Tennessee Electric Power Co.

In the Matter of TENNESSEE ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY and INTER- NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS Case No. R-667 SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND ORDER March 4, 1939 In the above-entitled proceedings the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, issued on May 5, 1938, a Decision and Direction of Election,' on May 21, 1938, an Amendment to Decision and Direction of Election,2 and on May 28, 1938, a Second Amend- ment to Decision and Direction of Election.3 The Direction of Elec- tion, as amended, provided that an election by secret ballot be con- ducted within forty (40) days from the date of the Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Tenth Region, among all employees of Tennessee Electric Power Company, Chattanooga, Tennessee, herein called the Company, throughout the Company's electrical utility system in Tennessee and Georgia, in- cluding Hales Bar and South Pittsburgh, and all employees in the businesses of the Company other than the electrical utility system who engaged in, or devoted all or a substantial amount of their time either regularly or at definite periods during the year to, the produc- tion, transmission, or distribution of electricity, or the operation, con- struction, and maintenance incident thereto, or electrical work, in general, whose names appeared on the pay-roll list filed by the Com- pany with the Board on February 25, 1938, excluding meter readers, bill deliverers, collectors, civil engineers and draftsmen, surveyors, nurses, clerical employees of all types, office workers, janitors and building-service employees, watchmen, storeroom workers, and sales- men, if any, provided, that any of these employees thus excluded who devoted a substantial amount of time as aforesaid were included, and excluding also supervisory employees of the rank of general fore- man and higher, as well as foremen and superintendents who had a 7 N. L., R. B. 24. 2 7 N L. R. B. 37. 87N L. R. B. 37. 11 N. L. R. B., No. 77. 947 948 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD right to hire and discharge, or to discharge, temporary employees, and employees listed in said list as "No Longer Employed," or who had since October 31, 1937, quit or been discharged for cause, to de- termine whether or not they desired to be represented by Inter- national Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein called the Brotherhood, for the purposes of collective bargaining. Pursuant to the Decision and Direction of Election, as amended, an election by secret ballot was conducted on June 13, 14, and 15, 1938, under the direction and supervision of Charles N. Feidelson, the Regional Director for the Tenth Region (Atlanta, Georgia). Full opportunity was accorded to all parties to the election to participate therein and to make challenges. Thereafter, on June 20, 1938, the Regional Director, acting pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of Na- tional Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, herein called the Rules and Regulations, issued and served upon the parties on June 22, 1938, an Intermediate Report Upon Secret Ballot. No objections or exceptions to the Intermediate Report were filed by any of the parties. As to the results of the secret ballot, the Regional Director reported as follows : Total number eligible to vote------------------------------- 1362 Total number of ballots cast------------------------------- 1186 Total number of ballots cast for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, affiliated with American Federation of Labor----------------------------------------------- 514 Total number of ballots cast against International Brother- hood of Electrical Workers, affiliated with American Feder- ation of Labor------------------------------------------- 571 Total number of challenged ballots-------------------------- 98 Total number of void ballots------------------------------ 2 Total number of blank ballots ----------------------------- 1 On June 25, 1938, the Brotherhood lodged with the Board a peti- tion to set aside the election, which petition is hereby ordered filed instanter, alleging, in substance, that the conduct of the election was in certain particulars not in accordance with the Decision and the Rules and Regulations, and praying that the election be set aside and a new one held within thirty (30) days. Thereafter the Board directed the Regional Director to make an investigation of the mat- ters set forth in said petition. The Regional Director has made such investigation and has submitted to the Board his report thereon showing that no substantial or material issue with respect to the conduct of the ballot is raised by the said petition. The Board ap- proves the report of the Regional Director and finds that the peti- tion raises no substantial or material issue with respect to the con- duct of the ballot. Said petition is hereby denied. TENNESSEE ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY ET AL. 949 The results of the secret ballot show that the Brotherhood received 514 votes out of the 1,183 counted as valid. The Regional Director reported to the Board that 79 of the 98 challenged ballots were chal- lenged by the Brotherhood itself. For the purposes hereof, we shall acquiesce in the position of the Brotherhood, as taken in its chal- lenges, and shall assume that the 79 ballots were improper and should not be counted.4 Accordingly the total number of ballots properly cast would be 1,104, and assuming further that all the remaining challenged ballots, viz, 19, were cast for the Brotherhood, the Broth- erhood still would not have received, and did not receive a majority of the total number of votes here considered as validly cast. We, therefore, find that no collective bargaining representative has been designated by a majority of the employees of the Company in an appropriate unit, and will order that the petition for investigation and certification of representatives of employees of the Company be dismissed. ORDER By virtue of Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Sections 8 and 9, of Na- tional Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition for investigation and certifi- cation of representatives of employees of Tennessee Electric Power Company, Chattanooga, Tennessee, filed by International Brother- hood of Electrical Workers, be, and it hereby is, dismissed. MR. DONALD WAKEFIELD SMITH took no part in the consideration of the above Supplemental Decision and Order. 4 Cf. Matter of Waggoner Refining Company, Inc., and W. T. Waggoner Estate and International Association of Oil Field, Gas Well and Refinery Workers of America, 8 N. L. R . B. 789, p. 790 ; Elliott Bay Lumber Company, Elliott Bay Mill Company and Plywood and Veneer Workers Union, Local No. 26, 9 N. L. R. B. 3. 164275-39-vol. xi-61