32 N.L.R.B. 428 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

The Western Union Telegraph Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsJun 9, 1941

32 N.L.R.B. 428 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY and TELEGRAPH EMPLOYEES INDEPENDENT UNION In the Matter of THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY and LOCAL 55-B , AMERICAN COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION, AFFILIATED WITH THE C. I. O. Cases Nos. R-2485 and R-2493.Decided June 9, 1941 Jurisdiction : telegraph industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re- - fusal to recognize either of rival labor organizations until one or the other is certified) by the Board ; employees "detailed" from other offices, ineligible to vote; all messengers held eligible to vote notwithstanding request of one of.the unions to limit eligibility to those who have worked for a period of 3 months during the 6-month period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election where record indicates that all messengers are hired on a permanent basis : election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees of the Company working in the metropolitan Detroit area in the commercial, traffic, account- ing, and plant departments with specified exclusions. Mr. E. R. Riddle, of Chicago, Ill., and Mr. F. C. Bowen and Mr. Benjamin F. Norris, of Detroit, Mich., for the Company. Maurice Sugar, by Mr. Ernest Goodman, of Detroit, Mich., and Mr. William Burke, of Detroit, Mich., for the A. C. A. Mr. Henry H. Silverman, of New York City, Mr. Herbert Bower, of Detroit, Mich., Mr. J. A. Payne, of Kansas City, Mo., and Mr. W. A. Allen, of Chicago, Ill., for the C. T. U. Seaborg and Rice, by Mr. Arthur Rice, of Detroit, Mich., for the Independent. Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On November 29, 1940, and February 7, 1941, respectively, Tele- graph Employees Independent Union, herein called the Independent, 32 N. L. R. B., No. 86. 428 THE WESTERN UNIOTT TELEGRAPH 00. 429 and'Local 55-B, American Communications Association, herein called the A. C. A., filed with the Regional Director for the Seventh Region (Detroit, Michigan ) separate petitions alleging that questions affect- ing commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of The Western Union Telegraph Company, Detroit, Michigan, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and cer- tification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of-the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On April 3, 1941, 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 Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice, and, acting pursuant to Article III, Section 10 (c) (2), of said Rules and Regulations, ordered that the two cases be consolidated. On April 10, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the Independ- ent, the A. C. 'A., and Commercial Telegraphers Union, herein called the C. T. U., a labor organization claiming to represent em ployees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on April 21, 1941, at Detroit, Michigan, before Robert J. Wiener, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The A. C. A., the C. T. U., and the Independent were represented by counsel, the Company by its representatives; all participated in the hearing. At the commencement of the hearing, counsel for the Independent moved to withdraw the petition filed by the Independent.' The Trial Examiner reserved ruling thereon. The motion is hereby granted. At the same time, the Trial Examiner granted a motion to intervene filed by the C. T. U. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to intro- duce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on other motions and on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed all the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. On May 2, 1941, the C. T. U. filed a memorandum which the Board has considered. i He stated that the Independent had disbanded and ceased to function 430 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY The Western Union Telegraph Company is a New York corpora- tion, with its principal office at New York City. It is engaged throughout the United-States and in, various foreign countries in the receiving and transmission by.telegraph and cable of intrastate,- in- terstate,-and international communications. In the operations of its national and international communications system, the Company owns and/or operates 211,530 miles of pole lines, 4,070 miles of land- line cable, 1,876,876 miles of, wire, 30,324 nautical miles of ocean cable, and 19,543 telegraph offices. At the close of 1939 the Company em- ployed approximately 44,299 employees. The Company maintains an office in the metropolitan Detroit area,2 with which we are here con- cerned. The Company admits that it is engaged in interstate com- merce within the meaning of Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Local 55-B, American Communications Association, is ' a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations. It ad'mits to membership employees in the metropolitan Detroit area of the Company. - - Commercial Telegraphers Union is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It admits to membership employees in the metropolitan Detroit area of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The A. C. A. and the C. T. U. each claim to represent a 'majority of the employees in the metropolitan Detroit area of the Company. The Company refuses to recognize either the A. C. A. or the C. T. U. until such time as one or the other is certified by the Board as ex- clusive representative of its'employees. A statement of the'Regional Director introduced in evidence at the hearing shows that the A. C. A. represents a substantial number of employees in the unit alleged by it to be appropriate.' 2 The metropolitan Detroit area includes Detroit , Royal Oak , Birmingham, Dearborn, Wyandotte, Highland Park, and Hamtramck , Michigan. 3 The Regional Director reported that the A. C. A presented membership -application cards, most of which bear the names of persons who appear on the Company's pay roll of March 1, 1941. It appears from evidence at the hearing that 631 cards bearing the names of persons on the March 1, 1941, pay roll were presented to the Regional Director by the A. C. A. It further appeared at the hearing that the C. T U has obtained 108 membership-applica- tion cards since January 15, 1941 THE WESfPE'RN UNION TELEGRAPH 00. 431 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 described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing com- merce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT All parties agreed that the unit appropriate for collective bargain- ing should be confined to employees of the Company in the metro- politan Detroit area.4 No reason appears which warrants a de- parture from, the unit agreed to by the parties.' We find that a collective bargaining unit limited to employees in the metropolitan Detroit area is appropriate. The A. C. A. and the C. T. U. agreed that the unit includes employees in the commercial, traffic, accounting, and plant depart- ments. We find that the employees in the metropolitan Detroit area in the commercial, traffic, accounting, and plant departments should be included in the unit. Questions arose at the hearing concerning the exclusion of certain supervisory and other employees from the appropriate unit. We shall consider these exclusions by departments. - Commaercial Department All parties agreed to exclude the superintendent, sales manager, city commercial manager, chief clerk, clerk in charge of messenger personnel, manager of delivery department and assistant to the manager of delivery department. We shall exclude these persons from the unit. The C. T. U. would include in the unit and the A. C. A. 'and the Company would exclude from the unit the clerk in this department. It appears that this employee is in complete charge of the personnel records of the Company and makes reports directly to the superin- See footnote 1, supra. The Company stated that although it considered a Nation-wide unit appropriate, it would adjust itself to any unit found to be appropriate by the Board. 432 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR• RELATIONS BOARD tendent. In addition, she has access to the confidential records of the Company. We shall exclude the clerk in the connuercial department from the unit. The A. C. A. would include the cashier in the unit and the C. T. U. and the Company would exclude him from the unit. The cashier is in charge of the employees under him, assigns their hours of work, and reports infractions of rules to the chief clerk. We find that the cashier should be excluded from the unit. - Traffic Department All parties agreed to exclude the following: traffic manager, night- traffic managers, and assistant chief operators. We see no reason to depart from the desires of the parties as to these exclusions and we shall exclude these persons from the unit. The C. T. U.* would include in the unit and the A. C. A. and the Company would exclude from the unit the classifications considered below : testing and regulating chief; chief clerk; automatic chief; route supervisor; and clerical supervisor. All the above employees have substantially the same degree of authority. They supervise the work of employees under them; assign and distribute work; and report infractions of regulations. They earn approximately $20 a month more than the persons who work under them. We shall exclude them from the unit. In addition, the C. T. U. and the Company would include in the unit, and the A. C. A. would exclude from the unit the following classifications : supervisors in phone room; senior supervisor; automatic and teleprint supervisors; re- peater chief; wire chief; supervisors in telephone department; and instructress in phone school. All these employees have substantially the same degree of authority as the employees set out above. We shall exclude them from the unit. The C. T. U. would include in the unit and the A. C. A. and the Company would exclude from the unit the stenographer in the traffic department. It appears that this. employee serves as the per- sonal secretary to the traffic manager and handles confidential cor- respondence. We find that the stenographer should be excluded from the unit. The C. T. U. and the Company desire that the night office man- ager be included in the unit and the A. C. A. would exclude him from the unit. The record indicates that the duties of this employee are similar to those of the branch managers, who are included in the unit by agreement of all the parties. We find that the night office manager should be included in the unit. TFIE WES(PERN UNION TELEGRAPH Co. 433 Plant Department All parties agreeing , we shall exclude the city foreman , assistant foremen, and acting general foremen from the unit. Accounting Department All parties agreeing , we shall exclude the manager from the unit. The C . T. U. and the Company would include in the unit and the A. C. A. would exclude from the unit the assistant to the accounting manager. This employee is in complete charge of the department in the absence of the manager . We find that he should be excluded from the unit. We find that the employees of the Company working in the met- ropolitan Detroit area in the commercial , traffic, accounting, and plant departments , excluding the employees whose exclusions we have indicated above and whose positions are, for convenience , listed in Appendix A, 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 We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. The parties agreed at the hearing that eligibility to vote should be deter- mined by the Company's pay roll for the period immediately pre- ceding the date of the Direction . We find that the employees of the Company eligible to vote in the election shall be those in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the Direction of Election herein, subject to such limitations and additions as are set forth in the Direction hereinafter. The A . C. A. requested that "detailed" employees be deemed ineligible to vote. The C. T. U. requests that such employees be allowed to vote. These employees are permanently attached to other offices of the Company but are temporarily working in the metropolitan Detroit area . They retain their seniority in the offices from which they are detailed . We find that such employees are ineligible to vote in the election to be directed herein. The C. T. U. contends that only those messengers of the Com- pany who have been in the Company's employ for an aggregate period , of 3 months during the 6-month period immediately preced- ing the date of the Direction should be eligible to vote. The A. C. A. 434 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD contends that all messengers should be eligible to vote. The record indicates that all messengers are hired on a permanent basis. We find that all messengers employed by the Company should' be eligible to vote in the election. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in they case, the Board makes the following : CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the rep- resentation of employees of The Western Union Telegraph Company, Detroit, Michigan, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All employees of the Company working in the metropolitan Detroit area in the commercial, traffic, accounting, and plant depart- ments, excluding the employees occupying the positions listed in Appendix A, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col- lective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act. 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 Re- lations Act and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with The Western Union Telegraph Company, Detroit, Michigan, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional 'Director for the Seventh 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 all employees of the Company working in the metropolitan Detroit area in the commercial, traffic, accounting, and plant departments who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or in the active military service or train- ing of the United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding em- ployees occupying the positions listed in Appendix A, attached hereto, and further excluding any employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Local 55--B, American Communications Associa. THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH CO. 435 tion, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, or by Commercial Telegraphers Union, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. APPENDIX A Commercial Department Superintendent Sales manager City commercial manager Chief clerk Clerk in charge of messenger personnel Traffic Traffic manager Night traffic managers Assistant chief operators Testing and regulating chief Chief clerk Automatic chief Route supervisor Clerical supervisor Supervisors in phone room Manager of delivery department Assistant to manager of delivery department Clerk Cashier Department Senior Supervisor Automatic and teleprinter super- visors Repeater chief Wire chief Supervisors in telephone room Instructress in phone school Stenographer Plant Department City foreman Acting general foremen Assistant foremen Manager ISAiIE TITLE Accounting Department Assistant to the accounting man- ager AMENDMENT TO DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION June 25, 1941 On June 9, 1941, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above- entitled proceedings. 448692-42-vol, 32--29 436 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The Board hereby amends its Decision and Direction of Election by striking therefrom the contents of footnote 3, and substituting in footnote 3 the following : "The Regional Director reported on June 19, 1941, that 375 persons whose names appear on the Company's pay roll of March 1, 1941, have signed membership application cards in the A. C. A. There are approximately 829 employees on the March 1, 1941, pay roll who are in the alleged appropriate unit. It further appeared at the hearing that the C. T. U. has obtained 108 member- ship application cards since January 15, 1941." The Board being advised by the Regional Director that a longer time within which to hold the election is necessary, hereby amends its Direction of Election issued on June 9, 1941, by striking there- from the words "but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction" and substituting therefor the words "but not later than forty-five (45) days from the date of this Direction." 32 N. L. R. B., No. 86a.