The Great Lakes Towing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 5, 1946

71 N.L.R.B. 588 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of THE GREAT LAKES TowING COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN 'S ASSOCIATION, LOCAL UNION #1212
(AFL), PETITIONER
'Case No. 8-R-,288.Decided !November 5, 1946
Mr. Chester W. Willett, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Employer.
Mr. Thomas O'Donnell, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Petitioner.
Mr. Arthur Christopher, Jr., of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Cleve-
land, Ohio, on September 13, 1946, before Louis S. Belkin, hearing
officer. The hearing officer 's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following:
FINDINGS of FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
The Great Lakes Towing Company, a New Jersey Corporation
doing business in the State of Ohio, is engaged in commercial towing
operations on the Great Lakes and in ports located thereon. These
operations are mainly carried on by the Employer's subsidiaries at
Chicago, Illinois; Duluth, Minnesota; Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan;
and Buffalo, New York. We are here concerned solely with its West
11th Street local yard in Cleveland, Ohio. The Employer's "port-to-
port lake towing" function is conducted under the authority of rules
and regulations of the Interstate Commerce 'Commission and is prin-
cipally of an interstate character.
We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
71 N. L I: B, No. 85.
588
THE GREAT LAKES TOWING COMPANY
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
589
In July 1946, the Petitioner requested the Employer to recognize it
as the exclusive bargaining representative of certain of the Employer's
employees. The Employer refused to recognize the Petitioner, con-
tending, in effect, that it was not the "present" employer of the-em-
ployees involved herein, since its facilities and personnel had been taken
over for the purposes of operation by the Office of Defense Transporta-
tion under Federal governmental authority'
The Board 2 and the courts 3 have held in analogous cases that, al-
though the United States Government had taken possession of and was,
at the time of the hearing, operating the employer's business enterprise,
the latter continued to be the "employer" of the employees involved
within the meaning of the Act. We conclude, as in those cases, that
the employees concerned in this proceeding have remained "employees"
of the Employer within the meaning of the Act and, therefore, are
subject to the jurisdiction of the Board.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in accordance with the agreement of the parties , that all
watchmen , firemen and mechanics employed by the Employer at its
West 11th Street local yard in Cleveland , Ohio, excluding supervisors,
and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire , promote,
discharge , discipline , or otherwise effect changes in the status of em-
ployees , or effectively recommend such action , constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with The Great Lakes Towing Company,
Cleveland, Ohio, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early
as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this
' Executive Order 9661, under which the Government took possession and assumed control
of the transportation system, plants, and facilities of the Employer, provides "Subject to
applicable provisions of existing law . . . the said transportation system , plants, and
facilities shall be managed and operated under the terms and conditions of employment
in effect at the time possession is taken under this order."
' Sec Matter of West Kentucky Coal Company, 54 N L R B 358 ; Matter of Ford
Collieries Company, 70 N L R. B. 842 , and Matter of Pennsylvania Coal and Code
Corporation, 70 N L R B 1182
8N. L. R. B. v. West Kentucky Coal Co. 152 F (2d) 198 (C. C A. 6), cert denied
326 U S 866
590 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director
for the Eighth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National
Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 4,
among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV,
above, Rvho were employed during the pay-roll period immediately pre-
ceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not
work during the said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca-
tion or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed
forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the
polls, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been
discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to
the date of the election, to determine whether or not they desire to be
represented by International Longshoremen's Association, Local
Union #1212 (AFL), for the purposes of collective bargaining.