Mid-Continent Petroleum Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsJan 3, 1946

65 N.L.R.B. 109 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter Of MID-CONTINENT PETROLEUM CORPORATION and PIPE FITTERS LOCAL No. 205, AFL Case No. 16-R-1477.-Decided January 3, 1946 Mr. Karl Mueller, of Fort Worth, Tex., and Messrs. R. H. Wills, J. P. Greve, and George Bush, of Tulsa, Okla., for the Company. Mr. Lyman Nelson, of Tulsa, Okla., for the Pipe Fitters. Mr. O. R. Wood, of Tulsa, Okla., for the CIO. Mr. Philip Licari, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by Pipe Fitters Local No. 205, AFL, herein called the Pipe Fitters, alleging that a question affecting com- merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Mid- Continent Petroleum Corporation, Tulsa, Oklahoma, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Elmer Davis, Trial Ex- aminer . The hearing was held at Tulsa, Oklahoma, on November 15, 1945. The Company, the Pipe Fitters, and the Oil Workers Inter- national Union, Local 217 (CIO), herein called the CIO, 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. In its motion to intervene, the CIO moved to dismiss the instant petition because the unit sought is inap- propriate. For reasons stated in Section IV, infra, the motion is denied. 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 Mid-Continent Petroleum Company, a Delaware corporation, is engaged at its Tulsa, Oklahoma, refinery in the production, refining, 65 N. L. R. B., No. 26. 109 110 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD sale , and distribution of crude oil and crude-oil products. Annually, the Company produces finished petroleum products at its Tulsa re- finery valued in excess of $1,000,000, of which approximately 50 per- cent is shipped to points outside the State of Oklahoma. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Pipe Fitters Local No. 205 is a labor organization, affiliated with the, American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership, em- ployees of the Company. Oil Workers International Union, Local 217, is a labor organization, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Pipe Fitters as the exclusive bargaining representative of certain of the Company's employees until it has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. A statement of a Field Examiner for the Board, introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicates that the Pipe Fitters represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appro- priate.1 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 Pipe Fitters seeks a unit of all pipe fitters, apprentices, helpers, and pipe machine operators engaged at the Company's Tulsa, Okla- homa, refinery pipe shop, including those welders permanently as- signed there. The CIO asserts that all the employees working throughout the Company's Tulsa refinery constitute the appropriate unit.2 Although the Company agrees with the CIO that a unit of all its employees on a plant-wide basis is more appropriate than the one ' The Field Examiner reported that the petitioner submitted 71 cards, bearing the names of 61 employees, listed on the Company's pay roll of September 21, 1945; and that the cards were dated in August and September 1945. He also reported that the CIO submitted 8 cards, bearing the names of 6 employees , listed on the Company's pay roll of September 21, 1945, and that 5 cards were dated in September 1945, 1 in 1936 , and 2 in 1934. There are approximately 103 employees in the appropriate unit. 2 While the CIO claims that a plant-wide unit is appropriate , it does not, at present, desire an election in that unit. MID-CONTINENT PETROLEUM CORPORATION 111 sought by the Pipe Fitters, it claims that, in the alternative, all the employees engaged in its Tulsa refinery mechanical department, in- cluding the employees working in the pipe shop, comprise an inde- pendent unit. Moreover, in the event the Board finds the unit sought by the Pipe Fitters appropriate, the Company and the CIO would include departmental laborers, whereas the Pipe Fitters would exclude them. The Company's operations at its Tulsa, Oklahoma, refinery are carried on in several departments, one of which is the mechanical department. In this department there is a maintenance section con- sisting of various shops, including the pipe shop, each supervised by a foreman. The pipe shop is comprised of specialized technicians engaged, under separate supervision, in the maintenance and repair Of the Company's equipment.' It is clear that these employees form a functionally coherent and distinct craft group, appropriate for the .purposes of collective bargaining. Departmental laborers: With respect to these employees working in the pipe shop, it appears that they perform the-same work as helpers, and that approximately 75 percent of them remain employed in the pipe shop to become helpers, and about 90 percent of those who be- come helpers later rise to more skilled positions 4 Under such circum- stances, we shall include departmental laborers permanently assigned to the pipe shop in the unit sought by the Pipe Fitters. We find that all pipe fitters, apprentices, helpers, pipe machine op- erators engaged at the Company's Tulsa, Oklahoma, refinery pipe shop, including welders and departmental laborers permanently as- signed to the pipe shop, but excluding temporary laborers, and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, dis- cipline, 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 the em- ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay- 3In the pipe shop these aie three welders permanently assigned there, who are generally engaged in, welding pipes under the supervision of the pipe shop foreman. It further appears that the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders and Helpers of America, which has filed a petition with the Board seeking to represent all welders in the maintenance section, has disclaimed all interest in these three welders ,The Company pursues a policy of assigning unskilled laborers on a permanent basis to its canons shops, and, thereafter, promoting them to skilled positions as they become more proficient in their work 679100-46-vol 6h--9 112 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec- tion herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. DIRECTION OF ELECTION By virtue of an d pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby DIi cTrn that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Mid-Continent Petroleum Corporation, Tulsa, Oklahoma, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than sixty (60) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super- vision of the Regional Director for the Sixteenth 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 employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work dur- ing 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 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 election, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Pipe Fitters Local No. 205, AFL, or by Oil Workers International Union, CIO, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.