The Western Union Telegraph Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 30, 1942

38 N.L.R.B. 766 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter of THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY and
FEDERAL LABOR UNION #22973 , OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF
LABOR
Case No. R-341 415-Decided January 30 , 191.'
Jurisdiction : telegraph industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question • re-
fusal to accord union recognition until certified by the Board; temporary em-
ployees whom the Company does not intend to re-employ after the holiday season,
not eligible to vote, election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees at the Rochester,
New York, office of the Company, excluding employees having authority to hire
and discharge, temporary messengers, sales manager, chief clerk in commercial
department, chief bookkeeper, cashier, night chief operators, statistical clerk in
traffic department, telephone bureau supervisor, automatic department super-
visor, city foremen, and T & R. chief.
Mr. David Krueger, of New York City, for the Company.
Mr. Thomas E. MaGuire, of Rochester, N. Y., for the Union.
Mr. Louis Colehi,, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On November 4 and 5, 1941, respectively, Federal Labor Union
#22973, herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for
the Third Region (Buffalo, New York) a petition and an amended
petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen con-
cerning the representation of employees of The Western Union Tele-
graph Company, Rochester, New York, 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 December 9, 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 Rela-
tions 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.
38 N. L. R. B., No. 147.
766
THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY 767
On December 11, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice, of
hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the
Union, Commercial Telegraphers' Union, herein called the C. T. U.,
Communications Guild of New York, herein called the Guild, and
American Communications Association, herein called the A. C. A.
Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on January 6, 1942, at Rochester,
New York, before Peter J. Crotty, the Trial Examiner duly desig-
nated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company and the Union
were represented and participated in the hearing. The A. C. A., the
C. T. U., and the Guild did not appear at the hearing. Full oppor-
tunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to in-
troduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. Dur-
ing the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings
on motions and on objections to the admission 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 New 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 . The Company maintains offices at
Rochester , New York, with which we are here concerned . It admits
that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Federal Labor Union #22973 is a labor organization affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor. It admits to membership employ-
ees at the Rochester, New York, offices of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company refuses to recognize the Union as the exclusive
representative of its employees at the Rochester, New York, office
until such time as it is certified by the Board. A statement of the
Regional Director, introduced in evidence at the hearing, shows that
the Union represents a substantial number of employees in the unit
which it alleges is appropriate.'
1 The Regional Director reported that the Union presented membership cards signed by
92 persons whose navies appeal on the Company 's pay roll for the Rochester office. There
are approximately 122 employees at the Rochester office
768 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 rela-
tion 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 at the
Rochester, New York, office of the Company, excluding employees
having authority to hire and discharge and temporary messengers,
constitute an appropriate unit. The parties are in disagreement as
to the following several classifications of employees. The Union urges
that all of them be included in the unit and the Company suggests
that they be excluded.
Sales Manager. This employee is in charge of all sales work for
the Company in the city of Rochester and has the authority to make
recommendations as to changes in personnel. He also recommends
salary increases for employees engaged in sales work. We shall
exclude the sales manager from the unit.
Chief Clerk in Commercial Department. This employee handles
all confidential correspondence for the superintendent and much of
this correspondence deals with recommendations for increases of sal-
ary or with dismissal of employees. We shall exclude the chief clerk
in commercial department from the unit.
Chief Bookkeeper. This person is in sole charge of all accounting
work at the Rochester office and makes recommendations as to salary
increases for and changes among employees doing accounting work.
We shall exclude the chief bookkeeper from the unit.
Cashier. The cashier is in complete charge of all cash received by
the Company at Rochester and handles the pay rolls for that office.
She also supervises clerks at the desk in the Company's main office and
makes recommendations for changes among them. We shall exclude
the cashier from the unit.
Night Chief Operators. These persons are charged with the re-
sponsibility for the traffic department during their tours of duty. One
of the operators has eight employees under him and the other from
one to three employees. They are held responsible by the Company
for the maintenance of discipline in the traffic department. We shall
exclude the night chief operators from the unit.
THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY 769
Statistical Clerk in Traffic Department . All confidential corre-
spondence for the head of the traffic department is handled by this
employee and she has access to confidential employee rating cards.
Tn addition , she has one clerk working directly under her supervision.
We shall exclude this employee from the unit.
Telephone Bureau. Supervisor . This employee has complete super-
vision over the telephone bureau . She assigns tours of duty to em-
ployees, recommends discipline and trains new girls. We shall ex-
clude the telephone bureau supervisor from the unit.
Automatic Department Supervisor. This employee's duties in the
automatic department are similar to those of the supervisor in the
telephone bureau discussed above. We shall accordingly exclude the
automatic department supervisor from the unit.
City foreman . A representative of the Company testified that this
employee has complete charge of the plant department at Rochester
and has authority to discharge employees in that department. We
shall exclude the city foreman from the unit.
T. cfi R . Chief. This person is responsible for the testing and regula-
tion of all automatic equipment at Rochester and has one employee
working under him. A representative of the Company testified that
this person is a supervisory employee. We shall exclude him from
the unit.
We find that all employees at the Rochester , New York, office of the
Company, excluding employees having authority to hire and discharge,
temporary messengers , sales manager, chief clerk in commercial de-
partment , chief bookkeeper, cashier, night chief operators , statistical
clerk in traffic department , telephone bureau supervisor , automatic
department supervisor , city foreman , and T . & R. chief , 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 other-
wise 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 Company suggests that only messengers who have been with
the Company for a period of three months should be deemed eligible
to vote. We are of the opinion that the interests of the messengers
with respect to wages, hours, and working conditions are substantially
similar to those of other employees within the unit. Accordingly, we
find that all regular messengers are eligible to vote in the election.
The Company had five temporary employees on its pay roll as of
January 3,1942. The Union requested that these employees be allowed
to vote in the election. All these employees were hired by the Com-
438861-42-vol.38 50
770 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
pany for the holiday increase in its business in December 1941. At
the time of the hearing, three of these employees were no longer in
the employ of the Company and the other two were to terminate their
services with the Company on January 10, 1942. A representative of
the Company stated that the Company does not expect to reemploy
any of these persons. We find that these employees should not be
eligible to vote in the election.
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 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 the entire record in
the 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,
Rochester, New York, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section
2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
2. All employees at the Rochester, New York, office of the Company,
excluding employees having authority to hire and discharge,.tempo-
rary messengers, sales manager, chief clerk in commercial department,
chief bookkeeper, cashier, night chief operators, statistical clerk in
traffic department, telephone bureau supervisor, automatic department
supervisor, city foreman, and T. & R. chief, constitute a unit appropri-
ate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of
Section 9 (b) of the 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 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 ordered by the Board to
ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with
The Western Union Telegraph Company, Rochester, New York, an
election by secret ballot shall be conducted as soon 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 Third
Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations
Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regu-
lations, among all employees at the Rochester, New York, office of
the Company who were employed during the pay-roll period immedi-
THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH. COMPANY 771
ately 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 author-
ity to hire and discharge, temporary messengers, sales manager, chief
clerk in commercial department, chief bookkeeper, cashier, night chief
operators, statistical clerk in traffic department, telephone bureau
supervisor, automatic department supervisor, city foreman, T. & R.
chief, and employees who have since quit or discharged for cause, to
determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Federal
Labor Union, #22973, affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining.