Standard Oil Co. of California

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsApr 9, 1946

67 N.L.R.B. 132 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter Of STANDARD OIL COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA and PETRO- LEUM DRIVERS & HELPERS, LOCAL 248, AFFILIATED WITH THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WARE- HOUSEMEN & HELPERS, AFFILIATED WITH THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR In the Matter of STANDARD OIL COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA and INDE- PENDENT UNION OF PETROLEUM WORKERS Cases Nos. 31-R-3059 and 21-R-3107, respectively.Decided April 9, 1946 Mr. Norbet Korte, of San*Francisco, Calif., and Mr. John M. Hall, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Company. Messrs. Jack Rain and Henry Spiller, of Los Angeles, Calif., for Local 248. Messrs. Rufus Bailey and Frank Bellisle, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Petroleum Workers. Mr. Walter H. Hewicker, of Bakersfield, Calif., for the Council. Mr. Frank J. Newman, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Oil Workers. Mr. Robert E. Pentzer, of Bakersfield, Calif., for Local 87. Mr. Angelo J. Fiunzara, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon an original petition and an amended petition separately and duly filed by Petroleum Drivers & Helpers, Local 248, affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse- men & Helpers, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein called Local 248,1 and by Independent Union of Petroleum Workers, herein called the Petroleum Workers, each alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation I The name of the original petitioner , General Transport , Petroleum & Sales Drivers, Local Union 224, AFL, was amended at the hearing to show the name of Local 248 as indicated in the caption and in the body of the Decision 67 N. L. R. B., No. 18. 132 STANDARD OIL COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA 133 of employees of Standard Oil Company of California, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board consolidated the cases and provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before George H. O'Brien, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Los Angeles, California, on January 30 and 31, 1946. The Company; Local 248; the Petroleum Workers; Oil Workers International Union, CIO, herein called the Oil Workers; and Standard Sales Employees Council, herein called the Council, 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.- 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 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Standard Oil Company of California, a Delaware corporation, is engaged in the production, refining, transportation, sale, and distribu- tion of petroleum and petroleum products. The Company owns and operates refineries at Richmond, El Segundo, and Bakersfield, Cali- fornia, and through subsidiaries, it operates refineries in other States. During the year 1944, the Company produced in excess of 7b,000,000 barrels of refined petroleum products, approximately 40 percent of which was shipped to points outside the State of California. During the same period the crude petroleum utilized by the Company in its California refineries was produced and purchased by it entirely in California. Although the Company shipped no crude petroleum out- side the State, it delivered to purchasers, including a subsidiary, more than 2,000,000 barrels of crude petroleum which were subsequently transported to points outside the State. We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the mean- ing of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Petroleum Drivers & Helpers, Local 248, affiliated with the Inter- national Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & s The following organizations were served with notice but failed to appear : Interna- tional Brotherhood of Teamsters , Chauffeurs , Warehousemen & Helpers of America, Locals 85 and 70; Santa Maria Teamsters Union #381 ; General Teamsters Local #431 ; and General Truck Drivers, Warehousemen & Helpers Local 315. A representative of Teamsters, Chauffeurs , Warehousemen & Helpers Union , Local 87, was present at the hearing and moved to intervene but subsequently withdrew therefrom; a representative of International Union of Operating Engineers was present at the hearing but did not intervene. 134 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Helpers, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. Independent Union of Petroleum Workers is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. Oil Workers International Union, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations , is a labor organization admitting to mem- bership employees of the Company. Standard Sales Employees Council is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. 111. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION It was apparent from the Company's position at the hearing that it would not recognize Local 248 or the Petroleum Workers unless and until either is certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.' A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear- ing, indicates that Local 248 and the Petroleum Workers each repre- sents a substantial number of employees in the respective units alleged by each to be appropriate .4 We find that questions affecting commerce have 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 DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES Local 248 seeks a unit composed of all drivers, helpers, loaders, plantmen, and area salesmen operating out of the El Segundo, Monte- bello, Whittier, Long Beach, and Los Angeles, Spring Street bulk stations , excluding garage mechanics , office and clerical employees, and all supervisory employees." The Petroleum Workers seeks a unit, with which the Company agrees, of all employees of the Motor Transport Department in Cali- 8 The Council stated at the hearing that since 1937, It has been the contractual rep- resentative of all employees in the Company ' s Marketing Department in California. Al- though it does not assert the alleged contract as a bar, it appears that the Council participated at the hearing for the limited purpose of protecting the interests of the employees whom it allegedly represents. * A Board Attorney reported that Local 248 submitted 79 application cards; that 59 names appearing on these cards were listed on an incomplete pay roll of the Company of January 25, 1946 , containing the names of 142 employees In the unit sought in Case No. 21-R-3059; that the Petroleum Workers submitted a petition listing the names of 181 persons , 61 of whose names appeared on the aforesaid pay roll , listing the names of 233 employees in the unit petitioned for in Case No, 21-R-3107. The Board Attorney further reported that the Oil Workers submitted 22 membership cards; that of the names appearing on these cards , 14 were listed on the aforesaid pay roll , containing the names of 30 employees in the unit which the Oil Workers alleges to be appropriate. The Council relies upon its alleged contract with the Company to show Its interest in this proceeding. 5 Local 248's petition as to the alleged appropriate unit was amended at the hearing as Indicated herein. STANDARD OIL COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA 135 fornia on the Company's classified pay roll, including operators, drivers, helpers, maintenance personnel, dispatchers, field clericals, and Motor Transport Department employees in the Company's several refineries, excluding Motor Transport Department employees in the San Francisco and Sacramento Sales Districts, and all supervisory employees. The Oil Workers contends that all employees of the Motor Transport Department at the Company's El Segundo refinery constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Company functions as an integrated business enterprise, en- gaged in the production, refining, transportation, sale, and distribution of petroleum and petroleum products. To carry on its vast under- takings, the Company has divided its California operations into sev- eral departments,' of which the Motor Transport and the Marketing Departments are alone involved in this proceeding. The Proposed Unit of Local 148: As noted above, Local 248 limits its proposed unit to drivers, helpers, loaders, plantmen, and area sales- men in certain of the Company's bulk stations. The drivers and helpers referred to are under the supervision of the Motor Transport Depart- ment, while loaders, plantmen, and area salesmen are subject to the supervision of the Marketing Department. The record shows that the drivers and helpers operate cargo and tank trucks, that loaders and plantmen prepare goods for shipment, receive stock, and load tank trucks, and that area salesmen, unlike the drivers, operate trucks for the purpose of soliciting sales and selling petroleum products. It thus appears that the duties of the loaders, plantmen, and area sales- men are completely distinct from those of the drivers and helpers and it would appear, therefore, that they do not have common interests. In addition, the record discloses that employees in these separate de- partments generally maintain their individual identity as evidenced by the fact that normally they are not interdepartmentally transferred. Accordingly, we find on the basis of the record that because of the separate supervision, the distinction in the nature of duties, and the lack of employee interchange between the departments, that the pro- posed unit of Local 248 would not be appropriate for collective bargaining. Proposed Unit of the Petroleum Workers and of the Oil Workers: The Motor Transport Department in California has been divided, apparently for operational convenience, into three geographic divi- sions, the Southern, the San Joaquin, and the Central.' The Petro- - The principal departments are : Producing , Natural Gasoline , Purchase and Stores, Marketing , Manufacturing , Pipe Line , Marine , and Motor Transport. "The Motor Transport Department has employees in these divisions at the following plants: In the Southern Division , Los Angeles ( North Spring Street) , E1 Segundo, Murphy-Coyote , Long Beach , Pomona , Glendale, San Diego , and San Luis Obispo ; in the San Joaquin Division , Taft, Bakersfield . and Kettleman ; and in the Central Division, San Francisco , Oakland , Richmond , and Sacramento. 136 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD leum Workers seeks to represent employees in each of these divisions with the exception of employees in the San Francisco and Sacramento districts. It would, however, include in its proposed unit employees of the Motor Transport Department at the El Segundo refinery who, the Oil Workers contends, should constitute a separate unit. The function of the Motor Transport Department is to transport material, equipment, and passengers by motor vehicles for the Com- pany's other departments. Its personnel includes employees in the following industrial classifications : drivers, helpers, operators," chauf- feurs, maintenance men, utility service man, and clerks, whose collec- tive duties consist of operating and servicing the Company's motor fleet. The record reveals that all motor transport employees in Cali- fornia are ultimately under the same supervision, that they receive the same wages within their respective employee-classifications, that their hours and working conditions are the same, and that there is virtually no employee interchange between them and employees in other departments of the Company. Although it thus appears that employees in the Motor Transport Department in California constitute a well defined group of employees of a recognized craft capable of functioning as a State-wide unit, the record discloses that the employees claimed by the Oil Workers at the El Segundo refinery 9 equally constitute an identifiable group which might function as a separate unit or might appropriately be included in a State-wide unit. Accordingly, our determination of the appropriate unit or units will depend in part upon the desires of the employees as expressed in the elections which we shall hereinafter direct. We shall not, however, include within the State-wide voting group employees in the Motor Transport Department at the Richmond re- finery because, as appears in Matter of Standard Oil Company of California, 67 N. L. R. B. 139, issued this day, we found as appro- priate a unit confined to certain employees in that department at the Richmond refinery and granted the request of the Petroleum Workers to appear on the ballot with the petitioner therein in order to determine the collective bargaining representative for those employees. Nor, in addition, shall we include within this same voting group employees in the Motor Transport Department at the Bakersfield refinery be- cause on February 19, 1946, pursuant to a consent election held on February 12,1946, the Petroleum Workers was designated by an Agent of the Board as the bargaining representative of all production and 8 The operators , unlike the drivers who operate trucks, run cranes, shovels , and bull- dozers. 8 Employees at the El Segundo refinery, comprising drivers, helpers , operators , utility service men, and maintenance employees are under separate immediate supervision and confine their activities to the geographic limits of the refinery. STANDARD OIL COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA 137 maintenance employees, which included the Motor Transport Depart- ment employees, on the classified pay roll at that refinery. Although the showing of representation made by Local 248 is con- fined to the Company's employees in the unit alleged by it to be appro- priate, we shall, nevertheless, inasmuch as an election is to be conducted among the Company's Motor Transport Department employees in California, accord Local 248 a place on the ballot with the Petroleum Workers in the State-wide voting group with permission to withdraw therefrom by notifying the Regional Director within ten (10) days after the issuance of this Decision and Direction of Elections. We shall direct that separate elections by secret ballot be held among the employees in each of the voting groups described below who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elections herein, subject to the limitations and addi- tions set forth in the Direction : Group I. All employees of the Motor Transport Department in California on the Company's classified pay roll, including operators, drivers, helpers, maintenance personnel, dispatchers, field clericals, excluding employees at the Richmond, El Segundo, and Bakersfield refineries, and employees in the San Francisco and Sacramento Sales Districts, office and clerical employees, and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Local 248, by the Petroleum Workers, or by neither. Group 2. All employees of the Motor Transport Department at the Company's El Segundo refinery, excluding office and clerical em- ployees, and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em- ployees, or effectively recommend such action, to determine whether they desire to be represented by the Petroleum Workers, by the Oil Workers, or by neither. DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS 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 Re- lations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby DIREor that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Standard Oil Com- pany of California, separate elections by secret ballot shall be con- ducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from 138 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Twenty-first 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 following groups of the Company's employees who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work during said 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 elections: (1) to de- termine whether the employees described in Group I of Section IV, supra, desire to be represented by Petroleum Drivers & Helpers, Local 248, affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, or by Independent Union of Petroleum Workers, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither; and (2) to determine whether the employees described in Group 2 of Section IV, supra, desire to be represented by Independent Union of Petroleum Workers, or by Oil Workers International Union, CIO, for the pur- poses of collective bargaining, or by neither. MR. GERARD D. REii,LY took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Elections.