General Petroleum Corp.

In the Matter of GENERAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION,1 EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF FIREMEN AND OILERS, AFL, PETITIONER Case No. 19-RC-47.-Decided May 12, 1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing in this matter was held before .Kenneth McClaskey, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed .2 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-member panel [Members Reynolds, Murdock, and Gray]. 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 is a labor organization claiming to represent em- ployees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- -•tion of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Petitioner seeks a unit consisting of all clerical employees em- ployed in the Employer's operating department in the State of Wash- ington. In the alternative, it seeks to merge these employees into the unit of operating and maintenance employees which it currently rep- resents. The Employer opposes the petition, contending that the ap- propriate bargaining unit should be composed of all its clerical employees. There are 22 clerical employees in the operating depart- 1 The name of the Employer appears as amended at the hearing 2 Case No. 19-RC-220 was consolidated with Case No. 19-RC-47 by an order of the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region, dated January 7, 1949 . At the hearing, the Petitioner submitted a request to withdraw its petition in Case No. 19-RC-220. This request was conditionally approved by the hearing officer and the Regional Director subject to further approval by the Board. We hereby affirm the approval of the Petitioner's request for withdrawal of the petition in Case No . 19-RC-220. 83 N. L. R. B., No. 83. 514 GENERAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION 515 ment whom thePetitioner seeks to represent and there are 72 additional clerical employees in the sales, accounting, credit, and office depart- ments whom the Employer contends should be included in the unit. The employees in the proposed unit work in offices located at the Employer's terminals and warehouses -in the industrial area of Seattle, Washington. These clerical employees are in constant association with the operating and maintenance employees in the plants. In many instances, they assist the operating and maintenance employees in the discharge of their normal duties. Many of the clerical employees in the proposed unit were promoted from operating and maintenance jobs. The employees in the proposed unit work for the most part under the direction and supervision of the foremen for the various departments in the Employer's warehouses and terminals. Their duties and functions resemble those of factory or plant clerical em- ployees whom we customarily include in units of production and main- tenance employees. In contrast therewith, the employees whom the Employer contends should be included in the unit work in a modern office building in the commercial district of Seattle. They have little contact with the operating and maintenance employees. 'They fall in the category of office clerical employees whom we generally ex- clude from units of production and maintenance employees. We believe that the clerical employees in the operating department have a closer community of interest with the operating and main- tenance employees than with the office clerical employees and may function as part of the operating and maintenance unit 3 However, the plant clerical employees are not covered by the existing contract applicable to the operating and maintenance employees. We shall, therefore, accord the plant clerical employees the opportunity through an election to express their desires as to whether or not they should be added to the established operating and maintenance unit repre- sented by the Petitioner. We shall therefore direct that an election be held among the clerical employees employed in the Employer's operating department in the State of Washington, excluding guards, professional and confidential 4 employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act. If the employees in this voting group select the Petitioner as their bargaining agent, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to be bargained for as part of the operating and maintenance unit now represented by the Petitioner. ' Matter of Chrysler Corporation, 76 N. L. R. B. 55 ; Matter of Emsco Derrick & Equip- ment Company, 72 N. L. R. B. 378. d In accordance with the stipulation of the parties, the private secretary to Mr. Baugh, the Assistant Division Manager of the Employer, is excluded from the unit as a confidential employee. 516 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by secret ballot shall'be conducted as early as possible, but not later than 30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super- vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among the employees in the voting group described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work during said.pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, and also exclud- ing employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to de- termine whether or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by International Brotherhood of Firemen,and Oilers, AFL.