Potomac Electric Power Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 23, 1944

55 N.L.R.B. 692 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

i
In the Matter Of POTOMAC ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY and LOCAL
UNION No. 70, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL
WORKERS
Case No. 5-R-1365.-Decided March 23, 1944
Mr. S. R . Bowen, of Washington , D. C., for the Company.
Messrs. James Preston and Lawson Wimberly, of Washington,
D. C., for the I . B. E. W.
Mr. Joseph F. Castiello , of Washington, D. C., for the Utility
Employees.
Mr. A. Sumner Lawrence , of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon an amended petition duly filed by Local Union No. 70, Inter-
national Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, A. F. L., herein called
the I. B. E. W., alleging that a question affecting commerce had
arisen concerning the representation of employees of Potomac Elec-
tric Power Company, Washington, District of Columbia, herein called
the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an
appropriate hearing upon due notice before Charles F. McErlean,
Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Washington, District of
Columbia, on January 31, and February 1, 1944. The Company, the
I. B. E. W., and Electric Utility Employees Union of Washington,
D. C., herein called the Utility Employees, appeared, participated,
and 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
the 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
Potomac Electric Power Company, a District of Columbia corpora-
tion, is engaged in the District of Columbia and the surrounding area
55 N L R. B., No. 122.
692
POTOMAC ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY 693
of Maryland, in the production, sale, and distribution of electric
power. In the course of its business, the Company furnishes electric
power to various railroads, manufacturing and commercial enter-
prises, and private dwellings in the territory which it serves. The
Company has an annual gross revenue of approximately $23,000,000,
covering its operations both within the District of Columbia and
the surrounding territory of Maryland. We find that the Company
is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor
Relations Act.
If. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Local Union No. 70, International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federa-
tion of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company.
Electric Utility Employees Union of Washington, D. C., is an un-
affiliated labor organization, admitting to membership employees of
the Company.
III. THE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE UNIT; THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING
REPRESENTATION
The I. B. E. W. contends that the employees in certain subdivisions
of the Distribution Department (Overhead Lines, Underground
Cable, Street Lighting, Shops and Customers' Services), together with
the employees of the Meter Department, excluding clerical, technical,
and supervisory employees from and above the rank of assistant fore-
man, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining." The Utility Employees, while contending primarily that
the proposed unit is inappropriate and that by reason thereof the
petition should be dismissed, advances alternate contentions that the
appropriate unit or units should consist of (a) all non-confidential
employees of the Company below the grade of supervisor, or (b) a
division of employees into the following units: (1) production, dis-
tribution, and maintenance employees; (2) office and clerical em-
ployees; and (3) technical employees. The Company is in agreement
with the first alternate contention of the Utility Employees that all
non-confidential employees below the grade of supervisor constitute
the appropriate unit.
'The Distribution and Meter Departments are two of seven operating departments in a
closely integrated organization having a common overall supervision and comprising the
following departments Benning Generating Station, the Buzzard Point Generating Station,
the Substation Department, the Distribution Department, the Meter Department, the
motor Transportation Department and the Building Operation Department The I B.
E W indicated at the heating, that it did not desire an election except in the unit which
It claims to be appropriate.
2 This unit is identical with that now covered by an existing collective bargaining agree-
ment between the Company and the Utility Employees.
694 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
In the present instance, the I. B. E. W. seeks as the basis of an
appropriate unit the employees of the Meter Department, together
with employees in four of six subdivisions of the Distribution Depart-
ment. In addition to the Administrative Division, the I. B. E. W.
would exclude from the Distribution Department the employees of
the Conduit Division, notwithstanding the fact that the employees
in the latter division not only comprise a substantial portion of the
employees in the Distribution Department,' but also perform work
closely related to that of employees in the other subdivisions, particu-
larly the Underground Cable Division which the I. B. E. W. would
include within the appropriate unit.4
While the Board has on occasion found appropriate units limited
to departments or other subdivisions of integrated enterprises,' as a
rule it has done so only in the absence of a history of collective bar-
gaining upon a broader appropriate basis and in order to avoid
depriving the employees of their bargaining rights under the Act
pending organization on the broader basis.6 Here the Utility Em-
ployees has for approximately 7 years bargained for a unit which is
much wider in scope than, and which includes, the two departments
sought by the I. B. E. W. Under these circumstances, we are of the
opinion that at the present time the full benefit of their right to self-
organization and to collective bargaining will be more effectively
secured to the employees if the Meter Department and certain portions
of the Distribution Department are not severed from the unit which
has formed the basis of a 7-year history of contractual relations.
Accordingly, we find that the unit proposed by the I. B. E. W. is
inappropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. Since the
I. B. E. W. has indicated that it does not desire an election except in
the unit which it deems to be appropriate, we have no occasion to
consider the suggestions of the Company and the Utility Employees
with respect to possible appropriate units other than that proposed
by the I. B. E. W. We find, accordingly, that no question affecting
6 The evidence discloses that of the approximately 372 non-supervisory , non-technical, and
non-clerical employees in the Distribution Department , approximately 96 are centered in
the Conduit Division.
The record reveals that the Conduit Division whose function is the construction of
manholes for subsequent use by the employees of the underground Cable Division , includes
employees classified as compressor operators , laborers , truck drivers , and leadmen while
the I B F W contends , as a basis for its proposed exclusion of this group that the em-
ployees therein are, for the most part , temporary or casual employees , the evidence of
the Company indicates that the employees in this division have permanent status at the
present time . The evidence further discloses that the employees of the Conduit Division
not only have regular working contacts with the employees of other subdivisions of the
Distribution Department particularly the Underground Cable Division, but also are regu-
larly promoted by transfer to other subdivision groups
6 See Matter of Kansas City Power & Light Company , 12 N L . R. B 1461; Matter of
Nebraska Power Company , 46 N. L . R. B 601; Matter of Southern California Edison Com-
pany, Ltd., 55 N L. R. B 201.
6 See Matter of Kansas City Power & Light Company, 54 N. L. R. B. 647.
POTOMAC ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY 695
-commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of
the Company in an appropriate bargaining unit. The petition for
investigation and certification of representatives will be dismissed.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, the National Labor
Relations Board hereby orders that the petition for investigation and
certification of representatives of employees of ]'otomac Electric
Power Company, Washington, District of Columbia, filed by Local
Union No. 70, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
A. F. L., be, and it hereby is, dismissed.