Southern California Gas Co.

In the Matter of SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAS COMPANY and UTILITY WORKERS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE , LOCAL 114, C. I. O. Case No. R-2418.-Decided April P,9, 1941 Jurisdiction : gas utility industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: Com- pany refused, upon request, to recognize the union ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees of the Company in the Van Nuys district of the Northern Division, excluding supervisors and temporary and probationary employees. Mr. Leroy M. Edwards and Mr. T. J. Reynolds, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Company. Gallagher, Wirin c Johnson, by Mr. William M. Samuels, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Union. Miss Ann Landy, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On February 12,1941, Utility Workers Organizing Committee, Local 114, C. I. 0., herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the Twenty-first Region (Los Angeles, California), a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Southern California Gas Company, .Los Angeles, California,_ herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Sec- tion 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On March 13, 1941, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, ordered an investiga- tion and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On March 17, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the Union. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held at Los Angeles, California, 31 N. L R B., No. 70. 461 462 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD on March 25, 1941, before David Sokol , the Trial Examiner duly desig- nated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company and the Union were represented by counsel and participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. At the beginning of the hearing and again at the end of the hearing the Company moved for the dismissal of the petition on the ground that the Board lacks jurisdiction . The Trial Examiner reserved ruling for the Board . For the reasons stated below the motion is hereby denied . During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on other motions and on objections to the admis- sion of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMP ANY At the hearing in the instant proceeding the record in an earlier representation proceeding involving the Company' was introduced in -evidence by agreement. Further, there was introduced in evidence without objection the affidavit of the Company's president in support of the Company's motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. No other evidence concerning the Company's operations in so far as they bear on the Board's jurisdiction was introduced. In the earlier case the Board found and it here finds that : Southern California Gas Company is a public utility corporation, organized under the laws of California, with its principal office ,and place of business in Los Angeles, California. The common stock of the Company, together with, the stock of Southern Counties Gas Co., Santa Maria Gas Co., and Industrial Fuel Supply Co., is wholly owned by a common holding company, Pacific Lighting Corporation. Of these operating companies, the Company, Southern Counties Gas Co., and Santa Maria Gas Co. distribute gas to consumers, while Industrial Fuel Supply Co. is engaged only in the transportation and transmis- sion of gas from the gas fields to other gas companies. The Company is engaged principally in the business of purchasing, transporting, selling, and distributing natural gas for light, heat, and power purposes in the central and southern portions of California. It is also engaged to a very minor extent in manufacturing, transport= ' Matter of Southern California Gas Company and Utility Workers Organizing Committee, Local No. 132, 10 N . L. R. B 1123. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAS COMPANY 463 ing, selling, and distributing manufactured gas. It purchases and sells butane for the purposes of light, heat, and power . As an incident to 'its principal business of distributing gas the Company sells gas appliances at retail. The Company is the chief source of natural gas in the southern por- tion of California. In 1937 it either purchased or transported direct from the gas and oil fields in California some 25 per cent of the total natural gas produced in the State of California . In addition , through interconnections between the Company's lines and those of Industrial Fuel Supply Co. and Southern Fuel Co,, the Company purchased a considerable portion of the 35 per cent of the total natural gas pro- duced in California and handled by these two companies, neither of which is itself engaged in the distribution of gas to consumers. The Company has a monopoly in the area served by it, which includes por- tions of the counties of Kings, Tulare, Kern, Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside. During 1937, the' Company served 140 cities, towns, and communities with a population of 2,897,000. The Company maintains approximately 8,853 miles of pipe lines for use in gathering natural gas and for its transmission and distribution. In 1937 it transported for sale 79 ,196,391 M. C. F.2 of natural gas, of which 38,086 ,191 M . C. F. were sold to domestic and commercial con- sumers, and 39,344,532 M. C. F. to ' industrial and gas-engine con- sumers. In 1937 the gross revenue of the Company amounted to $27,- 144,595.61 . Its total capital stock amounts to $52,374,700 , and its total assets to $152,795 ,679.50. As of December 31, 1937 , the Company had in its employ 4,830 employees. The chief raw material purchased by the Company is natural gas, all of which is purchased in the State of California . In addition, its purchases of raw materials include pipes , meters, regulators, pumps, compressors, valves, bolts, nuts, repair parts, tools, and similar mate- rials. Of these raw, materials, during 1937, amounts for the value of $1,214,822.63 were purchased outside of the State of California. This was somewhat less than 10 per cent of the total purchases of raw materials, including natural gas; and, omitting the value of the natural gas purchased during that year, constituted approximately one-third of the total of all other raw materials purchased by the Company. The affidavit of the Company 's president, so far as here material, indicates that the gross revenues of the Company from sale of gas in 1940 exceeded $33,000,000, and that the "amount expended for major items (sic) of raw, materials and equipment manufactured outside the State" and used by the Company in that year in its business exceeded $760,000. 2 M. C F stands for thousand cubic feet, the standard measurement for natural gas. 464 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD In sum, the Company argues first, that its operations are exclusively intrastate. in character; second, that one or more substitute fuels are available immediately or upon comparatively short notice to all in- dustrial consumers supplied with natural gas by the Company, and, that the use of such substitute fuels would prevent, any substantial cessation of operations on the part of such consumers in the event of the shutting off of their supply of natural gas. The same conten- tions were made by the Company and fully considered by the Board in the earlier proceeding involving the Company. The Board there found, in substance, and it here finds, that the Company supplies gas to all the major industrial firms in southern California and to a number of instrumentalities of interstate commerce, and that a stoppage of the operations of the Company would have a close, intimate, and sub- stantial effect upon interstate and foreign commerce.- II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Utility Workers Organizing Committee, Local 114, is a labor or- ganization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations. It admits to membership employees of the Company in the Van Nuys district. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On February 24, 1941, the Company refused, upon request, to recog- nize the Union as the exclusive representative of its employees in the Van'Nuys district. ' There was introduced in evidence a report prepared by the Regional Director to show that the Union represents a substantial number of the employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.' We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company. IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING' REPRESENTATION UPON COMMERCE We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow of commerce. 8 Cf. Consolidated Edison Co. v. N. L. R. B, 305 U. S 197 ; N. L R. B. v. Pacific Gas and Electric Co., C. C. A. 9, March 28, 1941. A The Regional Director 's report " shows that 70 employees whose names appear on the Company's pay roll of January 31 , 1941, have signed authorization cards for the Union: Sixty-two of these cards were signed between July 1940 and March 1941. There are about 122 employees in the appropriate unit. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAS COMPANY V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT r 465 The Union contends that all employees of the Company in the Van Nuys district of the Northern Division, exclusive of supervisors and probationary and temporary employees, constitute an appropriate unit. The Company claims that its employees in the entire Northern Divi- sion should constitute a single unit inasmuch as the Board has already found' that the employees of the Central Division constituted such a unit and because the selection of an intra-division unit such as the Van Nuys District would subdivide the Company system into small areas and result in organizational struggles and jurisdictional strife. The Company has eight operating divisions, four of such divisions being subdivided into two to four districts. The Northern Division, the only one involved in this proceeding, is divided into two districts, Van Nuys and Glendale. The Glendale district covers a larger terri- tory and employs about 30 more men than the Van Nuys district. There is a district agent in charge of the operations at Van.Nuys, but a good portion of the work done by the employees in the Van Nuys district is assigned and supervised from Glendale. The Union claims that the employees in the Van Nuys area comprise a homogeneous unit and that inasmuch as a large majority of the employees live in Van Nuys that they have separate social and political activities from the employees in the Glendale district. Van Nuys is located 15 miles from Glendale with no direct rail connections and the Union found it impossible to, arrange common meetings for the employees in the two districts. On March 8, 1939, the Board certified Utility Workers Organizing Committee, Local No. 132 as the exclusive representative of the Com- pany's production employees in certain classifications'in the Central Division.' Since then the Company has been bargaining with Local 132 but no agreement has been entered into as yet. Local 114, the petitioning union in the instant case, has taken up grievances with the Company on behalf of employees in the Van Nuys district since 1938. In 1938 the Union handled several grievances on behalf of em- ployees in the Glendale district also, but it has not done so since then. Local 114 has attempted to organize the employees in Glendale in 1938 and again in the fall of 1940. The Union claims, however, that the Glendale employees are not eligible for membership in Local 114, and if they organize, a separate charter will be issued to them. Under the circumstances of this case and inasmuch as, self-organi- zation of the Company's employees in 'the Northern Division has been substantially confined to the Van Nuys district, we are of the opinion that the unit requested by the Union is appropriate. 5 See footnote 1. 1 Matter of Southern California Gas Co and Utility Workers Organizing Committee, Local No 132, 11 N. L. R. B 1032 466- DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD We find that all employees of-the Company in the Van Nuys dis- trict of the Northern Division, excluding supervisors and temporary and probationary employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective- bargaining and that said unit will insure to the employees of the Company the full benefit of their right to self -organi- zation and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act. - VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen can best be resolved in an election by secret ballot. Following our usual practice, we shall direct that all employees in the appropriate unit whose names appear on the Company's pay roll for the period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, subject to such limitations and additions as are set forth in the Direction, shall be eligible to vote. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Southern California Gas Company within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All employees of the Company in the Van Nuys district of the Northern Division, excluding supervisors and probationary and tem- porary employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela- tions Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Southern California Gas Company, 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 of Election, under the direction and supervision of the Regional, Director for the Tweiity-first Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAS COMPANY 467 and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all employees of the Company in the Van Nuys district of the Northern Division, who were employed .during the pay-roll period next preceding the date of this Direction of Election, including em- ployees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or in the active military service or training of the United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding supervisors and probationary and temporary employees, and any who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be -represented by Utility Workers Organizing Committee, Local 114, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining. N 441843-42-vol 31-31