W. D. George

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 16, 1948

79 N.L.R.B. 750 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of W. D. GEORGE AND THOMAS FITZGERALD, TRUSTEES
FOR PITTSBURGH RAILWAYS COMPANY, DEBTOR UNDER SECTION 77 (b)
OF THE BANKRUPTCY ACT, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL UNION
OPERATING ENGINEERS, LOCAL 95, AFL, PETITIONER
Case No. 6-RC-14.-Decided September 16,1918 ,,71
DECISION
AND
ORDER
V
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed.
Pursuant 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-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
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 Petitioner and the Amalgamated Association of Street,
Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America, Division 85,
AFL, herein called the Intervenor, are labor organizations claiming to
represent employees of the Employer.
3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act, for the following
reasons:
The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all substation operators
and maintenance mechanics employed in the Employer's Substation
Operation and Maintenance Subdivision. The Intervenor, which is
the bargaining representative for all the Employer's hourly rated
employees, including substation operators and maintenance mechanics,
and the Employer oppose the unit requested by the Petitioner.
The Employer operates electric street railways in the city of Pitts-
burgh, Pennsylvania, and its environs. Its operations are divided
.Chairman Herzog and Members Murdock and Gray
79 N. L. R. B., No. 101.
750
W. D. GEORGE AND THOMAS FITZGERALD,- TRUSTEES 751
into 3 major divisions, namely, Ways and Structures, Equipment, and
Power and Inclines. We are here concerned with a subdivision of the
Power and Inclines Division, designated as the Substation Operation
and Maintenance Subdivision. Of the 53 employees 1 in' the Sub-
station Operation and Maintenance Subdivision, 18 are employed as
substation operators A, 25 as substation operators B, 3 as maintenance
mechanics A, 5 as maintenance mechanics B, and 2 as temporary
laborers.2
The substation operators work in the substations where they operate
the machinerywhich converts klternating current into direct current
for use on the - Employer's streetcar lines. The record reveals that
the substation operators, in most instances, have qualified for their
positions after less than 2 months' training. No previous experience
is required for employment in this classification and no apprentice-
ship program is in being. The substation operators enjoy, generally,
the same terms and conditions of work as the other employees of the
Employer.
The maintenance mechanics' work is confined to maintenance of the
machinery and equipment at` the substations, and electric equipment
and motors on the Employer's inclines. The record is quite clear,
however,'that'theirmaintenance:work consists primarily-in the'sub-
stitution of spare parts for damaged or worn parts of the machines
in operation. The record does not indicate that they are sufficiently
.skilled to be classified as "craft" employees. Although the main-
tainers are paid at a slightly higher hourly rate than the substation
'operators and usually, attain their classification by the process of work-
ing as substation operators first, their work is primarily routine and
its requirements are largely a matter of experience and knowledge
of the location of the Employer's machinery.
As, the substation operators and maintenance mechanics perform
duties which are essentially routine in nature and do not require the
•exercise of skills generally 'attributable to the craft of operating
engineers, we believe that they are not a group of the type which
we have customarily found might constitute a separate-and appropriate
bargaining unit. We find, therefore, no justification in the record for
severing this group of employees from the existing company-wide
unit. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed herein be, and it hereby
is, dismissed.
' The Employer has about 3,086 hourly rated employees at his Pittsburgh operations
2 The Petitioner does not desire to include the 2 temporary laborers in its unit.