Southern California Gas Company

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 14, 1939

10 N.L.R.B. 1123 (N.L.R.B. 1939)

In the Matter Of SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAS COMPANY and UTILITY
WORKERS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE , LOCAL No. 132
Case No. B-861.-Decided January 14, 1939
Natural Gas Utility Industry-Jurisdiction : effect on interstate commerce-
Investigation of Representatives : controversy concerning representation of em-
I)loyees: rival organizations ; controversy as to appropriate unit ; majority
status disputed by employer-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining:
central division of company ; geographical unit ; extent of organization by rival
labor organizations ; exclusion of minor supervisory and clerical employees ;
exclusive of gang foremen , meter readers, bill deliverers , bill collectors , watch-
men; inclusion of temporary employees-Election Ordered: eligibility of tem-
porary employees limited.
Mr. William R. Walsh and Mr. David L. Sokol, for the Board.
Mr. Leroy M. Edwards and Mr. Thomas J. Reynolds, of Los An-
geles , Calif., for the Company. -
Gallagher, Wirin, and Johnson, by Mr. A. L. Wirin and Mr. Lee
Stanton, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the U. W. O. C.
Mr. Mort L. Clopton, of Los Angeles, Calif., representing Walter
Miller.
Mr. Harvey R. McKee and Mr. Keith Clark, of Los Angeles, Calif.,
for the Gas Workers. -
Mr. David Rein, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On January 6, 1938, Utility Workers Organizing Committee, Local
No. 132,1 herein called the U. W. O. C., filed with the Regional
Director for the Twenty-first Region (Los Angeles, California) a
petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen con-
cerning the representation of employees ,of Southern California Gas
1 The petition as filed set forth the name of the petitioning union as United Electrical
Radio and Machine Workers of America , -Local No. 1414 . The petition was amended at
the hearing to change the designation of the petitioner to Utility Workers Organizing
;Committee , Local No' 132 . The change in character and affiliation of the local which
resulted in this change in name is discussed in Section II below. - -
10 N. -L. R. B., No. 103: - -
1123
1124 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Company, Los Angeles, California, herein called the Company, and
requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pur-
suant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat.
449, herein called the Act. On May 27, 1938, the National Labor
Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section-
9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, ordered
an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it
and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
On May 27, 1938, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were, duly served upon the Company and the
U. W. O. C. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held from June
2 to June 27, 1938, at Los Angeles, California, before George E.
Kennedy, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. On
June 6, 1938, petitions for leave to intervene were filed with the Re-
gional Director by Pacific Gas Workers Union, herein called the Gas,
.Workers, which alleged that it represented employees of the Com-
pany, and by Walter Miller, an individual employee of the Company.
Both petitions were allowed by the Trial Examiner at the hearing.
At the commencement of the hearing the Company appeared
specially and made a motion to dismiss the petition on various juris-
dictional and constitutional grounds. The motion was supported by
an affidavit of A. B. Macbeth, president and general manager of the
Company, containing a statement of facts tending to show that the
Company's business was-carried on wholly within the State of Cali-
fornia. The motion was denied by the Trial Examiner.
The Board, the Company, the U. W. O. C., the Gas Workers, and
Walter Miller were represented by counsel and participated in the
hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-
examine witnesses and to introduce evidence bearing upon the issues
was afforded all parties. At the close of the hearing the Company
renewed its motion to dismiss, on the ground that the evidence ad-
duced in the record failed to support the jurisdiction of the Board.
This motion was also denied by the Trial Examiner.
During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made various
rulings on other motions and on objections to the admission of evi-
dence. The Board has reviewed all the rulings of the Trial Exam-
iner and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The
rulings are hereby affirmed.
On June 30, 1938, the Gas Workers filed with the Board a brief
on the issue of the appropriate unit, and on August 17, 1938, the
Company filed with the Board a brief upon all the issues in the case.
The Board has considered both briefs.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1125
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
A. The operations of the Company
Southern California Gas Company is a public utility corporation,
organized under the laws of California, with its principal office and
place of business in Los Angeles, California. The common stock of
the Company, together with the stock of Southern Counties Gas Co.,
Santa Maria Gas Co., and Industrial Fuel Supply Co., is wholly
owned by a common holding company, Pacific Lighting Corporation.
Of these operating companies, the Company, Southern Counties Gas
Co., and Santa Maria Gas Co. distribute gas to consumers, while In-
dustrial Fuel Supply Co. is engaged only in the transportation and
transmission of gas from the gas fields to other gas companies.
The Company is engaged principally in the business of purchas-
ing, transporting, selling, and distributing natural gas for light, heat,
and power purposes in the central and southern portions of Califor-
nia. It is also engaged to a-very minor extent in manufacturing,
transporting, selling, and distributing manufactured gas.2 It pur-
chases and sells butane for the purposes of light, heat, and power.
As an incident to its principal business of distributing gas the Com-
pany sells gas appliances at retail.
The Company is the chief source of natural gas in the southern
portion of California. In 1937 it either purchased or transported
direct from the gas and oil fields in California some 25 per cent of
the total natural gas produced in the State of California. In addi-
tion, through interconnections between the Company's lines and those
of Industrial Fuel Supply Co. and Southern Fuel Co., the Company
purchased a considerable portion of the 35 per cent of the total nat-
ural gas produced in California and handled by these two companies,
neither of which is itself engaged in the distribution of gas to con-
sumers. The Company has a monopoly in the area served by it,
which includes portions of the counties of Kings, Tulare, Kern, Ven-
tura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside. During 1937, the
-Company served 140 cities, towns, and communities with a population
of 2,897,000:
The Company maintains approximately 8,853 miles of pipe lines
for use in gathering natural gas and for its transmission and distri--
bution. In 1937 it transported for sale 79,196,391 M. C. F.3 of natural
gas, of which 38,086,191 M. C. F. were sold to domestic and commer-
2 A. B. Macbeth , the president and general manager of the Company testified that manu-
factured gas amounted to only 1 per cent of the total gas distributed by the Company.
8 M. C. F. stands for thousand cubic feet , the standard measurement for natural gas.
147841-39-vol 10-72
1126 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
•cial consumers, and 39,344,532 M. C. F. to industrial and gas-engine
consumers. In 1937 the gross revenue of the Company amounted to
$27,144,595.61. Its total capital stock amounts to $52,374,700, and its
total assets to $152,795,679.70. As of December 31, 1937, the Com-
pany had in its employ 4,830 employees.
The chief raw material purchased by the Company is natural gas,
all of which is purchased in the State of California. In addition, its
purchases of raw materials include pipes, meters, regulators, pumps,
compressors, valves, bolts, nuts, repair parts','tools, and similar mate-
rials. Of these raw materials, during' 1937, amounts for the value
of $1,214,822.63 were purchased outside of the State of California.
This was somewhat less than 10 per cent of the total purchases of
raw materials, including natural gas; and, omitting the value of the
natural gas purchased during that year, constituted approximately
one-third of the total of all other raw materials purchased by the
Company. '
B. The Los Angeles Industrial Area
The Los Angeles area , which is entirely dependent upon the Com-
pany for gas, is one of the foremost industrial and commercial cen-
ters in the United States. Los Angeles is the largest city on the
west coast and the fifth largest in the United States. It ranks sixth
or seventh in the United States in the value of water-borne commerce
and second only to New York City in the total tonnage of products
shipped to foreign countries.
The Census of Manufactures for the Los Angeles Industrial Area
for the year 1935 4 shows that almost every type of manufacture is
carried on in the area. In 1935, there were 4,443 manufacturing
establishments with a total value for their products of $1,009,070,552.
These establishments gave employment to 109,469 wage earners and
paid out $130,756,193 in wages for the, year' Among the industries
in the area, the value of whose products was 'over $10,000,000 for the
year 1935, are motion pictures, bread and other bakery products,
canned and cured fish and seafood,' animal 'feed, furniture, ma
chinery, meat packing, petroleum' refining, -printing and publishing,
rubber tires and tubes, steel, and women'and children's clothes. Ac-
cording to the testimony of Lee Holtz, general superintendent of
distribution for the Company, there •is -not ,a single industry in
Southern California that does not use natural gas in the manufac-
turing process, and according to E. M. DeRemer, general supervisor
of industrial sales for the Company,- from 60't6 70 per cent of the
concerns in the area, are supplied with gas by,the Company. ; And,
4 Issued by the U. S. Department of Commerce on August , 10, 1937.193 Los Angeles
Industrial Area is defined as coextensive with Los Angeles County.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1127
indeed, as testified to by A. B. Macbeth, president and general man-
ager of the Company, the availability of natural gas as a cheap,
practicable, and efficient fuel has served as an inducement to attract
industry to Los Angeles, and is one of the chief causes for its
present importance as an industrial center.
C. The effect on commerce
All the major industrial firms in the Southern California area are
-supplied with gas by the Company. In 1937 the Company sold
39,344,532 M. C. F. of gas to industrial and gas-engine consumers
and for the month of April 1938 supplied, to some 1,277 industrial
consumers, a total of 3,036,837 M. C. F. with a total value of $473,-
452.67. These industrial consumers are engaged in such industries as
rubber, canning, oil refining, publishing, steel, meat packing, animal
feed, motion pictures, baking, furniture, machinery, women and
children's clothes, foundries, wine, beer, liquor, glass, brick, pottery,
cheese, olive oil, cottonseed oil, chemicals, knit goods, aircraft, paint,
soft drinks, soap, refrigerators, and cement. Among the enterprises
supplied with gas by the Company are the following nationally
known concerns : American Can Company, Bethlehem Steel Com-
pany, Columbia Steel Company, Continental Can Company, Conti-
nental Foods Corporation, Cudahy Packing Company," Douglas
Aircraft,° Louis Eckert Brewing Company, Firestone Tire and
Rubber Company, Gladding, . McBean Company (brick), Goodrich
Pacific Company,7 Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company," Geo. A.
Hormel, International Harvester Company,9 Lockheed Aircraft Cor-
poration, Los Angeles Exaininer,10 National Biscuit Company, Owens-
Illinois Pacific Coast Corporation (glass), Shaffer Tool Works,
,Sierra Madre-Lamanda -Citrus Association (shippers of Sunkist
6 For a description of the business of this Company and the interstate character of its
operations see Matter of The Cudahy Packing Company and Packinghouse Workers Local
Industi ial Union No. 62, affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization, 5
N. L. R B 472.
6 For a description of the business of this Company and the interstate character of its
operations see Matter of Douglas Aircraft Company, Inc and United Automobile Workers
of America, International Union, Douglas Local No 214 , 10 N. L . R. B. 242.
7 For a description of the business of this company and the interstate character of its
operations see Matter of The B. F. Goodrich Company and United Rubber Workers of
America, Local lfo. 1,3, 3 N. L. R. B. 420.
8 For a description of the business of this company and the interstate character of its
operations see Matter of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company of California and United
Rubber Workers of America, Local 131, 3 N. L. R B. 431.
6 For a description of the business of this company and the interstate character of its
operations see Matter of International Harvester Company and Local Union No. 57,
International Union, United Automobile Workers of America, 2 N. L R. B. 310.
1 6 For a description of the business of the present company and the corporate structure
of which this company is a part and the interstate character of their operations see
Matter of William Randolph Hearst, Hearst Publications , Inc ; Hearst Consolidated
Publications, Inc ; and King Featui es Syndicate, Inc. and American Newspaper Guild,
Seattle Chapter, 2 N. L. R. B. 530.
1128 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
fruit), Standard Oil Company," Studebaker Pacific Corporation,.
U. S. Tire and Rubber Company, and Wilson and Company. Gas is
used by these industrial consumers for the purpose of heat and
power in the manufacture and preparation of their finished products.
The Company also supplies natural gas to a number of instrumen-
talities of interstate commerce. These include the principal inter-
state railway companies operating in Southern California and
numerous interstate trucking and bus companies, including the fol-
lowing concerns: Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company,,
Union, Pacific Railway Company, Southern Pacific Railroad Com-
pany, Arizona-Pacific Motor Freight Company, Denver-Los Angeles
Trucking Company, Greyhound Lines, Interstate Transit Company,
Lang Transportation Company, Los Angeles-Yuma and Phoenix
Freight Company, Los Angeles-Albuquerque Express Company,
Nevada Consolidated Shippers, Pacific Greyhound Lines, Phoenix
Blue Diamond Express, Santa Fe Trailways, Inc., Southern Arizona
Freight Lines, Union Pacific System, Universal Interstate Freight
Company, Utah-California Motor Lines, Inc. The railway com-
panies use the gas for lighting and space heating, for pre-heating
locomotives and for power in their repair shops and roundhouses
located in Southern California.
It is the contention of the Company that neither the industrial con-
sumers nor the instrumentalities of interstate commerce are depend-
ent upon the Company for a continued supply of gas for their opera-
tion. Stated more fully, its position is substantially as follows : In
the event of a shortage or cessation of the supply of gas, the Com-
pany's consumers could easily satisfy their demands with some other
fuel such as oil or butane. Further, most of the companies are al-
ready equipped to operate with these other fuels, and in instances
where they are not so equipped it would be a simple process to
install machinery and equipment for that purpose. To support this
contention the Company introduced in evidence the forms of con-
tracts entered into with these industrial consumers. With the excep-
tion of one form, known as preferred essential service, all the con-
tracts provide that in the event of a shortage of the supply of natural
gas, the Company might curtail in whole or in part the supply of
gas to the consumer in order to maintain a sufficient supply for all
public utilities and consumers under schedules carrying a higher rate.
Domestic and commercial contracts regularly carry a higher rate
than industrial service contracts, and the order of priority among
industrial consumers would be dictated in accordance with the rate
schedule chosen for their contract with the Company. Testimony was
"For a description of the business of this company and the interstate character of its
operations see Matter of Standard Oil Company of California and Oil lhorters Inter-
national Union, Local 299, 5 N. L. R B 750.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1129
further introduced to show that in accordance with the provision in
these contracts, the supply of gas was curtailed in the winter of 1937
-due to excessive cold and again in March of 1938 because of flood.
Mr. E. M. DeRemer, as well as representatives of some of the con-
sumers of the Company, testified that consumers whose gas sup-
ply was cut off did not suspend operations, but were either
equipped with standby equipment for the use of fuel oil, or used
butane which would be employed with the same equipment as is
employed for the use of natural gas. DeRemer, however, testi-
fied at a later point in the record that for the use of butane, extensive
and costly new equipment would be required. However, a survey of
the answers to a questionnaire sent by the Regional Director to all
the industrial consumers of the Company shows that these curtail-
ments in the supply of gas were at most partial and limited. In few
cases was the supply of gas completely shut off, and where a complete
shut-off did occur, it was the usual practice to space the shut-off s on
alternate days. Such curtailments cannot be accepted as a guide in
evaluating the effects of a strike, where the cessation of supply might
well be complete and continuous.
The questionnaire sent out by the Regional Director also requested
information as to whether or not gas was essential in the operations
,of the plants of the consumers. Of the some 117 companies answer-
ing the questionnaire the vast majority stated that gas was essential
to their production. The Company contended that if this were true,
it was true only with the present equipment of these consumers. It
argued that in the event of a complete cessation of the supply of gas
by the Company, all these industrial concerns could either change or
adapt their present equipment for the use of some other fuel, such as
oil or butane, or could acquire and install new equipment for that
purpose. This contention in itself concedes the necessity for a change
in equipment for the majority of these industrial concerns and the
considerable dislocation of their operations which must result from
such a change.
In addition, the evidence adduced to prove that there were avail-
able substitute fuels which could be used in the event of a failure
of the supply of gas was not adequate. The record offers no more
than a statement by a Company official that there is plenty of fuel
oil available, plus testimony by an official of the Union Oil Company
of California that there was a considerable surplus of fuel oil left
unmarketed each year. As to butane, an official of the General Petro-
leum Corporation testified that the amount of butane produced could
be tripled if the demand were increased. In addition, it appeared
that butane has not yet attained any widespread commercial use and
is sold only in cities where both gas and fuel oil are not obtainable.
1130 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
A representative of one of the Company's consumers, who was called'.
to testify by the Company, stated that he considered butane unsatis-
factory. No evidence was introduced to show the availability of-
electric power to meet the demands of the present consumers of gas.
However, aside from the question of availability of substitute-
fuels, the evidence clearly establishes that natural gas is the preferred
fuel, both because of its price and because of its nature as a fuel.
Its qualities of an even steady heat and complete combustion without
smoke renders it almost indispensable in such industries as ceramics,
glass, and brickmaking. These qualities have proven to be of a spe-
cial value in other industries as well. The following typical answers
to the Regional Director's question : "Is gas a necessary fuel for the
operation of your plant?" illustrate the superiority of gas as a fuel.
They include instances where gas is stated to be absolutely essential,
together with instances where it is admitted that other fuels could
be used, but a preference for gas is nevertheless expressed :
(1) Yes, natural gas is vitally necessary for the operation of
our plant. In the event of a total failure of natural gas we
would not be able to operate the plant at all. Our standby
equipment only-'permits us to carry temperature on furnaces to
keep the glass from freezing. Our contract only permits the
curtailment of gas for the portions of our operation covered by
auxiliary equipment. (Owens-Illinois Pacific Coast Company.}
(2) Yes. Gas is required for operation of heat-treating and
processing equipment and any major curtailment of supply, and
in some cases even a minor. curtailment, would very seriously
affect our operations. (North American Aviation, Inc.)
(3) We are not entirely dependent upon gas for fuel but gas,
is much more desirable for the operation of our plant. (Atchi-
son, Topeka, and Santa Fe R. R.)
(4) Gas is the most desirable fuel, but there is available fuel
oil which can be used as a substitute. (Columbia Steel.)
(5) With the present equipment, gas is necessary. By going
to the expense of installing burners and other equipment, we
could use oil. Even then we would need some gas. (Compton
Metal Company.)
(6) We are equipped for the use of gas only in our opera-
tions. (Consolidated Bottle Supply Corporation, Inc.)
(7) Yes, used for ovens and boilers. Impossible to manu-
facture without it. (Continental Foods Corporation.)
(8) Inasmuch as we are not equipped to heat water for wash-
ing fruit in any other manner, and are dependent on gas-for fuel,
we feel that gas is a necessity in the operations of our plant.
(Cucamonga Fruit Growers Association.)
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1131
(9) We require gas for the burners at our Varnish Plant.
Gas is the only satisfactory fuel for cooking varnishes. (Gen-
eral Paint Corporation.)
(10) Gas is not a necessary fuel for the operation of our
plant, although it is more economical and more desirable to use.
(General Water Heater Company.)
(11) We use gas for heat in winter and for operating our
Wash Rack and tank cleaning equipment. It would be possible
to get along without gas by installing equipment to handle some
other fuel, however, this would require considerable added ex-
pense. (Lang Transportation Corporation.)
(12) Gas very essential for our production. (Los Angeles
Examiner.)
(13) It's necessary without new equipment which is prohibi-
tive. (Perris-Valley Irrigation Company.)
(14) Gas is necessary in our process because we apply heat di-
rectly to the product. We have found fuel oil unsatisfactory for
this purpose. (Royal Packing -Company.)
(15) Yes, we use and have facilities for using natural gas,
only for our boilers. (Superior Olive Products Company.)
In addition, representatives of consumers of the Company, who
were called by the Company and testified that their concerns could
use fuel oil instead of gas, also emphasized that they preferred gas
because it was cheaper and easier to handle.
To combat this evidence, the Company prepared three form state-
ments and circularized them among the consumers who had answered
the Regional Director's questionnaire and had stated that gas was
necessary in the conduct of their operations. These statements, as
prepared by the Company, were signed by almost all these consumers,
were returned to the Company, and were then introduced in evidence.
One of these form statements reads as follows :
Referring to questionnaire dated May 20, 1938, sent to us by
Towne Nylander, Director of the National Labor Relations
Board, 21st Region, Los Angeles, California ... please be ad-
vised that while gas in some form is a necessary fuel for the
operation of the gas burners now installed in our plant, and
natural gas as served by Southern California Gas Company is
now used by us, nevertheless if such natural gas were shut off,
fuel oil, which is readily obtainable from various sources in this
area and can be delivered to our plant on a few hours' notice,
could be used in oil-burning equipment which could be installed
on short notice as a substitute for gas burners.
While our gas burners might be idle during the period of
time necessary to obtain equipment to utilize fuel oil as a substi-
1132 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tute for natural gas, nevertheless, such interruption, if any, in
the operation of our gas burners would not affect, restrain, or
control the flow of raw materials as used by us in our operations
nor would it affect, restrain or control the shipment of our man-
ufactured or processed goods to our customers.
The change by us from natural gas served by California Gas
Company to fuel oil, as above stated, would not materially affect
or control the prices of such materials used by us nor the goody
sold by us to our customers.
The other two forms were variations of the one set forth above.
The contents of these statements prepared by the Company are
largely conclusions. On the other hand, the answers to the Regional
Director's questionnaire were not prepared statements, but were the
words of the consumers themselves on a factual matter of which
they had knowledge. We believe that the answers to the question-
naire present a clearer and more accurate picture than do the state-
ments prepared by the Company.
In the answers to these questionnaires, we have the clear expression
by numerous consumers of the Company that gas is either a necessary
or a highly superior fuel, and even though there may be substitutes
to satisfy the demands of each consumer, there is no real equivalent.
Moreover, the problem of an available substitute for the demands of
an individual consumer is very different from the one that arises in
the situation where all the consumers are clamoring for a substitute
fuel at one and the same time. Such a `sudden increase in demand by
all consumers would undoubtedly tax the suppliers of substitute fuels
beyond their present supply and facilities for distribution, which
might readily result in a rise in the price of fuel, and which would in
turn most probably be reflected in increased prices of the manufac-
tured goods which are shipped in interstate commerce. Such an
extraordinary increase in demand for a particular product with its
attendant effects upon the markets for commodities in the whole area
would in itself result in a considerable dislocation and disturbance
of the free flow of interstate commerce.
The Company's chief contention that a labor difficulty which com-
pletely tied up the operations of the Company would not necessarily
result in a complete cessation of the operations of its consumers may
be granted without thereby conceding that the Board lacks jurisdic-
tion. For it is not necessary for a labor dispute to result in a com-
plete paralysis or cessation of activities in order to affect, burden,
obstruct or impede the free flow of interstate commerce. The disloca-
tion of the activities of an industrial area falling short of a complete
paralysis cannot be regarded as trivial, or as an effect upon commerce
so slight as not to be within the power of Congress to prevent. Upon
all the evidence it appears that the Los Angeles area is one of the
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1133
most important industrial and commercial areas in the United States
and that 70 per cent of the industry in this area is dependent upon
the Company for power. These industrial consumers have chosen
natural gas as their source of power for obvious reasons. Due to the
inherent nature of natural gas, it is cleaner, gives no smoke, and gives
an even and steady heat, factors which are fairly essential in many
industrial processes. In addition it is more reliable, more efficient,,
easier to handle, and cheaper than other fuels. For these reasons,
the machinery and equipment of industry in the Los Angeles area
have been built for and around the use of gas, and the Company is.
an integral part of the industrial structure of this area. The industry
in this area has developed to a large extent as a result of the avail-
ability of gas as a cheap and convenient fuel, and the Company, as.
the supplier of this fuel, is at the very center of the industrial struc-
ture in this area. Therefore, it is unrealistic to argue and maintain,
as the Company does, that the effect upon interstate and foreign
commerce of a cessation of its operations would be so slight as to be
imperceptible, or at most, unworthy of serious notice. On the con-
trary, it is clear that the stoppage of operations of an enterprise of
the magnitude of the Company and so strategically situated at the
source of power for a large industrial area, would have a close,
intimate and substantial effect upon interstate and foreign commerce.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Utility Workers Organizing Committee, Local No. 132, is a labor
organization, affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organiza-
tion, admitting to membership production employees of the Company.
It is the successor to United Electrical Radio and Machine
Workers of America, Local No. 1414. The United Electrical, Radio
and Machine Workers was organized in September 1937, with a
charter from the Committee for Industrial Organization.,' At that
time it consisted of two divisions, a Manufacturing Division and a
Utilities Division. At a national conference of the utility locals held
in January 1938, it was decided to establish a separate organization
for utility workers and the Utility Workers Organizing Committee,
affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization, was then
established. Thereafter, a membership meeting of Local No. 1414 of
United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America voted to
relinquish its charter in this organization and to obtain a new charter
from the Utility Workers Organizing Committee. Pursuant to this
12 When first formed , the organization was known as the United Electrical and Radio
Workers of America It had a temporary charter from the Committee for Industrial
Organization , but stated its intention of applying to the American Federation of Labor for
a charter as an international union. However, when negotiations for this purpose
collapsed , the organization took a permanent charter from the Committee for Industrial
Organization and changed its name to United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of
America.
1134 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
decision the charter was relinquished, a new charter received, and
Utility Workers Organizing Committee, Local No. 132, with jurisdic-
tion over employees in the Central Division of the Company, was
formed. There are five locals of the Utility Workers Organizing
Committee in California, but only one other has jurisdiction over
employees of the Company. This is Local No. 114, which has jurisdic-
tion over the employees in the Northern Division of the Company.
Pacific Gas Workers Union is an unaffiliated labor organization.
It was first organized by employees of the Southern Counties Gas
Company, but later expanded to include within its membership em-
ployees of Industrial Fuel Supply Company and of the Company. It
admits to membership all employees of these three companies, in-
cluding office workers and excluding only those employed in a super-
visory capacity. The Gas Workers has separate locals for the
employees of the Eastern Division and the Southern Division, but
not for the employees of the Central Division. The Gas Workers
has practically no membership among the employees in the Central
Division, and the very few employees of that division who are mem-
bers of the Gas Workers meet with the Whittier local of Southern
Counties Gas Company.
Utility Servitors Association, herein referred to as the Association,
is an unaffiliated organization. It was organized during the course
of the hearing by Walter Miller, an employee of the Company, who
filed a motion for leave to intervene to represent the interests of em-
ployees who did not wish to belong to either of the above labor organi-
zations. Membership in the Association is limited to employees of
the Company, of whom all, except those in supervisory positions, are
eligible. At the close of the hearing the Association had some 15
members.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Beginning on December 13, 1937, and continuing over a period of
months, the U. W. O. C. or its predecessor carried on negotiations
with the Company with respect to wages, hours, and classification of
employees. The Company, however, consistently maintained the posi-
tion that it would recognize the U. W. O. C. as the representative of
its own members only and would not grant it exclusive recognition as
the representative of all employees in the Central Division. '
We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of
,employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1135
described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial
relation to trade, traffic, commerce and transportation among the sev-
eral States, and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and ob-
structing commerce and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
A. The Central Division
The chief issue in this case arises from opposing claims concerning
an appropriate unit. The U. W. O. C. claims that the employees in
the Central Division of the Company constitute a unit appropriate
for the purpose of collective bargaining. On the other hand, the
Company and both intervenors claim that the employees in the entire
system of the Company constitute an appropriate unit.'S
The Central Division of the Company is roughly coterminous with
the Los Angeles metropolitan area, although it includes some territory
which lies outside the city limits of Los Angeles and excludes other
territory which lies inside these limits. It is the chief distribution
area of the Company, and the central office of the Company is situ-
ated there. All the department heads of the Company have their
offices in the Central Division, and for this reason, the Central Divi-
sion , unlike the other divisions of the Company has no Division
Manager. In addition to the Central Division, the Company appar-
ently has five other divisions, namely; the Eastern, Southern, North-
ern, San Joaquin Valley, and Midway.14 The Central Division is by
far the largest, with approximately 1,400 employees as compared to
200 in the San Joaquin Valley Division, 250 in the Southern Division,
100 in the Eastern Division, and 300 in the Northern Division.15
The reasons advanced by the U. W. O. C. in support of its claim
that employees in the Central Division, apart from the employees in
the remainder of the system, constitute an appropriate unit are :
(1) The operations of the Company embrace a large territory, the
furthermost points of which are 325 miles apart. This presents a
difficult problem in organization, and the U. W. O. C. soon found it
impracticable to organize the employees throughout the Company's
widespread system at one time. For this reason it limited its organi-
zational dfforts to employees in the Central Division.
'a At one point in the record, Keith Clark, president of the Gas Workers contended that
the appropriate unit should include the employees of Industrial Fuel Supply Company
and Southern Counties Gas Company , as well as of the Company , since all three companies
have a common director of- personnel However, with this exception, the position as
stated in the text was the one consistently advanced by the Gas Workers
14 The record is not clear on the description of these divisions and although the listing
in,the text is derived from an official Company statement, there are frequent references in
the record to a Kern Division, a Newhall Division, and an Avenal Division.
15 These figures are approximations , and at least in the case of the Central Division,
cover only employees who may be denominated physical workers.
1136 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
(2) Hiring and discharging are done through division offices and
separate pay rolls are kept in division offices. Working conditions
and rates of pay vary in the different divisions of the Company.
(a) Because of the smaller size of the other divisions there is not
as minute a classification of jobs as in the Central Division. As a con-
sequence, the classifications of workers in the other divisions do not
conform to those in the Central Division.
(4) There is a divergence in viewpoint between workers in small
towns and workers in cities. The former are more difficult to organize
because of a more direct relationship with the management.
(5) The cost of living and the general wage level varies in the
different areas and communities embraced in the Company's system.
The evidence shows that the U. W. 0. C., in a letter to the Company
dated December 4, 1937, had asked to be recognized as the representa-
tive for the "physical workers" of the Company without limiting its
request to the employees of the Central Division. The U. W. 0. C.
admitted that on that date it was seeking to represent the employees
throughout the system, but stated that further experience and actual
difficulties in organizing had convinced the officers of the U. W. 0. C.
that its position should be modified and that the employees of the
Central Division constituted the appropriate unit. This modification
of position resulted from the experience of the U. W. 0. C. in its or-
ganizational campaigns in both the Southern and the Eastern Divi-
sions. These campaigns were begun subsequent to the letter of
December 4, 1937. In both divisions the U. W. 0. C. found that the
workers had already been solidly organized by the Gas Workers. Not
deeming it desirable to compete where there already was an existing
labor organization, the U. W. 0. C. made overtures for cooperation
between the two labor organizations, which met with no success.
Thereupon, the U. W. 0. C. ceased its organizational efforts in these
divisions. The organizational campaign in the Northern Division
met with considerably more success and resulted in the establishment
of a separate local, Local No. 114.16
The reasons advanced by the Company and the intervenors in sup-
port of their claim as to the appropriate unit and in opposition to
the claim of the U. W. 0. C. are that the Company's system is an
integral enterprise, that the separation of the employees into divi-
sional units is purely arbitrary and serves no functional purpose, that
the employees in all the divisions perform practically the same type
of work, and that the employees in the other divisions have the same
interests and problems as those in the Central Division.
11 The chairman of this local testified that he considered that the employees in the
Northern Division constitute an appropriate unit, although he made no request in this
proceeding for either a certification or an election.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1137
The evidence adduced to support the conflicting contentions as to
differences or similarities between the Central and other divisions
was somewhat contradictory. For example, when the Company in-
troduced a form of instruction which stated that employees may be
hired only through the personnel department at the main office and
not through the divisional offices, the U. W. 0. C. countered with the
testimony of two employees who stated that they had been hired
through the divisional offices. Similar, though less striking, conflicts
of testimony developed on the questions of differences among the
divisions in regard to living conditions, wages, and work classifications.
Without attempting to resolve all the variations in the evidence,
the record is clear that the Central Division is a distinct geographic
and administrative unit of the Company and is not, as charged by
the Company, an arbitrary gerrymandered unit evolved by the U.
W. 0. C. for the purpose of this proceeding. The divisions em-
ploy forms which are headed' with the name of the respective di-
vision. Division managers send in reports on the workings of their
divisions. The Gas News, a publication issued by the Company,
makes frequent references to divisions, and frequently contains dis-
cussions by division managers of particular problems within their
respective divisions. Intracompany sports programs are arranged
on the basis of interdivisional rivalry. Thus, as a distinct geo-
graphic and administrative unit, the employees of the Central Di-
vision work out of the same office with the resulting common contacts
and common problems that flow as a matter of course from a rela-
tionship of a common employment at a, common location. The em-
ployees of the Central Division form a homogeneous group with
common problems.
Tlie.Company and the Gas Workers argue, however, that these
problems are not so distinct and separate as to justify setting off the
employees of the Central' Division as a separate appropriate unit,
and they point to our decision in Matter of Pacific Gas and Electric
,Company and United Electrical and Radio Workers of America
where we held that the employees of the entire system of the Com-
pany there involved constituted an appropriate unit.17 In the pres-
ent case, however, we are presented with a situation where neither of
the opposing unions have organized generally throughout the sys-
tem 18 The U. W. 0. C. asks only for the employees in the Central
17 3 N L. R. B. 835. See also Matter of Wisconsin Power & Light Company and United
Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America, Local No. 1134, 6 N. L. R ' B. 320;
Matter of Tennessee Electric Power Company and International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers, 7 N. L R. B. 24.
18 Since the only evidence as to the organizational strength of the Association was the
statement by Miller that he had enrolled some 15 members throughout the entire Com-
pany, it is not necessary to consider the Association as a rival labor organization in this
connection , at all.
1138 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Division to which its organization has been confined, and although
the Gas Workers asks for the employees throughout the whole sys-
tem, its organization is also confined to specific geographical areas.
The evidence is uncontradicted that the total membership of the
Gas Workers in the Central Division does not amount to more than
three or four. Just as the U. W. 0. C. has not organized outside of
the Central Division, the Gas Workers has been unable to organize
within the Central Division. In such a situation where the spheres
of organization of rival labor organizations are so distinctly sep-
arated geographically, we can see no purpose that would be served
by requiring a test of strength between the two organizations at
this time. Such a test of strength, at a period when organization
by the rival unions has been confined to different and distinct geo-
graphical areas would hinder rather than facilitate the processes of
collective bargaining. We find that the employees in the Central
Division constitute an appropriate unit, subject to the more precise
determination below of the classifications of employees properly
within such a unit.
The issue as to whether the employees in any other division or
combination of divisions of the Company constitute an appropriate
unit was not raised by either the petitioner or any of the intervenors
and consequently is not before us.
B. Classifications of employees
The U. W. 0. C. and the Company agreed that supervisory em-
ployees should be excluded from the appropriate unit and in accord-
ance with our usual practice we will exclude them. The U. W. 0. C.
also requested the exclusion of clerical workers from the unit, while
the Company and the Gas Workers requested their inclusion. It has
been our usual practice not to include clerical employees in a unit
composed of production and manual workers in the absence of a
convincing showing as to the propriety of such inclusion.19 No evi-
dence has been introduced which would lead us to depart from our
usual ruling and we will therefore also exclude clerical employees
from the appropriate unit.
The Company divides its employees into some 94 different classifi-
cations and, at the hearing, questions arose as to whether employees
in certain of these classifications were supervisor'y' or, clerical.
The U. W. 0. C. desires to exclude from the unit meter readers;
bill deliverers, and bill collectors as being clerical employees. The
19 See Matter of R. C . A. Manufacturing Company, Inc. and United Electrical and Radio
Workers of America, 2,N L R. B 159; ' and Matter of Motor Transport Company and
General Chauffeurs . Teamsters, and Helpers, Local Union No 200, 2 N. -L. R B. 492.
Compare Matter of. Willys Overland Motors, Inc. and International Union , United Automo-
bile Workers of America, Local No. 12, 9 N. L. R . B. 924.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1139
Company contends that these employees are not clerical employees
because they work outside the plant and, although they do not per-,
form manual labor, walk from place to place. We believe that the
work performed by bill deliverers and bill collectors is more closely
allied with that of clerical workers than with that of physical
workers. Accordingly, we will exclude bill deliverers and bill col-
lectors from the appropriate unit. The meter readers are employees
on the borderline between clerical and physical workers and it would
not be unreasonable to group them with either the clerical or the
physical workers. Since the U. W. 0. C. has not organized among
the meter readers and desires their exclusion from the unit, we will
exclude them from the appropriate unit.
The U. W. 0. C. desires the exclusion from the appropriate unit
of all foremen, subforemen, and gang foremen, as supervisory em-
ployees. This is a partial reversal of its initial position in which
it asked for the inclusion of gang foremen. The Company asks for the
inclusion of all three of these groups. Since foremen and subforemen
are in some measure identified with management, and since they
are not eligible for membership in the Union, we will exclude them
from the appropriate unit. Gang foremen are minor supervisory
employees who work in close association with the men under them.
It has generally been our practice to permit the desires of the labor
organization, if it is the only one involved, to control as to inclusion
or exclusion from the unit, of such minor supervisory employees.
In the present case, although there was some wavering in the posi-
tion of the U. W. 0. C., its present position is clear that it wishes
gang foremen excluded from the unit and that gang foremen are
not eligible for membership in the U. W. 0. C. Accordingly, we
will exclude gang foremen from the,appropriate unit.
The U. W. 0. C. desires the exclusion from the unit of employees
in numerous other classifications and the Company desires their
inclusion. Chart readers examine and tabulate data recorded on
charts. This work is essentially of a clerical nature, and chart
readers will therefore be excluded from the appropriate unit. Mes-
sengers and repairmen of office • equipment perform work which is
more closely allied to the office than to the distribution of _gas. They
will be excluded from the appropriate unit.' For -the same reason,
janitors employed in office-buildings will be excluded from the ap-,
propriate unit. Field engineers and{junior engineers perform work
of a special and technical nature. 'Their interests are not similar
to those 'of the bulk of employees! in' the unit, and they will be
excluded `-from the 'appropri'ate' unit. Laboratory assistants and
technical assistants work in a laboratory. Their interests also J are
not similar to those of the bulk of 'ei5mpl„oyees,in,' the ,unit. They will
1140 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
be excluded from the appropriate unit. Displaymen are concerned
with displays for the purpose of sales. They will be excluded from
the appropriate unit. Engineering inspectors and construction in-
spectors perform work which is essentially of a supervisory nature.
They will be excluded from the appropriate unit.
The Company asked for the inclusion of bricklayers. No position
was taken by the U. W. 0. C. with regard to bricklayers. They will
be included in the appropriate unit.
The U. W. 0. C. at first asked for the inclusion of watchmen in
the appropriate unit, but subsequently reversed its "position and re-
quested that they be excluded on the ground that in the event of a
strike, the interests of watchmen would be aligned against the re-
mainder of the employees. As in the case of minor supervisory
employees, it has been our practice with employees such as watchmen
to permit the desires of-the labor organization, where it is the only
one involved, to be controlling. Watchmen will be excluded from
the appropriate unit.20
The Company and the U. W. 0. C. agreed to the inclusion or
exclusion of the employees in the remaining classifications. We see
no reason for departing from the agreement of the parties in this
respect.
Thus far we have determined that employees in the following
classifications shall be included in the appropriate unit : Auxiliary
engineman, blacksmith, bricklayer, carpenter, chainman, chart col-
lector, receiving clerk, shipping clerk, gas dispatcher, order dis-
patcher, electrician, plant engineer, fireman, fitter, fitter-welder, gas
maker, helper, field meter inspector, meter inspector, janitor (except
office janitors), laborer '211 regular laborer, machine operator, machinist,
mechanic #1, mechanic #2, oiler, crane operator, station operator,
terminal operator, painter, meter clock repairman, repairman plant
#1, repairman plant #2, serviceman #1, serviceman #2, industrial
serviceman,' station attendant, storeroom attendant, storeroom keeper,
field meter tester, tinsmith, and truck driver.
C. Temporary employees
The U. W. 0. C. contends that temporary employees should be
included within the appropriate unit. The Company argues that
-these workers have no status and cannot properly be regarded as
employees at all. These temporary employees are normally engaged
for casual employment. They are hired from time to time for spe-
cial projects, usually construction work, and work for the duration
20 Compare Matter of Armour & Company and Amalgamated Meat Cutters & Butcher
Workmen of North America, Local Union No. 413, 5 N., L. R. B^ 975.
21 For the inclusion of temporary laborers and temporary employees in general, see
discussion on following pages.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1141
of the project and are then laid off. Their wages are paid by the
hour and the work for which they are engaged is usually that of
ditch-digging. They may be rehired again in the event some other
project requires their services, but apparently they are given little
or no preference by virtue of the fact that they have once been em-
ployed by the Company. Further it is the known policy of the
Company that no temporary- employee may continue in the employ
of the Company for longer than a 6-month period, regardless of
whether his employment during this period has been continuous or
intermittent. Company officials stated that the reason for this policy
is the desire of the Company to prevent the creation of any expect-
ancy of permanent employment with the Company. The U. W. 0. C.
contends that these temporary employees are nevertheless employees.
It argues that it has brought about the reclassification of a number
of - temporary employees as regular employees, that it has already
persuaded the Company to adopt a policy of preference within the
6-month limit in the hiring of individuals who have been formerly
employed by the Company ; and that it is endeavoring to secure the
abandonment of the policy of 6 months' maximum service, and if
successful in this endeavor, the temporary employees will clearly
acquire a status as regular employees.
We do not believe that individuals who work for the Company
should be denied the benefits of collective bargaining, because their
status is a temporary one. They are nonetheless employees within
the meaning of the Act.
We are of the opinion that the record supports the U. W. 0. C.'s
contention that temporary employees should be included in the ap-
propriate unit. The U. W. 0. C. has represented the temporary
employees and has bargained for them with the Company. It has
already secured for them some concessions from the Company.
Moreover, employees classified as temporary have subsequently been
.reclassified as permanent, and in the past, many employees who, in
accordance with the Company's regulations should have been classi-
fied as permanent employees, have been carried on the rolls as tempo-
rary. Because of all these factors, we will include temporary
employees within the appropriate unit. However, since the work of
temporary employees is of an intermittent nature it is necessary to
establish some test for the determination of their eligibility to partici-
pate in the choice of representatives. This matter will be treated in
Section VI below.
We find that the production employees of the_ Central Division of
the Company included within the following classifications : Auxiliary
engineman, blacksmith, bricklayer, carpenter, chainman, chart col-
lector, receiving clerk, shipping clerk, gas dispatcher, order dis-
patcher. electrician, plant engineer, fireman, fitter, fitter-welder, gas
147811-39-vol 10-73
1142 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD,
maker; helper , field meter inspector , meter inspector , janitor ( except
office janitors ), laborer, regular , laborer, machine operator , machinist,
mechanic # 1, mechanic #2, oiler, crane operator, station operator,
terminal operator , painter, meter clock repairman , repairman plant
#1, repairman plant #2, serviceman #1, serviceman #2, industrial
serviceman , station attendant , storeroom - attendant , storeroom keeper,
field meter tester , tinsmith , and • truck driver and including tempo-
rary employees , constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining and that said unit will insure to employees of
the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization and
to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the
Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
According to the Company's pay roll of May 31 , 1938, there were
1,394 employees in the appropriate unit. The U. W. O. C. intro-
duced 917 cards in which the U . W. O. C. was designated as bargain-
ing representative by employees in the appropriate unit. The signa-
tures on 870 of these cards were checked by all parties against the
pay roll of the Company for May 31 , 1938. The Company objected to
some 152 of these cards. The U. W. O. C. conceded the validity of
the Company 's objections to six of these cards. Forty-seven addi-
tional cards were introduced in evidence later and were never checked
against any pay roll, with the consequence that their genuineness has
not been established . Two hundred and twenty of the 870 cards which
were checked against the Company's pay roll were signed by tem-
porary employees , of whom 20 were not on the pay roll for May 31,
1938. Of the remaining 200, there - is no evidence in the record to show
how long these employees have worked for the Company , whether 1
day, 2 weeks , or a month. It would not be fair to permit temporary
employees to participate in the choice of bargaining representative
where their period of employment with the, Company has been ex-_
tremely short or intermittent or has - not been recent. The standard of
eligibility to participate in such choice , should require a minimum
amount of employment within a recent period such, for example, as
the performance of 6 weeks ' work within the 15-week period next pre-
ceding the date for the determination of representatives . On the evi-
dence before us, it is impossible satisfactorily to apply this standard
to the temporary employees who have been shown to have designated
the U. W. O. C. as their representative for the purposes of collective
bargaining . In view of the doubts and uncertainty surrounding the
evidence that the U . W. O. C: has been designated as bargaining repre-
sentative by a majority of the employees in the appropriate unit, we
find that the question which has arisen concerning representation of
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1143
employees of the Company can best be resolved by holding an election
by secret ballot.
Temporary employees who have worked for the Company for 6
-Weeks within the 15-week period immediately preceding the date of
this Decision and Direction of Election shall be eligible to vote in the
:election. The remaining employees in the appropriate unit whose
names appear upon the pay roll of the Company next preceding the
date of this Decision and Direction of Election shall be eligible to
vote in the election.
The Gas Workers has only two or three members in the appropriate
unit. Since this is an insufficient showing to justify placing its name
upon the ballot, Pacific Gas Workers Union will not appear.upon the
ballot. The Association, although it requested that it be placed upon
the ballot, stated that it did not believe that any organization should
be certified as the exclusive bargaining agency for the employees in
the appropriate unit, but that each organization should represent its
own members only. In view of this contention, the placing of the
-name of the Association upon the ballot would be a nullity. More-
over, the Association made no showing of membership in the appro-
priate unit. The name of the Association will not appear upon the
ballot.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Southern California Gas Company, Los
Angeles, California, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section
2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The production employees in the Central Division of the Com-
pany who fall within the following classifications : Auxiliary engine-
man, blacksmith, bricklayer, carpenter, chainman, chart collector, re-
ceiving clerk, shipping clerk, gas dispatcher, order dispatcher, elec-
trician, plant engineer, fireman, fitter, fitter-welder, gas maker, helper,
field meter inspector, meter inspector, janitor (except office janitors),
laborer, regular laborer, machine operator, machinists, mechanic #1,
mechanic #2, oiler, crane operator, station operator, terminal oper-
ator, painter, meter clock repairman, repairman plant #1, repairman
plant #2, serviceman #1, serviceman #2, industrial serviceman, sta-
tion attendant, storeroom attendant, storeroom keeper, field meter
.tester, tinsmith, and truck driver, and including temporary employ-
ees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
1144 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that as part of the investigation ordered by the Board
to'ascertain representatives for ' the purposes of collective bargaining
with Southern California Gas Company, Los Angeles, California,
an election by secret ballot shall be conducted within thirty (30) days
from the date of this Direction under the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Twenty-first Region acting in this
matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board and subject
to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among pro-
duction employees in -the Central Division of Southern California
Gas Company, including in the following classifications : Auxiliary
engineman, blacksmith, bricklayer, carpenter, chainman, chart col-
lector, receiving clerk, shipping clerk, gas dispatcher, order dis-
patcher, electrician, plant engineer , fireman, fitter, fitter-welder, gas
maker , helper, field meter inspector, meter inspector, janitor (except
office janitors), laborer, regular laborer, machine operator, machinists,
mechanic #1, mechanic #2, crane operator, station operator, terminal
operator, painter, meter clock repairman, repairman plant #1, re-
pairman plant #2, serviceman #1, serviceman #2, industrial serv-
iceman, station attendant, storeroom attendant, storeroom keeper,
field meter tester , tinsmith, and truck driver whose names appear
upon the pay roll of the Company next-preceding the date of this
Decision and Direction of Election, and including temporary em-
ployees who have been employed by the Company for 6 weeks within
the 15-week period immediately preceding the date of this Decision
and Direction of Election, to determine whether or not they desire to
be represented by Utility Workers Organizing Committee, Local No.
132, affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization, for
the purposes of collective bargaining.
[ SAME TITLE
AMENDMENT TO DIRECTION OF ELECTION
January 28, 1939
On January 14, 1939, the National Labor Relations Board, herein
called ,the Board, issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the
above-entitled proceeding. The Direction of Election read as follows :
DIRECTED that as part of the investigation ordered by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bar-
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1145
gaining with Southern California Gas Company, Los Angeles,
California, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted within
thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction under the direc-
tion and supervision of the Regional Director for the Twenty-
first Region acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor
Relations Board and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said
Rules and Regulations, among production employees in the Cen-
tral Division of Southern California Gas Company, including in
the following classifications : Auxiliary engineman, blacksmith,
bricklayer, carpenter, chainman, chart collector, receiving clerk,
shipping clerk, gas dispatcher, order dispatcher, electrician, plant
engineer, fireman, fitter, fitter-welder, gas maker, helper, field
meter inspector, meter inspector, janitor (except office janitors),
laborer, regular laborer, machine operator, machinists, mechanic
#1, mechanic #2, crane operator, station operator, terminal op-
erator, painter, meter clock repairman, repairman plant # 1,
repairman plant #2, serviceman #1, serviceman #2, industrial
serviceman, station attendant, storeroom attendant, storeroom
keeper, field meter tester, tinsmith, and truck driver whose names
appear upon the, pay roll of the Company next preceding the
date of this Decision and Direction of Election, and including
temporary employees who have been employed by the Company
for 6 weeks within the 15-week period immediately preceding the
date of this Decision and Direction of Election, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented by Utility Workers
Organizing Committee, Local No. 132, affiliated with the Coin-
mittee for Industrial Organization, for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
In order to correct certain typographical errors the Board hereby
amends its Direction of Election to read as follows :
DIRECTED that as part of the investigation ordered by the
Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective
bargaining with Southern California Gas Company, Los Ange-
les, California, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted
within thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction under the
direction and supervision of the iRegior l .Director for the
Twenty-first Region acting in this matter as agent for the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board and subject to Article III, Section
9, of said Rules and Regulations, among production employees in
the Central Division of Southern California Gas Company in-
-eluded in the following classifications : auxiliary engineman,
blacksmith, bricklayer, carpenter, chainman, chart collector, re-
ceiving clerk, shipping clerk, gas dispatcher, order dispatcher,
electrician, plant engineer, fireman, fitter, fitter-welder, gas
maker, helper, field meter inspector, meter inspector, janitor (ex-
1146 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
cept office janitors), laborer, regular laborer, machine operator,
machinist, mechanic #1, mechanic #2, oiler, crane operator, sta-
tion operator, terminal operator, painter, meter clock repairman,
repairman plant #1, repairman plant #2, serviceman #1, serv-
iceman #2, industrial serviceman, station attendant, storeroom
attendant, storeroom keeper, field meter tester, tinsmith, and truck
driver whose names appear upon the pay roll of the Company
next preceding the date of this Decision and Direction of Elec-
tion, and including temporary employees who have been em-
ployed by the company for 6 weeks within the 15-week period
immediately preceding the date of this Decision and Direction of
Election, to determine whether or not they desire to be repre-
sented by Utility Workers Organizing Committee, Local No. 132,
affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization, for
the purposes of collective bargaining.
10 N. L. R. B., No. 103a.