Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 2, 1943

47 N.L.R.B. 264 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter Of PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC Co. and INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL W ORKERS
Case No. R-41.771.-Decided February 2, 1943 -
Jurisdiction : electric and gas utility industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re-
fusal to recognize on the ground that the unit sought was inappropriate; elec-
tioi necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all shopmen and track maintenance
employees in connection with the street railway and motor coach operations
of one division of Company.
Mr. T. J. Straub, Miss Anne McDonald, and Mr. J. Paul St. Sure,
all of San Francisco, Calif., for the Company.
Mr. George A. Mulkey, cf San Francisco , Calif.,, for the IBEW.
Mr. David V . Easton , of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers, herein called the IBEW, alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation'of employees of
Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Sacramento Division, San Francisco,
California, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations
Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before
LeRoy Marceau, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at San
Francisco, California', on January 13, 1942. The Company and the
IBEW appeared,' participated, and 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 hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
1 Both Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees
of America, Division No. 256, herein called the Amalgamated, and Utility Workers Organiz-
ing Committee were given due notice of this proceeding, but neither appeared, the former
having waived its rights to represent the employees in the unit 'requested by the IBE`V
by letter addressed to the Board, dated December 3, 1942, and introduced in evidence.
47 N. L. R. B., No. 24.
264
PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC CO. 265
-Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is a public utility corporation organized
under the laws of California, and has its principal office and place of
business in San Francisco. It is engaged principally in the business of
(a) generating, buying, transmitting, selling, and distributing. elec-
tric energy, (b) buying, transporting, selling, and' distributing nat-
ural gas, (c) manufacturing, transporting, selling, and, distributing
manufactured gas, (d) selling at retail, gas and' electric appliances,
(e) distributing and. selling water for domestic and irrigation pur
poses, (f) producing and selling steam in San Francisco and Oakland,
California, and (g) operating a streetcar and bus system in Sacra-
mento, California. We are concerned, 'iii the instant proceeding, with
the Company's operation of the streetcar and bus system, which is part
of the Sacramento Division of the Company. Lighthouses and aids
to, navigation along the coast' of California are operated by electricity
furnished by the Company. Railroads, telegraph and telephone sys-
tems in the California area are dependent upon the Company for elec-
tric power which is indispensable to their respective operations. In
1936 the Company purchased raw materials, valued at nearly $2,000,-
000, for its various operations, all of which were manufactured at or'
originated from points outside the State of California. We find that
the Company is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.2
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is a labor or-
ganization, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, ad-
mitting to membership employees of the.Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company refuses to recognize the IBEW as exclusive bargain-
ing representative for employees engaged in the Company's street
railway and motor coach operations in its Sacramento Division, on the
ground that the unit sought by the IBEW is not appropriate.
A statement of the Field Examiner, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the IBEW represents a substantial number of
the employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.
2 Juiisdiction of the Boaid over the company has been established in several cases here-
tofore See N L R B. v. Pacific Gas and Electric Company, 118 F. (2d) 780 (C C A 9).
3 The Field Examiner reported that the I1''EW submitted a list which it alleged, con-
tained the names of individuals employed by the Company who are members of the IBEW.
Said list was submitted over the signature of the International Repiesentative of the
236 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The IBEW contends that a unit comprised of employees of the Com-
pany in its streetcar and bus operations in the Sacramento Division
engaged in shop and track maintenance work, but excluding super-
visory and clerical employees, is appropriate. The Company contends
that all employees engaged in its streetcar and bus operations in its
Sacramento Division, including streetcar operators, car and coach re-
pairmen and cleaners, motor coach drivers, and track employees, ex-
cluding clerical and supervisory employees, constitute the appropriate
unit. The Company bases its contention upon the ground that the
Board had previously found the larger unit to be appropriate in a
prior proceeding.4
The contracts between the Company and the Amalgamated, the cer-
tified representative of that unit, have between 1938 and 1942 included
the employees now sought by the IBEW. However, on September 18,
1942, the Company and the Amalgamated executed a new contract
expiring July 1, 1943, which, although it recited that the Company
recognized the Amalgamated as the sole bargaining agency for the
entire unit, as heretofore certified, provided that it should apply "only
to street car operators and motor coach drivers." It further provided
that the `-Company may in its' discretion fix the terms of employ-
ment . . of tiny employees" who are within the classifications the
IBEW now seeks to represent. At the hearing the IBEW introduced
into evidence a letter addressed to the Board, dated December 3, 1942,
wherein the Amalgamated relinquished any claim it may have had to
represent the employees in the unit sought by the IBEW.
In view of the above circumstances, while the employees in the,
unit requested by the IBEW have in the past been part of a larger
bargaining unit, we are of the opinion and find that all shopmen and'
track maintenance employees 5 of the Company employed in connec-
tion with its street railway and motor coach operations at Sacra-
mento, California, excluding supervisory and clerical employees, con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
IBEW It contained 69 names, of which 33 are the names of persons appealing on the
pay roll of the Company of December 1942, winch contained approximately 56 names
within the unit claimed by the IBEW as appropriate
4 This unit was eel tified as appropriate by the Board on February 15, 1938 . See Matter
of Pacific Gas and Electric Company and United Electrical and Radio lVoml eis of Amneraca,
5 N. L R B 310
Designated in the contract of September 18, 1942 , as "car and coach repairmen and
cleaners , . . . and track employees . .
PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC CO. 267
V. THE 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
o, 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 Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Pacific Gas. and
Electric Co., Sacramento Division, Sacramento, California, 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 direc-
tion and supervision of the Regional Director for the Twentieth
Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations
Board, and subject to Article III, Section 10, of said Rules and Regula-
tions, 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, including any such employees
who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill
or on vacation 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, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented
by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
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