Pacific Tankers, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 30, 1949

84 N.L.R.B. 965 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter Of PACIFIC TANKERS, INC., EMPLOYER and RADIO
OFFICERS' UNION, MARINE DIVISION, COMMERCIAL TELEGRAPHERS
UNION, AFL, PETITIONER
Case No. 21-RC-503
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION
ORDER
AND
DIRECTION
June 30) 1949
On January 26, 1949, the Board issued a Decision and Direction of
Election in the above-named case among all radio officers employed
on ocean-going tankers operated by the Employer. Orders amending
this Decision and Direction of Election were issued on February 15,
1949, and on March 4, 1949. Thereafter, on March 8, 1949, the Em-
ployer became a subsidiary of the United States Petroleum Carriers,
Inc., which corporation, in this transaction, acquired to operate on
the east coast 2 of the 19 ocean-going tankers formerly operated by
the Employer, and the Employer, as Pacific Tankers Division of J oshila
Hendy Corporation, continued to operate the remaining 17 ocean-
going tankers on the west coast.' On May 5, 1949, the Board issued
a- Notice to Show Cause on or before May 20, 1949, why it should
not further amend the said Decision and Direction of Election to
substitute "Pacific Tankers Divison of Joshua Hendy Corporation"
for "Pacific Tankers, Inc.," as the Employer in this proceeding; why
radio officers employed on the 2 ocean-going tankers now operated
by the United States Petroleum Carriers, Inc., should not be excluded
from the unit of employees found by the Board to be appropriate in
this proceeding; and why the unit should not be ,amended to include
only radio officers employed on ocean-going tankers operated by the
,Employer, Pacific Tankers Division of Joshua Hendy Corporation.
i All ballots cast in the election held pursuant to the Direction were impounded , pending
a determination by the Board of the effect of this development upon the election.
84 N. L. R. B., No. 108.
965
966 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Employer notified the Board that it would accept the findings
of the election and upon notification would negotiate with the Union
certified as the representative of this unit of employees.' The Peti-
tioner urges that the relief proposed by the Order to Show Cause
be granted because the situation involves. a mere change in nomen-
clature and such amendments would be in complete conformity with
the policies of the Board and the purposes of the Act. The Intervenor,
on the other hand, opposes this action, urging that the Board set
aside its Decision and Direction, dismiss the petition and require the
filing and processing of new petitions,3 upon the ground that the
proposed action will not best effectuate the purposes of the Act. In
support of this contention, the Intervenor asserts that the 2 radio
operators on the 2 vessels transferred to the parent corporation will
be disenfranchised; that the radio officers who voted in the election
will not be provided with a free choice in their designation of a bar-
gaining representative as they will be on vessels taken over by 2 sepa-
rate corporations; and that the ballots cast by employees on these
vessels during the election period will not reflect the desires of the
employees who will be -operating on these, vessels; because the base
of the fleet of 17 vessels will be in northern California, a distance of
approximately 500 miles from where the vessels were formerly based
in southern California; and that different employees from the new
base area will have,to be recruited. In' a supplemental memorandum
filed by the Intervenor on June 9, 1949, it purports to offer new facts
and additional reasons for its position, allegingthat 17 of the tankers
originally operated by Pacific Tankers, Inc., were in fact owned by
the U. S. Navy; that all assets of Pacific Tankers, Inc., were sold
to United States Petroleum Carriers, Inc. ; that only the agency operat-
ing functions of Pacific Tankers, Inc., were' transferred to Joshua
Hendy Corporation; and that the 17 tankers now operated by Pacific
Tankers Division of Joshua Hendy Corporation remain the property
of the U. S. Navy.
There is no evidence that the corporate change which took place
has materially changed the nature of the unit or of the employees
involved.' The Board has in the past specifically construed a Direction
of Election to provide for elections among workers of successor
assignee 'companies about to undertake the operations of companies
•whose employees had•been 4 included in appropriate units; where no
essential attribute of the, employment relationship is.changed by the
2 The Employer made no reply to the Order to Show Cause, but expressed this position
in its original letter to the Board dated March 8, 1949, in which it advised the Board of
the corporate changes that had taken place.
8 For the reasons hereinafter stated these motions are hereby denied.
4 See Matter of Alaska Salmon Industry, Inc., 61 N. L. R. B. 1508.
PACIFIC TANKERS, INC. 967
sale of the business.5 The Board has further found that the mere
decrease in the size of a unit does not make inappropriate a unit pre-
viously found appropriate by the Boards The Intervenor has failed
to prove or even to allege that the moving of the fleet base has resulted
in a change of personnel; nor does it show how it, or any of the parties,
might be prejudiced by such an occurrence. It appears, therefore, that
this contention is based merely on a speculation that such changes
might occur. The Board has found that a considerable turn-over
among shipping employees after a Decision and Direction does not
impair the representative nature of the balloting; for to void an elec-
tion in the shipping industry because of a substantial change in con-
stituency of the unit, occurring during or after balloting but before
.the certification of results, would be tantamount to holding that bene-
fits of the Act would no longer be available to employees in the ship-
ping industry.' The additional information contained in the Inter-
venor's Supplemental Memorandums does not affect the appropriate-
ness of the proposed amendments as the scope of an appropriate unit
for a single homogeneous group of employees is not determined, per
se, by the character of the Employer's title to its vessels.9
We have considered all matters filed in response to the Order to
.Show Cause, and upon the basis of the entire record we find that no
sufficient cause has been shown why the proposed amendments should
not be issued. Accordingly, we shall amend the Decision and Direc-
tion of Election to reflect the change in name of the Employer. As
the eligibility of an employee to vote is determined by the status of
the employee at the time of the election 10 and as the corporate change
took place after the election eligibility date, we shall direct that all
unchallenged ballots be opened and counted, including any ballots
cast by employees attached to the two vessels which have since been
transferred to United States Petroleum Carriers, Inc., although such
employees are now excluded from the unit.
' Matter of Stonewall Cotton Mills , 80 N. L. R. B. 325.
0 Matter of The Lock Nut Corporation of America, 77 N L. R. B. 600.
7 Matter of Cities Service Oil Co., of Pennsylvania, 77 N. L. R. B. 835, and 80 N. L.
R. B. 1512.
1 Without determining the timeliness of this Supplemental Memorandum, we have
given full consideration to the allegations contained therein and find that they do not
present any meritorious issues.
R See 'Matter of Ore Steamship Corporation, 59 N. L R. B 1216. The fact that an
agency of the U. S. Government is the owner of the property which the Employer
operates does not alter the jurisdiction of the Board or the applicability of the Act.
See Matter of Reynolds Corporation, 74 N L. R. B. 1622, Matter of Carbide and Car-
bon Chemical Corporation, 73 N. L. R. B. 134; Matter of Ford Collieries Company,
73 N L. R B. 400.
10 See Matter of Grede Foundries , Inc., 76 N. L. It. B. 1246. Anticipated reduction
in personnel or possibility of discharge will not alter the propriety of the usual
voting eligibility date. Matter of California State Brewers Institute, 72 N. L. It. B.
665; Matter of Fraser-Brace Engineering Co., Inc., 48 N . L. It. B. 1052.
968 DECISIONS OF 'NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Decision and Direction of Election
issued on January 26, 1949, as amended, be further amended by sub-
stituting the name "Pacific Tankers Division of Joshua Hendy Cor-
poration" in place of "Pacific Tankers, Inc.," wherever such name
appears in said Decision and Direction of Election.
DIRECTION
IT IS HEREBY DIRECTED that the Regional Director for the Twenty-
first Region shall, within 10 days of this Direction, open and count
the unchallenged ballots cast in the election held in this proceeding
and thereafter prepare and serve upon the parties to this proceeding
a Tally of Ballots.
CHAIRMAN HERzOa and MEMBER HOUSTON took no part in the con-
sideration of the above Supplemental Decision, Order, and Direction.