Savannah Electric and Power Co.

In the Matter of SAVANNAH ELECTRIC AND POWER Co. and INTER- NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS Case No. R-3254.Decided January 7, 1942 Jurisdiction : electric utility and transportation 'industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: dis- pute as to appropriate unit ; refusal to accord recognition to either of two rival representatives until one or the other is certified by the Board ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : employees of the power plant, and in the installation, line. mechanical and track departments, including working foreman, but excluding supervisory and clerical employees, and watchmen ; employees in the transportation department excluded, notwithstanding the desire of the Company and a rival union for their inclusion, where their work is different from that of employees in the other operating departments, and in view of the fact that they are not eligible to membership in the petitioning union, but are eligible to membership in, ` and are being organized by, an affiliated union ; employees in the non-operating departments excluded where their interests and problems are different from those of employees engaged in manual work. Mr. Edmund M. Preston, of Richmond, Va., and Mr. E. H. Abra- ham and Mr. John J. Bouhan, of Savannah, Ga., for the Company. Mr. T. H. Payne, of Birmingham, Ala., and Mr. C. C. Carroll, of Savannah, Ga., for the I. B. E. W. Mr. Gilbert E. Johnson, of Savannah, Ga., for the Independent. Mr. Marvin C. Wahl, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On September 6, 1941, International "Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, herein called the I.,B.,E. W., filed with the Regional Direc- tor for the Tenth Region (Atlanta, Georgia)„a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa- tion of employees of Savannah Electric and Power Co., Savannah,, Georgia, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation 38 N. L. R. B., No. 13. 47 48 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On September 24, 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 investigation 'and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On October 4, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the I.; B. E. W.,_ and The Independent Organization of Employees `of the Savannah. Electric and Power Co., Inc., herein called the Independent, a labor organization claiming to represent employees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on November, 3, 4, and, 5, 1941, at Savannah, Georgia, before John C. McBee, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company and the Independent were represented by counsel and the I. B. E. W. by its representative ; all 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. During the course of the hearing, the Trial Examiner made various 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 prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby-, affirmed . On November 24, 1941,zthe Company and'tle Independent each filed a brief which the Board has considered. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Savannah Electric and Power Co., a Georgia corporation, is engaged in the production, distribution, and sale of electricity and in the op,- eration of a street-railway and motor-bus transportation system in Savannah, Georgia, and neighboring localities. The Company uses fuel oil to operate the steam turbines which produce electrical energy. During the year 1940, the Company purchased from a concern located in the State 'of Georgia' 273,823.94 -barrels of oil at'a cost in excess of $275,000. This oil was obtained by the concern which sold it to the' Company from sources outside the State of Georgia. In 1940, 'various, national concerns 'and agencies of' the United States- Government' purchased 4,471,836 kilowatt hours, or 5.36 per cent of, all the kilowatt. hours which the Company produced for sale. - 1 These included the American Telephone and Telegraph Co , Atlantic Coast Line, Atlantic Greyhound Lines, Eastern Air Lines, Postal Telegraph Cable Co , Railway Express Agency, Seaboard Air Line Railroad , Western Union, and the United States Department of Com- merce, Customs House, and Post Office. SAVANNAH ELECTRIC AND POWER CO. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED 49 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is a labor organi- zation affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company. The Independent Organization of Employees of the Savannah Elec- trical and Power Co., Inc., is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. M. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On or about September 4,1941, the I. B. E. W. and the Independent, respectively, claimed to represent a majority of the Company's em- ployees in a separate unit, which each alleged to be appropriate. The Company refused to recognize either the I. B. E. W. or the Independent as the collective bargaining agent for its employees unless certified by the Board. The Trial Examiner made a statement upon the record which shows that both the I. B. E. W. and the Independent represent a substantial number of employees in the unit claimed by each to be appropriate.2 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. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Company is organized into an operating section and a non- operating section, the former consisting of the power plant and the installation, line, transportation, mechanical, and track departments, and the latter consisting of the accounting, engineering, claims, pur- z This statement indicates that the I . B. E W. submitted 91 membership application cards and 6 dues receipts covering employees in the departments which the I. B E. W. contends comprise the appropriate unit. All tha signatures appeared to be genuine and corresponded to the names of persons appearing on the Company's October 15, 1941, pay roll The Independent submitted 256 membership application cards, all of which bore signatures which appeared to be genuine . All the names on the cards corresponded to persons who were employed in the departments which the Independent claims constitute the appropriate unit. There are approximately 167 employees within the unit claimed by the I. B. E. W. and 399 employees within the unit claimed by the Independent. 438861-42-vol. 38-5 50 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD chasing, and sales departments. The I. B. E. W. contends that all employees of the power plant, and the installation, line, mechanical, and track departments of the Company, including working foremen, but excluding supervisory and clerical employees, constitute an ap- propriate unit. The Independent and the Company contend that the appropriate unit should include all the Company's employees, excluding only supervisory employees.3 Concerning the work of the departments which the I. B. E. W. would include, the record indicates that the power plant is engaged in the production of electrical energy which is used for lighting and power purposes; that the installation department is engaged in the installation of meters and the construction, maintenance, and opera- tion of the underground lines for the street railway and electric system; that the line department constructs, maintains, and operates the Com- pany's overhead lines, substations, and transformers; that the mechani- cal department maintains and repairs the buses, streetcars, and all of the Company's automotive equipment; and that the track department is engaged primarily in the maintenance of the street railway tracks and in the upkeep of the substation grounds. The transportation department, which the I. B. E. W. seeks to exclude, is comprised of bus and streetcar operators, inspectors, dis- patchers, and clerks. These employees are engaged in operating the Company's street-railway and motor-bus transportation system. They wear a standard uniform not worn by any other employees of the Company. While employees in the other operating departments re- ceive 2 weeks' vacation, the transportation employees receive only 1 week's vacation.4 There is no showing of any interchange of em- ployees between the transportation department and any of the other operating departments. The I. B. E. W. does not have jurisdiction over employees in the transportation department of the Company. The jurisdiction over bus and streetcar operators is reserved to another affiliate of the American Federation of Labor, namely, the Amalgamated Associ- ation of Street, Electric Railway, and Motor Coach Employees of America, which, the record discloses, has commenced organizational activities in the Company's transportation department. On the other hand, the I. B. E. W. has organized employees in all departments 3 The Independent and the Company would include within an appropriate unit not only the employees within the departments which the I. B. E. W. requests, but also employees in the transportation department , clerical employees in the operating section, and em- ployees in the accounting, engineering, claims, purchasing, and sales departments. 4 It appears that when employees in the other operating departments received an increase in vacation from 1 week to 2, the transportation employees were given an increase in their hourly rate instead of the additional week 's vacation SAVANI\NAII ELECTRIC AND POWER CO. 51 I which it seeks to combine into an appropriate unit and the work of the employees in these departments is substantially different from the work of the bus drivers and streetcar operators. There is no his- tory of collective bargaining at the plant either on the basis of the unit sought by the I. B.'E. W. or a unit which includes the transpor- tation department. Under all the circumstances, we find that em- ployees in the transportation department should not be combined in the same unit with the employees in the power plant and the in- stallation, line, mechanical, and track departments. Nor do we believe that the employees in the non-operating depart- ments should be included within the unit sought by the I. B. E. W. The work of these employees is mainly office and clerical6 Their interests and problems are entirely different from those of the em. ployees engaged in manual work, and there is no history of collective bargaining on the basis of a unit which combines them with the em- ployees of the other departments.? We find, therefore, that these employees should be excluded from the unit. The parties were unable to agree with respect to the following employees : Watchmen in power plant. The Company desires to include these employees, while the I. B. E. W. wishes to exclude them. The In- dependent does not take any position on the question. It appears that there are four watchmen in the power plant all of whom are deputized by the sheriff of the county wherein the Company is located, but paid by and under the direction of the Company. They are stationed at various places throughout the power plant and are charged with preventing unauthorized persons from gaining access to the plant. They are armed and have authority to make arrests on the Company's premises. We find that their duties and interests differ materially from those in the unit sought by the I. B. E. W. and we shall, therefore, exclude them from the appropriate unit. 6 We do not consider an alleged agreement between the Company and the Savannah Electric Beneficial Association as part of the previous bargaining history, that organiza- tion having been disestablished by the Company after the I. B. E. W. had filed charges of unfair labor practices. 9 The non-operating departments include accounting, engineering, claims, purchasing, and sales departments. The duties of the accounting department consist of accounting, bookkeeping, credits and collections , issuing supplies, and meter reading and handling the pay rolls, taxes and insurance of the Company. Employees of the engineering department supervise all the engineering and construction work of the Company . The claims depart- ment has one employee, a claims agent , who investigates all claims against the Company and who frequently acts as the Company's personnel director . The purchasing depart- ment is in charge of all purchases of materials and supplies for the Company. Employees of the sales department consist of salesmen , home economists , a lighting specialist, home- lighting supervisor, power-sales engineer , and complaint investigator . All the employees of the non-operating departments are salaried , while those of the operating departments receive an hourly rate. 7Cf. The Ohio Public Service Company and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, A P. L., etc., 36 N. L R B 1269 52 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Assistant efciency engineer in power plant. The Independent seeks to include this employee but the I. B. E. W. desires to exclude him on the ground that he supervises the technical operations of the power plant. The Company takes no position on the issue. It appears that he is a student engineer in training and aids the efficiency engi- neer, his superior, (whom the Independent agrees to exclude as a supervisory employee) in the maintenance and efficient and economi- cal operation of the plant. His duties involve the treatment of boiler feed water, fuel-oil tests, flue-gas analyses, testing and checking instru- ments, keeping records, and instructing employees on the most satis- factory method of operating the machinery and using the equipment. He is a salaried employee. We shall exclude him from the appropriate unit." Pole-crew foremen in line department. The I. B. E. W. contends that these employees should be included as working foremen, but the Independent and the Company desire to exclude them as supervisory employees. Each pole-crew foreman is in charge of a crew of four laborers which handles, sets, and replaces poles,used for the distribu- tion of electricity and street-railway lines. The pole-crew foremen spend a substantial portion of their time in operating a truck and pole derrick. They also climb the poles and fix the cables in preparation for lifting. We shall include them within the appropriate unit. District representative and helper at Guyton. It appears that the Company maintains a district representative and helper at Guyton, Georgia. The Independent wishes to include them within the appro- priate unit. The I. B. E. W. desires to exclude them. The Company seeks to include the district representative but takes no position as to his helper. The district representative does not have an office but keeps whatever equipment he needs at his home. He makes reports to the Company, installs and reads meters, disconnects and repairs service lines and appliances, installs transformers, investigates com- plaints, collects and records the collections, and acts generally as trouble shooter. He is a salaried employee. His helper, whom he directs, is also a salaried employee and reads meters, makes collections, and assists the district representative whenever required. We find that the district representative represents and is closely identified with the Company. We shall, accordingly, exclude him from the appropriate unit.9 We shall, however, include the district repre- sentative's helper in the appropriate unit.10 9 See The Ohio Public Service Company and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, A F L., etc., 36 N L. R. B. 1269 9 Ct, Iowa Southern Utilities Company and Utility Workers Organizing Committee Local 109, (C. I. 0.), 15 N. L. R. B., 580 10 See Gulf Public Service Company and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 790, 18 N. L. R. B., 562. SAVANNAH ELECTRIC AND POWER CO. 53 Clerks in operating departments. The Independent and the Com- pany desire to include the clerks in the operating departments, while the I. B. E. W. seeks their exclusion. The record indicates that the greater portion of the time of these employees is spent in clerical duties. We shall exclude them from the appropriate unit for the same reasons which governed our exclusion of the employees of the non-operating departments. We find that all employees of the power plant and the installation, line, mechanical,-and track departments of the Company, including working foremen and the district representative's helper at Guyton, but excluding watchmen in the power plant, supervisory and clerical employees and the district representative at Guyton, 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 will 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 by an election by secret ballot. Although the Independent did not state any preference as to the date on which eligibility to vote should be determined, the Company and the I. B. E. W. requested that in the event of an election, a current pay roll be used. In accordance with our usual practice, we shall direct that those eligible to vote in the election shall be the employees within the appropriate unit who were employed by the Company during the pay-, roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec- tion, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. 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 Savannah Electric and Power Co., Savannah, Georgia, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All employees of the power plant and the installation, line, mechanical, and track departments of the Company, including working foremen, and the district representative's helper at Guyton, but exclud- ing watchmen in the power plant, supervisory and clerical employees and the district representative at Guyton, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Sec- tion 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. 54 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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, 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 Savannah Electric and Power Co., Savannah, Georgia, an elec- tion 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 Rela- tions Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all employees of the power plant and the installa- tion, line, mechanical, and track departments of the Company who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, including working foremen, the district representative's helper at Guyton, 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, but excluding watchmen in the power plant, super- visory and clerical employees, the district representative at Guyton, and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, affiliated with the American Fed- eration of Labor, or by The Independent Organization of Employees of the Savannah Electric and Power Co., Inc., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.