Safe Harbor Water Power Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 16, 1954

109 N.L.R.B. 1365 (N.L.R.B. 1954)

SAFE HARBOR WATER POWER CORPORATION 1365
SAFE HARBOR WATER POWER CORPORATION ; PENNSYLVANIA WATER &
POWER COMPANY ; SUSQUEHANNA TRANSMISSION COMPANY OF MARY-
LAND 1 and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS,
AFL, PETITIONER . Case No. 4-RC-t?71. September 16, 1954
Decision and Direction of Election
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before William Naimark, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. Pennsylvania Water & Power Company, herein called Penn
Water, is a Pennsylvania public utility engaged in the generation,
transmission, and sale of electric energy. It owns and operates a
hydroelectric generating plant at Holtwood, Pennsylvania, a steam
powerplant at Holtwood, coal dredging and processing operations at
Safe Harbor, Pennsylvania, and electrical transmission lines which
service a regional area in Pennsylvania and terminate at the Maryland
border. During 1953 its gross volume of business exceeded $7,000,000.
Safe Harbor Water Power Corporation, herein called Safe Harbor,
owns and operates a hydroelectric generating plant at Safe Harbor,
Pennsylvania. Fifty percent of its voting stock is owned by Penn
Water, while the remainder is held by a corporation not a party to this
proceeding. Safe Harbor maintains no transmission facilities. Its
electric energy is transmitted within the confines of Pennsylvania by
Penn Water, and within the State of Maryland by the Susquehanna
Transmission Company of Maryland. During 1953 Safe Harbor's
gross volume of business was in excess of $4,000,000.
Susquehanna Transmission Company of Maryland, herein called
STCO, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Penn Water engaged exclu-
sively in the transmission of electric energy. It owns and operates
transmission lines and substations in Maryland and sells the electric
energy generated by Penn Water and Safe Harbor to consumers in
Maryland and the District of Columbia. During 1953 STCO's gross
volume of business was in excess of $500,000.
In view of the foregoing, and our findings hereinafter as to integra-
tion, interchange of employees, and centralized personnel policies, we
conclude that Penn Water, Safe Harbor, and STCO constitute a single
Employer within the meaning of Section 2 (2) of the Act.2 We fur-
ther conclude that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the Act.
'Susquehanna Transmission Company of Maryland intervened in this proceeding on the
ground that it is an employer of certain transmission employees who should be included
in the unit herein sought.
2Frost Lumber Industries, Division of Olin Industries , Inc., 101 NLRB 659, 660.
109 NLRB No. 194.
1366 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain emn-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate unit:
The Petitioner seeks a unit of all production and maintenance em-
ployees in the powerplants of Penn Water and Safe Harbor, including
those engaged in the dredging and processing of mine coal used in
the steam powerplant at Holtwood, Pennsylvania, employees in the
construction departments, and plant clericals at Holtwood and Safe
Harbor, but excluding all transmission employees, village personnel,
storekeepers, and office clericals. Alternatively, the Petitioner indi-
cated its willingness to participate in an election in a unit including
the transmission employees if the Board so directs. The Employer
contends that only a systemwide unit, comprising all employees of the
three integrated companies, including the transmission and village
employees, but excluding office clerical employees and supervisors, is
appropriate. There is no history of collective bargaining involving
the employees of the Employer.
Penn Water and Safe Harbor, located approximately 7 miles apart
on the Susquehanna River, operate hydroelectric powerplants at Holt-
wood and Safe Harbor, Pennsylvania, respectively. Adjacent to
Penn Water's hydroelectric plant at Holtwood is a steam powerplant
which also generates electric energy through the use of coal. Fuel
for this operation is procured by employees in Penn Water's coal
reclamation department at Safe Harbor. The reclaimed coal is trans-
ported by tugs to the reclamation plant where it is processed through
a centrifuge and washing process. The processed coal is then con-
veyed from Safe Harbor to the Holt-wood steam plant where electric
energy is produced by means of boilers and turbines.
At Face Rock, Pennsylvania, approximately a quarter of a mile
from Holtwood, Penn Water owns and operates a transmission sub-
station which pools the electric energy generated at the Holtwood
and Safe Harbor plants for transmisison to the Employer's customers.
Employees from the Holtwood generating plants maintain this sub-
station. In addition to Face Rock, Penn Water owns 2 substations
at Conestoga and Manor which are located approximately 600 feet
from the Safe Harbor hydroelectric plant. These substations, which
are maintained and operated by employees of Safe Harbor, transmit
electric energy generated by Safe Harbor to the Harrisburg area and
to the electrified portion of the Pennsylvania Railroad located in
Pennsylvania. Moreover, these transmission lines connect with those
owned by STCO in Maryland.
SAFE HARBOR WATER POWER CORPORATION 1367
STCO neither owns nor operates any power generating plants. It
does, however, own all of the Employer's transmission lines in Mary-
land and administers and maintains the transmission facilities of
the Employer located in Pennsylvania. Power generated by Penn
Water and Safe Harbor are transmitted by STCO through two sub-
stations in Highlandtown and Ellicott, Maryland. STCO's head-
quarters are in Long Green, Maryland, where transmission operations
and maintenance offices are situated, all transmission repair parts are
located, and patrol trucks and cars are garaged, fueled, and repaired.
The record discloses that all three companies are under the common
supervision of a superintendent in charge of operations whose offices
are in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and who reports directly to the pres-
ident of Penn Water. Immediately under his supervision is an assist-
ant superintendent of operations in charge of all power generating
facilities with offices also in Lancaster, and an assistant superintendent
of operations in charge of all transmission facilities whose office is in
Baltimore, Maryland. Hiring for all three companies is effected by
the superintendent of operations, who may assign applicants to any
one of the companies depending upon skill and need. The Employer
maintains a common purchasing department for all companies, pay-
rolls for the three companies are drawn up by a central accounting
department, a common engineering and general service force exists
to service all companies, and a single storekeeper supervises the stores
of the three companies.
The Petitioner would exclude all transmission employees from the
unit on the ground that their duties and interests do not coincide with
those of the production and maintenance employees in the power-
plants. Transmission employees, who occupy the job classifications
of patrolmen, groundmen, and substation operators, are under the
immediate supervision of two transmission foremen who assist the
transmission superintendent at Long Green, Maryland, and are con-
sidered as employees of STCO. In the course of their employment,
patrolmen drive trucks and cars along the transmission lines in both
Maryland and Pennsylvania to ascertain whether equipment needs
repair or replacement, or to inspect sleet formations on the lines. In
the event that work upon the lines becomes necessary, the patrolmen
contact the operators in the appropriate generating plants and report
the condition. This information is relayed to the generating plant
superintendent who in turn informs the Employer's load dispatcher
in Baltimore that a particular circuit must be taken out of operation
so that the work can be performed. After the load dispatcher arranges
for a convenient time to immobilize the circuit, operators at the
generating stations "block" the circuit and notify the patrolmen that
their work can commence. With the assistance of the groundmen, the
patrolmen may repair or replace insulators, lines, etc. When their
1368 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tasks are accomplished, the patrolmen so inform the generating sta-
tion operators and the lines are placed back into operation. On occa-
sion, qualified transmission employees are routed by the generating
plant operators to the Ellicott or Highlandtown transmission sub-
stations to perform switching operations.
In addition to the foregoing duties, transmission employees also
work in conjunction with generating plant employees and other per-
sonnel whom the Petitioner would include in the unit. This is par-
ticularly so during late winter when ice on the Susquehanna River
commences to break, necessitating the timely discharge of water from
the Safe Harbor and Penn Water dams. At such times, the trans-
mission employees are dispatched to the Holtwood and Safe Harbor
installations to assist in the discharge operations. Moreover, trans-
mission employees, as well as their equipment, are frequently used in
the coal reclamation process and in performing maintenance work at
the generating stations. Conversely, generating plant maintenace
employees have been assigned to perform painting operations at trans-
mission substations in Maryland. Furthermore, it appears that gen-
erating plant employees have been transferred to transmission work as
patrolmen in cases where new transmission facilities are inaugurated.
The transmission substation operators work at the substation main-
tained by STCO at Highlandtown, Maryland, where they perform
switching duties. The Ellicott substation, which is unattended, is
operated by remote control from Highlandtown by the substation
operators. In this connection, we note that the transmission sub-
station at Face Rock, Pennsylvania, which pools the electric energy
derived from the Safe Harbor and Penn Water generating plants,
and transmits the energy so received, is maintained and operated by
employees of the Penn Water generating plants whose duties appear
to coincide with those performed by the transmission substation op-
erators at Highlandtown.
The record further discloses that the transmission employees and
the employees whom the Petitioner seeks to represent receive the same
comparative rates of pay, are subject to the same working conditions
and safety regulations, and receive the same vacation, holiday, pen-
sion, hospitalization, insurance, and sick benefits.
On the basis of the entire record in this proceeding, and in view of
the close integration and interrelation of the three companies of the
Employer, the centralized nature of the Employer's personnel policies,
the interchange between transmission employees and the other em-
ployees in the requested unit, and the uniformity of wages, working
conditions, and fringe benefits, we find that the duties and interests
of the patrolmen, groundmen, and substation operators employed by
STCO, who constitute the transmission employees, are sufficiently
SAFE HARBOR WATER POWER CORPORATION 1369
related to those of the generating plants' production and maintenance
employees to warrant their inclusion in the unit. Accordingly, we
shall include them.3
The parties agree that the coal reclamation department employees
and the truckdrivers at Holtwood should be included in the unit, and
that timekeepers or employees performing that work, office clericals,
nurses, test engineers, the property agents, the confidential secretary,
guards, and all supervisors as defined in the Act, should be excluded
from the unit. We so find.
The parties are in disagreement, however, over the unit placement
of the village personnel, the truckdrivers at Safe Harbor, certain
plant clericals, storekeepers, and the general services employees.
Pillage personnel: The Petitioner would exclude, and the Em-
ployer would include, the village personnel. The Employer main-
tains community centers at Holtwood and Safe Harbor which are
under the supervision of an agent in charge of the respective property
operations. These centers, which provide lodgings to employees, rec-
reation facilities, and dining room accommodations, are staffed by
waitresses and cooks who service the dining room, men who perform
minor maintenance on the village houses and mow lawns, and truck-
drivers who make deliveries of supplies from neighboring communi-
ties to the village operations.
The record reveals that lodgings and meals are furnished to em-
ployees of Penn Water and Safe Harbor at these centers, as well as
to the employees of STCO who are assigned to the Pennsylvania
installations. Moreover, employees at work in the generating plants
are supplied with hot meals by the dining room staff. In addition to
hauling supplies for the village, the truckdrivers are also called upon
in emergencies or when the need arises to assist in snow removal op-
erations at the generating plants. So far as appears, the village
personnel are subject to the same working conditions as the employees
whom the Petitioner seeks to represent, receive the same fringe bene-
fits, and receive comparable wages for comparable work. Under all
the circumstances, we find that the village employees have interests
related to those of the other employees in the unit. We shall include
them therein.'
3 See Pacmfic Gas and Electric Company, 87 NLRB 257. The facts in the Oklahoma Gas
and Electric Company, 86 NLRB 437, and West Texas Utahties Company, 97 NLRB 184,
cases upon which the Petitioner relies in support of its contention that the transmission
employees should be excluded from the unit , are distinguishable from those presented
herein. In the Oklahoma case, the Board found a separate unit of transmission employees
appropriate on the ground that their duties , skills, and interests were separate and dis-
tinct from those of the other employees , and because of the absence of any significant
interchange between the transmission employees and the other personnel . For similar rea-
sons, the Board in the West Texas case found a unit of powerplant employees appropriate
and excluded certain transmission employees from the unit . Moreover , in that case the
petitioning labor organization already represented the transmission personnel.
' See Anderson Air Acttivities, 104 NLRB 306, 307.
1370 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Truckdrivers at Safe Harbor: The Employer would include the
truckdrivers at Safe Harbor. The Petitioner would apparently ex-
clude these employees from the unit on the ground that they are
under the supervision of the property agent who supervises the village
personnel . The truckdrivers at Safe Harbor, like their counterparts
at Holtwood , who the parties agree should be included in the unit,
perform such duties as delivering supplies between plants , assisting
in unloading in the storerooms , collecting garbage at the villages,
ploughing highways during the winter months, and assisting the
generating plant maintenance men in cleaning the intake decks of
snow to enable the plants to operate their trash screens. These em-
ployees appear to receive the same comparative wages as truckdrivers
at Holtwood , and are subject to the same working conditions. On the
record before us, we find the truckdrivers at Safe Harbor may ap-
propriately be included in the unit . We shall therefore include them.'
Plant clericals : The Petitioner requests the inclusion of all plant
clericals in the unit . The Employer would include only those plant
clericals who spend more than 50 percent of their time doing noncleri-
cal work. The Employer maintains storerooms at both Holtwood and
Safe Harbor. These rooms are located in the generating plants where
hydroelectric equipment is stored for future use. Some storeroom
employees spend all their time maintaining a perpetual inventory of
parts and equipment . Others dispense equipment and keep records
of the outflow of materials . Still others service trucks and cars
with gasoline and oil and record the amounts of fuel so issued. One
storeroom employee at Safe Harbor issues tools which are kept in the
storeroom and maintains a record thereof. In view of the foregoing,
we conclude that the storeroom employees are essentially plant cleri-
cal, rather than office clerical , employees . We shall accordingly in-
clude them in the units
Storekeepers : The Petitioner contends that the storekeepers are
supervisors within the meaning of the Act and should therefore be
excluded from the unit. The Employer takes a contrary position.
The Employer employs a storekeeper at Holtwood and Safe Harbor.
The storekeepers , unlike the other storeroom employees , are paid on
a weekly basis and are not required to punch a time clock. While
there is a conflict in testimony as to whether the storekeepers possess
the authority to hire and discharge, it nevertheless appears that they
possess the authority to discipline employees under them, to grant
time off, and responsibility to direct the work of the storeroom per-
5 E g, Thomas Electronics, Inc , ] 07 NLRB 614
6 Appalachian Electrse Cooperative, 93 NLRB 1348.
SAFE HARBOR WATER POWER CORPORATION 1371
sonnel. On the basis of the foregoing, we find that the storekeepers
are supervisors within the meaning of the Act. We shall therefore
exclude them from the unit.
General services employees : The Employer maintains general serv-
ices operations at both Holtwood and Safe Harbor which are super-
vised by a superintendent in charge of construction. The Petitioner
would include the employees whom it characterizes as being in the
"construction departments." The Employer contends that it has no
such departments and that all employees in its general services opera-
tions, which would include the "construction" employees, should be
in the unit.
General services employees install new equipment at the powerplants
and also maintain and repair equipment already in operation. When
necessary, employees from the generating plants assist the general
services employees. The job classifications of the general services em-
ployees consist of carpenters, painters, electricians, powerplant switch-
board operators, and utility men. The utility men, whom the Peti-
tioner apparently seeks to exclude from the unit, install flash boards
at the Holtwood dam during the low flow months, operate the intake
gates to the powerhouse, and handle the trash screens in the power-
plant. They also assist the "construction" employees when needed.
So far as appears from the record, all general services employees are
subject to the same working conditions, work in close relationship
with the generating plant maintenance employees, and receive the
same fringe benefits. Under all the circumstances, we find that the
interests and duties of all general services employees are sufficiently
identified with those of the other employees in the unit to warrant
their inclusion. We therefore include them.
Accordingly, we find that all production and maintenance employ-
ees at the Employer's power generating plants at Holtwood and Safe
Harbor, Pennsylvania, including employees in the coal reclamation
department, all transmission employees, village personnel, truck-
drivers, general services employees, and plant clerical employees, but
excluding timekeepers, nurses, test engineers, office clerical employees,
the confidential employee, guards, property agents, storekeepers, and
all other supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
MEMBER MURDOCK took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.