Phillips Petroleum Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 28, 1943

54 N.L.R.B. 86 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of PHILLIPS PETROLEUM COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS, LOCAL 351
Case No. 16-R-732.-Decided December 28, 1913
Mr. E. Waite Clark, of Bartlesville, Okla., for the Company.
Mr. Harry Cochran, of Borger, Tex., for the Union.
Miss Frances Lopinsky, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Union of Operating En-
gineers, Local 351, herein called the Union, alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Phillips Petroleum Company, Borger, Texas, herein called
the Company, the National Labor Relations Board consolidated the
petition herein with another petition filed by the Union covering other
employees of the Company,' and provided for an appropriate hear-
ing upon due notice before Robert F. Proctor, Trial Examiner. Said
hearing was held at Amarillo, Texas, on November 9, 1943. The Com-
pany and the Union 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. All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs
with the Board. A motion made by the parties to sever the instant
case from Case No. 16-R-719 is hereby granted.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Phillips Petroleum Company, a Delaware corporation, maintains
its principal office at Bartlesville, Oklahoma, with branch plants and
1 Case No. 16-R-719,54 N. L. R. B. 51.
54 N. L . R. B.,-No. 18.
86
PHILLIPS PETROLEUM COMPANY 87
Aces located in various States. This proceeding concerns only the
Company's refinery located at Phillips, Texas, where it is engaged
in the general business of producing, manufacturing, and refining pe-
troleum and related products. The Company receives at its refinery
crude petroleum and natural gasoline from various producing wells
in Texas and New Mexico. The amount of material received in in-
terstate commerce and the amount of refined products shipped by the
Company to points outside the State of Texas is of substantial'quan-
tity in monetary value and volume. The Company admits that it is
engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Re-
lations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 351, is a labor
organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, ad-
mitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to recognize the Union as the exclusive
bargaining representative, of the employees of the Tank Car Divi-
sion of the Transportation Department at its Phillips Plant until
the Union is certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
A statement of the Field Examiner, introduced into evidence at
the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial num-
ber of the Company's employees in the appropriate unit.'
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The parties agree that all non-supervisory employees of the Tank
Car Division of the Transportation Department of the Company's
Phillips Plant constitute an appropriate unit. The only matter in dis-
pute is the inclusion or exclusion of the assistant foreman in the
Division. The Union would exclude this employee on the ground
that his duties are supervisory and clerical. The Company, how-
ever, contends for his inclusion on the ground that he spends seven-
eighths of his working time doing the same work as the men who
are included in the unit and that his clerical duties consist merely of
checking invoices and are insignificant in nature. The assistant fore-
9 The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 11 authorization cards, all of
which bore apparently genuine original signatures ; that 10 of the said signatures corre-
spond with the names of persons whose names are on the Company 's pay roll of September
20, 1943, which contains the names of 14 persons in the appropriate unit.
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88 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
man can neither hire nor discharge employees in the department, and
his recommendations thereon carry no greater weight than those of
other employees. Under the circumstances, it is our opinion that the
assistant foreman is essentially a production employee and that the
supervisory and clerical duties which he performs are not sufficient
in importance or in time spent to warrant his exclusion from the
unit. We find that all employees in the Tank Car Division of the
Transportation Department of the Phillips Petroleum Company
Plant at Phillips, Texas, including the assistant foreman, but ex-
cluding clerical, administrative, and technical employees, and all
supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge,
discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees 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. 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 Elec-
tion 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 Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, it is hereby
DmEcm that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Phillips Petroleum
Company, Phillips, Texas, an election by secret ballot shall be con-
ducted 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 Sixteenth Region, acting in this matter as
agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article
III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, 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 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
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PHILLIPS PETROLEUM COMPANY 89
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,
to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Interna-
tional Union of Operating Engineers, Local 351, affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining.
MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
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