W. D. George

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.