Western Union Telegraph Co.

In the Matter of WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY and FEDERAL LOCAL 22490 OF WESTERN UNION ORGANIZING COUNCIL OF A. F. OF L. FEDERAL LABOR UNIONS AND C. T. U. LocALs In the Matter Of WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY , SPRINGFIELD, MASS. and FEDERAL LABOR UNION #22672-WESTERN UNION ORGAN- IZING COUNCIL OF A. F . OF L. FEDERAL LABOR UNIONS AND C. T. U. LOCALS In the Matter of THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY and THE COMMUNICATIONS GUILD In the Matter of THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY and THE COMMUNICATIONS GUILD In the Matter of THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY and THE COMMUNICATIONS GUILD Cases Nos. R-2820 to R-f824, inclusive.Decided September 8, 1941 Jurisdiction : telegraph industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : stip- ulated ; in accordance with desires of the parties :, temporary employees, students, and employees on furlough held eligible ,to vote and "other employ- ment" employees held ineligible to vote ; labor organization which made no showing of designation of employees not accorded a place on the ballot; elections necessary. Units Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : separate units : employees in the commercial, traffic, plant, accounting, and stores departments in Metropolitan Boston, Massachusetts, with certain exclusions ; employees in the commercial, traffic, and plant departments in each of the following cities: Springfield and Worcester, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island (including the Paw- tucket branch ), with certain exclusions and inclusions. Mr. David E. Krueger, of New York City, for the Company. Mr. Henry H. Silverman, of New York City, for the A. F. of L. Mr. Herman E. Cooper, of New York City, for the Guild. Mr. Sidney Fox, of New York City, for the A. C. A. Mr. Gilbert V. Rosenberg, of counsel to the Board. 277 35 N. L. R. B., No. 56. 278 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS STATEMENT OF THE CASE On April 4, 1941, the American Federation of Labor, acting on be- half of Federal Local 22490 of Western Union Organizing Council of A. F. of L. Federal Labor Unions and C. T. U. Locals, and on April 29, 1941, the Communications Guild, I herein called the Guild, filed with the Regional Director for the First Region (Boston, Massa- chusetts) petitions alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Western Union Telegraph Company, herein called the Company. employed at Boston, Massachusetts, and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela- tions Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On April 21, 1941, the American Federation of Labor, acting on behalf of Federal Labor Union #22672 of Western Union Organizing Council of A. F. of L. Federal Labor Unions, C. T. U. Locals, filed with the Regional Director a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company at Springfield, Massachusetts, and requesting an investiga- tion and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act. The American Federation of Labor and its affiliates are herein collectively referred to as the A. F. of L. On May 12, 1941, the Guild filed' petitions with the Regional Direc- tor alleging that questions affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company at Worcester, Massa- chusetts,' and Providence, Rhode Island,2 and requesting investiga- tions and certifications of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act. On June 30,11941, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, and Section 10 (c) (2), of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and, to provide for an appropriate hearing on due notice, and further ordered that the above cases be consolidated. 'The original petition alleged that employees in the entire State of Massachusetts exclusive of Boston constituted an appropriate unit. However, at the hearing the petition was amended to allege that employees in the city of Worcester , Massachusetts, constitute an appropriate unit. 8 The original petition alleged that employees in the State of Rhode Island constituted an appropriate unit. However, at the hearing the petition was amended to allege that employees in the city of Providence , Rhode Island , constitute an appropriate unit. W,EISIPFIRN UNION 'MLEGR'A:PH COMPANY 279 On July 9 and July 18, 1941, respectively, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing and an amended notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the A. F. of L., the Guild, and American Communications Association, herein called the A. C. A., a labor organization claiming to represent employees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on July 30, 1941, at Boston, Massachusetts, before William S. Gordon, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company, the A. F. of L., the Guild, and the A. C. A. were represented by counsel and participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evi- dence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evidence. • The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudi- cial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Western Union Telegraph Company, a' New York corporation with its principal office in New York City, is engaged throughout the United States and in foreign countries in the receipt and trans- mission by telegraph and cable of intrastate, interstate, and inter- national communications. In the operation of its national and international communications system the Company owns and/or op- erates 211,530 miles of pole lines, 4,070 miles of land line cables, 1,776,876 miles of wire, 30,324 nautical miles of ocean cable and 19,543 telegraph offices. The present proceeding concerns approxi- mately 1.200 employees of the Company working in and about Boston, Massachusetts; approximately 71 employees at Springfield, Massachu- setts; approximately 65 employees at Worcester, Massachusetts; and approximately 136 employees at Providence, Rhode Island. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. II. THE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Federal Labor Union #22490 and Federal Labor Union #22672 of Western Union Organizing Council of A. F. of L. Federal Labor Unions and C. T. U. Locals, are labor organizations affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership em- ployees of the Company. 280 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Communications Guild is an unaffiliated labor organization, ad- mitting to membership employees of the Company. American Communications Association is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION At the hearing the parties stipulated that one or more of the petitioning unions has requested exclusive recognition as collective bargaining representative of the employees in each of the cities involved in this proceeding, and that the Company refuses to accord such recognition until representatives are certified by the Board. The Guild and the A. F. of L. further stipulated that each had a substantial interest with respect to representation in the units involved in this proceeding to warrant a designation of each on the ballot if an election is ordered by the Board. The Company raised no objection to this stipulation. The A. C. A. made no show- ing of designations by employees in the cities involved in this proceeding. We find that questions have arisen concerning the representation of the employees of the Company. IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON COMMERCE We find that the questions concerning representation which have arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company described in Section I above, have a close , intimate, and substantial relation to trade , traffic, and commerce among the several States and with foreign countries and tend to lead to labor disputes burden- ing and obstructing commerce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS A. The Boston Unit The A. F. of L., the Guild, and the A. C. A. agree that the unit appropriate for collective bargaining should be confined to employees of the Company at Metropolitan Boston, Massachusetts.8 No reason appears to warrant a departure from the unit agreed to by the parties. We find that a collective bargaining unit limited to employees in Metropolitan Boston is appropriate. 'This area includes Boston, Babson Park, Cambridge . Chelsea, Brookline, Malden, Newton, Quincy , Wellesley, Waltham, and Hingham. WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY 281 The A. F. of L. and the Guild agree that the unit should include employees in the commercial, traffic, plant, accounting, stores, and district superintendent's departments. The A. C. A. opposes the in- clusion of employees in the district superintendent's department./ The district superintendent's department is one of several depart- ments of the Company's business organization, with headquarters at Boston, and operates in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massa- chusetts, and Rhode Island exclusive of the area covered by the divisional offices. Throughout this area the work of the district superintendent's department is similar to the function of the Boston commercial department. The nine employees at Boston in the district superintendent's department perform no work for the commercial department at Boston and transfers of employees between these departments rarely occur. In accordance with our rulings in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia cases,4 we shall exclude employees in the district superintendent's office from the appropriate unit. Questions arose at the hearing concerning the exclusion of cer- tain supervisory employees from the appropriate unit. We shall consider these exclusions by departments. Commercial Department All labor organizations agree, and we find, that the superintendent, chief,clerk, city commercial manager , sales manager, delivery manager, assistant delivery manager, night delivery manager, personnel de- livery clerk, cashier, and personal secretary to the superintendent should be excluded from this unit. Traffic Department All labor organizations agree, and we find, that the traffic manager, night traffic managers, assistant chief operators, chief clerk, senior supervisors, restaurant manager, testing and regulating chief, night regulating chief, wire chief, night wire chief, automatic chief, re- peater chief, and personal secretary to the traffic manager, should be excluded from the unit. The A. C. A. would also exclude the automatic, telephone, tele- printer, service, route, and recorder supervisors, and the automatic monitor. The A. F. of L. and the Guild oppose these exclusions. It appears that all these supervisors have substantially the same authority, in their respective departments, to assign and distribute * Matter of Western Union Telegraph Company and American Federation of Labor, International Telegraphers Union, 30 N. L. R B. 1169, herein called the Pittsburgh case; and Matter of Western Union Telegraph Company and National Western Union Council of A. F of L. Federal Unsons and C. T. U. Locals, 31 N. L. R. B. 060, herein called the Philadelphia case. 282 ' DECISIONS,OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD work to employees under them and to recommend discipline; and that the automatic monitor reports on the quality of work performed by employees in her department.' We have customarily excluded the above employees in other cases s and under the circumstances we shall exclude them in this instance. Plant Department All labor organizations agree, and we find, that the maintenance foremen, city foremen, building supervisor, head janitor, equipment supervisor, the building engineer, and the equipment foreman should be excluded from the unit. The A. C. A. would also exclude the teleprinter maintenance supervisor as a supervisory employee. Since it appears from his title that the teleprinter maintenance supervisor exercises the same degree of supervision as other supervisors whom we have excluded from the unit we shall also exclude him. Accounting Department All labor organizations agreeing, we shall exclude the accounting center manager and the assistant accounting center manager. ' Stores Department All labor organizations agreeing, we shall exclude the uniform depot manager. At the hearing a question also arose concerning the "Boston and Albany linemen" and the "Cambridge gang" whom the Guild would include in the Boston unit and the A. F. of L. would exclude from any unit involved in this proceeding. The Company and the A. C. A. made no contention,in this regard. The Company employs 8 or 10 linemen to repair and maintain its lines on the right-of-way of the Boston and Albany Railroad. These men work out of Boston and receive assignments from the general foreman at Boston but spend less than 10 per cent of their time working in the Boston area. They are on the New York City pay roll. The Company has another group of 10 employees who re- port for work at Cambridge, doing construction and maintenance work on the Company's lines located on the various railroads throughout New England. Their immediate supervisor is located in 6 The parties stipulated that the findings of fact made in the Pittsburgh and Phila- delphia cases concerning the duties of all contested classifications are applicable to this proceeding . While the record supervisor was not involved in these prior cases there is no indication that the duties of this employee are different from the duties of the other supervisors involved. 6 See cases cited in footnote 4, supra. WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY 283 New York and they are also on the New York City pay roll. The percentage of their time spent in any area depends upon the require- ments of the Company. For instance, during the past year more than half their time was spent on work within the Boston area, while during the preceding year only about one-third of their time was spent in that area. Under all the circumstances, we shall exclude both groups of employees from the unit. We find that the employees of the Company working in Metro- politan Boston in the commercial, traffic, plant, accounting, and stores departments, excluding the "Cambridge gang," the Boston and Albany linemen, and the employees whose exclusions we have indicated above and whose positions are, for convenience, listed in Appendix A, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col- lective bargaining and that said unit will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act. B. The Springfield Unit The A. F. of L., the Guild, and the A. C. A. agree, and we find, that the employees of the Company working in the City of Spring- field in the commercial, traffic, and plant departments constitute an appropriate unit. They also agree, and we shall exclude from the unit the superintendent, delivery manager, and chief bookkeeper in the commercial department, and the chief operator; early night chief operator, and telephone supervisor in the traffic department. The A. C. A. would also exclude the teleprinter maintenance super- visor in the plant department. We excluded this supervisor from the Boston unit above, and under the circumstances we shall exclude him in this instance. The Guild desires to include, and the A. F. of L. to exclude, one maintenance employee named Darling, employed as a trouble- shooter between Pittsfield and West Bedford on its lines bordering the Boston and Albany Railroad. Darling works out of Springfield but is under the supervision of the general foreman at Boston. Under the circumstances we shall exclude him from this unit. We find that the employees of the Company working in the city of Springfield in the commercial, traffic, and plant departments, excluding Darling and the employees whose exclusions we have indi- cated above and whose positions are for convenience listed in Appendix B, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col- lective bargaining and that such unit will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act. 284 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD C. The Worcester Unit The A. F. of L., the Guild, and the A. C. A. agree, and we .find, that the employees of the Company working at Worcester in the commercial, traffic, and plant departments constitute an appropriate unit. They also agree, and we shall exclude the manager and the delivery manager in the commercial department, and the telephone supervisor, chief operator, and early night chief operator in the traffic department from the unit. The Guild urges the inclusion, and the A. F. of L. the exclusion, of 15 employees known as the "Framingham gang." This group of 15 employees works out of Framingham doing construction work on the Company's lines throughout New England. Like the Cambridge linemen, the time spent by these employees in any area depends upon the requirements of the Company. During the past year they spent very little time on work in Worcester although they will be working in and out of Worcester on a new construction project in the near future. Under all the circumstances we shall exclude these employees from the Worcester unit. We find that the employees of the Company working in the city of Worcester in the commercial, traffic, and plant departments, excluding the "Framingham gang" and the employees whose exclu- sions we have indicated above and whose positions are for conven- ience listed in -Appendix C, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of -collective bargaining and that such unit will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of their right to self- organization and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act. . D. The Providence Unit The A. F. of L., the Guild, and the A. C. A. agree, and we find, that the employees of the Company working at Providence (includ- ing the Pawtucket branch) in the commercial, traffic, and plant departments constitute an appropriate unit. They also agree, and we shall exclude from the unit, the superintendent, delivery man- ager, chief bookkeeper, and sales manager in the commercial depart- ment, and the telephone supervisor, chief operator, and early night chief operator in the traffic department. The A. C. A. would also exclude, and the Guild and the A. F. of L. would include in the unit, the late night chief operator, service supervisor, automatic supervisor, teleprinter supervisor, and assist- ant wire chief in the traffic department. We have found above that persons classified as supervisors should be excluded from a city-wide WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY 285 unit.? While the record is not entirely clear, we are of the opinion that the assistant wire chief exercises sufficient supervision over the other employees in his department to warrant his exclusion from the unit. The Company admits that the night chief operators represent the management and desire their exclusion from the unit. Appar- ently, the only difference between the early night chief operator, whom all parties agree to exclude, and the late night chief operator is their time of duty and the number of persons they supervise. Under the circumstances we shall exclude all the above employees. We find that the employees of the Company at Providence (includ- ing the Pawtucket branch) in the commercial, traffic, and plant departments, excluding the employees whose exclusions we have indicated above and. whose positions are for convenience listed in Appendix D, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col- lective bargaining, and that such unit will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act. VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We find that the questions concerning representation which have arisen can best be resolved by elections by secret ballot. Inasmuch as the A. C. A. made no showing of having been selected as repre- sentative by any employees of the Company in the units heretofore found appropriate and did not request to participate in the elections, we shall not place its name on the ballot. The Guild and the A. F. of L. stipulated that temporary employees, students, and employees on furlough should be eligible to participate in the elections. No objections were made to this stipulation. All parties agreed that "other employment" employees should- be ineligible.to participate in the elections. The- record -shows that "other employment" employees are persons who work occasionally for the Company on temporary assignments and also have employment with other employers who have first call, on their services. We see no reason to depart from the desires of the parties in this regard. All parties agreed that a current pay roll should be used to deter- mine eligibility. We shall direct that the employees eligible to vote in the elections shall be those in the appropriate units who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, subject to such limitations and additions as are set forth in the Direction. ? See footnote S, supra. 286 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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. Questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Western Union Telegraph Company at Boston, Massachusetts, Springfield, Massachusetts, Worcester, Mas- sachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The employees of the Company working in Metropolitan Boston in the commercial, traffic, plant, accounting, and stores departments, excluding the "Cambridge gang," the Boston and Albany linemen, and the employees occupying the positions listed in Appendix A, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. 3. The employees of the Company working in Springfield in the commercial, traffic, and plant departments, excluding Darling, and the employees occupying the positions listed in Appendix B, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. 4. The employees of the Company working in Worcester in the com- mercial, traffic, and plant departments, excluding the "Framingham gang" and the employees occupying the positions listed in Appendix C, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. 5. The employees of the Company working in Providence (includ- ing the Pawtucket branch) in the commercial, traffic, and plant depart- ments, excluding the employees occupying, the positions listed in Appendix D, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collec- tive bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela- tions Act 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 WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY 287 with Western Union Telegraph Company at Boston, Massachusetts ; Springfield, Massachusetts; Worcester, Massachusetts; and Provi- dence, Rhode Island, elections 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 First Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among the following groups of em- ployees of the Company, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including temporary employees, students, and employees who did not work during such 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, or on furlough, but excluding "other employment" employees and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause : (1) Employees working in Metropolitan Boston in the commercial, traffic, plant, accounting, and stores departments, excluding the "Cam- bridge gang," the Boston and Albany linemen, and the employees occupying the positions listed in Appendix A, attached hereto; (2) Employees working in Springfield in the commercial, traffic, and plant departments, excluding Darling and the employees occupy- ing the positions listed in Appendix B, attached hereto; (3) Employees working in Worcester in the commercial, traffic, and plant departments, excluding the "Framingham gang" and the em- ployees occupying the positions listed in Appendix C, attached hereto ; (4) Employees working in Providence (including the Pawtucket branch) in the commercial, traffic, and plant departments, excluding the employees occupying the positions listed in Appendix D, attached hereto ; to determine whether they desire to be represented by Com- munications Guild, or by the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. APPENDIX A (The Boston Unit) Commercial Department Superintendent Night delivery manager Chief clerk Personnel delivery clerk City commercial manager Cashier Sales manager Personal secretary to the super- Delivery manager intendent Assistant delivery manager 288 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Traffic Department Traffic manager Night traffic managers Assistant chief operators Chief clerk Senior supervisors Restaurant manager Testing and regulating chief Automatic supervisors Telephone supervisors Teleprinter supervisors Service supervisors Route supervisors Recorder supervisors Automatic monitor Night regulating chief Wire chief Night wire chief Automatic chief Repeater chief Personal secretary to the traffic manager Plant Department Maintenance foreman Building engineer City foreman Equipment foreman Building supervisor Teleprinter maintenance super- Head janitor visor Equipment supervisor Accounting Department Accounting center manager _ Assistant a c c o u.n t i n g center manager Stores Department Uniform depot manager Superintendent Delivery manager APPENDIX B (The Springfield Unit) Commercial Department Chief bookkeeper Traffic Department Chief operator Telephone supervisor Early night chief operator Plant Department Teleprinter maintenance super- visor WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY APPENDIX C (The Worcester Unit) Commercial Department Manager Delivery manager Traffic Department Chief operator Early night chief operator 't'elephone supervisor APPENDIX D (The Providence Unit) Commercial Department Superintendent Chief bookkeeper Delivery manager Sales manager Traffic Department Chief operator Service supervisor Early night chief operator Automatic supervisor Late night chief operator Teleprint supervisor Telephone supervisor Assistant wire chief 289