The Western Union Telegraph Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 26, 1942

38 N.L.R.B. 535 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter of THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY and
LOCAL 91, COMMERCIAL TELEGRAPHERS' UNION, AFFILIATED WITH THE
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR
Case No. R-3433.-Decided January 26, 1942
Jurisdiction : telegraph industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re-
fusal to accord union recognition until certified by the Board ; election necessary
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees of the Company work-
ing in or from Sioux City, Iowa, under the jurisdiction of the superintendent
at Sioux City, excluding employees having the exclusive right to hire and
discharge ; messenger boys engaged exclusively in the handling of errand service
and/or distribution service, delivery manager, late night chief operator, and
confidential clerk to chief operator.
Mr. Edward C. Ziesel, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company.
Mr. Howard IV. Brandon, of Lincoln Neb., and Gladys A. Swaby,
of Sioux City, Iowa, for the Union.
Mr. Louis Cokin , of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On October 2, 1941, Local 91, Commercial Telegraphers' Union,
herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the
Eighteenth Region (Minneapolis, Minnesota) a petition alleging that
a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the represen-
tation of employees of The Western Union Telegraph Company,
Sioux City, Iowa, herein called the Company, and requesting an
investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section
9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449., herein called
the Act. On November 24, 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 investi-
gation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to
provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
38 N. L R. B., No. 112
595
536 D'E'CI'SIONNS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
On December 9, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear-
ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the Union,
and upon American Communications Association, herein called the
A. C. A. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on January 5, 1942,
at Sioux City, Iowa, before Henry W. Lehmann, the Trial Examiner
duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company and the
Union were represented and participated in the hearing. The A. C. A.
did not appear at the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to
examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bear-
ing on the issues was afforded all parties. The Trial Examiner granted
motions of the Union during the hearing to amend the petition as to
formal matters. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner
made several rulings on other motions and on objections to the ad-
mission of evidence. The Board has reviewed these rulings and finds
that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby
affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Western Union Telegraph Company is a'Ne* York corporation
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 , interstate, and
international communications . In the operation of its national and
international communications system, the Company operates 211,530
miles of pole lines, 4,070 miles of land-line cable, 1,776,876 miles of
wire, 30,324 nautical miles of ocean cable, and 19 ,543 telegraph offices.
At the close of 1940, the Company employed approximately 43,500
persons . The Company maintains offices at Sioux City , Iowa, with
which we are here concerned . It admits that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Local 91, Commercial Telegraphers' Union, is a labor organization
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to mem-
bership employees at the Sioux City, Iowa, offices of the Company.
III., THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company refuses to recognize the Union as the exclusive repre-
sentative of its employees at the Sioux City office until such time as it
is certified by the Board. A statement of the Trial Examiner during
THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY 537
the hearing shows that the Union represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit which it alleges is appropriate.'
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 commerce
and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union and the Company agree that all employees of the Com-
pany working in or from Sioux City, Iowa, under the jurisdiction of
the superintendent at Sioux City, excluding employees having the
exclusive right to hire and discharge and messenger boys engaged in
the handling of errand service and/or distribution service, constitute
an appropriate unit. The only controversy with respect to the unit
concerns the delivery manager, late night chief operator, and confi-
dential clerk to chief operator.
The delivery manager is in complete charge of the delivery depart-
ment. The Company contends that he should be excluded from the
unit because he is a- supervisory employee and the Union urges his
inclusion. He has the authority to hire and discharge employees
working under him and assigns their tours of duty. We shall exclude
the delivery manager from the unit.
The late night chief operator is in charge of the traffic department,
from midnight to 7 a. in. The Company urges that he be excluded
from the unit and the Union that he be included. This employee
normally has one person working under him but on frequent occasions
his staff is increased to three employees. It appears that he has the
authority to discipline persons in his department and may send them
home for cause. We shall exclude the late night chief operator from
the unit.
The confidential clerk to chief operator handles all confidential
correspondence in the Sioux City office. The Company urges that she
be excluded from the unit and the Union that she be included. In
addition to her duties in handling confidential correspondence, she
1 The Trial Examiner stated that the Union presented an authorization petition signed
by 45 persons who appear on the Company 's pay roll for the Sioux City ofce . There are
approximately 75 employees at the Sioux City ofce.
538 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
makes up the pay roll for the Sioux City office. We shall exclude the
confidential clerk to chief operator from the unit.
We find that all employees of the Company working in or from
Sioux City, Iowa, under the jurisdiction of the superintendent at Sioux
City, excluding employees having the exclusive right to hire and dis-
charge, messenger boys engaged exclusively in the handling of errand
service and/or distribution service, delivery manager, late night chief
operator, and confidential clerk to chief operator, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining and that such
unit will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of their
right to self-organization and to collective bargaining and otherwise
will 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 the holding of an election by secret ballot.
The Union urges that the pay roll of December 14, 1941, be used to
determine eligibility to vote. No reason appears, however, why a
current pay roll should not be used for that purpose. We shall direct
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 date of the Direction of Election
herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
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 The Western Union Telegraph Company
Sioux City, Iowa, 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 or from Sioux City,
Iowa, under the jurisdiction of the superintendent at Sioux City, ex-
cluding employees having the exclusive right to hire and discharge,
messenger boys engaged exclusively in the handling of errand service
and/or distribution service, delivery manager, late night chief oper-
ator, and confidential clerk to chief operator, constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) 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 Relations
THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY 539
Act and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, 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 The Western Union Telegraph Company, Sioux City, Iowa, 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 Eighteenth
Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Rela-
tions Board and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and
Regulations, among all employees of the Company working in or
from Sioux City, Iowa, under the jurisdiction of the superintendent
at Sioux City who were employed during the pay-roll period imme-
diately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who
did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on
vacation or in the active military service or training of the United
States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding employees having the
exclusive right to hire and discharge, messenger boys engaged exclu-
sively in the handling of errand service and/or distribution service,
delivery manager, late night chief operator, confidential clerk to chief
operator, and employees who have since quit or been discharged for
cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by
Local 91, Commercial Telegraphers' Union, affiliated with the Amer-
ican Federation of Labor, for the purpose of collective bargaining.