi-
neers. Plant Engineers having only a few months' experience perform
4 These two categories are further subdivided into Groups I and II in each instance.
This subdivision merely Indicates that Group II employees are more experienced and receive
somewhat higher pay than Group I. The work of Groups I and II is essentially the same
and we shall refer to the two categories simply as Plant Engineers and Service Engineers
in the succeeding discussion.
6 Inside plant engineering is carried on by Equipment Engineers . The Plant Engineers
are the only. engineers in the Engineering Department who have ever been represented
by the Petitioner or any other union. -
552 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the simplest of jobs and are closely supervised by more. experienced
engineers . The experienced Plant Engineers are capable of working
with little or no supervision on large and complicated projects. When
in the field, the Plant Engineer must exercise independent judgment
and discretion. His work requires a thorough knowledge of communi-
cation engineering, telephone equipment and telephone practices and
operation. His engineering decisions are limited to the extent that
they must conform wherever practicable to the standards contained
in the extensive Bell System Practices.6 He is frequently called upon
to make public contacts for the telephone company, such as conferences
with architects, other engineers, management of customer firms, and
with public officials. In some districts serviced by the Employer, the
Plant Engineer must conduct right-of-way negotiations which require
a general knowledge of the Employer's policies regarding right-of-
way, fundamentals of real estate law, and, familiarity with city, State,
and Federal regulations affecting the construction of telephone plant.
Finally, he must prepare detailed cost estimates to cover whatever
project he is working on. The maximum salary of a plant engineer
is approximately $87.50 per week.
The Plant Engineer does not participate in management conferences
for the formulation of management policies and is not the recipient
of confidential information regarding the Employer's labor relations,
nor is he a supervisor. There would seem to be no record basis for
the Employer's contention that these engineers are managerial
employees.
With respect to the Intervenor's claim that the Plant Engineers
are professional employees, the record establishes that their work is
predominantly intellectual and varied and that their output cannot
be standardized in relation to a given period of time. Although these
engineers as a group do not appear to have had as much scientific
college training as the engineers considered in the Matter of Illinois
Bell Telephone Company' and Matter of Southern Bell Telephone and
Telegraph Company, Inc.,8 it appears that the work required of the
engineers is substantially like that required of the engineers in those
cases. We therefore conclude that the job of Plant Engineers falls
within the definition of a professional classification as defined in Sec-
tion 2 (12) (a) of the amended Act 9 and that, accordingly, the Plant
8 See Matter of Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company, 78 N. L. R B. 814,
for discussion of Bell System Practice.
° 77 N L It. B. 1073.
8 78 N. L It. B. 814.
9In finding the Plant Engineers to be professional employees we are not passing upon the
individual qualifications of each engineer , but rather upon the character of the work required
of them asla group This work we find meets the requirements of Section 2 (12) (a) of
the amended Act. The record discloses that Plant Engineers with several years of training
NORTHWESTERN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY 553
Engineers may constitute an appropriate unit within the meaning of,
Section 9 (b) of the Act. We also find that they may appropriately
be part of the system-wide unit if they so desire. We shall, therefore,
direct an election among the following employees for the purpose of
determining whether or not they desire to be added to the system-wide
production and maintenance unit now represented by the Petitioner :
All Plant Engineers Groups I and II of the Employer, excluding all
supervisors. If, in this election, the Plant Engineers select the Peti-
tioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to be included
in the system-wide unit of employees now represented by the Peti-
tioner; if, on the other hand, they do not select the Petitioner, they will
be taken to have indicated their desire to remain unrepresented by
any labor organization and will not become a part of the system-wide
unit.
Service Engineers and PBX Instructors
The parties are in substantial agreement regarding the duties of
these employees. They disagree as to whether or not such duties place
these employees in management categories within the meaning of this
Board's decisions.
Service Engineers
The Employer employs approximately 56 Service Engineers in its
Commercial Department. In each district, these employees are usually
under the direct supervision of the District Sales Supervisor. In the
same department and under the same supervision are clerks, coin box
collectors, directory advertising salesmen, outside representatives,
and sales representatives. Up to the time of this controversy, all these
employees were included in the system-wide unit represented by the
Petitioner. Promotion to the position of Service Engineer is usually
from that of Sales Representative. The maximum weekly salary for
both Service Engineers and Directory. Advertising Salesmen. is $..7.0.
Each Service Engineer has assigned to him a group of the
Employer's customers. It is his duty to see that the customer's com-
munication needs are properly met. His work in a particular instance
may originate during a routine periodical checkup of the customer's
facilities, or through a direct request by the customer. The Service
Engineer must make broad analytic reviews of the detailed communi-
cation needs of the customer; he must have a thorough knowledge of all
and experience as Plant Engineers are capable of full performance of such work. Less
experienced or newly hired Plant Engineers , whatever and however extensive their prior
scientific training and education , perform only a part of the total work required of the
experienced Plant Engineer . Where it appears that an individual assigned to the Plant
Engineering group is incapable of developing ,lntb a full fledged-Plant Engineer , he will be
assigned to other work.
554 DECISIONS OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
equipment available or procurable, and of the application of the appro-,
priate tariff rates and regulations; he must be able to coordinate the
work of other departments of this Employer in order to complete the,
service, such as the calling in of a Plant Engineer or a PBX Instructor,
or the securing of information from the Accounting or Traffic Depart-
ments; he must decide upon and recommend to the customer a course
of action, and upon the, customer's acceptance of his recommendation,.
he must follow through, seeing that the adjustments or additions in.
service are carried out. ,
° In the course of his work, the Service Engineer deals with relatively
high levels of management in the customer's organization. Often he-
is the recipient of confidential information concerning the customer's,
business and his labor relations. A customer may request the Service-
Engineer to lecture to his employees on the proper use of his communi-
cation facilities. The customer occasionally asks the service engineer's.
advice regarding the performance of his employees. Some customers
who have dealt with a particular Service Engineer and feel confidence
in him, will give him carte blanche to go ahead and do whatever is'
necessary without going through the formality of a recommendation'
by the Service Engineer and acceptance by the customer. It is not
necessary for the Service Engineer to secure his Employer's approval'
of his recommendation to the customer, and so far as that recommenda-
tion involves the installation of telephone equipment, the Service En-
gineer commits his Employer with respect to the capital investment,
represented by that equipment. Rates of rentals paid by the customer
on such installations,, however, are, fixed by the Employer and in no.
way are left to the discretion of- the Service Engineer.
The experienced Service Engineer is not closely supervised. He is,
free to;make direct contact with other departments in his Company.
He has no supervisory duties.,, He does not participate in the formu-
lation of management policies and is not the recipient of knowledge
concerning his Employer's labor relations. He is not regarded, by'
Employer.-as an executive, although some of his Employer's customers
may so regard him. .
Upon the basis of the' foregoing. facts, we are not persuaded that.
the.Service Engineer is a managerial employee. We have held that
knowledge of a customer's labor relations does not render an employe&
i managerial employee 10 We have also held that managerial em
ployees must be on the policy-making level of the Employer's organi-
zation. Lack of close supervision and freedom to exercise consider-,
able judgment and discretion do not spell out managerial status where
V3 Matter of 'Remington Rand, Inc, 71 N. L. R. B . 626; Matter of 'Credit Bureau of
Greater Boston, 73 N. L. R. B. 410.
NORTHWESTERN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY 555,
the decisions made must be in accordance with the Employer's estab-
lished policy."' In the-holdings of this Board cited by the Employer
in support of its contention that Service Engineers are managerial
employees, the independent decision made by the employees held to be
managerial directly affected their Employer rather than their Em-
ployer's customers; such managerial employees were also found to
have final authority with respect to techniques to be used by their
Employers, and to have the power to commit their own Employers
on questions of prices and rates.'2
On the basis of the above facts, and in accordance with our deci-
sional policy, we conclude that the Service Engineers are not man-
agerial employees.
PBX Instructors.
There are 19 PBX Instructors in the Employer's Traffic Depart-
ment. These employees are not supervisors with respect to -any em-
ployee of the Employer. They do occasionally supervise employees
of customers of the Employer, and make recommendations to the cus-
tomer concerning the performance, selection, and retention of his
operators. Like the Service Engineers, the PBX Instructors are,
assigned certain of the Company's customers and most of their work.
ing time is spent on the customer's premises. These employees work
with little supervision and plan their work schedule to meet the cus
tomer's needs. . Their duty is to improve the customer's telephone
service as it relates to the operation of the Public Branch Exchange
by the customer's telephone operators. On occasions, it may be neces=
sary for the PBX Instructors to call in a Service Engineer, especially
where the breakdown in service is not due to inefficiency of the operator
but to inadequacy of the equipment. A PBX Instructor is frequently
consulted by the customer regarding its labor relations with its PBX
employees, and the PBX Instructor is often the recipient of confiden-
tial information regarding such matters.
The Employer's arguments in support of its contention that these
employees are managerial employees, follow the same lines as those
advanced in connection with the Service Engineers. On the basis of
the facts in the record, our decision with respect to the Service Engi-
neers applies equally to the PBX Instructors, and we find the PBX
Instructors are non-managerial employees.
" Matter of Worthington Pump and Machinery Corporation, 75 N. L. R. B. 678 ; Matter
of Lumbermen's Mutual Casualty Company, 75 N L. R. B. 1132; Matter of Midland National
Bank of Minneapolis, 68 N L. R B. 580 , Matter of Southern California Edison Company,
Inc, 63 N. L R. B. 756.
12 Matter of The Murray, Ohio Manufacturing Company, 61 N. L R. B. 47, 58 ; Matter of
Spicer Manufacturing Corporation , 55 N. L. R. B. 1491, 1496 ; Matter of Union Switch and
'Signal Company, 63 N. L. R. B. 974, 980.
556 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Inasmuch as there is no question concerning the majority status
of the Petitioner with respect to the Employer's non-supervisory per-
sonnel, and in view of our finding that neither the Service Engineers
I and II, nor the PBX Instructors are managerial employees, we shall
dismiss the petition with respect to these employees.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Northwestern Bell Telephone
Company, Omaha, Nebraska, 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 Eighteenth Region, and subject to Sections
203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regu-
lations-Series 5, among the employees -in the voting group described
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 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 ex-
cluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement,
to determine whether or not they desire to be repre$ented by Com-
munications Workers of America, Division No. 45, for the purposes
of collective bargaining.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition herein be, and it hereby is,
dismissed insofar as it relates to Service Engineers I and II, and
PBX Instructors.