Phillips Petroleum Co.

In the Matter of PHILLIPS PETROLEUM COMPANY and OIL WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, LOCAL 348 , AFFILIATED WITH THE CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS Case No. R-50.1.-Decided April 3,19/3 Jurisdiction : oil refining industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : refusal to accord the union recognition ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all operation, production, and main- tenance employees, including stillmen, treaters, gang leaders, and janitors, but excluding office employees, laboratory employees, employees in the sales- de- partment, temporary employees, and supervisory employees; company's appre- hension that janitors might obtain access to confidential information, found not to afford a basis for excluding them. Messrs. M. W. Eddleman, of Bartlesville, Okla., and H. Hunter Booth, of Kansas City, Mo., for the Company. Messrs. O. A. Knight, of Fort Worth, Tex., and H. C. Fremming, of Kansas City,'Mo., for the Union. Mr. Glenn L. Moller, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION I STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by Oil Workers International Union, local 348, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Phillips Petro- leum Company, Kansas City, Kansas, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Robert S. Fousek, Trial Examiner. Said hear- ing was held at Kansas City, Missouri, on March 17, 1943. The Com- pany and the Union appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. Phillips Employees Independent Union, an unaffiliated organization, was duly notified of 48 N L R. B., No 109. 934 PHILLIPS 'PETROLEUM COMPANY 935 the hearing, but did not appear or' participate in the hearing. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Phillips Petroleum Company is a Delaware corporation with its principal operative offices in New York City, and in Bartlesville, Okla- homa. The Company is engaged in the business of refining, processing, transporting, distributing and selling petroleum products. The Com- pany owns and operates refineries in several States, among those being a refinery located in Kansas City, Kansas. The Company also main- tains pipe lines in the States of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri. The Kansas City refinery, the only operation involved in this proceed- ing, has a capacity of approximately 23,000 barrels of crude petroleum per day. During the year 1941 the refinery processed approximately 7,000,000 barrels of crude petroleum. During the same period approximately 80 percent of the products of the refinery was sold and distributed to points outside the State of Kansas. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Oil Workers, International Union, Local 348, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On or about January 18, 1943, the Union requested that the Company recognize it as the exclusive bargaining representative of the Com- pany's employees at the Kansas City refinery. The Company declined to recognize the Union as such representative.' A statement of the Field Examiner, introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2 ' In its coriespondence with the Union, the Company stated that an existing contract with Phillips Employees Independent Union precluded it from recognizing the Union. At the healing the Company did not contend that the alleged contract constituted a bar to this proceeding, nor did it introduce any evidence with respect thereto As stated above, the Independent did not appear. 2 The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 423 application -for-membership cards , 308 of which bore the apparently genuine signatures of persons whose names appealed on the Company 's pay roll of January 30, 1943. There are approximately 439 employees in the appropiiate unit. 936 DECISIONS "OF N'A'TIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD We 'find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerniig the representation of employees of the Company, within the' meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the At. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Union contends that all operation, production, and maintenance employees, including stillmen, treaters, gang leaders, temporary em- ployees and janitors, but excluding office employees, laboratory em- ployees, employees, in the sales department, and all supervisory employees with the right'to hire and discharge or to recommend such action, constitute an appropriate unit. , The Company accepts the above. definition of, the appropriate unit with two exceptions : it would exclude from the unit temporary employees and janitors. Temporary employees are hired by the Company for definite and limited periods, to do specific jobs, usually not directly related to pro- duction work. These.eniployees include construction workers, brought in to do repairing ,or remodeling and boys who are hired' during the summer months to cut grass and weeds. These temporary employees do not participate in many of the benefits enjoyed by the regular em- ployees,,such as group insurance, unavoidable absence benefits, vaca- tions, sick leave, and- retirement pensions. A temporary employee cannot become a permanent employee 'simply by lapse of time. 'New employees who are,employed on a perm anent _basis.are considered to be on probation for the first 6 months, but they participate in all the -benefits of permanent employees from the beginning of their employ- ment.. Under the circumstances; we do 'not, believe the interests,,bf temporary employees to be sufficiently related, to, those of the perma- nent employees to warrant their inclusion in, the unit. We shall accordingly exclude them 3- " ' - The Company's- only reason for, desiring, to exclude janitors ,from the unit is the asserted fear that because they work in and around the offices of the Company's executives,,confidential information contained in papers'lying upon the desks might be,available to them. The record discloses no basis -for apprehension concerning the integrity of • the janitors. In 'any event, the possibility that they may engage ,in wrongful conduct ,affords no basis for excluding, them from the unit. It is not contended that they are office employees, or otherwise engaged in performing duties of a confidential nature in the regular course'of their employment. We shall include them in the unit .4 . Accordingly, we find that all operation, production, and mainte- nance employees, including stillmen, treaters, gang leaders, and jani- Matter of Farces, Manufacturing <Conipany,iand Lodge .493,,Intel national Association of Machinists, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, 38 N L R. B. 399. 4 The term "janitors," as used herein , includes janitresses. PHILLIPS PETROLEUM COMPANY 937 tors, but excluding office employees, laboratory employees, employees in the sales department, temporary employees, and all supervisory employees with the right to hire'and discharge or to recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective ,bargaining within the rneaning,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. T 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'.pursuarit to Article-I11, Sectibn'•9; •o`f National L"abo'r Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that as part of'the -investigatioli to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with-Phillips Petroleum Company, Kansas City, Kansas, an election 'by secret ballot shall be conducted as earlyas.po"ssible, but not later than thirty-(30)-days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Seventeenth 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 uriit'found appropriatein'Section IV, above, who were employed during the 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 '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 Oil Workers -International Union, Local 348; affiliated with the' Congress of Indus- -trial Organi2ations, for'the purposes of collective bargaining. 1