Central Louisiana Electric Co., Inc.

In the Matter Of CENTRAL LOUISIANA ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC., EM- PLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL `VORIKERS, LOCAL No. 576, A. F. OF L.,1 PETITIONER Case No. 15-R-1536.-Decided February 17,1948 Mr. Lewis Moore, of New Orleans, La., and Messrs. John H. McSween and Paul R. Taylor, of Alexandria, La., for the Employer. Mr. C. A. Dugas, of Lake Charles, La., and Mr. J. W. Specer, of Alexandria , La., for the Petitioner. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Alexan- dria, Louisiana, on June 18, 1947, before George H. O'Brien, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.2 Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board 3 makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER The Employer is a Louisiana corporation with its principal office located at Alexandria, Louisiana. Its operations include the genera- tion, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity, and the produc- tion, distribution and sale of ice at wholesale and retail. In addition, the Employer operates a dairy farm and pasteurization plants not involved in this proceeding. The Employer renders electric service I Title as amended at the hearing. 2 The Employer's motion to dismiss the proceeding herein on the ground that it is not engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act and for the further reason that the unit sought by Petitioner is inappropriate is hereby denied for the reasons hereinafter set forth. 8 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 [ Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Reynolds]. 76 N. L. R. B., No. 36. 243 781902-48--vol 76-17 244 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD to approximately 11,500 customers in 34 communities, and the terri- tory adjacent thereto, in the State of Louisiana. The areas served in- clude portions of the Parishes of Avoyelles, Evangeline, Grant, Rapides, and St. Landry. Water is produced and sold in the towns of Cheneyville, Lecompte, Mansura, and Ville Platte, Louisiana. Two of the Employer's ice manufacturing plants are located in Alex- andria, and one at Bunkie, Louisiana. It also owns refrigerated ice storage facilities in Lecompte, Mansura, Villa Platte, Colfax, and Pine- ville, Louisiana. For the 6-month period ending December 31,1945, the Employer pur- chased supplies exceeding $250,000 in value, of which materials valued at more than $11,000 were purchased and shipped from points outside the State of Louisiana. For the same period the Employer's sales of electricity exceeded $500,000 in value, its sales of ice exceeded $19,000 in value and its water sales were valued at more than $20,000. Industrial customers of the Employer during various periods be- tween June 1945 and February 1947 purchased from the Employer sub- stantial amounts of electricity, water, and ice essential for their opera- tions. During the afore-mentioned period, these industrial customers received from outside the State of Louisiana materials valued in excess of $280,000 and shipped products exceeding $1,800,000 in value, outside the State of Louisiana. We find, contrary to the contention of the Employer, that it is en- gaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Rela- tions Act. II. 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 Peti- tioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the rep- resentation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Sec- tion 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Petitioner seeks a unit comprised of all electrical production and maintenance employees of the Employer, excluding office employees, CENTRAL LOUISIANA ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC. 245 janitors, temporary laborers,' and all supervisors. The Employer con- tends generally that the unit sought by the Petitioner is inappropriate, alleging that the appropriate unit should include all production and maintenance employees of its electrical, water and ice and cold storage operations. The Petitioner more specifically desires to include, with the excep- tions noted above, all employees listed by the Employer in its "elec- trical department" and five employees listed in the ice and cold storage d-epartnlent.5 The Employer's "Job Classification Manual" lists in the electrical department all its production and maintenance employees except those working in the ice and cold storage plant in Alexandria e and the five employees heretofore mentioned. Employees listed in the electrical department also perform work in the water and ice and cold storage departments. Thus, for example, plant operators in the elec- trical department do both electrical and ice department production and maintenance work. Oilers in the electrical department and ice pullers in the ice and cold storage department are used interchangeably as occasion requires. Truck drivers in the ice and cold storage depart- ment devote a substantial part of their time to electrical department deliveries and electrical department servicemen service both electric and water systems and operate water pumping equipment and standby plants as required. The ice and cold storage plant in Alexandria is the only plant in which ice and cold storage plant employees do no electrical work. Thus, the Petitioner's requested unit generally comprises all produc- tion, operating and maintenance employees, differing from that sought by the Employer only in that it would exclude the employees in the ice and cold storage plant in Alexandria. In view of the integra- tion of the Employer's operations and the departmental interchange of employees, we are of the opinion that the unit it requests of all production, operating, and maintenance employees is appropriate.? Although the Petitioner does not seek the employees in the ice and cold storage plant in Alexandria, inasmuch as the unit sought by the Petitioner includes other ice and cold storage department employees, and since we are finding appropriate a unit of production, operating, and maintenance employees, we shall also include in the unit the em- ployees in the ice and cold storage plant in Alexandria. ' Although in its petition the Petitioner sought to exclude laborers generally, at the hearing it requested the exclusion only of temporary laborers. ° Platform man, platform man-shipping clerk, ice truck drivers, ice plant laborer. ° The Employer also owns and operates other ice and cold storage plautb. See Section I, supra. 4 There are approximately 133 employees in the appropriate unit. 246 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The Petitioner would include the mechanical engineer in the elec- trical production department. The Employer took no position regard- ing his inclusion. Inasmuch as the record indicates that the mechani- cal engineer has supervisory authority, we shall exclude him. The Petitioner would exclude janitors on the ground that they are part-time employees. The Employer took no position regarding their inclusion or exclusion. Although the janitors generally work only 3 to 4 hours each night they are permanent regular part-time employees. We are of the opinion that they have a sufficient interest in the terms and conditions of employment to warrant their inclusion in the unit; we shall include them." We find that all production, operating, and maintenance employees of the Employer, excluding dairy plant and farm employees, the chief engineer, assistant chief engineer, mechanical engineer, temporary laborers, division foreman, district foremen, labor foremen, surveying crew instrument men, right-of-way foreman, and all supervisors, con- stitute 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 Central Louisiana Electric Com- pany, Inc., Alexandria, Louisiana, 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 Fifteenth Region, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Reg- ulations-Series 5, 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, 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 any employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No. 576, A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining. 8 Matter of Thomas Grinder Company, 60 N. L R. B. 1222.