Southern Counties Gas Co. of California

In the Matter of SOUTHERN COUNTIES GAS COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA and PACIFIC GAS WORKERS UNION5 INC. (INDEPENDENT) Case No. B-4717.-Decided January 28,1943 Jurisdiction : natural gas utility industry. Inv--3stigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re- fusal to grant recognition without certification of the Board ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees in one of eight dis- tricts of the Company but excluding supervisory employees. Messrs. L. M. Edwards, T. J. Reynolds, R. R. Blackburn, and Lud- low Shonnard, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Company. Messrs. E. W. Withrow, W. B. TVhitelaw, L. T. McGlynn, of Ventura, Calif., and Mr. Alvin W. Ha7an, of Monrovia, Calif., for the Inde- pendent. Mr. Robert Silagi, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by Pacific Gas Workers Union, Inc., here- in called the Independent, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Southern Counties Gas Company of California, Los Angeles, California, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Robert C. Moore, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Los Angeles, California, on December 30, 1942. The Company and the Union appeared, partici- pated, and were'afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the is- sues. The Company moved to dismiss the petition on the grounds that it was not engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act and that the unit petitioned for was not appropriate. The Trial Examiner reserved ruling on these mo- tions. For reasons appearing in Sections I and IV, infra, the motions are hereby denied. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby, affirmed. 47 N. L. R. B., No. 11. 69 70 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY The Company is a public utility and is principally engaged in the business of purchasing, transporting, selling, and distributing natural gas for light, heat, and power purposes in the southern counties of California. As an incident to its principal business, the Company sells gas appliances at retail. All of the natural gas handled by the Coin- pany is produced within the State of California. About 35 percent in volume of the gas sold by the Company is sold to industrial consumers, some of whom are engaged in interstate com- merce: Two of the firms supplied are among the largest concerns of their type on the Pacific Coast and produce products for the armed forces of the United States. In the period from November 1, 1941,. to November 30, 1942, the Company .purchased from .sources outside the State of California pipes, meters, regulators, pumps, compressors, valves, tools, and similar materials valued at $36,412.22., During that period its purchases of natural gas amounted to $4,048,464, and the total sales of gas amounted to $12,050,864.08. On these facts we find, contrary to the contention of the Company, that its operations constitute commerce within the meaning of the Act.' II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Pacific Gas Workers Union, Inc., is an unaffiliated labor organiza- tion admitting to membership employees of the Company. III.. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to grant exclusive bargaining rights to the Independent, until it has been certified by the Board. A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear- ing, indicates that the Independent represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2 In several cases involving the Southern California Gas Company, which also is one of the operating companies owned by the common holding company, Pacific Lighting Corpo- ration, we found in substance , that that company was engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act See Matter of Southern California Gas Company and Pacific Gas Workers Union, Independent, 35 N. L R B . 263; Matter of Southern California Gas Company and Utility Workers Organizing Committee, Locals 170 and 199, C. 1. O, 41 N. L. R B 668. 2A Field Examiner of the Board reported that 71 authorization cards were submitted by the Independent, all of which bole apparently genuine original signatures . The cards were dated as follows : 1 in January 1941, 55 in November 1942, and 15 in December 1942. All the names on the cards submitted were listed on the Company's pay roll of December 2, 1942, which contained 80 names within the unit alleged to be appropriate SOUTHERN COUNTIES GAS COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA 71 We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning of Section 9_ (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The • Independent seeks a unit comprised of all employees of the Company in the Ventura County District and the General Pipe Line District, excluding supervisory employees with the right to hire and discharge. The Company contends for a broad unit embracing all employees within its system but excluding supervisory employees. The record shows that the Company divides its operations into, 8 geo- graphical "districts. It employs a total of 1,000 employees, 90 of whom work in the districts under discussion. The main office and personnel department are located in Los Angeles where, in the past, all negotiations for collective bargaining contracts have taken place. Final action in both hiring and discharging' employees is vested- in the personnel department. All districts have employees in similar classifications and they wage scale is uniform throughout the Com- pany's system. The organizational structure of the Company is simi- lar to the divisional plan of the Southern California Gas Company. The General Pipe Line District operates and maintains a portion of the Company's pipelines and has the same management and em- ployees serving it as has the Ventura County District. It is a non- operating district and is given the designation of a: district for ac- counting purposes in order to separate operating from non-operating expenses. The testimony discloses that organizational efforts by labor unions have been directed along district lines and that separate locals are established in each district as unionization progresses. There is little or' no interchange of employees among the districts. The Company has in the past signed agreements which covered single districts with both' the Independent and the American Federation of Labor. In the cases involving the Southern California Gas Company 8 we re- jected the contention for a company-wide unit because of the method of organization employed. We are of the opinion that a bargaining unit confined to employees of the Ventura District and General Pipe Line District is appropriate in the present case. Our finding in this respect, however, does not preclude a later determination that a sys- tem-wide unit is appropriate. The Independent requests the inclusion of 10 supervisory employees classified as credit supervisor, maiintenance foremen, construction fore- men, chief adjuster, plant chief clerk, storekeeper, garage foreman, and district engineer, contending that they do not possess the author- ' Supra, footnote 1. 72 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ity -to hire and discharge but are merely working foremen who -act as intermediaries between the executives and the workmen. Further- more, they are eligible for union membership.. The Company adopts the position that the employees in question are supervisors whose interests are identified with those of the Company, and that they should therefore be excluded. The record is clear that they do have the power to recommend hiring and discharging and that they pre- pare annual efficiency ratings on the men under their control. They make work assignments, receive grievances, and are the ones-to whom notification of unexpected absences are given. We find that their interests are more closely related to those of the Company than to those of the workmen and accordingly shall exclude the supervisors from the unit. We find that all employees of the Company in the Ventura County District and the General Pipe Line District, but excluding supervisory employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em- ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay- roll period immediately preceding the-date of the Direction of Elec- tion herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. - ' 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 Rela- tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Southern Counties Gas Company of California, Los Angeles, California, 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'Twenty-first Region, acting in this matter as agent for the'National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III; Section 10, of said Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during that 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 SOUTHERN COUNTIES GAS COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA 73 or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but excluding those employees who, have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Pacific -Gas Workers Union, Inc.,' for' the purposes of -collective bargaining.