Rocky Mountain Pipe Line Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 29, 1948

79 N.L.R.B. 1119 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of ROCKY MOUNTAIN PIPE LINE COMPANY, CONTINENTAL
PIPE LINE COMPANY, AND CONTINENTAL OIL COMPANY, EMPLOYER
and OIL WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, CIO, PETITIONER
In the Matter Of CONTINENTAL OIL COMPANY, EMPLOYER and OIL
WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, CIO, PETITIONER
Cases Nos. 30-RC-24 and 30-RC-49, respectively. Decided Septem-
ber 29, 1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing was held before
a hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hear-
ing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial
error and are hereby affirmed.
The Employer's motion to dismiss the petitions on the ground that
the units are inappropriate, is hereby denied for the reasons stated
in paragraph 4, infra.
At the hearing, the Petitioner moved that the Board direct a sup-
plemental hearing in order to obtain evidence of the inclusion of
certain disputed categories of employees in bargaining units in other
pipe-line companies. We think the record is sufficiently detailed and
clear without such additional hearing. Accordingly, the motion is
hereby denied.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 '(b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members. *
Upon the entire record in this case the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organization named below claims to represent employ-
ees of the Employer.
* Chairman Herzog and Members ' Murdock and Gray.
79 N. L. R. B., No. 147.
1119
1120 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 :
In Case No. 30-RC-24, the Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all
pipe-line employees employed by (a) Continental Pipe Line Company
at stations between Lance Creek, Glenrock, and Big Muddy Field,
Wyoming; (b) Rocky Mountain Pipe Line Company at stations be-
tween Denver, Colorado, and Lance Creek, Wyoming; and (c) Conti-
nental Oil Company pipe-line division at the Glenrock Tank Farm, and
Big Muddy Field, Wyoming; excluding all guards, professional em-
ployees, and supervisors.
In Case No. 30-RC-49, the Petitioner seeks a unit composed of al]
operative and maintenance employees of Continental Oil Company's
Natural Gasoline and Gas Plant at Lance Creek, Wyoming, exclud-
ing clerical and plant-protection employees, and supervisors.
The Employer contends that (1) • the employees in the Continental
Oil Company's pipe-line division should be excluded from any unit or
units; and (2) the remaining employees in both cases sought to be in-
eluded in two separate units should be combined in a single unit. It
argues that because a single unit, which did not include the employees
of Continental Oil pipe-line division, was agreed upon in a consent elec-
tion held in 1944, the Petitioner is now precluded from seeking any
different unit. We find no merit in this contention in view of the
fact that the 1944 election did not result either in a certification or
in any bargaining history.'
Subject to the Board's disposition of the preceding point, the
Employer agreed with the Petitioner that all pipe-line employees
of the three companies in question, with the exceptions discussed be-
low, are eligible for inclusion in any bargaining units set up by the
Board.
Rocky Mountain Pipe Line Company and Continental Pipe Line
Company are subsidiaries of Continental Oil Company. They, like
the pipe-line division of the parent corporation, operate pipe lines in
Wyoming and Colorado for the transportation of petroleum products.
The pipe-line employees of all three companies have the same wages,
hours, and working conditions. Most of the employees are inter-
changeable. They are under the supervision of the same top per-
sonnel.
'Matter of The Hartford Courant Company, 72 N. L. R B. 292; Matter of Sampsel
Time Control, Inc., 74 N. L. R. B. 611.
4
ROCKY MOUNTAIN PIPE LINE COMPANY 1121
Continental Oil Company 's Natural Gasoline and Gas Plant is
located at Lance Creek, Wyoming, where both Rocky Mountain Pipe
Line and - Continental Pipe Line have stations . But it receives no
oil or gas from any of the three pipe-line companies . There is no
interchange of employees between the gas plant and the pipe-line
companies . The gas plant is under the supervision of the Natural
Gasoline and Gas division of the Continental Oil Company, quite
separate from the pipe-line division , although they are both under
the ultimate supervision of the vice president in charge of production
of the Continental Oil Company . Labor policies are determined
upon a Continental Oil system basis, but while wages , hours, and
other conditions of labor in each division are considered in general
relation to each other and to the conditions prevailing in the industry,
at large, they are determined separately.
In view of the foregoing facts, we find two separate units, as sought
in the petitions , appropriate.
In Case No . 30-RC-24 , the parties disagree with respect to unit
placement of chief engineers , engineers -in-charge , chief R cC D gaugers,
connection foremen , district mechanics , troublemen, and district
gaugers. The Petitioner would include and the Employer exclude
these' employees . The record discloses that chief engineers , engineers-
in-charge , chief R d D gaugers , and connection foremen are all super-
visors as defined in, the Act. Although for the most part they work
a shift alone and do the same work as that done by the employees on
other shifts , they are in, charge of those employees and have the power
to hire and discharge , or effectively to recommend , hiring and dis-
charging . Accordingly , we shall exclude them from the unit.
There are two district mechanics who keep all the machinery on
the lines in good working order. Each works alone and has no helpers
permanently assigned to him. If he needs help, members of either a
station crew or a connection gang are sent to him, and only in case
of necessity would he hire employees . Neither of the district mechanics
has ever hired or fired helpers. In the light of these facts , we find that
district mechanics are not supervisors . Accordingly we shall include
them in the unit.
There are two troublemen who maintain and repair the telephone
and telegraph lines and equipment . Normally, they work alone, but
when necessary , assistance is given them from the connection gang.
They may hire additional help for the duration of a special job, and
both troublemen have on occasion done so. In view of the fact that the
troublemen act only irregularly as supervisors , we find that they are
not supervisors within the meaning, of the statute : Accordingly, we
shall include them in the unit. 1
1122 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
There are four district gaugers who sample and test crude oil, and
decide whether to accept or reject oil as pipe-line oil. These district
gaugers do not supervise any employees.2 We find, contrary to the
Employer's contention, that the district gaugers are not supervisors.
Accordingly, we shall include them in the unit.
In Case No. 30-RC-49 (Continental Oil Company only) the parties
disagree with respect to unit placement of the Meld foreman, mainte-
nance foreman, plant loading foreman, Manville Loading Terminal
foreman, compressor station foreman, field measurement foreman, and
the warehouse clerk. The Petitioner desires to include, and the Em-
ployer to exclude, these classifications. With the exception of the
plant loading foreman and the warehouse clerk, the persons in these
classifications supervise the work of others and have the power effec-
tively to recommend the hiring and discharging of employees. We
find that they are supervisors as defined in the Act. Accordingly, we
shall exclude them from the unit.
The loading foreman in the plant works alone. He is not a super-
visor. We shall include him in the unit.
The warehouse clerk likewise has no supervisory duties. He devotes
half his time to handling material and to maintenance of the ware-
house, and half • to clerical duties in which he makes reports of all
material coming into and going out of the warehouse. His work is
closely related to the plant production processes. Accordingly, we
shall include him in the unit.
• We find that the following units, excluding from each unit
guards, professional employees, and supervisors as defined in the
Act, are appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within
the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act :
(1) All pipe-line employees employed by (a) Continental Pipe
Line Company at stations between Lance Creek, Glenrock, and Big
Muddy Field, Wyoming; (b) Rocky Mountain Pipe Line Company
at stations between Denver, Colorado, and Lance Creek, Wyoming;
and (c) Continental Oil Company pipe-line division at the Glenrock
Tank Farm, and Big Muddy Field, Wyoming; including district
mechanics, troublemen, and district gaugers, but excluding chief engi-
neers, engineers-in-charge, chief R & D gaugers, and connection
foremen;
- (2) All operative and maintenance employees of Continental Oil
Company's Natural Gasoline and Gas Plant at Lance Creek, Wyo-
ming, including the loading foreman in the plant, and the warehouse
2 One of the district gaugers has a part-time assistant who works 1 day a week as
assistant district gauger. We find that the district gauger's supervisory duties are not
sufficiently great to constitute him a supervisor as defined in the Act.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN PIPE LINE COMPANY 1123
clerk, but excluding the field foreman, maintenance foreman, Manville
Loading Terminal foreman, compressor station foreman, and field
measurement foreman.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
As part of the investigation to ascertain respresentatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, elections by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and sup-
ervision of the Regional Director for the Seventeenth Region, and sub-
ject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board
Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among the employees
in the units found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who'
were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the
date of this Direction of Elections, including employees who did not
work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation
or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented, for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining, by Oil Workers International Union, CIO.