Kentucky Utilities Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 4, 1974

209 N.L.R.B. 1067 (N.L.R.B. 1974)

KENTUCKY UTILITIES CO.
Kentucky Utilities Company and Teamsters Local
651, affiliated with Teamsters , Chauffeurs, Ware-
housemen and Helpers of America, Petitioner.
Case 9-RC-10319
April 4, 1974
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF
ELECTION
BY CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS
FANNING AND JENKINS
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a
hearing was held before Hearing Officer James R.
Schwartz. Following the hearing 1 and pursuant to
Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations and Statements of
Procedures, Series 8, as amended, and by direction of
the Regional Director for Region 9, this case was
transferred to the National Labor Relations Board
for decision. The Employer filed a brief.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's
rulings made at the hearing and finds that they are
free from prejudicial error. They 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, and it will effectuate the
purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to
represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concern-
ing the representation of certain employees of the
Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and
Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Employer, a Kentucky corporation, is
engaged as a public utility in the sale and distribution
of electricity in the State of Kentucky and the
western portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Its operations are divided into four administrative
divisions.2 The parties have agreed that a unit of
production and maintenance employees in the
Employer's Bluegrass Division, including its facilities
at Ghent and Tyrone, would be appropriate.3 Also,
the Employer and the Petitioner are in agreement
concerning the unit placement of employees; howev-
er, the Intervenor contends that employees in the
following classifications: foremen, classification A &
I Local Union 183, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
AFL-CIO. appeared at the hearing as Intervenor.
2 The Bluegrass, Mountain, Western, and Central Divisions.
1067
B; coalyard foremen; and chief electricians are not
supervisors within the meaning of the Act and it
would include them in the unit. There is no history of
bargaining for any of the employees involved in this
proceeding.
The Employer's vice president in charge of opera-
tions, James Hite, the only witness in the proceeding,
testified that foremen, classifications A and B,
possess the authority to effectively recommend the
hiring, firing, or disciplining of employees. Further-
more, the record shows, and we find, that these
foremen exercise independent judgment and respon-
sibly direct work crews of from two to six employees
in various locations throughout the area encom-
passed by the Employer' s Bluegrass Division.
The duties of foremen A and B are essentially the
same and differ only in degree; i.e., foremen A direct
crews of four to six employees and foremen B direct
crews of two to three employees. Foremen A perform
practically no work outside of supervisory functions
and foremen B may spend from 20 percent to 75
percent of their time performing regular crew work.
Both classifications have authority to grant time off,
approve overtime, and adjust grievances. Likewise,
both classifications have the responsibility for ap-
proving timesheets for their respective crewmembers
and for training new employees. All attend supervi-
sory meetings. In view of all the foregoing, we find
that foremen A and B are supervisors within the
meaning of the Act, and we shall exclude them from
the unit found appropriate herein.
Also in dispute are the positions of coalyard
foremen and chief electricians. At the time of the
hearing, there was a coalyard foreman assigned at
the Employer's Tyrone generating station and a
coalyard foreman was to be assigned at the Ghent
generating station. The record evidence is that the
coalyard foreman has authority to discipline and
effectively recommend the hiring and firing of his
crew. The coalyard foreman does not normally
operate the equipment used to move the coal, but
instead directs the crew of equipment operators and
conveyor operators. He is responsible for the time
records of his crew and is paid from 57 cents to 80
cents per hour more than the crew.
There are four individuals encompassed in the
classification of chief electrician: the chief electrician
of technical maintenance crew, the chief electrician
of underground construction, the chief electrician of
the Ghent power station, and the chief electrician of
the Tyrone power station. The record evidence is that
the chief electricians have direct authority over the
preparation of work schedules for crewmembers, that
4 The Intervenor currently represents employees in a unit of production
and maintenance employees in the Employer's Mountain Division
209 NLRB No. 157
1068 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
they adjust grievances and effectively recommend
the hiring and firing of their crews. They are paid
from 57 cents to $1.59 per hour more than crewmem-
bers.
In view of the foregoing, we find that the coalyard
foremen and chief electricians are supervisors within
the meaning of the Act, and we shall exclude them
from the unit found to be appropriate.
On the basis of the foregoing and the record as a
whole, we find that the following employees consti-
tute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the
Act.
All production and maintenance employees in
the Employer's Bluegrass Division and its facili-
ties at Ghent and Tyrone, including servicemen,
linemen, metermen, patrolmen, the chief electri-
cian of the meter department, groundmen, skilled
laborers, semiskilled laborers, general laborers,
meter readers, accounting clerks stores, power
plant switchboard operators, boiler operators,
auxiliary operators, plant operations trainees,
lead mechanics, lead electricians, coal equipment
operators, maintenance men A, B, and C, unit
operators, and unit operator assistants; but
excluding foremen A and B, coalyard foremen,
chief electrician of technical maintenance crew,
chief electrician of underground construction,
chief electrician of Ghent power station, chief
electrician of Tyrone power station, business
development employees, shift supervisors, fore-
men, chief mechanics, contract work inspectors,
draftsmen, substation technical specialists, sub-
station recordkeepers, janitors, collectors,custom-
er service specialists, accounting clerk stores
supervisors, service spotters, operations techni-
cians, control technicians, all managers, superin-
tendents, assistant superintendents, supervisors,
engineers, engineering assistants, student engi-
neers, and all engineering and professional
employees, office clerical employees, guards, and
supervisors as defined in the Act and all other
employees.
[Direction of Election and Excelsior footnote
omitted from publication.]