Pasotex Pipe Line Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsFeb 5, 1946

65 N.L.R.B. 819 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of PASOTEX PIPE LINE COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS, LOCAL UNION No. 552, A. F. OF L. Case No. 16-R-1465.-Decided February 5, 1946 Messrs. J. F. Hulse and M. P. Paret, Jr., both 'of El Paso , Tex., for the Company. ' Messrs. George F. Webber and B. E. Roberts , both of El Paso, Tex., and Mr. Jack B. Rogers , of Houston , Tex., for the Union. Mr. James Zett, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by International Union of Operating Engineers, Local Union No. 552, A. F. of L., herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Pasotex Pipe Line Company, El Paso, Texas, herein called the Company, the National Labor Rela- tions Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Louis R. Mercado, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at El Paso, Texas, on November 20, 1945. The Company and the Union appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evi- dence 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 an 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 The Pasotex Pipe Line Company, a Delaware corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Oil Company of California, is engaged principally in the business of transporting crude oil and natural gasoline by pipe lines. The Company operates its principal pipe line from Wink, Texas, to El Paso County, Texas,, as a common 65 N. L. R. B., No. 143. 819 820 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD carrier and a smaller secondary line in and adjacent to Brooks County, Texas, as a private carrier. The pipe lines and the receiving and distribution terminals are located wholly within the State of Texas. During the year 1944, the Company transported 3,841,001 barrels of petroleum commodities for the accounts of four consumers, of which a substantial portion was distributed by the consumers, chiefly after processing, to points outside the State of Texas. During the same year, approximately 25 percent of the petroleum transported by the Company for one of its consumers, Standard Oil Company of Texas, also a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Oil Company of California, was produced in the State of New Mexico, transported by other pipe line companies to their storage tanks near Wink, where it was transferred to the Company's facilities by pipe line. The Com- pany also purchases approximately $50,000 worth of petroleum prod- ucts a month from its Brooks County line which it sells wholly within the State of Texas. The Company admits that its parent company, Standard Oil Com- pany of California, is engaged in the business of production, process- ing, and distribution of petroleum and petroleum products in inter- state and foreign commerce. Both the, Company and the Standard Oil Company of Texas are managed by the same superintendent. We find, contrary to the contention of the Company, that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Rela- tions Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED International Union of Operating Engineers, Local Union No. 552, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On August 18, 1945, the Union requested and was refused recogni- tion as the collective bargaining representative of employees of the Company unless and until it was certified by the Board in an appro- priate unit. A statement of a Field Examiner of the Board, introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a sub- stantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.' 'The statement discloses that the Union submitted designations as the collective bar- gaining representative bearing the apparently genuine signatures of 17 persons whose names appeared on the Company 's pay roll of the period ending August 15, 1945. The said pay roll listed approximately 42 employees in the appropriate unit. PASOTEX PIPE LINE COMPANY 821 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 We find, in accordance with the agreement between the Union and the Company, that all production and maintenance employees of the Pasotex Pipe Line Company throughout the entire Company's system, including the relief senior engineer, engineers A and B, me- chanics first, second, and third class, checking operators, line rider repairmen, oilers, and roustabouts A and B, but excluding all office, administrative and clerical employees, senior engineer, dispatcher, assistant production foreman, foreman gauger, line foremen, master mechanic, head mechanic, and all other 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 the em- ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay- 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 and 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 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 Pasotex Pipe Line Company, El Paso, Texas, an election by secret ballot shall be con- ducted 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 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 the em- ployees 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 during said 822 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily 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 elec- tion, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by International Union of Operating Engineers, Local Union No. 552, A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining.