Southeastern Telephone Co.

In the Matter of SOUTHEASTERN TELEPHONE COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, AFL, PETI- TIONER I Case No. 10 10-.]? -1791.Decided August 14,1946 Mr. John C. Ansley, of Tallahassee, Fla., for the Employer. Mr. L. L. Dick and Misses Julia 0. Parker and Ethel B. White, of Atlanta, Ga., and Mr. George L. Sands, of Tallahassee, Fla., for the Petitioner. Mr. Conrad A. Wickam, Jr., of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Talla- hassee, Florida, on May 23 and 24, 1946, before John W. Coddaire, Jr., Trial Examiner: The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. The Employer's motion to dismiss the petition on the ground that the Board lacks jurisdiction in the absence of proof that the Petitioner has a substantail interest among the employees of the Employer is hereby denied.' Upon the entire record in the case, the National- Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Southeastern Telephone Company is a Florida corporation having its main office at 218 Park Avenue, Tallahassee, Florida. It is an affil- iate of the American Utility Service Corporation, a holding company and a Delaware corporation, with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois.2 ' Matter of O. D. Jennings cE Company, 68 N L. R. B. 516. 3 On May 1, 1946, the Central Telephone Company purchased the majority of stock in American Utility Service Corporation . However, it appears that the impending change in corporate structure will not affect the personnel of the Employer . Meanwhile, the Em- ployer continues to operate under the jurisdiction of the original parent corporation until such time as the Central Telephone Company can take over on an operative basis. 70 N. L. R. B., No. 2 4 SOUTHEASTERN TELEPIIIONE COMPANY 5 The Employer is engaged in the business of furnishing telephone facili- ties to customers located in the States of Florida and Georgia. In the State of Florida it operates exchanges in Tallahassee, Bonifay, Crest- view, Monticello, Madison, Valparaiso, De Funiak Springs, Fort Walton, Greenville, and Shalimar. In the State of Georgia its ex- changes are in Alapaha, Abbeville, Adel, Ashburn, Fitzgerald, Mar- shallville, Metter, Montezuma, Mount Vernon, Nashville, Ocilla, Oglethorpe, Perry, Quitman, Unadilla, and McRae. The Employer handles both local and toll calls, and services approximately 12,154 stations in the area serviced by the above exchanges. Local and toll business originates at all of these exchanges. The great majority of the toll business is passed to the Southern Bell Telephone Company, even for transmission between points owned by the Employer. The plant facilities of the Employer are valued in excess of $1,000,000. For the year 1945 it purchased operational materials in the approximate amount of $75,000. The large percentage of this material came from'Atlanta, Georgia, for the facilities and exchanges located in Georgia, and from Jacksonville, Florida, for those located in Florida, although it originated from manufacturers located in other States. It is impossible to make a local or long distance telephone call within the areas of the exchanges serviced by the Employer except through the facilities it provides. We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. IT. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Petitioner seeks a unit of all employees of the Employer except for those having supervisory status. Although initially the Em- ployer apparently urged the establishment of two separate units of plant and traffic employees as appropriate, it now appears to be in 6 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD accord with the Petitioner as to the appropriateness of a unit em- bracing employees of all its departments., It does, however, differ with the Petitioner concerning the inclusion of certain categories of employees which are discussed below. The Employer is headed by the vice president and general manager, under whom are its Georgia division manager and its three main divisions, the traffic, plant, and commercial departments, each headed by a general manager. The traffic department is charged with the operation of the Employer's facilities, the plant department with the construction and maintenance of these facilities, and the commercial department with the Employer's administrative functions. In addi- tion to its manually operated exchanges, the Employer operates a few automatic exchanges which, except as,hereinafter noted, normally re- quire no employees other than those required for maintenance, as well as several agency exchanges operated under contract by the contracting • agents. The parties agree that the cashier, information operator, and plant personnel at the Quitman, Georgia, automatic exchange should be included. They are also agreed on the exclusion from the unit of the vice president and general manager, the Georgia division manager, the three department managers, the traffic district supervisor, the two plant superintendents, the plant engineer, the purchasing agent, the auditor of receipts, the commercial supervisor, the commercial repre- sentative for Georgia and Florida, the chief operator and assistant chief operator at Tallahassee, Florida, and at Fitzgerald, Georgia, and the wire chief at Tallahassee, Florida, all of whom concededly occupy supervisory positions. In addition, there is agreement on the exclusion of the confidential secretaries to the vice president and general manager and the Georgia division manager, as well as the operating agents of the agency exchanges. We find the afore-mentioned inclusions and exclusions to be appropriate. In the following categories, the Petitioner seeks inclusion and the Employer seeks exclusion. Confidential Secretaries Although there is agreement as to the exclusion of the confidential secretaries to the vice president and general manager and the Georgia division manager, the Petitioner would include in the unit the secre- taries of each of the department heads and the plant engineer, while the Employer argues for their exclusion. 8 See Matter of West Coast Telephone Company, 66 N. L. R. B. 1073, Matter of Illinots Consolidated Telephone Company, 61 N. L. R. B . 447; Matter of The Lorain Telephone Company, 58 N. L. R. B 478. SOUTHEASTERN TELEPHONE COMPANY 7 Each of the department heads exercises authority over his depart- ment in matters of personnel involving changes in status. Personnel records relating to these matters, as well as information relating to labor relations policies, are kept by him and are available to his con- fidential secretary. All department heads collaborate, together with the vice president and general manager, in the formulation of labor relations policies. Under these circumstances, we are of the opinion that the secretaries of the three department heads function in a con- fidential capacity. Inasmuch as the duties of the plant engineer's, secretary are interchangeable with those of the general plant manager's secretary, it appears that she too occupies a similar status. We shall, therefore, exclude all of the above-mentioned secretaries from the unit.4 Traffic Department Chief Operators : With the exception of the chief operators in Talla- hassee and Fitzgerald, whom the parties have agreed to exclude, the Petitioner would include all the chief operators in the smaller ex- changes on the grounds that they are merely acting in the capacity of operators-in-charge, and possess no supervisory authority within the customary meaning of the term. The chief operator of any of the Employer's exchanges is charged with the operation of that exchange and is under the direct super- vision of either the traffic manager or district supervisor. Employees under her may vary in number from three-to seven, depending upon the exchange. Although she works on the board part time, performs clerical duties, and receives hourly pay, a chief operator secures and trains a sufficient operating force for her particfilar office, and has the power to hire and discharge. It is clear that these employees are supervisory. We shall therefore exclude them.5 Supervisors : There are six supervisors in the Tallahassee office under the supervision of the chief operator. Each is charged with the man- agement of one section of the switchboard and has attendant duties such as maintaining order and insuring that the operators on that sec- tion handle their traffic correctly. A supervisor customarily wears a headset and handles complaints or information that an operator cannot answer. A supervisor has the authority to release an operator from the board for short periods and even to grant days off where this will not interfere with normal working schedules. It is apparent, how- 'Cf. Matter of Wisconsin Telephone Company, 65 N. L. R. B. 368 (district traffic clerks ) ; Matter of Mountain States Power Company, Kalispell Division, 62 N. L. it. B. 119 (secretary to division manager). 'Matter of Mountain States Power Company, Kalispell Division , 62 N. L. R. B. 119 ( operators-in-charge ) ; Matter of Illinois Consolidated Telephone Company, 61 N. L. it. B. 447 (chief operators in small exchanges ) ; Matter of Middle States Utilities Company of Iowa, 58 N. L. it. B. 482. 8 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ever, that the latter authority is usually exercised only in the absence of the chief and assistant chief operators, who are the persons normally approached on such problems. The authority of a supervisor to dis- cipline is limited to situations of glaring mishandling of the board by an operator, in which case the supervisor would order the operator from the board and report the matter to the chief operator, who would investigate the charge before acting upon it. Hiring of operators is done by the chief or assistant chief operators. Supervisors are paid on the same scale as operators, but receive premiums as supervisors based upon their length of service amounting to $2 or $3 per week. We are of the opinion that'the supervisors do not possess effective authority in matters involving changes of status; that their positions are concerned essentially with the efficient routine handling of the board by the operators and' their duties primarily those of working leaders rather than of supervisors. We shall, therefore, include them in the unit.6 Plant Department Equipment Engineer: This employee is charged with the installa- tion and maintenance of all of the Employer's inside equipment. He has under his supervision all of the "inside" personnel of the plant department, including, normally, the Employer's two wire chiefs at Tallahassee and Fitzgerald. Although he spends 50 percent of his time in,actual installation work, this is presently necessitated by the shortage of qualified personnel available to perform the required work. He is also responsible for drawing up plans for installation and for the detailed determination of all installation equipment that is pur- chased by the Employer. Although the plant manager normally does the hiring of employees in this department, the equipment engi- neer possesses the authority to hire and discharge, and has actually rejected three out of four recent applications for positions. He is paid a salary which is substantially higher than the employees under his supervision, most of them being paid on an hourly basis. We find the equipment engineer to be,a supervisory employee and shall exclude him from the unit. Wire Chiefs: Of the Employer's two wire chiefs, the Petitioner would include the one at Fitzgerald, Georgia, although it has agreed to exclude the one at Tallahassee, Florida, as supervisory. Although the wire chief at Fitzgerald, due to comparative inexperience, is pres- ently under the direct supervision of the Georgia division manager Matter of Illinois Consolidated Telephone Company , 61 N I. R Ti 447 Cf Matter of Mountain States Power Company, Kalispell Division, 62 N. L. R B 119 , and Matter of The Lorain Telephone Company, 68 N. L R. B. 478, where supervisors were excluded because they assumed the duties and authority of the chief operators in the latters' absence. SOUTHEASTERN TELEPHONE COMPANY 9 and the Georgia plant superintendent, he is charged with all the re- sponsibilities of a wire chief, including the maintenance of the switch- board, the batteries, the charging and ringing equipment, the assign- ment of numbers and lines, and the assignment of orders to main- tenance men and installers operating out of Fitzgerald,concerning the maintenance and installation of equipment. He has, presently, four men under his supervision. Although, because of his lack of experience, his authority is somewhat restricted as to hiring and dis- charging, his word is given weight in such matters. He is paid on a salary basis; his earnings are 15 percent more than those of two of the men, under him, but about equal in amount to those of the other two men under his supervision, who are old and experienced personnel in the employ of the Employer. We find that his status is supervisory and we shall exclude him, from the unit.7 Construction Foremen: Normally the plant department carries four construction foremen, although presently none of these positions are occupied due to a shortage of qualified personnel. It is expected, however, that they will be filled as soon as such personnel become avail- able. The duties of the position include the supervision of a construc- tion crew of from four to six linemen and helpers in the construction of lines, cables, and other outside operating facilities. Temporarily, senior linemen are in charge of these construction crews and work along with them. Normally the foremen engage in little actual con- struction work themselves. They are paid a salary which runs from 15 to 20 percent higher than the men under them, and they possess the authority to hire and discharge. We find them to be supervisory employees and shall exclude them from the units but this exclusion does not apply to the senior linemen who are temporarily in charge of the construction crews. Chief Draftsman: This employee works under the supervision of the plant engineer. Her duties are to draft and maintain a property map record of the Employer's entire system and to prepare all prints, graphs, and charts relating to construction projects of the Employer. The position is salaried and requires a degree as a draftsman from a qualified school, as well as a working knowledge of all symbols and codes employed in the telephone industry. Although she is considered to be the head of a subdepartment, the chief draftsman is presently the only one employed therein. It is anticipated, however, that, as soon as a break in material shortages enables the Employer to em- bark upon its planned construction program, tracers will be required i Matter of Illinois Consolidated Telephone Company, Gl N L. R B. 447. B Id. at 452. Of. Middle States Utilities Company of Iowa, 58 N. L. R. B. 482 (con- struction foremen included where they possessed no authority to change the status of employees under them). 10 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD in this department, and will come under the direct supervision of the chief draftsman, who will have direct authority to hire and discharge such personnel. Despite the fact that no personnel are presently un- der her supervision, it is patent that the chief draftsman's position is supervisory. We shall, therefore, exclude her from the unit. Commercial Department Supervisor of Billing: This employee is in the revenue accounting office and is under the direct supervision of the auditor of receipts. There are seven or eight girls in this office whose duties include the operation of billing machines, addressographs, the handling of orders for new installations, and cash posting. The supervisor of billing is in charge of toll and revenue billing, the handling of mail and cash receipts from the'field, and the distribution of work among the girls in the office. Principally, however, her job is to keep a check on these girls to insure that they perform their work properly and do not over- stay their rest periods. She warns girls of time violations and, where flagrant, reports them to either the auditor of receipts or the com- mercial manager. It-is customary for either of the two latter officials to perform the function of hiring and discharging. Although in one instance a girl was hired solely on the supervisor's recommendation, it appears that recommendations for discharge made by her are subject to investigation. We are of the opinion that she does not possess supervisory authority within our. customary meaning of the phrase, but acts essentially in the capacity of a monitor. We shall include her in the unit. Pay-Roll Clerk: This employee assembles the pay roll, placing em- ployees in the proper classifications, and makes out the pay checks. The work is purely clerical and necessitates no resort to confidential files. Currently, however, this position is being filled by the coin- mercial manager's confidential secretary whom we have previously excluded as a confidential employee. We shall include the position of pay-roll clerk in the unit, but this inclusion shall not apply to the confidential secretary who is temporarily performing the job. Automatic Exchange Cashiers: The Employer employs a full-time -cashier at its automatic exchange in Quitman, Georgia, and a part- time cashier at each of such exchanges in Adel, Georgia, and Bonifay, Florida. Although it is agreed that the full-time cashier be included, the parties are in dispute on the part-time cashiers. It appears that the latter act purely in the capacity of collection agents to collect the Employer's telephone bills from the customers of these, exchanges. They were formerly chief operators at these exchanges when they were manually operated. The cashier at Adel, which is the larger of the two exchanges, is provided with an office, but works on her own SOUTHEASTERN TELEPHONE COMPANY 11 time, spending an estimated maximum of 10 days per month on com- pany work, for which she 'receives a flat monthly sum of $60. The cashier at Adel performs similar duties at a grocery store in which she works, and is paid a monthly sum of $35 for her work. We are of the opinion that the part-time cashiers operate in a different sphere from the Employer's regular employees and lack a community of in- terest with them. We find that it would be inappropriate, under the particular circumstances of this case, to include them in the unit. We shall therefore exclude them. Agency Exchanges The Employer maintains a number of exchanges which are operated by contract arrived at thiough informal but written negotiations be- tween it and the operating agents, whom, as previously indicated, the parties have agreed to exclude. A specific sum is allocated to each exchange for its operation. The agents may at their discretion op- erate the exchanges wholly by themselves or hire employees to assist them, although no additional funds are provided by the Employer for such employees. Where additional employees are hired, however, the agent sends their names to the Employer which in turn maintains social security records for them and sends them pay checks in the amount specified by the agent, such amount thereupon being deducted from the monthly sum paid by the Employer to the agent. Although the Employer maintains all equipment, it does not appear to exercise any control over employment conditions, either as to number or changes in status of agency employees. Under such conditions we shall exclude the employees of the agency exchanges from the unit. We find that all employees of the Employer at its various exchanges in the States of Georgia and Florida, including the supervisors in the Tallahassee,office, the supervisor of billing, the pay-roll clerk, and the cashier, information operator and plant personnel at the Quitman, Georgia, automatic exchange, but excluding the vice president and general manager, the Georgia division manager, the traffic, plant and commercial managers, the traffic district supervisor, the plant superin- tendents, the plant engineer, the purchasing agent, the auditor of re- ceipts, the commercial supervisor, the commercial representative for Georgia and Florida, all confidential secretaries,9 chief operators, as- sistant chief operators, wire chiefs, construction foremen, and em- ployees of agency exchanges, the part-time cashiers at the automatic exchanges in Bonifay, Florida, and Adel, Georgia, the equipment engineer, the chief draftsman, and all or any other supervisory em- e These specifically are the confidential secretaries to the vice president and general manager, the Georgia division manager, the three department managers , and the plant engineer. 12 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ployees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur- poses of collective bargaining with Southeastern Telephone Company, Tallahassee, Florida, 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 Tenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, -as amended, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in 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 includ- ing 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 and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining. i