Public Service Co. of New Mexico

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 27, 1964

145 N.L.R.B. 1265 (N.L.R.B. 1964)

PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF NEW MEXICO 1265
to hire or tenure of employment against any employee because of membership
in, or activity on behalf of, any labor organization.
GENE HYDE D/B/A HYDE'S SUPER MARKET,
Employer.
Dated------------------- By-------------------------------------------
(Representative ) ( Title)
This notice must remain posted for 60 consecutive days from the date of posting,
and must not be altered , defaced, or covered by any other material.
Employees may communicate directly with the Board 's Subregional Office, 612
Lincoln Building , 208 SW. Fifth Avenue, Portland , Oregon , Telephone No. Capitol
2-1607, if they have any questions concerning this notice or compliance with its
provisions.
Public Service Company of New Mexico and Chauffeurs, Team-
sters and Helpers , Local 492 of the International Brotherhood
of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of
America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Work-
ers, Local Union 611, AFL-CIO, Petitioners . Cases Nos. 28-RC-
1101 and 28-RC-1111. January 27, 1964
DECISION, ORDER, AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9(c) of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before
Hearing Officer William B. Dickinson. 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 Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with these cases to a three-
melnber panel [Members Leedom, Fanning, and Brown].
Upon the entire record in these cases, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section
9(c) (1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate unit :
The Employer is a public utility company engaged in the transmis-
sion, distribution, and sale of electric power throughout the State of
New Mexico. It is composed of five major divisions, which are located
in Albuquerque, Belen, Deming, Las Vegas, and Santa Fe, New Mex-
ico, and services approximately 100,000 consumers.
145 NLRB No. 131.
734-070-64-vol. 145-81
1266 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Petitioners in both these cases have requested units of the Em-
ployer's currently unrepresented warehouse employees. In Case No.
28-RC-1101, the Teamsters petitioned for a unit of all warehousemen
employed in the Employer's Albuquerque division, excluding all other
employees. In Case No. 28-RC-1111, the IBEW, which has since 1946
represented production and maintenance employees of the Employer
on a systemwide basis, seeks to add to the existing unit all the ware-
housemen located throughout the Employer's system. As an alterna-
tive, both the Teamsters and IBEW wish to appear on the ballot in any
unit the Board finds to be appropriate. The Employer contends that
both of the requested units are inappropriate and that the petitions
should therefore be dismissed, because in neither case does the unit
conform to any major subdivision or administrative division of the
Company. In essence, the Employer's objection to the proposed units
is based upon its contention that neither unit would include the em-
ployees who in addition to warehousemen make up the Employer's
office management department.
The record shows that the Employer has only five employees who
are classified as warehousemen, four of whom are employed at the
Albuquerque division and one at the Santa Fe division. In addition,
however, there 'are eight other employees located throughout the system
who perform warehousing duties. In this category are a storekeeper
and division store clerk at the Albuquerque division; ' a part-time
accounting clerk and a junior staker estimator at the Belen division;
a customer accounting clerk and a part-time staker estimator at the
Deming division; a storekeeper at the Las Vegas division; and a store-
keeper at the Santa Fe division. 2 These warehouse employees are
employed in the materials and supplies section which in turn is a part
of the Employer's office management department. Although the ware-
house employees are under the technical supervision of the office man-
ager at each of the locations, there is no evidence that they share any
community of interest with other employees in the office management
department. On the other hand, the record does establish that the
warehouse employees, unlike other employees in the office management
1 The Employer contends that both petitions are defective because they would not in-
clude the classification of storeroom attendant at the Albuquerque division . However, as
the record discloses that there are no employees presently employed in this classification,
we find this contention to be without merit.
2 The junior staker estimator at Belen and the part -time staker estimator at Deming
are employed in the engineering section at the respective locations . However, they also
perform warehousing duties on a regular part -time basis , spending at least 50 percent of
their time in such a capacity. Accordingly , we shall include them in the voting group
hereinafter established. See Berea Publishing Company, 140 NLRB 516
Although Member Leedom dissented in Berea insofar as that case reversed Denver-
Colorado Springs-Pueblo Motor Way , 129 NLRB 1184 , he nevertheless agrees with his
colleagues as to the unit placement of these two individuals herein. In his view, Berea is
inapplicable to situations where , as here , the employees involved spend exactly half their
working time at jobs performed by others in the unit and the other half at jobs outside
the unit.
PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF NEW MEXICO 1267
department, perform physical work in close conjunction with other
production and maintenance employees such as journeymen linemen,
who are represented by the IBEW. Moreover, the warehousemen ap-
pear to be the only unrepresented employees whose duties are physical
in nature. Under these circumstances, we find that a unit of warehouse
employees may be appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining.'
While we have found that the warehouse employees may constitute
an appropriate unit, there remains for consideration the question of
whether an election should be directed among such employees in the
Albuquerque division alone, as requested by the Teamsters, or among
those in the overall system, as requested by the IBEW. The record
shows that all 'labor relations and personnel policies are centrally con-
trolled and uniformly applied through the system. All wages, hours
of work, and other conditions of employment are uniform through-
out the system. In the light of these facts, and the evidence that other
employees of the Employer are represented on a systemwide basis, we
find a systemwide grouping of warehouse employees appropriate for
purposes of collective bargaining. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the
petition in Case No. 28-RC-1101, and direct that a self-determination
election be conducted among the employees in the following voting
group:,
All warehouse employees, including the storekeeper and division
store clerk at Albuquerque; the part-time accounting clerk and junior
staker estimator at Belen; the customer accounting clerk and part-
time staker estimator at Deming; the storekeeper at Las Vegas; and
the storekeeper at Santa Fe employed at the Employer's establish-
ments located in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Belen, Deming, and Las
Vegas, New Mexico, but excluding all other employees, guards, watch-
men, and all supervisors as defined in the Act.'
5. If a majority of the employees in the voting group vote for
IBEW, they will be taken to have expressed their desire to become
part of IBEW's present systemwide unit of production and mainte-
nance employees, and IBEW may bargain for them as part of such
unit. If a majority of the employees in the voting group vote for
Teamsters, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to con-
stitute a separate appropriate unit, and the Regional Director is in-
structed to issue a certification of representatives for Teamsters for
such unit, which the Board under the circumstances finds appropriate
3 Cf. Equitable Gas Company, 111 NLRB 453.
4 ,Cf. The Houston Corporation, 124 NLRB 810.
6 The Teamsters would exclude the storekeepers at Albuquerque and Santa Fe on the
ground that they are supervisors . Neither the IBEW nor the Employer takes a position
on this question . Because we find the present record insufficient to make a determination
as to the supervisory status of these individuals , we shall allow them to vote subject to
challenge.
1268 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
for the purposes of collective bargaining. If a majority of the em-
ployees in the voting group vote for neither , they will be deemed to
have expressed their desire to remain unrepresented.
[The Board dismissed the petition in Case No. 28-RC-1101.]
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
Photype, Inc., Petitioner and Detroit Typographical Union No.
18, International Typographical Union, AFL-CIO.' Case No.
7-RM-446. Januai°y 27, 1964.
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, ,a hearing was held before Hearing Officer James R.
McCormick. 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 Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-
member panel [Members Leedom, Fanning, and Jenkins].
Upon the entire record in the case the Board finds:
1. Photype, Inc., the Employer-Petitioner herein, was formed ap-
proximately 7 years ago. At that time, it occupied an addition to the
George Willens & Company plant. George Willens & Company,
herein called Willens, is a typographical establishment, employing
approximately 100 persons. Unlike Willens, which produces tradi-
tional "hot metal" typography, Photype is engaged in a newer method
of typesetting involving pasteup lettering and various photographic
processes. The parties agree that Willens is engaged in interstate
commerce, but the ITU refused to stipulate that Photype was like-
wise engaged in interstate commerce. The record discloses that
Photype sells typesetting and reproduction services to various retail
companies and that during the past year Photype purchased and
received in excess of $50,000 worth of goods and materials which
originated outside the State of Michigan. As described more fully
below Photype's and Willens' operations are integrated in a number
of important respects. Moreover, the record discloses that Harvey
Willens is president, a majority stockholder, and a director of both
Photype and Willens, and that he is also engaged in the active man-
agement of both these integrated companies and handles their labor
'Herein called the ITU.
145 NLRB No. 123.