Public Service Co. of Colorado

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 29, 1946

66 N.L.R.B. 1403 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY or COLORADO and
INTERNATIONAL BROTIIERIuOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, A. F. Or L.
Case No. 17-R-1223.-Decided March 29, 1946
Lee, Shaw & MeCreery, by Messrs. Paul W. Lee and Charles J.
Kelly, both of Denver, Colo., for the Company.
Messrs. A. L. Smith and F. L. Parks, both of Denver, Colo., for
the I. B. E. W.
Messrs. Paul C. Hansen and H. B. Herbolshimer, both of Denver,
Colo., for the Engineers.
Messrs. Michael J. MacDonough and Fred Donner, both of Denver,
Colo., and Mr. E. B. Fitzgerald, of Washington, D. C., for the
Plumbers.
Messrs. George Voyzey and John Lloyd, both of Denver, Colo.,
for the Hod Carriers.
Mr. Jerome J. Dick, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Brotherhood of Elec-
trical Workers, A. F. of L., herein called the I. B. E. W., alleb ngv
that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Public Service Company of Colorado,
Denver, Colorado, herein called the Company, the National Labor
Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due
notice before Elmer L. Hunt, Trial Examiner. The hearing was
held at Denver, Colorado, on December 19, 1945. At the hearing,
the Trial Examiner granted the motions of International Union of
Operating Engineers, Local No. 1, A. F. L., herein called the Engi-
neers; United Association of Journeymen Plumbers and Steamfitters
of the United States and Canada, Locals Nos. 3 and 8, A. F. of L.,
herein called the Plumbers; and International Hod Carriers, Builders
and Common Laborers Union of America, Local No, 720, A. F. of L.,
66 N. L . R. B., No. 172.
1403
1404 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
herein called the Hod Carriers ; to intervene in the proceeding. The
Company, the I. B. E. W ., the Engineers , the Plumbers , and the
Hod Carriers appeared and participated. All parties were afforded
full opportunity to be heard , to examine and cross -examine witnesses,
and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Exami-
ner'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.
Upon the entire record in the case , the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF TILE COMPANY
Public Service Company of Colorado. a public utility corporation
organized under the laws of the State of Colorado , has its principal
office and place of business in Denver , Colorado . The State has
been divided into 10 districts for the purpose of administration and
the Denver district is the only district involved in this proceeding.
The Company is engaged in the production , distribution , and sale
of electrical energy. During the year 1945, the Company produced
electrical energy in excess of 735,000,000 kilowatt-hours. The Com-
pany also distributes natural gas, purchasing 90 percent of its gas
requirements from the Colorado-Wyoming Gas Company, a wholly
owned subsidiary, which brings gas by its own pipe lines from the
State of Texas to the Company in Colorado. The Company manu-
factures the remaining 10 percent it distributes . The Company
owns all the common stock of the Colorado-Wyoming Gas Company,
which owns pipe lines running from Colorado to Wyoming and sells
gas at wholesale in both States . The subsidiary also sells gas to
the Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Gas Company of Cheyenne, Wyoming,
another wholly owned subsidiary of the Company . The Company
also owns the Crown Tar Works located in the city of Denver, which,
during the year 1945 , produced paints and roofing materials valued
in excess of $100,000 ; approximately 25 percent of these products
was shipped to points outside the State of Colorado.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is it labor organ-
ization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor , admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF COLORADO 1405
International Union of Operating Engineers, Local No. 1, is a
labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,
admitting to membership employees of the Company.
United Association of Journeymen Plumbers and Steamfitters of
the United States and Canada, Locals Nos. 3 and 8, is a labor organ-
ization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
International Hod Carriers, Builders and Common Laborers Union
of America, Local No. 720, is a labor organization affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees
of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the I. B. E. W.
as the exclusive bargaining representative of certain of its employees
until the I. B. E. W. has been certified by the Board in an appropriate
unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the I. B. E. W. represents a substantial
number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.'
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 I. B. E. W. contends that the appropriate unit should consist
of all production, operating, and maintenance employees in the
electrical and gas operating departments of the Denver district,
excluding the accounting and commercial departments, part-time
employees doing miscellaneous work, and all supervisory employees.
The Company is in accord with the I. B. E. W., except that it would
include the warehousemen and appliance service men of the accounting
and commercial departments.
The Engineers, however, seeks a unit composed of the employees
1 The Field Examiner reported that the I . B. E. W. submitted 150 cards bearing the
names of employees listed on the Company 's pay roll of September 1945, and that the
cards are dated from April 1, 1944, up to and including November 15, 1945. The
I B. E. W submitted to the Trial Examiner 49 additional authorization cards of employees
listed on the company pay roll of December 19, 1945 There are approximately 495
employees in the unit sought by the I. B E. W.
The Engineers submitted 3 cards bearing names of employees listed on the Company's
pay roll in the Engineers ' claimed appropriate unit of 46 employees
The Plumbers submitted 10 cards bearing names of employees listed on the Company's
pay roll in the Plumbers ' claimed appropriate unit of 120 employees.
The Hod Carriers submitted no cards evidencing representation among the 125
employees in whom it is interested.
1406 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
in the Lacombe Electric Generating Plant and all gas holder
operators, while the Plumbers demands a unit composed of employees
of the gas meter department and the gas fitting department, and 1
man classified as a steam fitter in the Lacombe Electric Generating
Plant. Finally, the Hod Carriers asks for the exclusion of 97 utility
men located in the gas street department, 15 warehousemen and 12
men in the service station department.2 These 3 labor organizations
seek to carve up the unit sought by the I. B. E. W.
The Company is a highly integrated public utility which formu-
lates all general administrative policies at its general office in Denver.
It divides its operations into 10 geographic districts in order that
matters of local concern may be more efficiently administered.
Throughout these districts, it operates a number of steam power
and hydro-electric power plants, and its lines and equipment are
spread over a large portion of the State of Colorado, extending in
4 directions from its principal office in Denver. Seven of the
districts, including the Denver district, form a "central system,"
which functions as a pool of electrical energy into which 90 percent
of the power generated and distributed by the Company flows. The
remaining 3 districts have power plants functioning independently
of the "central system."
There has been no bargaining history at the Denver district. How-
ever, employees of 8 of the Company's 10 districts are separately
represented by the I. B. E. W. on the basis of production and mainte-
nance units. As indicated in Section III, above, the Engineers and
the Plumbers have presented but little evidence of representation
among the employees they seek to represent, and the Hod Carriers
has furnished no evidence of representation among the employees in
whom it is interested. Considering all the foregoing facts, we find
that the unit generally sought by the I. B. E. W. is appropriate.
There remains for consideration the disposition of the warehouse-
men and appliance service men.
There are 16 warehousemen employed in the Denver district, and
they are considered by the Company as employees of the accounting
department, solely as a matter of administrative expediency. They
mainly perform manual labor and their duties consist of unloading
supplies and materials from freight cars and trucks, and storing
these supplies in a storage building. Their working conditions,
rates of pay, hours, vacations, and sick leave are similar to those of
production employees, and they have been included in the production
and maintenance units of the other districts represented by the
I. B. E. W. Accordingly, we shall include the warehousemen.
2 The Hod Carriers indicated that it did not desire to participate in any election the
Board might direct among the employees in whom it evinced an interest.
PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF COLORADO 1407
The appliance service men are regarded by the Company as em-
ployees of the commercial department as a matter of administrative
expediency. They service electrical and gas appliances in customers'
homes and in the Company's machine shop. Their working condi-
tions, rates of pay, hours, vacation, and sick leave are similar to those
of production employees. Like the warehousemen, they are included
in the production and maintenance units in the other districts repre-
sented by the I. B. E. W. Accordingly, the appliance service men
will also be included.
We find that all production, operating, and maintenance employees
in the electrical and gas operating departments of the Company's
Denver district, including all warehousemen and appliance service-
men of the accounting and commercial departments, but excluding
all other employees in the accounting and commercial departments,
part-time employees doing miscellaneous work, 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 pur-
poses 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 employees
in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election
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 Re-
lations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended.
it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Public Service
Company of Colorado, Denver, Colorado, 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 super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Seventeenth 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
1408 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Regulations, among 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 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 International Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers, A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
Ch AIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.