Tennessee Electric Power Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 5, 1938

7 N.L.R.B. 24 (N.L.R.B. 1938)

In the Matter of TENNESSEE ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY and INTERNA-
TIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS
Case No. R-627.-Decided May 5, 1938
Electric , Motorbus , Street Railway , Telephone, and Water Utility Industry-
Investigation of Representatives : controversy concerning representation of
employees : controversy concerning appropriate unit ; rival organizations ; collec-
tive agreement with rival organization , executed subsequent to filing of petition,
no bar to direction for election-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining:
all employees throughout the electrical utility system of the company in Tennes-
see and Georgia , and all other employees who engage in, or devote a substantial
amount of time to, the production , transmission , or distribution of electricity,
or the operation , construction , and maintenance incident thereto, or electrical
work, in general , excluding certain categories ; system-wide ; community of inter-
est; functional coherence ; occupational differences ; employees not eligible for
membership in established labor organization -Election Ordered: pay-roll list
furnished for purpose of, pursuant to agreement ; name of one union omitted
from ballot upon request.
Mr. M. A. Prowell, for the Board.
Mr. Silas Williams, of Chattanooga, Tenn., for the Company.
Mr. E. D. Biereto, of Washington, D. C., and Mr. George L. Geege
and Mr. O. A. Walker, of Atlanta, Ga., for the Brotherhood.
Mr. Sidney Elliott Cohn, of New York City, and Mr. H. E.
Howard, Jr., of Chattanooga, Tenn., for the United.
Mr. Stanley J. Morris, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On November 1, 1937, International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers, herein called the Brotherhood, filed with the Regional
Director for the Tenth Region (Atlanta, Georgia) a petition alleg-
ing that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the
representation of employees of Tennessee Electric Power Company,
Chattanooga, Tennessee, herein called the Company, and requesting
an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Sec-
tion 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein
called the Act. On December 20, 1937, the National Labor Relations
24
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 25
Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of
the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National -Labor Relations Board
Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, ordered an investiga-
tion and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to pro-
vide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
On January 13, 1938, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear-
ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, upon the
Brotherhood, and upon United Electrical, Radio and Machine Work-
ers of America, herein called the United, a labor organization claim-
ing to represent employees directly affected by the investigation.
Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on February 3 and 4, 1938,
before James C. Paradise, the Trial Examiner duly designated by
the Board. The Board and the Company were represented by coun-
sel; the Brotherhood and the United by their respective officials. All
parties participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard,
to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence
bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. During the course of
the hearing, the Trial Examiner made various rulings. The Board
has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no
prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed.
On March 3, 1938, pursuant to notice, a hearing was held before
the Board in Washington, D. C., for the purpose of oral arguinient:
The Company was represented by counsel, and the Brotherhood by
its representatives. Counsel for Utility Workers Organizing Com-
mittee, herein called the U. W. O. C., a labor organization affiliated
with the Committee for Industrial Organization, appeared and stated
that the U. W. O. C. had been authorized to represent, in this pro-
ceeding, employees of the Company formerly represented by the
United.' Upon no objection being raised' by any of the parties, the
Board granted leave to the U. W. O. C. to be substituted for the
United. All parties participated in the oral argument. At the
close of the hearing, it was agreed by the parties that a certain "List
of Employees on Payroll October 31, 1937," prepared by the Company
and filed with the Board on February 25, 1938, setting forth the
names of persons in the employ of the Company on October'31, 1937,
the nature of their work, and certain other matters, be admitted to
the record as prima facie evidence of the facts therein contained,
and in the event an election be directed by'the Board as part of the
investigation ordered that the list be taken for' such purpose.2 Said
1 Counsel explained that theretofore organization activity among utility workers and
their representation , by the United , had been carried on through its Utilities Division and
that this Division had separated itself from the United to form the U.. W. O. C. , ,
S The list ' is entitled "The Tennessee Electric Power Company List of Employees on
Payiolr October 31 , 1937, As Requested by The Trial Examiner,For the National Labor
Relations Board At Hearing in Chattanooga , February 4, 1938."
26 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
list is hereby admitted in evidence as part of the record in this pro-
ceeding. With respect to certain employees noted in the list as
"No Longer Employed," the parties agreed that such persons were
to be considered for the purpose of this case as employees who either
had quit or been discharged for cause since October 31, 1937. The
employees so noted will be so considered.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Tennessee Electric Power Company is a Maryland corporation and
has its main office in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It owns and operates
a public utilities system covering a substantial portion of the State
of Tennessee and a small contiguous area in Georgia. The largest
cities which it serves are Chattanooga and Nashville.
The principal business of the Company consists in the production,
transmission, and distribution of electrical energy. Power is devel-
oped at a number of steam and hydroelectric stations or plants in
Tennessee and at one large hydroelectric station in Blue Ridge,
Georgia. There are also in operation a few small Diesel or
semi-Diesel generating stations. All of the stations are connected
by a network of 1,600 miles of high-tension wires. The lines pass
through 92 substations and have direct connecting tie-ins with power
stations operated,by other utility companies in Alabama, Kentucky,
North Carolina, and Georgia. These connections permit the purchase
and sale of electricity under reciprocal contracts, an exchange of
energy when necessary to attain a mutually economical flow, assist-
ance in the event of stoppages, and other benefits. A continuous flow
of current moves over these connections. In 1937, the Company
purchased 7 per cent of its load, or 70 million kilowatt hours, from
power companies in Alabama, Georgia, and Kentucky; and delivered
about 8 per cent of its current outside of Tennessee.
Among the customers of the Company purchasing electricity are
substantially all industries within the territory covered by the
system, the Western Union Telegraph Company and Postal Tele-
graph Company, the United States post offices, the Southern Bell
Telephone Company which operates the telephone system . in Ten-
nessee, two radio stations in Chattanooga and one in Nashville, and
various airports and the radio beacons maintained for the use of
interstate air lines.
The Company owns and operates as incident to its power business,
street railway and, motorbus systems in Chattanooga and Nashville,
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 27
Tennessee; a motorbus line from Chattanooga to Ft. Oglethorpe,
Georgia; water plants and distribution systems in 10 Tennessee towns
an1 at Blue Ridge, Georgia; ice-manufacturing plants in 7 towns in
Tennessee; a small hotel and commissary at Hales Bar, and a some-
what larger hotel at Parksville, Tennessee ; a small telephone system in
Blue Ridge, Georgia ; and a number of retail stores selling electrical
appliances and other merchandise in Tennessee and Georgia.
The business of the Company is carried on through seven operating
divisions : the Production and Transmission Department, the Chatta-
nooga District, Nashville District, East Tennessee District, North
Tennessee District, Middle Tennessee District, and Cumberland Dis-
trict.
The Production and Transmission Department is in charge of the
production and transmission of electricity throughout the system. Its
headquarters are at the main office of the Company in Chattanooga.
The department operates and maintains the power generating stations
at Nashville, Hales Bar, Great Falls, Estill Springs, Ocoee No. 1,
Ocoee No. 2, and Parksville, Tennessee ; and Blue Ridge, Georgia.3
It also operates and maintains the substations. It engages in certain
construction and maintenance work, chiefly in connection with the
towers and high-tension lines.'
The six districts have authority over all business of the Company
except the production and transmission of power and current. For
purposes of district administration, the territory covered by the sys-
tem is divided into geographic subdivisions equal to the number of
districts , and each district is given control over all business derived
from within one of the subdivisions. Unlike the Production and
Transmission Department, the districts are not managed from the
main office in Chattanooga, but enjoy some autonomy. However,
the main office exercises a general review and determines general
policy, handles certain matters common to all districts, and under-
takes some details like the billing of customers. The distribution
of electricity to consumers, and incidental construction and mainte-
s Classification of employees in the power stations is substantially as follows : Engineers,
boiler operators and helpers , boiler room laborers , firemen , condenser and turbine operators,
switchboard operators , assistant and relief switchboard operators , oilers , conveyer belt
operators , ash crane and ash ding operators , larry operators , crusher operators , brake-
men, water tenders , coal unloaders , coal drag operators , electricians and electrician helpers,
mechanics , machinists , flume patrol and gate watchmen , brick masons , clerks, superintend-
ents, assistant superintendents , nurse , janitors , storeroom manager and storeroom clerks,
and various laborers.
4 Employees working outside the power stations include the following : System load dis-
patchers and assistant dispatchers , substation operators and substation watchmen , control
operators, electricians and electrical helpers, mechanics , cable splicers , dynamite men, line-
men, groundmen , truck drivers , telephone maintenance men, tower painters , janitors, night
watchmen , clerks, stenographers , foremen, subforemen , chief electricians , and various
laborers.
0
28 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
nance; 8 the operation and maintenance of the street railway and
motorbus transportation systems in Chattanooga and Nashville,
including the street railway and bus repair shops, garages, car barns,
and storehouses; e the operation and maintenance of ice-manufactur-
ing plants, water plants and distribution systems, and a telephone
system; the operation of the retail stores, hotels, and commissaries 7
come within the jurisdiction of the districts.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is a labor organi-
zation affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It admits
to membership all types of electrical workers including those engaged
in the production, transmission, and distribution of electricity, and
in the operation, construction, and maintenance of the means thereof.
It excludes from membership, so far as here material, supervisory
employees of the rank of general foremen and higher, clerical em-
ployees, office workers, meter readers, collectors, janitors and building
service employees, civil engineers and draftsmen, surveyors, and tem-
porary employees, provided that any employee otherwise excluded,
except supervisory employees, who engages in a substantial amount
of electrical work, is admitted.
V
6 The employees engaged in the distribution of electricity to consumers, and in related
construction and maintenance , are classified principally as follows : Metermen, meter
readers, meter service men , cut-out men, electric service men, home lighting , lighting sales,
collectors , bill deliverers, line foremen , linemen, groundmen , truck drivers , auto and truck
mechanics , cable splicers, cable splicer helpers, electricians, electrician helpers, mechanics,
mechanic helpers, chief control and control operators , appliance service men, janitors,
clerks, and various laborers.
6 Employees in the street railway and motorbus systems at Chattanooga and Nashville
are divided into seven departments . These employees include workers in the district
transportation department , viz., street car and bus operators , dispatchers , inspectors , sched-
ule time and traffic checkers , switchmen , incline operators and conductors at Lookout
Mountain and incline porters and laborers , oilers, pressers , porters, gatemen , ticket agents,
janitors , division superintendents , and various laborers ; workers in the district track de-
partment , viz., foremen , rock car operators , truck drivers , welders , sanders, oilers , greasers,
switch maintenance men, foremen , and laborers ; workers in the street car and bus repair
shops, the car barns , and garages , viz., machinists , pipe fitters, carpenters , painters , glaziers,
cushion menders , upholsterers and body men , bus and car hostlers , blacksmiths , brickmen,
armature winders and repairers, oilers, repairmen , motor inspectors , sanders, car and bus
cleaners , car and bus washers, bus mechanics , bus greasers , auto and ignition mechanics,
sand driers , register readers, electricians , welders, signal men, general maintenance men
and helpers , chauffeur, watchmen , janitors , foremen, and laborers ; and workers in the
storerooms , viz , storeroom helpers and laborers , and watchmen.
7 The workers engaged in the remaining business operations conducted by the districts
include the ice plant operators , water plant operators and distributors , water department
service men and laborers , local managers and assistant managers , cashiers , telephone
cashier in Blue Ridge, Georgia , clerks, salesmen , garage foremen , foremen, hostlers , cooks,
maids , and hotel operators ; the small plant operators in charge of the oil -burning gener-
ating plants.
The Company also employs throughout the system clerical and office workers of various
classifications , supervisory employees of the rank of general foreman and higher , building
service employees , and civil engineers , surveyors , and draftsmen.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 29
United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, is a
labor organization affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Or-
ganization. It admits to membership employees in the whole of the
electrical and radio industry; and at the time of the filing of the
petition, and at the hearing before the Trial Examiner,8 claimed
jurisdiction over employees of electric light and power utilities. It
also admits to membership unorganized workers employed in opera-
tions carried on as incident to the business of such utilities. It
excludes from membership, so far as here material, supervisory em-
ployees, civil engineers and draftsmen, surveyors, and temporary
employees; and also excludes clerical employees, office workers,
cashiers, salesmen, and building service employees, working in centers
where large numbers of their respective classes are employed.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Brotherhood has a history of organizational activity among
employees of the Company commencing in 1933. Its early efforts to
secure members were confined to utility electrical workers in the Chat-
tanooga and Nashville areas. In February 1935, Local 846 was estab-
lished as a mixed union for such workers in Chattanooga and vicinity,
including the towns of Hales Bar and South Pittsburg. Local 429
enlisted members among similar employees in Nashville. While some
first successes were achieved, the organizational work met with re-
verses. However, in the early part of 1937, the Brotherhood began
its present campaign for membership under the direction of its vice
president and now claims as members some 590 utility electrical
workers in various parts of the system. In addition to Locals 846
and 429, which have been active, Local 961 was chartered in January
1938 for members of the Brotherhood at Columbia, Tennessee, and
another local is proposed for members in Murfreesboro and surround-
ing towns. The Brotherhood has not yet requested a collective
bargaining contract with the Company.
The United commenced its present membership drive among em-
ployees of the Company in July 1937. Organizational work was
begun at Hales' Bar and South Pittsburg, and Local 1504 was
chartered at Hales Bar for employees of both towns. It is conceded
by all parties that at the time of the filing of the petition and the
hearing, the United had as members a majority of the employees at
Hales Bar and South Pittsburg. Recently it established a local in
Chattanooga, and some members have been secured at Estill Springs.
In October 1937, the United requested the Company to enter into
a collective bargaining contract with it. A form of agreement was
presented and discussed at several conferences. During- the course
'See footnote 1.
30 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of these negotiations, the Brotherhood protested to the Company
against the continuation thereof on the ground that it, and not the
United, was the collective bargaining representative of the employees.
The Brotherhood asked the Company whether it would consent to
the conduct of an -election under the direction and supervision of the
Board to ascertain which labor organization was the representative.
Upon the Company giving its consent, the petition was filed on No-
vember 1, 1937. Prompt notice thereof was given the Company by
the Brotherhood.
On November 10, 1937, the Company signed a collective bargaining
contract with the United applicable to all employees of the Company
"now working at Hales Bar and South Pittsburg who are members
of the Union, or may become members at a later date," excluding,
with certain limitations, superintendents, foremen, and shift engi-
neers. The contract provided, among other things, for exclusive
recognition of the United as collective bargaining representative of
the employees covered, for preferential employment to members of the
United at the two towns, for a 5-per cent wage increase, and for
arbitration.
We find that a question has arisen concerning representation of
employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company
described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial re-
lation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States, and
tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing com-
merce and the free flow of * commerce."
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Brotherhood contends that the unit appropriate for the pur-
pose of collective bargaining is system-wide, comprising workers
employed by the Company throughout its electrical system in Ten-
nessee and Georgia, that workers employed at Hales Bar and South
Pittsburg come within the system-wide unit and do not constitute
a group separate and apart. It further contends that a proper
classification of employees within such unit would consist of all
employees who engage in or devote all or a substantial amount of
9Cf Consolidated Edison Company of New York , Inc, et at . v. National Labor Relations
Board (C. C. A. 2d), decided March 14, 1938, C. C. H. Labor Law Service, par . 18110;
Matter of Pacific Gas and Electric Company and United Electrical & Radio Workers of
America, 3 N. L. R. B. 835.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 31
their time to, the production, transmission, and distribution of elec-
tricity, and in operation, construction, and maintenance incident
thereto; except supervisory employees of the rank of general fore-
man and higher, clerical employees, office workers, meter readers, col-
lectors, janitors, building service employees, civil engineers and
draftsmen, surveyors, and temporary employees; provided, that any
employee (except supervisory employees) who engages in a sub-
stantial amount of electrical work ;would be included.
Thus, the Brotherhood would exclude from the unit all employees
of the Company in the street railway and motorbus systems at Chat-
tanooga and Nashville, that is, workers in the transportation and
track departments; in the street car and bus repair shops, car barns,
and garages; and in the storerooms!10 It would also exclude em-
ployees engaged in the operation and maintenance of the' ice-manu-
facturing plants, water plants and distribution systems, telephone
system at Blue Ridge, Georgia, and hotels and commissaries.," It
would exclude all salesmen in the retail stores and elsewhere and,
in general, supervisory employees of the rank of general foreman
and higher, all clerical help, office workers, storeroom employees,
janitors, building service employees, and temporary employees.
However, it would include in the unit employees within these classi-
fications who devote a substantial amount of their time to electrical
work, or in operation, construction, and maintenance incident thereto.
The United contends that irrespective of whether a system-wide
unit composed of employees in the electrical system is appropriate
for collective bargaining purposes, the employees at Hales Bar and
South Pittsburg should be excluded, as a; distinct and separate body,
from such unit. The United further takes the position that the
classification of employees within the unit contended for by the
Brotherhood is much too narrow, that all employees of the Company
properly should be included except the following : Supervisory em-
ployees of the rank of general foreman and higher, civil engineers
and draftsmen, surveyors, and temporary employees; and clerical
employees, office workers, cashiers, salesmen, janitors, and building
service employees, who work in Chattanooga- and Nashville where
large numbers of these workers are employed.
Thus, the United, in contradistinction to the Brotherhood, would
have included in the system-wide unit all clerical employees, office
workers, cashiers, salemen, storeroom employees, janitors, and build-
ing service employees, who work in" the various towns and cities
covered by the utilities system outside of Chattanooga and Nashville;
meter readers and collectors; employees in the street railway and
10 See footnote 6.
n"See footnote 7.
32 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
motorbus system, i. e., workers in the transportation and track de-
partments, in the street car and bus repair shops, car barns and
garages, and in the storerooms; and employees engaged in the opera-
tion and maintenance of the ice-manufacturing plants, water plants
and distribution systems, telephone system, hotels and commissaries.
As noted, the Company is chiefly engaged in the production, trans-
mission , and distribution of electrical energy. It is common knowl-
edge that workers in an electrical utility system are intimately
associated with each other in their work despite geographic separa-
tions of work situs. There is marked interdependency in the dif-
ferent functions performed throughout the system, as well as a
recurrence in function in different parts of the system. Moreover,
the record shows that the relations of the electrical utility employees
with the Company have been substantially on a system-wide basis.
The majority of these workers are in the Production and Transmis-
sion Department and report directly to departmental headquarters
at the main office in Chattanooga. There is evidence of the transfer
of employees from one part of the system to another, as conditions
require. The main office in Chattanooga determines the labor policy
of the Company for all employees, and any labor organization would
have to deal with that office irrespective of what employees in the
system it represented.
In view of these circumstances we are of the opinion that in so
far as the employees in the electrical system of the Company are
concerned, a system-wide unit is appropriate for collective bargain-
ing purposes . The facts establish a mutuality of interest among all
such employees concerning working conditions. It will be noted
that the Brotherhood claims that it has organized a majority of these
employees and has been designated their representative for the pur-
pose of collective bargaining.12
We do not believe, however, upon the evidence before us, that the
unit should embrace employees engaged in the other businesses of
the Company. The workers in the street railway and motorbus
systems, the ice-manufacturing plants, water plants and distribution
systems, telephone system, the hotels and commissaries, and the retail
stores , constitute groups divorced in function and separate in interest
from the employees in the electrical system. The record discloses
that the United has not succeeded in enrolling any of these workers
as members , and the Brotherhood does not admit them. Their
greater number, by far, work in the transportation systems at Chat-
tanooga and Nashville, that is, in the transportation and track de-
12 Cf. Matter of Wisconsin Power and Light Company and United Electrical, Radio and
Machine Workers of America, Local No. 1141,, 6 N. L R B 320; Matter of Standaod
Oil Company of California and Oil Workers International Union, Local 299, 5 N. L. R. B.
750.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 33
partments, the street car and bus repair shops, car barns and garages,
and storerooms. - As shown by the evidence, transportation-workers,
traditionally and at_ the present, throughout the utilities industry,
form separate labor organizations, constitute distinct bargaining
units, and enter into their own collective bargaining contracts. The
United concedes that if the transportation employees of the Company
were organized in a separate, transport-workers 'labor organization,
it would not suggest their being included in the unit. We note two
exceptions, though, to the general exclusion of employees in the
other businesses. It appears that some of these employees devote
a substantial amount of their time either regularly or at definite
periods during the year, to work in the electrical system. This is
true of some of the local town managers, assistant cashiers, and clerks
in the districts, and of some of the ice plant and water plant op-
erators. It likewise is apparently the case with at least some of the
workers in the bus repair shops and garages who work on the trucks
used by the line crews. Employees who fall in this classification
come within the unit, for the reason that their interests are identified
substantially with those of the workers in the electrical system. We
shall also include employees of the Company, in general, who engage
in electrical operations. Neither the Brotherhood nor the United
would have these employees excluded, and the nature of their work
makes them sufficiently allied with those in the electrical system to
infer the existence of a community of interest between them.
The considerations which have led us to find that the system-wide
unit among employees in the electrical system is an appropriate one
for collective bargaining purposes, impel us to conclude that the
employees of the Company at Hales Bar and South Pittsburg, who
are engaged in production, transmission, and distribution of elec-
tricity, or in operation, construction, and maintenance incident
thereto, should not be excluded from such unit' There is no need
for repeating what already has been stated in this regard. Work at
Hales Bar centers about two power stations and is the same in char-
acter as work done elsewhere at the other stations of the Company.
High-tension wires connect the Hales Bar plants with Chattanooga,
which is only 22 miles distant, and with the rest of the system. The
South Pittsburg employees in the electrical system engage in dis-
tribution and incidental construction and maintenance, not in pro-
duction or transmission. Their work likewise is typical of work
performed elsewhere throughout the system.
19 Cases recognizing a smaller unit within a larger system-wide unit as appropriate for
collective bargaining purposes, or a smaller unit already organized before the system as a
whole has organized , are distinguishable. Cf. Matter of Armour & Company and Interna-
ttional Association of Machinists , Local 92, 5 N. L. it. B . 535; Matter of Associated Press
and The American Newspaper Guild, 5 N. L. it. B. 43.
34 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
It is true that on November 10, 1937, a majority of the employees
at Hales Bar and South Pittsburg , who were members of the United,
entered into the agreement with the Company, heretofore set forth.
Nevertheless , that contract was executed subsequent to the filing of
the petition for certification and must be held subject to this
proceeding.
In accordance with the usual rule, supervisory employees of the
rank of general foreman and higher, as well as foremen and super-
intendents who have authority to employ and discharge , or to dis-
charge, will be excluded from the unit . We shall follow the sugges-
tion ^ of the Brotherhood and the United that the civil engineers,
draftsmen , and surveyors likewise be excluded . The nature of the
work performed by these employees , and the character of their duties
and training, distinguish them from the other workers in the electri-
cal system and warrant their exclusion . Upon the same basis, the
nurses are to be excluded . Clerical employees of various types, office
workers , janitors, and building service employees , watchmen, store-
room workers, and salesmen, if any, have interests and perform
functions which differentiate them from the workers within the unit
deemed appropriate , and they too shall be excluded , provided that
if any of these employees devote a substantial amount of their time
to electrical work, they will be included . Meter readers , bill deliver-
ers, and collectors , whose work approximates clerical work in char-
acter, for the same reason are not to be included , unless they too
spend a substantial part of their time in electrical work. Temporary
employees , that is, skilled or unskilled workers employed on a tem-
porary basis to perform a particular job or employed on trial for a
90-day period , will be excluded.
We find that the following employees of the Company constitute a
unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining : All em-
ployees throughout the electrical utility system of the Company in
Tennessee and Georgia , including Hales Bar and South Pittsburg,
and all employees in the businesses of the Company other than the
electrical utility system , who are engaged in, or devote all or a sub-
stantial amount of their time either regularly or at definite periods
during the year to, the production , transmission , or distribution of
electricity, or the operation , construction , and maintenance incident
thereto, or electrical work, in general , excluding meter readers, bill
deliverers, collectors, civil engineers and draftsmen, surveyors , nurses,
clerical employees of all types , office workers , janitors and building
service employees , watchmen , storeroom workers, and salesmen, if
any, provided, that any of these employees thus excluded who devote
a substantial amount of time , as aforesaid , are included , and excluding
also supervisory employees of the rank of general foreman and higher,
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 35
as well as foremen and superintendents who have a right to hire and
discharge, or to discharge, and temporary employees as heretofore
defined. We further find that said unit will insure to employees of
the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization and
to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the
Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Brotherhood failed' to introduce satisfactory proof that it had
been designated and selected by a majority of the employees in the
appropriate unit as their representative for collective bargaining.
Testimony was offered to the effect that it had 590 members among
employees of the Company throughout the system. It-did not exhibit
any list of its members or other evidence of its membership. The
Brotherhood estimated that the number of employees within the unit
here found appropriate was 1,050, but no precise computation has been,
shown. The United makes no claim that it represents a majority of
the employees of the Company within the system-wide unit. We hold
that an election by secret ballot is necessary to resolve the question
concerning representation.
The United requests that if an election is directed by the Board in
a system-wide unit its name be omitted from the ballot. We shall so
direct.
On the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record
in the proceeding, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Tennessee Electric Power Company, Chatta-
nooga, Tennessee, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2
(6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. _The following employees of the Company constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act: All employees
throughout the electrical utility system of the Company in Tennessee
and Georgia, including Hales Bar and South Pittsburg, Tennessee,
and all employees in the businesses of the Company other than the
electrical utility system, who are engaged in, or devote all or a sub-
stantial amount of their time either regularly or at definite periods
during the year to, the production, transmission, or distribution of
electricity, or the operation, construction, and- maintenance incident
thereto, or electrical work, in general, excluding meter readers, bill
deliverers, collectors, civil engineers- and draftsmen, surveyors, nurses,
clerical employees of all types, office workers, janitors and building
service employees, watchmen, storeroom workers, and salesmen, if any,
36 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
provided, that any of these employees thus excluded who devote a
substantial amount of time, as aforesaid, are included, and excluding
also supervisory employees of the rank of general foreman and higher,
as well as foremen and superintendents who have a right to hire and
discharge, or to discharge, and temporary employees as heretofore
defined.
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 Rela-
tions Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1,
as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as a part of the investigation ordered by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with Tennessee Electric Power Company, Chattanooga, Tennessee,
an election by secret ballot be conducted within twenty ( 20) days
from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision
,of the Regional Director for the Tenth Region, acting in this matter
as agent for the National Labor Relations Board and subject to
Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all em-
ployees throughout the electrical utility system of the Company in
Tennessee and Georgia, including Hales Bar and South Pittsburg,
and all employees in the businesses of the Company other than the
electrical utility system who engage in, or devote all or a substantial
amount of their time either regularly or at definite periods during
the year to, the production, transmission, or distribution of electricity,
or the operation, construction, and maintenance incident thereto, or
electrical work, in general, whose names appear on the pay-roll list
filed by the Company with the Board on February 25, 1938, excluding
meter readers, bill deliverers, collectors, civil engineers and drafts-
men, surveyors, nurses, clerical employees of all types, office workers,
janitors and building service employees, watchmen, storeroom work-
ers, and salesmen, if any, provided, that any of these employees thus
excluded who devote a substantial amount of time as aforesaid are
included, and excluding also supervisory employees of the, rank of
general foreman and higher, as well as foremen and superintendents
.who have a right to hire and discharge, or to discharge, temporary
employees, and employees listed in said list as "No Longer Employed,"
or who have since October 31, 1937, quit or been discharged for
cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS
[SAME TITLE]
AMENDMENT TO DIRECTION OF ELECTION
37
May 21, 1938
On May -5, 1938, -the National Labor Relations Board, herein called
the Board, issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-
entitled proceeding, the election to be held within twenty (20) days
from the date of the Direction, under the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Tenth Region (Atlanta, Georgia).
The Board, having been advised that a longer period is necessary,
hereby amends the Direction of Election by striking therefrom the
words "within twenty (20) days from the date of this Direction" and
substituting therefor the words "within thirty (30) days from the
date of this Direction."
[SAME TITLE]
SECOND AMENDMENT TO DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
May 08,1938
On May 5, 1938, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called
the Board, issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-
entitled proceeding, the election to be held within twenty (20) days
from the date of the Direction, under the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Tenth Region (Atlanta, Georgia).
On May 21, 1938, the Board issued an Amendment to Decision and
Direction of Election in the above-entitled proceeding, the election to
be held within thirty (30) days from the date of the Direction of
Election.
The Board, having been advised that a longer period is necessary,
hereby amends the Direction of Election, as amended, by striking
therefrom the words "within thirty (30) days from the date of this
Direction" and substituting therefor the words "within forty (40)
days from the date of this Direction."