Southern Colorado Power Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 12, 1953

104 N.L.R.B. 926 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

926 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
to activities which constitute the "raising of livestock" there
is no basis for distinction on the ground that the livestock is
raised for commercial or industrial purposes--in this case,
for sale to packing plants.4
The length of time the livestock is held at the feed lot is
normally a determinative factor under the Fair Labor Standards
Act definition, when the feed is not grown by the feed lot
operator.' The term "agriculture" includes, however, as a
separate factor, any practice performed by a farmer or on a
farm as an incident to or in conjunction with "such farming
operations." The feeding and care of livestock which is per-
formed as an incident to or in conjunction with the plainly
agricultural operation of growing and harvesting of the feed
will be considered "agriculture" entirely apart from the length
of feeding time involved.6 Here, the Employer is engaged in
the cultivation and tillage of the soil, the cultivation, growing,
and harvesting of agricultural commodities as well as in the
"raising of livestock." Thus, although the Employer may not
hold and feed some of the cattle a sufficient length of time to
be considered as engaging in the "raising of livestock" with
respect to those cattle, his entire holding and feeding opera-
tions nonetheless constitute "agriculture" by virtue of the fact
that they are performed as an incident to or in conjunction
with his farming operations. Accordingly, we find that the
regular full-time employees employed at the Employer's feed
lots are "agricultural laborers" within the meaning of Section
2 (3) of the Act; we shall, therefore, dismiss the petition.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed herein be,
and it hereby is, dismissed.
4See Swift & Company, 104 NLRB 922
'See Swift & Company, supra.
6 Opinion of the Solicitor of the Department of Labor, dated April 1, 1953, addressed to the
Solicitor of the National Labor Relations Board.
SOUTHERN COLORADO POWER COMPANY and INTERNA-
TIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS, LOCAL NO.
1, AFL, Petitioner. Case No. 30-RC-863. May 12, 1953
DECISION AND ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was heldbefore Clyde F. Waers,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the
hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby af-
firmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the
Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case
104 NLRB No. 108.
SOUTHERN COLORADO POWER COMPANY 927
to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Murdock and Peterson].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent
certain employees of the Employer.
3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act, for
the following reasons:
The Petitioner seeks a systemwide unit of all of the Em-
ployer's powerplant employees on the ground they constitute
a complete production department separate and distinct from
other departments. The Employer and the Intervenor' oppose
severance of this group from an established systemwide,
overall bargaining unit, contending that the unit sought by the
Petitioner is inappropriate because of the high degree of
integration in the Employer's operations and a long history of
collective bargaining on the more comprehensive basis.
The Employer, a public utility, is engaged in the production,
distribution, and sale of electric energy to domestic and in-
dustrial consumers located throughout six counties of southern
Colorado. The electric energy, the Employer's only product, is
produced, for the most part, at three strategically located steam
powerplants.' The energy produced at the powerplant is relayed
through switchboards to main powerlines, then into trucklines,
and ultimately to the consumer. The entire operation is con-
trolled from the plant and central office located at Pueblo,
Colorado. Each of the powerplants is closely interconnected
with, and dependent upon, the others and also with the distri-
bution processes, so that any plant can, and does, assume the
production load of any other plant in the event of a breakdown
or extraordinary demand for power at any point throughout the
system. Moreover, typical of the operations of electric utili-
ties, each phase and each department of the Employer's
operations is dependent upon all the others. In addition, there
is evidence to the effect that employees are interchanged
between the powerplants and other departments, although
infrequently. Also, there appears to be a system of promotion
into and out of the powerplants. Labor relations are ad-
ministered from a central office and fringe benefits are the
same for all employees throughout the system. The record
conclusively shows that there exists a definite community of
interest among the employees, especially as between the em-
ployees in the operations division, of which the powerplants
constitute an integral part.
I The Intervenor , International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No. 667, AFL,
was permitted to intervene on the basis of a current collective-bargaining agreement with
the Employer, which expires April 16, 1953.
2 There is also one hydroelectric power plant the use of which depends upon the supply of
water power and demands upon the Employer 's normal production load.
928 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Since 1937, the Intervenor has represented, in one unit, all
of the employees of the Employer's operations department, in-
cluding the powerplants, maintenance and distribution workers.
In 1950, this group was joined with the clerical employees to
form a single, systemwide, overall unit embracing all of the
Employer's employees.
The Board has long held that the optimum unit in a public
utility is a systemwide industrial unit.' Where, as in the
instant case, such a unit has been established for a considerable
period of time we are most reluctant to disrupt it. For this
reason, and in the light of the high degree of integration of the
Employer's operations and the community of interest that
exists between all groups of employees, we find that the unit
sought by the Petitioner is inappropriate and we shall, there-
fore, dismiss the petition filed herein.4
ORDER
Upon the basis of the entire record in this case, the National
Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the petition filed in
this case be, and the same hereby is, dismissed.
'Lynn Gas and Electric Company, 78 NLRB 3.
4East Ohio Gas Company, 94 NLRB 61; Public Service Company of Indiana, 91 NLRB 1151.
THE BILLINGS AND SPENCER COMPANY and INTER-
NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BLACKSMITHS, DROP
FORGERS & HELPERS, A. F. L., Petitioner. Case No.
1-RC-3152. May 12, 1953
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Joseph
Lepie, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at
the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed.
Putsuant 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-member panel [Members
Houston, Murdock, and Styles].
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 organizations involved claim to represent
certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner seeks to sever from the existing production
and maintenance unit all the Employer's forge shop, steel rack,
forge maintenance, and hot inspection employees, the forge
104 NLRB No. 118.