Iroquois Gas Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 7, 1946

66 N.L.R.B. 372 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of IRoQuoIs GAS CORPORATION and DISTRICT 50, UNITED
MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA
Case No. 3-B-1155.-Decided March 7, 1946
Mr. D. J. Kene Fick and D. J. Kene Fick, Jr., of Buffalo, N. Y., for
the Company.
Messrs. Frank J. O'Brien and Frank McGapy, of Buffalo, N. Y.,
for the Union.
Mr. Donald B. Brady, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by District 50, United Mine Workers
of America, herein called the Union , alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Iroquois Gas Corporation , Buffalo , New York, herein called the
Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an ap-
propriate hearing upon due notice before Thomas S . Wilson, Trial
Examiner. The hearing was held at Buffalo , New York, on January
29, 1946. The Company and the Union appeared and participated.
All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard , to examine
and cross -examine witnesses , and 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
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Iroquois Gas Corporation is a New York corporation, having its
principal place of business at Buffalo, New York, where it is engaged
in the production, transmission, and distribution of natural and
66 N. L . R. B., No. 48.
372
IROQUOIS GAS CORPORATION 373
artificial gas. During the year 1945 the Company sold a total of
approximately 18,772,000 MCF to industrial and domestic users
of which amount approximately 9,900,000 MCF were imported from
the State of Pennsylvania and approximately 347,000 MCF were
exported to Canada. During the same period the Company pur-
chased equipment and supplies, consisting principally of steel pipe,
tractors, oxide, mixing and handling equipment, and tin cast steel
meters, valued at approximately $100,000 of which approximately
75 percent was shipped from outside the State of New York.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
District 50, United Mine Workers of America, is a labor organiza-
tion, admitting to membership employees of the Company.
111. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as
the exclusive bargaining representative of certain of its employees
until the Union has been certified by the Board in an appropriate
unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number
of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.'
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The parties generally agree that the appropriate unit should
consist of all dispatchers and dispatcher maintenance employees
employed by the Company at its plants and facilities in Erie County,
New York, excluding clerical and supervisory employees. The
parties disagree, however, as to four employees who work in the
Chief Dispatcher's office ;2 the Union would include them, whereas
the Company would exclude them as supervisory employees.
The four employees in dispute are employed in the Chief Dis-
patcher's office at Buffalo, New York. Their duties include mainte-
1 The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 12 cards, bearing the names
of 9 employees , listed on the Company 's pay roll of December 27, 1945.
There are approximately 14 employees in the appropriate unit.
2M. Dickson , J. Blackall, N. Skidmore, E. Laverty.
374 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Rance of proper gas flow to all points in the Company's system,
issuance of instructions by telegraph and telephone to dispatchers
at outlying stations relating to the maintenance of an adequate gas
flow, and a periodic check of outlying stations to insure that the
dispatchers at these stations are properly following directions. The
Chief Dispatcher, however, has sole supervision over the operations
of the Buffalo office and is available for consultation at all times.
Although these four employees issue instructions to dispatchers and
direct the work of others or order changes in the amounts of gas
to be used in the system, it is clear from the record that these em-
ployees do not possess the indicia of supervisory authority within
our customary definition thereof. Accordingly, we shall include
them.
We find that all dispatchers and dispatcher maintenance employees
of the Company at its plant and facilities located in Erie County,
New York,' but excluding clerical employees and all 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 the meaning of Section 9 (b) of
the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall'direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among employees
in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election
herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
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 Re-
lations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended,
it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Iroquois Gas
Corporation, an election by' secret ballot shall be conducted as early
as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of
this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional
a Including the four employees listed in footnote 2, supra
IROQUOIS GAS CORPORATION 375
Director for the Third Region, 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 Regulations, among employees
in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were em-
ployed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction, including employees who did not work during
said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tempo-
rarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the
United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but
excluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged
for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date
of the election, to determine whether or not they desire to be repre-
sented by District 50, United Mine Workers of America, affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective
bargaining.