Western Union Telegraph Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 13, 1941

36 N.L.R.B. 881 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY and AMERIOAN
FEDERATION OF LABOR
Case No. R-3031 .-Decided November 13, 1941
Jurisdiction : telegraph industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re-
fusal to accord union recognition until it is certified by the Board ; election
necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : city-wide unit composed of all em-
ployees of the traffic, plant, commercial, and messenger forces of the Com-
pany, at Erie, Pennsylvania, excluding the manager, chief operator, manager
of the delivery department, and "other employment employees."
Mr. David Krueger, of New York City, for the Company.
Mr. John Schrier, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Union.
Mr. Robert S. Fousek, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On June 7, 1941, American Federation of Labor, herein called the
Union, filed with the Regional Director for the Sixth Region (Pitts-
burgh, Pennsylvania) a, petition alleging that a question. affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Western Union Telegraph Company, Erie, Pennsylvania, herein called
the Company; and requesting an investigation and certification of
representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On September •,6,
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.
On September 15, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the
36 N. L. R. B., No. 180.
881
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882 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Union.' Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on September 23,
1941, at Erie, Pennsylvania, before Harry Brownstein, the Trial
Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Union
and the Company were represented by cousel or other official repre-
sentatives and participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be
heard, to-examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evi-
dence bearing upon the issues was afforded all parties. During the
course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made rulings on the admis-
sion of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings and finds that
no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby
affirmed.
Upon the entire record of the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Western Union Telegraph Company is a New York corporation,
having its principal office at New York City. It is engaged in the
transmission by telegraph and cable of intrastate, interstate, and
international communications. In operating its communications sys-
tem, the Company as of December 31, 1939, owned and/or operated
211,530 miles of pole lines; 4,070 miles of landline cable; 1,876,867
miles of wire; 30,324 nautical miles of ocean cable, and 19,543 tele-
graph offices, not including about 16 ,208 telegraph agency stations.
At the close of 1939, the Company employed 44,299 persons, of which
number 1,333 were located outside the United States. The present
proceeding is concerned with employees of the Company at Erie,
Pennsylvania.
The Company admits it is engaged in commerce within the meaning
of the Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The American Federation of Labor is a labor organization admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company refuses to recognize any labor organization until it
has been certified by the Board as the exclusive representative of em-
ployees in an appropriate unit. Evidence introduced at the hearing
discloses that the Union represents a substantial number of employees
in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.'
i Notice was also served on the American Communications Association , the Communica-
tions Guild, and Commercial Telegraphers' Union, none of which organizations appeared
at the hearing.
2 There are approximately 44 employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.
A statement of the Regional Director introduced in evidence discloses that the Union sub,
mitted to him 19 application-for-membership cards, all of which cards contained apparently
WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY 883
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 requests a city-wide unit composed of all employees of the
traffic, plant, commercial, and messenger forces of the Company, at
Erie, Pennsylvania, excluding the manager, chief operator, manager of
the delivery department, regular part-time messengers , and "other
employment employees." The Company agrees that if the. Erie office
is found to constitute an appropriate unit, the manager , chief operator,
manager of delivery department and "other employment employees" 3
should be excluded from such unit, and further proposes that all
messengers be. excluded.
It is the contention of the Company in this and other cases involving
its employees that the most appropriate unit for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining is a Nation-wide unit composed of all its employees.
However, it concedes that pending the self-organization of its em-
ployees on a Nation-wide basis, smaller units may be appropriate. In
numerous cases we have found, upon the basis of the extent of self-
organization of the employees, that units composed of employees in
functional offices of the Company are appropriate. The Erie office is
apparently operated on a functional basis, and employs approximately
44 persons, exclusive of supervisory employees 4 A substantial num-
ber of such employees have joined the Union, thereby indicating a
desire for collective bargaining relations with the Company. Under
these- circumstances, we find that the employees of the Company's Erie,
Pennsylvania, office constitute a separate appropriate. unit for the
purposes of collective bargaining. This finding will not preclude a
later redetermination of the appropriateness of such unit, when or-
genuine signatures , 16 of which are the names of persons on the Company ' s pay roll for the
period ending July 22, 1941. All the cards were dated in May 1941.
3 Mrs . R. Miller is listed on the pay roll as an "other employment employee." She is
an automatic operator who also has employment with another concern . The Company is
entitled to her services only after she completes her regular work or when the other
firm does not require her services.
* The parties agree to the exclusion of three supervisory employees and one nonsupervisory
"other employment" employee as hereinabove indicated.
`884 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ganization has extended to employees in other offices within the district
or,division in which the Erie office is located, or when organization has
become Nation-wide in scope.5
. 'There remains for determination the question of including mes-
sengers in the unit. The Company employs two classes of messengers
at Erie : namely, regular full-time and regular part-time messengers.
The Company proposes the exclusion of all messengers from the unit
and the Union would exclude regular part-time messengers there-
from. regular full-time messengers and regular part-time messen-
gers do the same type of work. Full-time messengers generally work
a 40-hour week, while part-time messengers work approximately a
24-hour week, as they are school boys who work after school and on
Saturdays. Messengers who work 24 hours a week are eligible to
membership in the Union. The Union contends that, because the
interest of regular part-time messengers is chiefly devoted to school
work and their tenure of employment is very short, they should be
excluded from the unit. We are of the opinion that these grounds
do not present a sufficient reason for depriving them of the right to
collective bargaining guaranteed to employees by the Act. Further-
more, we believe that the interests of both regular full-time and regu-
lar part-time messengers with respect to wages, hours, and other
conditions of employment will best be protected by their inclusion
with other employees in a city-wide unit. We shall, therefore, include
both regular full-time and regular part-time messengers in the unit.
We find that all employees in the traffic, plant, commercial, and
messenger forces, including regular part-time messengers of the Com-
pany at Erie, Pennsylvania, excluding the manager, chief operator,
manager of the delivery department, and "other employment employ-
ees" constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining. We find further 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 an election by secret ballot. We shall
direct that an election be conducted among the employees in the appro-
priate unit who were employed by the Company during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the date of our Direction of Election,
subject to such limitations and additions as are set forth in the
Direction.
5 See Matter of Western Union Telegraph Company and American Federation of Labor,
Federal Union No. 221,60, 30 N. L. R. B., No. 105.
WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY 885
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following:
'CONCLUSION'S OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Western Union Telegraph Company, Erie,
Pennsylvania, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6)
and '(7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All employees of the traffic, plant, commercial, and- messenger
forces, including regular part-time messengers of the Company, at
Erie, Pennsylvania, excluding the manager, chief operator, manager
of the delivery department, and "other employment employees," con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purpose 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
Act, 49 Stat. 449, 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 purposes of collective bargaining with
Western Union Telegraph Company, Erie, Pennsylvania, 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 direc-
tion and supervision of the Regional Director for the Sixth 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 traffic, plant, commercial, and messenger
forces of the Company at.Erie, Pennsylvania, who were employed
during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this
Direction, including regular part-time messengers and 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 the manager, chief
operator, manager of the delivery department, "other employment
employees" and employees who have since quit or been discharged for
cause, to determine whether or not said employees desire to be
represented by the American Federation of Labor.
MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Direction of Election.