Commonwealth Edison Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsMar 2, 1944

55 N.L.R.B. 465 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of COIZIIONWEALTH EDISON Co1IPAiY and GENERA'I'INO STATIONS WORKERS UNION In the Matter of COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY and UTILITY AVOREERS UNION In the Matter of COMMON WEALTH EDISON COMPANY and INTERNA- TLONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL `WORKERS, A. F. OF L. Cases Nos. 13-R-15776, 13-R-1821 and 13-R-1945 'r espeetively-De- cided March 2. 1944 Messrs. Ralph R. Bradley and Roy A. Dingmauan, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company. Messrs. John F. Cusack and 0. R. Rader, of Chicago Ill., for the U. W. U. Messrs. L. F. Daly, of Washington, D. C. and J. C. McIntosh, of Chicago, Ill., for the I. B. E W. Mr. Wallace F. Royster, of counsel to the Board. DECISION DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS AND ORDERS STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon separate petitions duly filed by Generating Stations Workers Union, herein called the G. S. W. U., Utility Workers Union, herein called the U. W. U., and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, A. F. of L., herein called the I. B. E W., each alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Commonwealth Edison Company, Chicago, Illinois, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board consolidated the cases herein and provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Leon A. Rosell, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Chicago, Illinois, on October 11. 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and November 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, 1943. The Company, the U. W. U., and the I. B. E. W. appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and 55NLR13,No89 578120-44-vol 55--31 465 466 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Commonwealth Edison Company is an Illinois public utility corpo- ration with its principal office and properties in Chicago, Illinois, where it is engaged in the production, purchase, transmission, dis- tribution, and sale of electrical energy. The Company and its oper- ating subsidiaries serve an area of approximately 11,000 square miles in Chicago and environs, with an estimated population of 5,030,000. The gross annual operating revenues of the Company for the years 1939, 1940, and 1941. were, respectively, $96,333,146, $101,416,619, and $107,162,061. The Company serves 964,355 individuals, public and private corporations, and governmental agencies, engaged in a variety of enterprises, including post offices, court houses, customs houses, weather bureaus, a harbor light station, a United States Government Naval Training School, the municipal airport of the city of Chicago, the Illinois Bell Telephone Company, the Western Union Telegraph Company, and 6 railroad terminals in Chicago which are used by 25 railroads engaged in the interstate movement of passengers and freight. During 1940 the Company purchased fuel, incandescent bulbs, motors, cable, tubing, switches, tinnsforiiers, and other ma- terials and supplies valued at $28,602,000, of which approximately 54 percent was shipped to the Company from points outside Illinois. During the same period the Company purchased for resale electrical appliances, equipment, and other merchandise valued at $2,997,000, of which approximately 13 percent was shipped to the Company from points outside Illinois. The amount of purchases made and the per- centage of purchases shipped to the Company from points outside Illinois were substantially the same in 1941, as in 1940. In 1940 the Company purchased electrical energy generated in Indiana valued at $7,144,334. In 1941 the value of such purchases from the same source totalled $6,835,530. The Company does not contest the jurisdiction of the Board in this proceeding, and we find that the operations of the Company affect commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 1 Prior to the hearing, G S W U. notified the Regional Director that its membership had voted to disband and requested permission to withdraw its petition in Case No. 13-R-1576. The pew mission is hereby granted. COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY 467 II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Utility Workers Union is an unaffiliated labor organization ad- mitting to membership employees of the Company. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is a labor organi- zation affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees ot the Company. 111. TILE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION It. was stipulated among the parties at the hearing that on May 28, and June 7, 1943, the U. W. U. requested recognition of the Company as bargaining representative of all the Company's non-supervisory employees in Chicago and that such recognition was refused. It was further stipulated that the request of the I. B. E. W. on July 15, 1943, for recognition as bargaining representative of the Company's gen- erating station employees was similarly refused. Statements of the Regional Director and the Trial Examiner, intro- duced in evidence at the hearing, indicate that the U. W. U. and/or the 1. B. E. W. represent substantial numbers of employees in the units hereinafter found appropriate.- We find that questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Rela- tions Act. 1V. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS Employees' Representation Plan, herein called the Plan, was estab- lished at the instance of the Company among its employees in March 1921. Membership in the Plan was automatic and all employees with T1'e Regional Ln ector stated that the U W U submitted 2,453 designations, a ll bear- ing apparently genuine original signatures Two thousand, two hundred fourteen designa- tions were dated va, imisly from November 1942, to June 1043, and bore the names of per- sons whose names appear on the Company s pay roll for June 15, 1943 The Regional Director and the Tiia] Examiner stated that the I B E W. submitted 1,22.1 designations, all hearing apparently genuine originial signatures. One thousand, one hundred seventy-six designations were dated variously from April to November 1943, and bore the names of persons whose names appear on the Company's pay roll of June 15, 1943 The representation of the unions according to the designations was distributed among the appropriate units as shown on the following chart Appropriate unit U W' U I 13 E R- Number of employees ondesignations designations pay loll Production----------------------------------- 297 715 1,722 Service -------------------------_---_-- 947 375 2,223 Gen. Station Gate Othcers---------------_------ 9 53 109 Rev Protect Guards---------------------- 158 0 208 Unclassified ----------------------------------- 803 33 *4, 300 *Appro'imately. 468 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS I30ARD 6 months or more service were eligible to vote in its annual election. The Plan existed primarily as an agency for the adjustment of griev- ances with the Company and the joint discussion of employee problems. No contract or collective bargaining agreement was ever entered into by the Company with the employees under the Plan. In 1937 employees in the substations organized Utility Employees Union, herein called the U. E. U. The U. E. U. was patterned- closely after the Plan and admitted to membership employees of the Company in all departments but it never attained its objective of securing a majority of the employees as members, and never entered into a collec- tive bargaining contract with the Company. On November 10, 1942, the Board found that the Company had dominated and interfered with the administration of the Plan and the formation and adminis- tration of the U. E. U., and by contributing financial and other support to each had engaged in unfair labor practices within the meaning of Section 8 (2) of the Act. Upon the basis of this finding the Board ordered the Company inter cilia to withdraw all recognition from the Plan and the U. E. U., and to disestablish each of them as representa- tives of the employees.3 Except with reference to the U. E. U., the Board's Order was en forced on May 22, 1943, by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.4 Since the Plan was not the result of the free expression of the will of the employees and since the U. E. U. appears never to have represented a majority of the Com- pany's employees, we are of the opinion that the history of bargaining with the Company is a negligible factor in the determination of the appropriate bargaining unit or units. The U. W. U., in its amended petition in Case No. 13-R-1821, re- quests the establishment of a bargaining unit consisting of all produc- tion, maintenance, and office employees of the Company in Chicago. Counsel for the U. W. U. stated at the hearing that this unit would include as well, employees with technical training such as engineers, chemists, and surveyors although such employees might not be classi- fied as office employees." The U. W. U. also seeks to represent all militarized watchmen, but contends that the guards and watchmen should constitute a separate bargaining unit. The unit described in the U. W. U. petition would include in a single bargaining unit such obviously disparate employee classifica- tions as merchandise buyers and coal handlers, electrical engineers and cashiers, locomotive engineers and stenographers, groups which the Board ordinarily separates. The propriety of establishing a single 331atter of Commontoealtf Edison Company, 45 N L R B 482 4135 F (2d) 891 (C C A 7), enforcing as modified 45 N L R. B 482 (C-2245). At the close of the heaung, the U W. U. conceded that clerical employees might be separated from the larger unit for separate representation. However, on all other oc- casions, the U W U. has consistently contended for the all-inclusive unit and so contends in its biief. COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY 469 all-inclusive bargaining unit of this character among the employees of a public utility company has had the recent attention of the Board.,, We expressed the opinion, in the Indianapolis Power cC Light and Boston Edison cases, that such a unit would not secure to the employees the fall enjoyment of their rights under the Act. The same policy is applicable here. The U. W. U. argues in its brief that the more closely a bargaining unit approaches the inclusion of all employees of a com- pany, the greater is its potency and efficiency. Conceivably, where the employee group is small, and frequent social contact as well as inte- gration of function generates community of interests, such an all- employee unit may be practical. It is generally true, however, espe- cially with respect to a large body of employees, that group action is hesitant and inept unless the constituents of the group have a single- ness of interest and purpose. Accordingly, the Board has generally adhered to the policy, we think correctly, of considering functional homogeneity as one of the principal tests of the appropriateness of a bargaining unit. We are of the opinion, based upon experience and observation in the field of collective bargaining, that where craft con- siderations are not present, the core of the optimum bargaining unit consists of all employees possessed of similar skills, interests, and ambi- tions, who perform related tasks under substantially similar working conditions, and that to extend a bargaining unit beyond the limits so indicated serves to dilute the collective strength of the employees and to afford play to the disruptive cross currents of divergent interests. We conclude then that the unit requested by the, U. W. U. in Case No. 13-11-1821 is inappropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining and we shall order the dismissal of the U. W. U.'s petition. The Company agrees generally with the contentions of the U. W. U. with respect to the unit but concedes that three separate bargaining units composed of production and maintenance employees, technical employees, and clerical employees, respectively, would be appropriate. The petition of the I. B. E. W. in Case No. 13-R-1945 requests a unit of all the, employees in the Company's four generating stations, excluding pensioners, professional, confidential, and non-working su- pervisory employees. At the hearing, and in its brief ibe I. B. E. W. expanded its position to request the establishment of separate bar- gaining units consisting of the following groups: 1. Generating station employees 2. Substation employees 3. Transmission, distribution, maintenance, and service em- ployees 4. Clerical employees e See Matter of Boston Edison Company, 51 N L. R. R. 118. See also Matter of Indtian- apoli Power d Light Company, 51 N. L. R. B. 670 470 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 5. Technical employees 6. Generating station militarized guards 7. Revenue protection militarized guards While adhering to its contentions respecting the various units, the I. B. E. W. concedes that generating station and substation employees together may appropriately constitute a single bargaining unit. As stated above, the Company operates four generating stations in Chicago which constitute the principal source of the electrical energy distributed by the Company. In the stations, coal-burning steam boilers operate turbine-driven dynamos from which electrical cur- rent in inducted. These operations entail the services of coal-handling crews to unload and bunker the coal, boiler-room crews to generate steam, turbine engine room crews to operate the turbines, and electrical crews to take the current from the dynamos. Maintenance functions about the station are divided among building and yards crews, master mechanics crews, boiler mechanics, boiler cleaners, and electrical me- chanics. Except for some common laborers in the coal-handling crews and the building and yards crews, most of the employees in the stations have special skills. Among them are switchboard operators, black- smiths, locomotive engineers and firemen, bricklayers, machinists, painters, pipefitters, welders, and those skilled in various aspects of electrical work. The common function of all these employees is to supply, maintain, and operate the machinery in the station for the production of electrical energy. All the employees referred to above are on the generating stations pay roll. Also on that pay roll are militarized guards, electrical engineers, and clerks, all of whom we will discuss below. Assigned to work in the generating stations but carried on separate departmental pay rolls, are clerks in the Purchasing and Stores De- partment and a construction crew. In a following paragraph, Ave will discuss such employees in relation to their inclusion in a bargaining unit. Electrical energy produced in the generating stations is conducted at high voltage by underground cable to the two distributing stations and the numerous substations, all under the Substation Department of the Company. The two distributing stations receive the current and distribute it to other substations. A supervisor is in charge of each distributing station and a watch operator in charge of each shift. The organization and functions of the distributing stations are similar to those of the substations but heavier equipment is employed and cliff erent job designations used. Attended substations, of which there are 70, are manned by regularly assigned crews and are in service for 24 hours each day. The function of a substation is to receive cur- rent at high voltage from the generating stations or distributing sta- tions and by means of transformers, to lower the voltage to suit the COINIMIONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY 471 requirements of the customers it supplies. The lower voltages leave the substations by overhead transmission lines or underground cable. (On the day shift a chief operator is in charge of each attended sub- ,station. Operators arc in charge on the remaining two shifts. Other employees are apprentice operators, assistant operators, helpers, lock- smiths, and repairmen. There are 5 automatic substations which are designed to assure a reserve supply of current to the Chicago surface .and elevated lines. They have no regular attendants. The 27 remote- control substations, the 265 industrial substations, and the 226 net- work vaults are all in some respects similar in function to the attended substations but are not manned by regularly assigned crews. The remote-control stations are controlled from an adjacent attended sub- station and are used generally to supply low-voltage current to resi- dential or commercial customers. The industrial substations are supplied directly with 12,000-volt current and are located on con- sumers' premises. The network vaults are supplied with current of similar voltage and consist principally of low-voltage transformers located under the city streets. They supply current chiefly to small commercial customers or to industrial customers of moderate size. There is a group of substation inspectors who make periodic visits to the remote-control substations, the industrial substations, and the network vaults to check on their operation. A small force makes the rounds of the automatic substations daily to do necessary cleaning and adjusting. Also in the Substation Department is a battery division which con- sists principally of very large storage batteries used in connection with the direct current area. There are smaller batteries in prac- tically all the substations, except the network vaults, used for the emergency operation of switches. The batteries are serviced and main- tained by a battery maintenance group. The generating stations and the substations together are knonnn, in the parlance of the Company, as the "inside plant." Although dur- ing the first 9 months of 1943, 2,214 employees were transferred by the Company among its departments, few transfers occurred from the "inside plant." Recently some linemen were transferred to a gen- erating station. It was testified that their experience as linemen was not of substantial value in their employment in the generating station and, like other transferees, they underwent the period of training given all new employees in the generating stations. Generally an employee transferred to a generating station starts at a low classification and since 1940. only 50 employees have been transferred from the gen- erating stations. Similar conditions appear to obtain in the substa- lions. No substation employee had been transferred to other de- partments in the last 6 months prior to the hearing, and there is no regular practice of making such transfers. As in the generating sta- 472 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Lions, substation employees undergo a training period when first em- ployed. The natural line of promotion in the substation from appren- tice operator, to operator second grade, to assistant operator, to operator, covers a period of 6 to 7 years. It appears then that the employees in the generating stations and substations constitute a stable group. From the generation of steam in the boilers and the sequential operation of the turbine-driven dy- nainos in the generating stations to the conversion of the electrical energy and distribution along the transmission wires and underground cables, the functions of the inside plant are closely integrated. The employees involved appear to possess comparable if not similar skills and work under substantially the same conditions. We consider the employees in the generating stations and substations to constitute a clearly, definable, homogeneous group, appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining and we shall so find. We have adverted to the fact that the generating stations and sub- stations together constitute the "inside plant." The "outside plant" consists principally of the following departments: Construction, ?deter, Purchasing and Stores, Transportation, Service and Repair, Testing, and Stone Conduit Production. Among the manual work- ers in these departments, with the addition of a feww' employee cate- gories performing similar duties in other departments, the I. B. E. AV. would establish its transmission, distribution, maintenance, and service unit. The functions of the Construction Department aic the building of Company structures, the installation and maintenance of all mechani- cal and electrical equipment therein, and the installation, maintenance, and repair of the underground and overhead transmission and dis- tribution systems. Major structures are erected and mechanical or electrical installations are made by independent contractors under the direction of the Department. Perhaps the major routine function of the Department is the maintenance of the overhead and underground transmission systems. Employees in the Department, work on the Company's lines throughout the city of Chicago. Much of their work is performed on the Company's premises in the generating stations, substations, and distributing stations. A utomotive equipment used by the Department is supplied and maintained by the Transportation De- partment. In fact the Transportation Department furnishes such service to all departments of the Company as they may require. All materials and much of the equipment required by the Construction Department is furnished directly by the Purchasing and Stores De- partment and, on certain emergency work involving restoration of service to customers, Construction Department employees work with the personnel of the Service and Repair Department. The Construe- COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY 473 tion Department also works closely with the Engineering Department in supplying information relative to proposed design of equipment, and in the routine of installation and maintenance , Testing Depart- ment, employees make frequent checks to identify wires in compli- cated circuits and to test different portions of equipment as it is in- stalled. Among the workers in the Construction Department are cable handlers , cable splicers , dispatchers , helpers , inspectors , opera- tors , planners, tool and material checkers, troublenien , chauffeurs, compressor operators , laborers, mechanics , conduit patrolmen, rod- men, water boys, conduit watchmen , groundmen , linemen , service op- erators, cabinet makers , carpenters , janitors , machinists , riggers, blacksmiths , and welders. In our discussion of the Construction Department, we have de- scribed the principal function of the Transportation Department, namely to supply , service, and maintain the automotive equipment used by the many departments of the Company. Among the em- ployees in this department are automobile repairmen , automobile washers, chauffeurs , crane operators , garage attendants , stock clerks, and watchmen. We have described , above, to some extent the functions of the Pur- chasing and Stores Department and little more need be added . Basic- ally the Purchasing and Stores Department has the responsibility of securing materials used in the Company 's operations and supplying such materials upon requisition to the other departments . To this end, storerooms are maintained ]'it each of the generating stations and in other locations . Many of the employees therein employed are clerks who physically handle supplies , tools , and material. Others are main- tenance mechanics , and cable strippers. The Service and Repair Department employees perform duties in many respects similar to those performed by employees in the Con- struction Department, but their field of operation is confined generally to the premises of the Company's customers . Such workers install, remove , connect , and disconnect electrical metering equipment; re- habilitate wiring and change equipment when service is changed from direct to alternating current ; restore service after electrical fault in- terruption due to wiring or equipment failure; and install wiring equipment and fixtures . In addition , they maintain street, viaduct, and other exterior lighting equipment for the city of Chicago. Some of the workers so employed are dispatchers , wiring inspectors , service- men, and stock clerks. The personnel of the Testing Department is composed chiefly of specialists. The principal function of this group is to check all appara- tus as it goes into service , to make routine tests of materials which the Company will use in its operations , and to make chemical analyses of water, flue gases , and coal, The I. B. E. W. seeks to include only the 474 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD helpers, janitors, "mechanician," principal stock-keeping clerk, and stock handlers in its requested transmission, distribution, maintenance, and service unit. The chief responsibility of the Meter Department is to meter the customers' use of electricity and to furnish data to the Revenue Ac- counts Department for the preparation of bills. Employees in the wiring inspection division inspect the premises of customers before service is begun to determine the adequacy of the wiring. Upon the approval of that division, the meter testing division supplies a meter to the Service and Repair Department for installation. The latter division tests all meters for accuracy when they are received from the- factory or before they are returned to service after repair, and con- ducts periodic tests of all meters in use. The meter inspection and reading division employees read the customers' meters periodically and supply the data so secured for billing. Meter readers may be promoted to printometer readers in the meter testing division; work which requires mechanical training and experience. Among the em- ployees in this department are meter inspectors, special meter in- spectors, meter readers, helpers, meter mechanics and testers in vari- ous fields and of various grades, and wiring inspectors. The title of the Stone Conduit Production Department is descriptive of its place in the pattern of the Company's operations. Among the workers employed here are maintenance mechanics, operators, store- keepers, and yardmen. Two of the buildings occupied by the Company are maintained by the Central and Northern Service Buildings Department. Among the workers there employed are building service operators, elevator operators, janitors, janitresses, laborers,, matrons, painters, window washers, and watchmen. Except for the generating stations and the substations, the depart- ments whose functions we have described above constitute the "out- side plant" and it is among the employees in these departments other than clerical and technical employees that the I. B. E. W. requests the establishment of a single bargaining unit. In summary, the func- tions of the "outside plant" are to transmit electrical energy from the generating stations to the substations and from the substations to con- sumers, to install and maintain such transmission facilities, to pro- vide transportation for Company employees and equipment, to examine the wiring and electrical installations on the premises of consumers and to make requisite changes in such wiring or installa- tions, to maintain a constant check on the accuracy and dependability of electrical meters, to install, test, and maintain major equipment of the Company, to supply the Company with necessary tools, equip- ment, and materials, and to measure the amount of electrical energy used by individual customers so that bills may be prepared. Simply COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY 475 stated the "outside plant" delivers the product of the Company to the consumers and gathers the data to enable the Company to collect the price of the product delivered. All activities of the "outside plant" are auxiliary to these main objectives. Its function is maintenance and service, as distinguished from production. We are persuaded by these circumstances that the manual employees in the "outside plant" departments constitute a functional group and may constitute separate bargaining unit. We shall so find. The Company and the I. B. E. W. agree that technical employees and clerical employees may appropriately constitute separate bar- gaining units. The U. W. U. would include such employees in the single unit it requested. Both clerical and technical employees are found in most of the Company's major departments and they con- stitute a large portion of the Company's personnel. We find, how- ever, that the I. B. E. W. has not submitted evidence that it represents a substantial number of such employees and it does not appear that the U. W. U. desires to represent them in a separate unit or units. We shall not direct elections among the employees in those groups in this proceeding. Carried on the generating stations' pay roll as gate officers and on duty in the generating stations, are auxiliary military police. These employees are armed, uniformed, under the general direction of the military authorities, and under the immediate supervision of the watch officers in the generating stations. Most of the personnel in a department known as the Revenue Protection Department have taken the oath of the auxiliary military police and are similarly armed, uniformed, and under the general direction of the military authorities, though under the immediate supervision of the supervisor, property protection division. The function of the Revenue Protection guards is to guard the Company's properties outside the generating stations. To accomplish this, they patrol the streets adjacent to Company prop- erties in radio-equipped cars. They are required to have a good knowledge of the location of Company properties and to qualify as third-class radio operators. They receive separate and different training from the generating station gate officers and a higher wage. The I. B. E. W. would establish a separate bargaining unit of gener- ating station gate officers and another of revenue protection guards. The U. W. U. would include both groups, along with non-militarized guards and watchmen, in a separate bargaining unit. The Company would exclude all such employees from any bargaining unit, arguing that their duties and authority are of such nature as to deny them the benefits of Section 7 of the Act. The militarized guards continue to maintain their essential employment relation with the Company and we have consistently held that they are employees within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act and entitled to the benefits secured 476 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD to them therein.' We find the contentions of the Company in this particular to lack merit. The request of the U. W. U. to include non- militarized guards and watchmen in the same unit with militarized guards is likewise contrary to established Board policy. As we said in the Dravo case, cited above, The militarization of plant-protection employees, while no obstacle to unionization, is nevertheless significant. As civilian auxiliaries of a military force, the guards have greater duties and obligations than those plant-protection employees who are not militarized. To the end that the guards may be better able to function within the military sphere, and to permit the military authorities to exercise greater control over the guards, we shall establish a bargaining unit for all militarized plant-protection employees separate and apart from those who are non-nlilit arized. We conclude that the separate supervision and training, the lower wage classification, the dissimilar duties, and the lesser qualifications of the generating station gate officers argues for the establishment of separate bargaining units for the generating station gate officers and the militarized Revenue Protection guards and we shall so find. The non-militarized watchmen or guards will be included in the "outside plant" unit. There remains now for consideration the various contentions of the parties with respect to the inclusion of certain employees categories and classifications in the units. The Company would include in any bargaining unit all workers carried on the "employee" pay roll and conversely, would exclude all employees carried on the "management" pay roll, arguing that such latter employees possess supervisory au- lhority or are closely allied with lnanagement.$ We agree generally with the Company's position in this respect. All the employees we shall include in the units are carried on the "employee" pay roll. We shall exclude, however, certain categories appearing on that pay roll for reasons which we shall set forth below. A. The " inside plant " unit We shall include in the "inside plant" unit the employees of the Company carried on the "employee " pay rolls of the Generating Sta- tions Department and Substations Department , other than those ex- cluded below . Among the employees so included are the followings Matter of Draeo Coi pmation, 52 N. L R. B 422, and pi bor noaid decisions s During the hearing, the Company intioduced into evidence its management chat and employee pav-roll classifications as of October 15), 104; Subsequent mention herein to "management" or "employee" pay-roll classifications is with reference to such classifications as show n on Company Exhibit No 4 of that date. 5 For convenience, and on the basis of Company Exhibit No 4, to which we have referred in footnote 8, supra, we have set forth in appendices A and B herein, the employee classifica- tions which appear to be included in the "inside plant" and ' outside plant" units COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY 477 The fo? enien, ?nd grade, buttery service, in accordance with the agreement of the parties although their title suggests their exclusion,, such employees possess no substantial supervisory authority. We shall exclude from the "inside plant" unit all employees in categories listed on the "management" pay rolls of the Generating Slat Ions Department and the Substations Department as well as all clerical and technical employees, contrary to the contentions of the U. W. U., all militarized guards, watchmen, patrolmen, or gate officers, all supervisory employees, and in particular: The foremen, boiler cleaners, the forcmena yard laborers, and the head janitors, contrary to the contentions of the parties; although carried on the employee pay roll, they possess the authority to recom- mend effectively the discharge or discipline of the employees under them. The engineers, junior grade, contrary to the contentions of the parties; although carried on the employee pay roll, they are graduate engineers whose interests are dissimilar to those of the employees, included. The assistant watch ele(tricialts and the assistant watch turbine roow, enyinec^.ti. contrary to the contentions of the U. W. U. and the I B. E. 11r. They are carried on the "management" pay roll and possess substantial supervisory authority. The chief operators in the substations, contrary to the contentions of the parties. Although carried on the "employee" pay roll, they are in change of the substation personnel and perform management unctions. B. The "outside plant" unit We shall include in the "outside plant" unit the employees of the Company carried on the "employee" pay rolls of the Construction Department, the Testing Department, the Meter Department, the Service and Repair Department, Purchasing and Stores Department, Stolle Conchut Production Departineut, and Transportation Depart- ment , other than those excluded below, and we shall further include certain employee categories in the Merchandise Sales Department, Central and Northern Service Buildings Department, Revenue Ac- counts Department, and Office of Manager of Special Services as listed in Appendix B.1° Among the employees so included are: Meter inspectors and special inspectors in the Meter Department, contrary to the contentions of the I. B. E. W., for such employees possess and use mechanical skill in detecting functional defects in meters. 10 These latter inclusions extend perhaps beyond the limits of the "outside plant " but it re confined to sun h catego,ies as eles ator operators , stock clef ks, watchmen , janitors, etc Al e are it the opuuon that such categoi ice shoui'i be included in the "outside plant" unit. 478 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Dieter readers, contrary to the contention of the I. B. E. W., al- though their duties are chiefly clerical, their work familiarizes them with mechanical principles respecting meters and they may be pro- moted to classifications included in this unit. Foreman, sign maintenance crew, upon the agreement of the par- ties ; although his title suggests his exclusion , he possesses no super- visory authority. Dispatchers in the several departments of the "outside plant," contrary to the contentions of the I. B. E. W., since their duties do not appear to be clerical and their work is closely integrated with that of the'employees included. Domestic, elevator operator, and janitor in the Merchandise Sales Department as we shall include other employees with similar duties in the "outside plant." Planners in the Construction Department, contrary to the conten- tion of the I. B. E. W., as they do not appear to perform clerical functions but are engaged in scheduling field work, assembling ma- terials and men, and work closely with the employees herein included. Stock clerks senior grade, principal cle7°ks stoekkeeping, store- keepers and clerks of any designation whose principal duties consist of physically storing and dispensing materials and stores and not desk work. Watchmen building service, watchmen service building, and all em- ployees in any of the departments other than those here named as the "inside plant," whether or not uniformed, armed, or deputized, whose duties are to watch or protect company property, except those en- rolled in Auxiliary Military Police. We shall exclude from the "outside plant" unit all employees of the Company carried on the "management" pay roll, clerical and technical employees, militarized guards, watchmen, patrolmen, or gate officers, supervisory employees, and, in particular, the: Illustrator const°ruetion, in the Construction Department, as his duties and skill, are dissimilar to those of the employees here included. Expediters, materials and supplies, pncrcha.sing, since it appears that their duties are clerical in nature. C. The militarised gate officers unit We shall include in a unit of militarized gate officers in the Gener- ating Stations Department all gate officers who are enrolled in the Auxiliary Military Police and shall exclude from such unit the watch officers since the latter possess substantial supervisory authority. D. The Revenue Protection guards unit We shall include in a unit of militarized property protection guards in the Revenue Protection Department, all employees in that De- COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY 479 partment carried on the "employee" pay roll who are armed, uni- formed, and enrolled in the Auxiliary Military Police. Among the employees so included are: Bank messenger and guard, property protection, inspectors, prop- erty protection, patrolmen, property protection, squad operators, property protection, and watchmen, building service, since all are uni- formed and armed and enrolled in the Auxiliary Military Police. Although the inspectors, property protection, perform duties com- parable to those of a sergeant they have no authority to discharge, discipline, or effectively recommend such action. We shall exclude from the militarized guard unit all employees in the Revenue Protection Department who are carried on the manage- ment pay roll, as well as all other employees in the Department who, though enrolled in the Auxiliary Military Police, are not usually engaged in duties requiring militarization and who are not usually armed and uniformed.- We have included in none of the units described above, employees in the Super-Power Department of the Company, since those whose skills and duties would make them eligible for inclusion, are employed at Pekin, Illinois, and are already represented in a separate bargain- ing unit. On the basis of the entire record, and in accordance with the con- clusions stated above, 1. We find that all employees of the Company carried on the "employee" pay rolls of the Generating Stations and Substations De- partments excluding foremen boiler cleaners, foremen yard laborers. head janitors, engineers junior grade, chief operators, employees car- ried on the "management" pay rolls, clerical employees, technical em- ployees, militarized gate officers, militarized guards and watchmen, and supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge. discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employers of effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 2. We further find that all employees of the Company carried on the "employee" pay rolls of the Construction Department, the 'resting Department, the Meter Department, the Service and Repair Depart- ment, the Purchasing and Stores Department, the Stone Conduit Pro- duction Department, the Transportation Department; and further including, in the Revenue Accounts Department, watchmen building service; in the Merchandise Sales Department, clerks grade A and B stockkeeping, domestics, Englewood branch electric shop elevator op- erators, janitors, and stock clerks senior grade; in the Central and 11 See Matter of Northern Furniture Cornpanij, 54 N L R B 947 480 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Northern Service Buildings, building service operators, elevator op- erators, janitors, janitresses, laborers, lnations, painters, watchmen, and window washers; in the office of the Manager of Special Services, mechanics office appliances; but excluding employees carried on the "lnanagenient" pay rolls, illustrators. expediters materials and sup- plies purchasing, clerical employees, technical employees, militarized gate officers, militarized guards and watchmen, and supervisory em- ployees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or other wise effect changes in the status of employees or effectively recommend such action, constitutes a unit appropriate for the purposes of col- lective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 3. We further find that all gate officers carried on the pay rolls of the Company's Generating Stations Department who are armed, uni- formed, and enrolled in the Auxiliary hlilltaly Police, excluding all other employees of the Company, employees carried on the "manage- ment" pay rolls, watch officers, and any other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col- lective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 4. We further And that all guards and watchmen in the Revenue Protection Department of the Company, who are armed, uniformed, and enrolled in the Auxiliary Military Police. excluding gate officers; employees who, though enrolled in the Auxiliary Military Police, are not usually armed and uniformed, or engaged in dirties requiring militarization; employees carried on the Company's "management" pay rolls; and supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within tha meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. TuuE DETLRnINATiOIN OF RP'PRRSENT \TiVE We shall direct that the questions concerning representation which have ,irisen be resolved by means of elections by secret ballot among the employees in the appropriate units who Were employed during the pay-roll period or periods immediately preceding the (late of the Direction of Elections herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction.12 1= 1'he ('ompany engplo s a number of regulai part-tune meteL ieadeis in the Meter Depai t- ment Snue their employment is regular and their inteiest in woiking conditions, there- to, e substantial, we shall permit such employees to vote with the employees in unit 2. Woi kei s in the junior emplovee training group are carried on the pay roll of the Industrial Relations Department but, in the process of training, work in the several departments and when Iraining 1s complete will be permmiicntl3 assigned to where they are best suited. We shall penult to vote those of this group who are peifornung duties as of the date of this Dii t ( Lon in the units and in the categories set forth above COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY 481 DIRECTION OI+ ELECTIONS 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 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Commonwealth Edison Company, Chicago, Illinois, separate 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 super- vision of the Regional Director for the Thirteenth R?gion, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regula- tions, among the employees in the units found appropriate in Section IV, subsections 1, 2, 3 and 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period or periods immediately preceding, the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work during said pay- roll period or periods because they were ill or on vacation or tem- porarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but ex- cluding any who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the elections, to de- termine whether they desire to be represented by Utility Workers Union or by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. ORDERS Upon the basis of the findings of fact in Section IV, above, the National Labor Relations Board orders that the petition for investi- gation and certification of representatives filed herein, in Case No. 13-R-1821, by Utility Workers Union, be, and it hereby is, dismissed. We further order that the request of Generating Stations Workers Union that its petition in Case No. 13-R-1576 be withdrawn, be, and it hereby is, granted. CHAIRMAN MILLIS took no part in the consideration of the above Decision. Direction of Elections and Orders. APPENDIX A THE "INSIDE PLANT" UNIT GENERATING STATIONS DEPARTMENT Assistant Switchboard Operator Blacksmith Auxiliary Operator, Electrical Boiler Cleaner Auxiliary Operator, Steam Boiler Mechanic 578129-41--v-ol 55-32 482 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Boiler Mechanic, 2nd Grade Locomotive Firemen Boiler Operator Machinist, Generating Stations Boiler Operator, 2nd Grade Machinist, 2nd Grade, Generating Bricklayer Stations Coal Handler Mechanic, Building and Yards Conveyor Attendant Mechanic, 2nd Grade, Building Crane Operator and Yards Electrical Mechanic, Generating Pa inter Stations Pipe Coverer Electrical Mechanic, 2nd Grade, Pipefitter, Generating Stations Generating Stations Gantry Crane Operator Gardener Helper, Generating Janitor Laborer Stations Screen Attendant Senior Painter, Generating Sta- tions Student Helper Switchboard Operator Switchman Turbine Operator Welder, Generating Stations Locomotive Crane Operator Locomotive Engineer SUBSTATION DEPARTMENT Apprentice Operator Assistant Inspector, Unattended Substations Assistant Inspector, 2nd Grade, Unattended Substations Assistant Operator Assistant Operator, 2nd Grade Assistant Operator, 3rd Grade Assistant Watch Operator, Dis- tributing Station Assistant Watch Operator, 2nd Grade, Distributing Station Foreman, 2nd Grade, Battery Service Helper, Locksmith Helper, Battery Service Inspector, Battery Service Inspector, Unattended Substations Inspector, 2nd Grade, Unattended Substations Inspector, 3rd Grade, Unattended Substations Janitor Lead Burner Locksmith Operator Relief Operator Repairman, Battery Service Repairman, 2nd Grade, Battery Service Watch Operator, Station APPENDIX B THE "OUTSIDE PLANT" UNIT REVENUE ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT Watchmen, Building Service Distributing COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY 483 TESTING DEPARTMENT Helper, Chemical Laboratory Helper, Equipment and Appli- ance Test Helper, Illumination Laboratory Janitor Mechanician, Testing Department Principal Clerk, Stockkeeping Stock Handler CONSTRUCTION DEPARTMENT Cable Division Cable Handler Cable Splicer Cable Splicer, 2nd Grade Cable Splicer, 3rd Grade Dispatcher, Cable Division Dispatcher, Cable Supply Dispatcher, Cable Trouble Work Dispatcher, Senior Grade, District Cable Work Helper, Cable Conduit Chauffeur Compressor Operator, Conduit Dispatcher, Conduit Inspection and Control Dispatcher, Conduit Supply Dispatcher, Conduit Work Dispatcher's Assistant, Conduit Supply Dispatcher, Senior Grade, Conduit Work Inspector, Conduit Inspector, Junior Grade, Conduit Laborer, Conduit Inspector, Cable Map and Inventory Recorder Material Assignment Planner Operator, Construction Field Equipment Operator, Senior Grade, Con- struction Field Equipment Planner, Cable Work Tool and Material Checker; Cable Troubleman, Cable Division Map and Inventory Recorder Mechanic, Conduit Patrolman Conduit Principal Mechanic, Conduit Principal Mechanic, Maintenance and Repair, Conduit Principal Mechanic, M a n h o l e Cleaning, Conduit Principal Mechanic, Pump Main- tenance, Conduit Rodman Watchman, Conduit Water Boy, Conduit Overhead Division Compressor Operator, Overhead Dispatcher, District Overhead Work Dispatcher, Overhead Mainte- nance Dispatcher, Overhead Trouble Work Dispatcher, Overhead Work Plan- ning Groundman Helper, Overhead Inspector, Overhead Lineman Lineman, 2nd Grade Lineman, 3rd Grade Supply and Equipment Man, Overhead, Field Supply and Equipment Man, Sen- ior Grade, Overhead, Field Tool Room Keeper Tree Trimmer Troubleman, Overhead 484 DECISIOI S OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD' Station Electrical Division Apparatus, Repairman Blacksmith Building Service Operator, Gar- land Court Cabinet Maker Carpenter Electrical Mechanic, Station Elec- trical Helper, Class B, Station Electrical Helper, Station Electrical Janitor Laborer Lay-out Man, Assembly Shop Machinist, 2nd Grade, Construc- tion Machinist, Station Electrical Rodman ilMechanic, Station Electrical Mechanic, 2nd Grade, Station Electrical Painter Phinnez•, Shop Production Planner, 2nd Grade, Shop Produc- t ion Planner, Senior Grade, Shop Pro- duction Rigger Senior Painter , Station Installa- tion ,Student Helper Tool Room Keeper \\7-elder, Construction Welder, 2nd Grade Structural, and Mechanical Divicionn Tool and Equipment Division Blacksmith Carpenter Dispatcher, Tool and Equipment Helper, Tool and Equipment Mechanic, Tool and Equipment Mechanic 2nd Czrade, Tool and Equipment Painter Welder, Construction Welder, 2nd Grade ME'1ERR DEPARTMENT Inspection and Reading Division Inspector, Meters Inspector, Special, Meters Meter Reader Testing Division Helper, Meter Testing Meter Mechanic ( Field, Demand) Meter Mechanic (Shop) Meter Mechanic , Junior Grade (Shop) Meter Mechanic , Senior Grade (Shop) Meter Mechanic , Senior Grade (Field) Meter Mechanic , Special (Shop) Meter Tester (Field) Meter Tester (Shop) Meter Tester, Junior Grade (Shop and Field) Meter Tester, Senior Grade (Field, D. C.) Meter Tester, Senior Grade ( Field, A. C.) Meter Tester , Special (Field) Principal Clerk, Stockkeeping Principal Mechanic , Demand Me- tering (Field) Principal Mechanic , Meter Testing Equipment ,COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY 485 Principal Meter Mechanic , De- Principal Meter Mechanic , Watt- mand Meters (( Shop ) hour Meters (Shop) Principal Meter Mechanic , De- Principal Meter Tester (Shop) nand Registers (Shop) Wiring Inspection Division Inspector , Senior Grade, Wiring Inspector , Wiring Inspector , Junior Grade, Wiring SERVICE AND REPAIR DEPARTMENT Clerk, Grade A ( Stockkeeper ) Dispatcher , District Meter Work Clerk, Grade B (Stockkeeper ) Dispatcher , 2nd Grade, Customers Clerk, Grade A ( Appliance receiv- Service Work ing and forwarding) Foreman, Sign Maintenance Crew Clerk , Grade A ( Appliance repair Inspector, Wiring and Mainte- billing ) nance Division Clerk, Grade C(Appliance receiv- Principal Serviceman ing and forwarding ) Serviceman , Grades A, B, C, and D Dispatcher , Customers Service Work ?MERCHANDISE SALES DEPARTMENT Clerk, Grade A (Stockkeeping) Elevator Operator, Englewood Clerk, Grade B (Stockkeeping) Branch Electric Shop Domestic, Merchandise Sales Janitor Stock Clerk, Senior Grade PURCHASING AND STORES DEPARTMENT 'Cable Stripper Clerk, Grade C (Stockkeeping Clerk, Grade A (Stockkeeping stores division) stores division) Mechanic, Maintenance, Stores De- ,Clerk, Grade B (Stockkeeping partment stores division) Stock Clerk, Senior Grade STONE CONDUIT PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT Maintenance Mechanic Operator, 2nd Grade Maintenance Mechanic, 2nd Grade Storekeeper -Operator, 1st Grade Yardman CENTRAL AND NORTHERN SERVICE BUILDINGS Building Service Operator Laborer Building Service Operator; 2nd Matron Grade Painter Elevator Operator Watchman, Service Buildings Janitor Window Washer Janitress 486 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT Automobile Repairman Garage Attendant Automobile Washer Helper, Automobile Repair Chauffeur Principal Clerk, Stockkeeping Clerk ( Stockkeeping ) Watchman, Building Service Crane Operator , Transportation Department OFFICE OF MANAGER OF SPECIAL SERVICE Mechanic, Office Appliances [See infra , 55 N. L . R. B. 732 for Supplemental Decision and Amendment to Decision and Direction of Elections.]