Consolidated Gas Co. of Savannah

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsNov 24, 1953

107 N.L.R.B. 148 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

148 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The constitution of the United Electrical , Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), Independent, which was in effect during all times pertinent to this determination , provided: Article 21 Section A. The affiliated local unions shall adopt their own constitution and by-laws provided that these do not conflict with the constitution and by-laws of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) . . . [Emphasis added.] Section 8. The following officers shall be elected by the local membership : President , Vice-President, Financial Secretary , Treasurer , Corresponding Secretary, Trustees and Floor Guard. Locals may add other officers or combine two offices in one. [Emphasis added.] Thus , section A of the UE ' s constitution unequivocally pro- hibits any constituent local from adopting a constitution or constitutional provisions that conflicts with the parent con- stitution . And section B unequivocally declares the local trustees to be officers of the local. The Board therefore finds that the trustees of Local 1421 are officers of the Union . It is not denied that Local 1421's trustees did not file non-Communist affidavits until March 20, 1952. IT IS THEREFORE ADMINISTRATIVELY DETERMINED that Local 1421 , United Electrical , Radio and Machine Workers of America ( UE'), Independent , was not in compliance with Section 9 (h) of the Act until March 20, 1952. By direction of the Board: Frank M. Kleiler, Executive Secretary. CONSOLIDATED GAS COMPANY OF SAVANNAH, CONSOLI- DATED GAS COMPANY OF BRUNSWICK and TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS LOCAL UNION NO. 897, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, AFL, Petitioner . Case No. 10- RC-2508 . November 24, 1953 DECISION AND ORDER Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 ( c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before John S . Patton, hearing officer. The hearing officer ' s rulings made at the hear- ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds: 1. The Board ' s jurisdiction is contested by the two corpora- tions named as Employers herein. 107 NLRB No. 49. CONSOLIDATED GAS COMPANY OF SAVANNAH 149 Each of the corporations involved in this case , Consolidated Gas Company of Savannah, and Consolidated Gas Company of Brunswick, both in Georgia, are engaged in the retail sale of liquid petroleum gas and the installation of gas appliances. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1953, the sales of the two corporations approximated $600,000, of which less than 1 percent was shipped to points outside the State of Georgia. During the same period, their purchases totaled in excess of $ 244,000, of which about 33 percent represented shipments from points outside the State. In addition, the Employers sold goods valued at $2,878 to concerns engaged in interstate commerce, and their purchases from such firms amounted to about $141,000. Because the volume of interstate operations of these two corporations, whether considered alone or in combination, falls short of the Board's jurisdictional minima, the Petitioner urges the Board to consider, for jurisdictional purposes, the combined commercial activities of certain related corporations. The Employers are wholly owned subsidiaries of Consolidated Gas Company, located in Atlanta, Georgia, which is a holding company owning all of the stock in 5 corporations, including the 2 involved herein. All these corporations, separately in- corporated and located in the State of Georgia, are engaged in the sale of bottled gas. During the past year, the parent holding company and its 5 subsidiaries received gas, equipment, and supplies valued in excess of $ 500,000 from sources outside the State of Georgia. According to the Employers' uncontradicted testimony, the parent holding company has a separate board of directors, with 1 holding company officer serving as officer of each of the 5 subsidiaries. The officers of the Savannah and Brunswick companies are the same . Although the general manager of the Savannah plant is also vice president of the Brunswick plant, the manager of the plant at Brunswick does not have reciprocal managerial duties at the Savannah plant. Notwithstanding the interlocking directors among the parent company and the subsidiaries, all 5 corporations are conducted as separate enterprises , except that the holding company selects sources of supply for its subsidiaries and prepares, and al- locates funds for, mutual advertising programs. Each sub- sidiary has a separate manager , offices, and books of account, and prepares separate tax returns of all kinds. Each handles its own selling activities. In addition, each corporation exercises full control over the employment conditions of its respective employees. There is no interchange of employees among the corporations. Wage rates and working conditions are set by the managers of the respective companies without regard for the personnel policies of the other subsidiaries. There is no showing that the parent holding company controls the labor relations policies of any of its subsidiaries. Although the Employers together with three other corpora- tions are controlled by the same holding company, all the corporations operate independently and not as part of a single 150 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD integrated enterprise with common operational and labor re- lations policies. We find, therefore, that they are not a single employer within the meaning of the Act. Accordingly, we shall not consider the business of the three corporations not in- volved in this proceeding in determining whether to assert jurisdiction. As the business of the Employers involved in this proceeding do not meet the Board's minimum standards for asserting jurisdiction, we shall dismiss the petition. I .[The Board dismissed the petition.] IJefferson Co., Inc., and Service Corporation of America, 105 NLRB 202; Goodman's Inc., 101 NLRB 352; Chestnutt's Stores, Inc., 100 NLRB 490; Toledo Service Parking Co., 96 NLRB 263. SOLAR AIRCRAFT COMPANY and LOCAL 387, INTERNA- TIONAL MOLDERS AND FOUNDRY WORKERS UNION OF NORTH AMERICA, AFL, Petitioner. Case No. 21-RC-3267. November 24, 1953 DECISION AND ORDER Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Paul J. Driscoll, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds: 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain employees of the Employer.' 3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act for the following reasons:2 The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit of employees in the stainless steel foundry of the Employer's San Diego, California, plant, including leadmen, but excluding office and plant clerical workers, welders,3 timekeepers, dispatchers, 1International Association of Machinists, District Lodge 50 and Aeronautical Mechanics, Lodge No. 685, hereinafter called the Machinists, and United Aircraft Welders of America, Local No. 52, hereinafter referred to as the Welders, were permitted to intervene upon the basis of their current contracts. 2As the petition was filed before theMillB dates of the Machinists' and Welders' contracts, which dates have since passed, we find, contrary to the Machinists' contention, that these contracts do not bar this proceeding. 3As the Petitioner amended its petition at the hearing to exclude welders, whom the Welders represents , the Welders does not question the appropriateness of the unit. 107 NLRB No. 54.