Public Service Electric & Gas Co.

In the Matter Of PUBLIC SERVICE ELECTRIC & GAS COMPANY and UTILITY DISTRIBUTION CO-WORKERS ASSOCIATION, TELEPHONE OPERATORS Di- VISION, UTILITY Co-WORKERS AFFILIATE Case No. 2-R-4873.-Decided November 4, 1944 Mr. Joseph V. Suter, of Newark, N. J., for the Company. Mr. Leon Dreskin, of Newark, N. J., for the Union. Mr. A. Sumner Lawrence, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND ORDER STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by Utility Distribution Co-Workers Association, Telephone Operators Division, Utility Co-Workers Af- filiate, herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting com- merce had arisen concerning the employees of Public Service Elec- tric & Gas Company, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due no- tice before Richard J. Hickey, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at New York City on October 2, 1944. The Company 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. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT s 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Public Service Electric & Gas Company, a New Jersey corpora- tion with its principal office and place of business in Newark, New Jersey, is engaged principally in the generation, transmission, sale, and distribution of gas and electricity throughout the State of New IIncorrectly described in the petition and other formal payers as "Public Service Elec- tric & Gas Co. of New Jersey" and corrected by motion at the hearing. 59 N. L. R. B., No. 16. 51 - 52 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Jersey. During the period from-August 1, 1943, to July 31, 1944, the Company purchased and used in its business within the State of New Jersey, raw materials valued in excess of $8,000,000, of which approximately 90 percent was obtained from points outside the State of New Jersey. During the salve period the Company furnished to various interstate facilities approximately 200,000,000 kilowatt hours of electrical energy. The Company's total operating revenues from all sources, including its sales of electricity to concerns whose products move in interstate commerce, exceeded $100,000,000 for the period beginning August 1, 1943, and ending July 31, 1944. We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. If. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Utility Distribution Co-Workers Association, Telephone Operators Division, affiliated with Utility Co-Workers Association, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company.' Ili. 11IE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE UNIT The Union contends that the telephone operators in 4, of 26 tele- phone exchanges, comprising the Company's telephone department,' excluding the chief operator and other supervisory employees, con- stitute an appropriate unit. The Company, on the other hand, con- tends that the unit should be coextensive with the telephone department which covers telephone exchanges of the Company throughout the State of New Jersey. The record discloses that the telephone operators, wherever located in the telephone department, perform similar duties, and enjoy sub- stantially the same wages and working conditions; that while the tele- phone operators in the four exchanges herein concerned are in some respects treated by the Company as a group,3 they do not actually con- stitute a subdivision of the telephone'department4 or fall within the type of unit recogiaized as most clearly appropriate for telephone em- ployees.5 In addition thereto, it appears that although organization 2 The telephone department comprises 163 non -supervi.ory telephone employees , of which 27 are within the 4 exchanges claimed as the basis of the appropriate unit 3 The four exchanges , which are located in adjacent coin munities within the county of Bergen , are under the same immediate supervision due to geographical and other consid- erations a The claim of the Union that the four exchanges comprise the 'Bergen Division ,",of the telephone department is not supported b5 any formal designation to this effect in the company organization. 5In a recent case involving the question of the ielative merits of telephone units based upon individual exchanges as compared with a telephone unit company-wide in extent, the Board stated that "attempts at bargaining in the telephone communications industry which fail ultimately to contemplate organization in company-wide units , are not practical " See- Matter of Sonthe''n Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company, 55 N. L R B. 1058. PUBLIC SERVICE ELECTRIC & GAS COMPANY 53 among the Company's telephone employees has been limited by the Union to the exchanges claimed as the basis of the appropriate unit, such organization has been achieved without apparent difficulty within a relatively short period of time; 6 there is no indication that organi- zation of the employees in the other exchanges would not suceed or, progress similarly, if attempted.? In view of the functional interrelationship, the similarity of duties and working conditions, and particularly the inchoate state of organi- zation,8 we find that the unit proposed by the Union is inappropriate. We shall, therefore, dismiss the petition herein. IV. THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION Since the bargaining unit sought to be established by the petition is not appropriate as found in Section III, above, we find that no ques- tion has arisen concerning representatives of employees of the Com- pany within the meaning of Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act. ORDER IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition for investigation and certifi- cation of representatives of employees of Public Service Electric & Gas Company, Newark, New Jersey, filed herein by Utility Distribu- tion Co-Workers Association, Telephone Operators Division, Utility Co-WTorkers Affiliate, be, and it hereby is, dismissed. MR. JOHN M. HOUSTON took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Order. G An examination of the dates on the Union 's autlioiization cards as set forth in the statement of the Field Examiner, reveals that during the 2 months immediately preceding the filing of the present petition, the Union obtained authorizations for more than 50 per- cent of the employees in the four exchanges clauued as the basis of the appropriate unit 7 The evidence discloses that during the period of organization of employees in the four exchanges, the Union refrained from attempting to organize and declined to accept appli- cations for membership from employees in the other telephone exchanges pending the com- pletion of the organizing campaign in the four exchanges herein concerned. 8 See Hatter of Newnan Cotton Mills, 57 N. L R B 917.