Luckenbach-Gulf Steamship Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 13, 1940

25 N.L.R.B. 372 (N.L.R.B. 1940)

In the Matter of LUCKENBACH-GULF STEAMSHIP Co. and NAT'L. ORG.
MASTERS, MATES & PILOTS OF AMERICA, LOCAL No. 17, INC.
In the Matter of LUCKENBACH STEAMSHIP CO., INC. and NAT'L. ORG.
MASTERS, MATES & PILOTS OF AMERICA, LOCAL No. 17, INC.
Cases Nos. R-1806 and R-1827.-Decided July 13, 1940
Jurisdiction : water transportation.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question where
employer refuses to accord recognition to union ; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : pilots engaged in piloting the
Company's vessels on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers.
Practice and Procedure : petition dismissed as to Company having no employees
in the appropriate unit.
Mr. Thomas P. Graham, Jr., for the Board.
Mr. Gunther F. Krause, of Portland, Oreg., for the Company.
Mr. Ashby C. Dickson, of Portland, Oreg., for Local No. 17.
Mr. Ben Anderson, of Portland, Oreg., for the C. I. O.
Mr. Edwin L. Swope, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On December 1, 1939, National Organization, Masters, Mates &
Pilots of America, Local No. 17, Inc., herein called Local No. 17,
filed with the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region (Seattle,
Washington), separate petitions alleging that questions affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Luckenbach-Gulf Steamship Co., herein referred to as Luckenbach,
and of Luckenbach Steamship Company, Inc., herein referred to as
the Company. They are both located in Portland, Oregon. The
petitions requested an investigation and certification of representatives
pursuant to Section 9 (c) 'of the National Labor Relations Act, 49
Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On April 10, 1940, the National
25 N L R B, No 50.
372
LUCKENBACH-GULF STEAMSHIP CO. 373
Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant
to Section 9 (c) of the Act,. and Article III, Section 3, and Article
III, Section 10 (c) (2 ), of National Labor Relations Board Rules
and Regulations-Series 2, as amended , ordered an investigation
upon the petitions and authorized the Regional Director to conduct
it and to provide for an appropriate hearing on due notice , and further
ordered that for the purposes of hearing the two cases be consolidated.
Ou April 17 , 1940, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served upon the Company , upon Lucken-
bach, upon Local No. 17 , and upon Licensed Marine Deck Officers, L. I.
Union, Local 998, herein called Local 998, a labor organization
claiming to represent employees directly affected by the investigation.
Pursuant to notice , a hearing was held on May 6 and 7, 1940,
at Portland , Oregon, before Thomas S. Wilson, the Trial Examiner
duly designated by the Board. The Board, the Company, Lucken-
bach, Local No. 17, and Local 998 , were represented by counsel and
participated in the hearing . Full opportunity to be heard, to examine
and cross -examine witnesses , and to introduce evidence bearing upon
the issues was afforded all parties.
At the commencement of the hearing , the parties stipulated that
certain exhibits and testimony which were introduced in evidence in
another case entitled Matter of McCormick Steamship Company and
Nat' l. Org. of Masters , Mates c Pilots of America, Local No. 17,
Inc.; Matter of McCormick Steamship Company, agents for Paci f e-
Argentine -Brazil Line and Nat ' l. Org. of Masters , Mates cC Pilots of
America , Local No. 17 , Inc., ' together with all objections thereto, be
made a part of the record in the present case. The Trial Examiner
received said exhibits and testimony in evidence . During the hearing
counsel for the Board moved without objection that the petition
concerning Luckenbach be dismissed for the reason that said Com-
pany had no employees in the unit claimed to be appropriate. The
Trial Examiner did not rule upon the motion . We hereby grant it
and will dismiss the •petition concerning Luckenbach . During the
course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several other rulings
on motions and on objections to the admission of evidence. The
Board l has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that
no prejudicial errors were committed . The rulings are hereby af-
firmed. After the hearing the Company , Local No. 17, and Local
998 filed briefs with the Board.
i Cases Nos R-1828 and R-1829
253e3(i-4 2-vo1 25--25
374 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF TIIE COMPANY 2
The Company is organized under the laws of the State of Dela-
ware and has its principal office, which it maintains jointly with
Luckenbach, in New York City. The stock of the corporation is
almost wholly owned or controlled by members of the Luckenbach
family. The Company is engaged with Luckenbach in the trans-
portation of passengers and freight, operating a fleet of approximately
22 vessels, in the intercoastal trade and between the Gulf of Mexico
and Atlantic and Pacific ports. The vessels sail upon regular sched-
ules and make scheduled stops to take on and discharge cargo and
passengers in substantially all of the major coastal ports of the United
States. The Company has joint offices with Luckenbach in New
Orleans, Louisiana; Oakland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, Cali-
fornia; and in Seattle, Washington. It operates jointly with Luck-
enbach waterfront freight terminals at the major ports. Counsel for
the Company conceded that the Company was engaged exclusively in
interstate commerce.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
National Organization, Masters, Mates & Pilots of America, Local
No. 17, Inc., is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor. It admits to membership masters, mates, and
pilots of river vessels, operators of gas boats, and pilots of ocean-
going vessels navigating the Columbia and Willamette Rivers and
their tributaries.
Licensed Marine Deck Officers, L. I. Union, Local No. 998, is a
labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organiza-
tions. It admits to membership the same persons as Local No. 17.
III. TFIE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On about September 14, 1939, Local No. 17 advised the Company
by letter that it represented a majority of the Company's employees
engaged in piloting their vessels on the Columbia and Willamette
2 At the hearing the parties stipulated that the findings of fact made by the Board
in the section designated as "The business of the respondent" in another case entitled
"Matter of Luckenbach Steamship Company , Inc , and Luc'.enbach Gulf Steamship Com-
pany, Inc and Maritime 0/71ce Employees Inteinational Longshotemei's and TVarehouse-
men's Union , Local No. 1-$7, 8 N L R B 1280 , were propel findings of fact concerning
the business of the two Companies involved in the instant case
LUCKENBACH-GULF STEA1bISHIP Co. 375
Rivers, and requested a collective bargaining conference . On Sep-
tember 22 , 1939, the Company replied as follows :
This will acknowledge receipt of your recent letter, no date.
We have not been informed by the men who' have been en-
gaged in piloting our vessels that they have designated you or
any other agency as their representative for collective bargaining
purposes . If and when the majority of our employees do desig-
nate such a representative , we shall be prepared to negotiate with
such representative for the purpose of arriving at an agreement
as to their wages, hours and working conditions.
We find that a question has arisen concerning 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 1, 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 com-
merce and the free flow of commerce.
V. TILE APPROPRIATE UNIT
Local No. 17 contends that the pilots engaged in piloting the
Company's vessels from Astoria to Portland and Vancouver, Wash-
ington, and from- Vancouver, Washington, and Portland to Astoria
on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, and its tributaries and inter-
mediate points, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining. Local No. 17 asserts, however, that two of
the four pilots now engaged in piloting the Company's vessels should
not be included in the unit for the reason that they are temporary
employees who have been hired by the Company for the purpose of
destroying Local No. 17's majority. The Company and Local 998&
contend that all four pilots are permanent employees of the Company
and that they all should be included in the unit.
In April 1930 the Company hired Captain George F. Campbell to
pilot its vessels on the Columbian River. Thereafter, in June 1938,
the Company employed another pilot, Captain Charles E. Wiley, to
assist Campbell. Both Campbell and Wiley are members of Local
No. 17. On July 1. 1938, the Company hired another pilot, Captain
F. Al. Ring, on a part-time basis to handle vessels Campbell and
376 DECISIONS OF NA1IONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Wiley were unable to handle." Subsequently, in the spring of 1939,
Ring became a full-time employee of the Company. In January 1940,
because of the illness of Captain Wiley and because of the "bunching
up" of the Company's vessels in the Columbia River due to labor
disturbances in other ports, the Company hired a fourth pilot, Captain
J. L. Jacobsen, on a part-time basis.4 After 3 weeks' absence, Wiley
returned to work; however, the Company decided to retain Captain
Jacobsen in its employ to handle extra vessels.
,In 1939 Campbell made 112 trips and Wiley moved 79 ships, while
Ring piloted between 24 and 30 ships; in 1940, until May, Campbell
made 32 trips and Wiley made 19 trips, despite 3 weeks' illness, while
Ring and Jacobsen both made about 10 trips. Campbell, Wiley, and
Ring are paid on a monthly salary basis, plus additional compensa-
tion if the number of vessels handled by them in any one month
exceeds a certain number, while Jacobsen is paid a stipulated sum for
each vessel he pilots for the Company.
The nature of the work performed by the four pilots is the same,
although the volume of their work varies. Campbell, Wiley, and
Ring are paid on the same basis. Although Jacobsen is paid by the
job and was hired by the Company to do extra work there is no
showing that his employment on that basis is temporary. On the
contrary, the Company asserts that his status is that of a regular
employee to handle such additional jobs as the other three pilots
are unable to handle. Under all the circumstances, we find that the
four pilots should be included in the unit.'
We find that the pilots engaged in piloting the Company's vessels
from Astoria to Portland and Vancouver, Washington, and from
Vancouver, Washington, and Portland to Astoria on the Columbia
and Willamette Rivers, and its tributaries and intermediate points,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing and that said unit will insure to employees of the Company the full
benefit of their right to self-organization and to-collective bargaining
and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act.
' Prior to June 104R whenever Campbell had been unable to handle all the Company's
vessels, the Company had utilized the services of Columbia River Pilots , an association
of pilots who offer their services to steamship companies engaged in piloting ocean-going
vessels upon the Columbia and Willamette Rivers and their tributaries
{Local No 17 asserts that the Company ceased using Columbia Rivet Pilots for its
extra work at this time and gave Ring and Jacobsen their present status fit order to de-
sti oy its position as majority representative of the employees in the unit The record
does not establish that the Company 's reasons for the additions to its staff were other
than those assigned by it and discussed below
'Our practice has been to include part-tine employees in the unit when they are regu-
larly employed by the Company See Matter of Weekly Publications , Inc, and News-
paper Guild of New York, 8 N L R B 76; Matter of Daily Mirror, Inc, and The News-
paper Guild of New York , 5 N. L. R B. 362 ; Matter of TVillianis Dimond it Company
et at , and Port Watchmen, Local No 147, 2 N L R B 859 ; Maftet of Flexo Products
Corporation and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local B-713, 7 N L
11 B. 1163
LIICKENBACH-GULF STEAMSIIIP CO.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
377
Captain Campbell testified- that he is a member of Local No. 17;
Captain Wiley testified thaCh e was once a member of Local No. 998,
but is now a member of Local No. 17; Captain Ring testified that he
is a member of Local No. 998; and, Captain Jacobsen testified that he
was once a member of Masters, Mates & Pilots of America, Local No.
88 of New York,° but is now a member of Local No. 998. Under all
the circumstances we find that an election by secret ballot is necessary
to resolve the question concerning representation.
We shall, therefore, direct that an election be conducted among,
the employees in the appropriate unit who were on the pay roll of
the Company during the pay-roll period next preceding the date of
this Direction to determine whether they desire to be represented by
Local No. 17, by Local No. 998, or by neither.
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 rep-
resentation of employees of Luckenbach Steamship Company, Inc.,
Portland, Oregon, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section
2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The pilots engaged in piloting the Company's vessels from
Astoria to Portland and Vancouver, Washington, and from Vancou-
ver, Washington, and Portland to Astoria on the Columbia and Wil-
lamette Rivers, and its tributaries and intermediate points, constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the
'meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act.
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 collective bargaining with Luckenbach
Steamship Company, Inc., Portland, Oregon, an election shall be con-
ducted as early as possible, but not later that thirty (30) days from-
the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of
6 This Local and Local No 17 are affiliated with the same international organization.
378 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the Regional Director of the Nineteenth Region acting in this matter
as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to
Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among the
four pilots engaged in piloting the Company's vessels from Astoria
to Portland and Vancouver, Washington, and from Vancouver,, Wash-
ington, and Portland to Astoria on the Columbia and Willamette
Rivers, and its tributaries and intermediate points, to determine
whether they desire to be represented by National Organization, Mas-
ters, Mates & Pilots of America, Local No. 17, Inc., or by Licensed
Marine Deck Officers, L. I. Union, No. 998, for the purposes of
collective bargaining, or by neither.
ORDER
By virtue of an pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2,
as amended,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition concerning Luckenbach-
Gulf Steamship Co., be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
MR. WILLIAM M. LEISERSON took no part in the consideration of
the above Decision, Direction of Election, and Order.