The Middle West Corporation

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsDec 13, 1938

10 N.L.R.B. 618 (N.L.R.B. 1938)

In the Matter of THE MIDDLE 117-EST CORPORATION , 20 NORTH WACKER DRIVE, CHICAGO , ILLINOIS , KENTUCKY UTILITIES COMPANY, OLD Do- MINION POWER COMPANY, KENTUCKY POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, 154 W. MAIN STREET, LEXINGTON , KENTUCKY and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS (A. F. OF L.), 1365 S. 6TH STREET, PADUCAH , KENTUCKY Case No. R-1024.-Decided December 13, 1938 Electric, Gas, Watcr, and Ice Utility Industry-Investigation of Representa- tives: controversy concerning representation of employees: controversy con- cerning appropriate unit ; refusal by employers to recognize union as exclusive representative of employees-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining: com- panies operated as a system; central management of labor relations; uniform wage scales and working conditions ; unit consisting of employees of certain, companies based on extent of organ ization-Elect,on Ordered Mr. W. J. Perricelli, for the Board. Mr. Squire R. Ogden, of Louisville, Ky., for the Companies. Mr. Arthur Bennett, of Washington, D. C., for the Union. Miss Margaret Holmes, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On June 30, 1938, International Brotherhood of Electrical Work- ers, herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the Ninth Region (Cincinnati, Ohio) a petition, subsequently amended,. alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of The Middle West Corporation of Chicago, Illinois, Kentucky Utilities Company, Kentucky Power & Light Company, and Old Dominion Power Company, of Lexington, Kentucky, herein collectively called the Companies, 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 August 19, 1938, the National Labor Relations 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 in- 10 N L. R B., No. 46 618 DE,C1SIONS AND ORDERS 619 vestigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On September 2, 1938, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served on the Union and the Companies . Pursuant to the notice , a hearing was held on Septem- ber 19, 1938 , at Cincinnati , Ohio, before Horace A. Ruckel , the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board . The Board and the Com- panies were represented by counsel , and the Union was represented by its international representative . All participated in the hearing. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evidence. Thereafter the Companies filed briefs with the Board. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no, prejudicial errors were committed . The rulings are hereby affirmed. :Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE CODIPANIES The Middle West Corporation is a holding company incorporated under the laws of the State of Illinois. Through its 61 subsidiaries, it furnishes one or more utility services to 15 States in the United States, Mexico, and two Canadian provinces. Kentucky Utilities Company, Kentucky Power & Light Company, and Old Dominion Power Company, subsidiaries of The Middle West Corporation, are operating utility companies engaged in supplying electric, gas, water, ice, and bus service in Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. The Middle West Corporation owns all common stock in Kentucky Utilities Company, a Kentucky corporation, which owns all stock in Old Dominion Power Company, a Virginia corporation. The Middle West Corporation owns more than 50 per cent of the stock of United Public Service Corporation which owns all common stock in Kentucky Power & Light Company, a Kentucky corporation.' Through a wholly owned subsidiary, Middle West Service Com- pany, The Middle West Corporation supervises the operations of the other Companies from a centrally located office in Lexington, Ken- tucky, from which they are managed as a closely integrated system.2 R. Al. Watt, president of Kentucky Utilities Company, Kentucky Power & Light Company, and Old Dominion Power Company, directs i Kentucky Utilities Company owns all stock in Lexington Utilities Company, a Kentucky corporation, Dixie Power & Light Company, ,id South Fulton Power & Light Compnny, Tennessee corporations, none of which were named in the petition South Fulton Power and Light Company and Dixie Power & Light Company have no employees, theit business of collecting bills, maintaining property, etc., being handled by Kentucky Utilities Company employees 2 Including the three subsidiaries of Kentucky Utilities not named in the petition ,620 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD labor relations. Several department heads, such as treasurer, auditor, .sales manager, and director of operations, handle problems related to -their departments for all Companies. The operating territory of the Companies is divided into four .geographical divisions, each having a division manager and other division officers who are directly responsible to the Lexington office and who act on behalf of any company which has property or em- ployees within the division. The Companies are principally engaged in the generation, sale, -and distribution of electric energy, the greater portion of which is generated by Kentucky Utilities Company in Kentucky and trans- mitted to the other Companies at points of connection between their transmission systems. The transmission system of Kentucky Utili- ties Company extends from Louisville, Kentucky, through its Dix Dam and Pineville generating stations to the State line between Ken- tucky and Virginia, where it connects with the transmission system of Old Dominion Power Company south of Pocket, Virginia, and at other points on the Kentucky-Virginia State line, at which points of connection Old Dominion Power Company obtained 33 per cent of its electric supply from Kentucky Utilities Company in 1937; and across the Kentucky-Tennessee State line through Middlesboro, Ken- tucky, and Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, and again through Fulton, Kentucky, and South Fulton, Tennessee, where it connects with the lines of two small Tennessee subsidiaries which obtain all the -electric energy supplied to eight communities in Tennessee from -Kentucky Utilities Company. The transmission system of Kentucky Utilities Company connects with that of Kentucky Power & Light Company in northern Kentucky, at which points of connection Ken- tucky Power & Light Company obtains substantially all of its electric -supply from Kentucky Utilities Company.3 The total sales of electric energy for the system in 1937 were 415,475,344 kilowatt hours. Of this amount, Kentucky Utilities Com- -pany delivered 48,278,454 kilowatt hours outside Kentucky and re- ceived 43,031,000 kilowatt hours from outside Kentucky. Old Domin- ion Power Company delivered 32,100,000 kilowatt hours outside Vir- ginia, and received 44,994,359 kilowatt hours from outside Virginia. All purchases and sales of electric energy by Kentucky Power & Light Company and Lexington Utilities Company were consummated in {Kentucky. In 1937 the Tennessee subsidiaries obtained 932,932 kilo- watt hours of electric energy from outside Tennessee. In addition to the generation, sale, and distribution of electric ..energy, the Companies furnish gas, ice, and water services in Ken- $There is a similar interconnection betReen the transmission systems of Kentucky Utili- ,ties Company and Lexington Utilities Company at points neat Lexington, Kentucky I)ECISIONC AND 011DE11S 621_ tucky and Virginia, the production of which commodities is dependent upon the electric energy the Companies generate. Thus, machinery used in the manufacture of ice and gas, or for pumping water, is. operated by means of electricity generated and distributed by the- system. The Companies sell electric energy to unaffiliated light and power companies at the Kentucky-Illinois State line and to unaffiliated light and power companies in Kentucky. They supply electric energy to, 12 manufacturing concerns in Kentucky and Virginia whose products. have a national market, and to 7 interstate railroads in Kentucky and three in Virginia. Electric energy is furnished to Western Union, Postal Telegraph, and Southern Bell Telephone and Tele-- graph Company and to radio stations, newspapers, and airports. The- Companies supply electric energy for navigation lights on the Ken- tucky and Ohio Rivers, and for the operation of locks and dams. Large quantities of materials are purchased in interstate commerce. In 1937, $57,000 worth of copper wire and cables was purchased out- side Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee; $28,000 was spent in the. purchase of poles, half of which came from other States. The Com- panies obtained $182,000 worth of transformers and meters from- concerns in other States and retailed $493,650 worth of electrical appliances, most of which were manufactured in States other than- Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. There are about 1,200 employees on the pay rolls of the Companies. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is a labor organi- zation affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to its membership all employees of the Companies in the gas, water,-, electric, and ice departments, excluding supervisors, foremen, clerical' forces, janitors and janitresses, salesmen, office employees, and others- having the right to hire and discharge. IlI. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATIOIN The Union commenced organizing employees of the Companies in April 1937. Local unions were established in three operating di- visions and at the date of the hearing organization work was being- carried on in the fourth division for the purpose of establishing a local there. In June 1938, a committee composed of representatives from each local met with the president of the Companies to discuss an agree- ment concerning hours and wages which had been drafted by the- committee for employees of the Companies throughout the four- divisions. On July 29, 1938, a conference was held in the Cincinnati,- •622 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD office of the Board, attended by E. W. Brown, director of operations for the Companies, and union representatives. - At this conference negotiations on the wage-hour proposal were continued, and the Union offered to prove that it represented a majority of employees .of the Companies. Brown stated at that time that the Companies would not recognize the Union as exclusive bargaining agent until it had been certified by the Board. At the Cincinnati conference a consent election was discussed but no agreement was, reached upon it. At the hearing, and in briefs filed with the Board, the Companies -disputed the Union's claim that it represents a majority of employees. We find that a question has arisen concerning representation of employees of the Companies. 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 Companies described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States, and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing -ommerce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Union is seeking a unit composed of employees of the Compa- nies in the gas, water, electric, and ice departments, excluding super- visors, foremen, clerical forces, janitors and janitresses, salesmen, office employees, and others having the right to hire and discharge. The Companies have no objection to the classification of employees made by the Union but insist that the employees of each Company should constitute a separate bargaining unit. As pointed out in Section I the Companies, through unified stock ownership, management and operation, comprise a closely integrated system. Employees throughout the system, regardless of the Com- pany on whose pay roll they are carried, perform substantially similar functions and enjoy uniform wage scales and hours of work. Labor policies are determined in the Lexington office for the entire system. In view of the central management of labor relations, a system-wide unit ordinarily would be proper. However, Lexington Utilities Company, a subsidiary of Kentucky Utilities Company, which is managed and operated from the Lexing- ton office as 'a part of the system' and which has 150 employees, was not included in the petition filed by the Union. There is no evidence that the Union or any other labor organization has organized these DECISIONS AND ORDERS 623 employees and the Companies do not object to their exclusion from the unit. Under similar circumstances we have held that a part of a system may constitute an appropriate unit.' We therefore conclude that employees of The Middle West Corporation, Kentucky Utilities Company, Kentucky Power & Light .Company, and Old Dominion Power Company should be embraced in one unit. We find that employees of the Companies in the gas, water, electric, and ice departments, excluding supervisors, foremen, clerical forces, janitors and janitresses, salesmen, office employees, and others having the right to hire and discharge, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining and that said unit will insure to employees of the Companies 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 There was introduced in evidence the pay roll of the Companies as of August 15, 1938, showing 617 employees in the gas, water, ice, and electric departments. Pursuant to agreement at the hearing, the Companies and the Union subsequently collaborated in the prepara- tion of an exhibit showing certain persons on the pay roll of August 15, 1938, namely Joseph Miller of -Maysville, Kentucky, and Fred Habermehl, of Augusta, Kentucky, to be supervisory employees. It was understood at the hearing that these men would be excluded from the bargaining unit and they are hereby excluded. In addition, the same exhibit contained the names of certain persons properly within the classifications of employees in the appropriate unit whose names, through error, did not appear on the pay roll actually submitted in evidence at the hearing. Accordingly, we include Henry Cummins, Earlington, Kentucky; J. W. Snavely, Pinesville, Kentucky; J. R. Thompson and W. Berry Vick, Paducah, Kentucky, within the unit. There are, therefore, 619 employees in the appropriate unit. The financial secretaries of the Union testified that the Union represents approximately 295 of such employees. The Union did not introduce other proof of its claim to represent a majority of employees in the proper unit. Under the,circumstances, we find that the question which has arisen concerning the representation of employees can best be resolved by the holding of an election by secret ballot. Those employees of the Companies in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay- d Matter of R. C. A. Communications, Inc and American Radio Telegraphists' Associa- tion, 2 N. L. R B 1109 ; Matter of United Shipyards, Inc. and Locals No 12, No 14, No 1S of the Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding 1Po>Tes of Auie,tiea, 5 N L 11 B 742 624 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD roll period of August 15, 1938, shall be eligible to vote, except those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : CONOLusloNs OF LAW 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of The Middle West Corporation, Kentucky Utilities Company, Kentucky Power & Light Company, and Old Dominion Power Company , of Lexington , Kentucky , within the mean- ing of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All employees of the Companies in the gas , water, electric, and ice departments , excluding supervisors , foremen , clerical forces, jani- tors and janitresses , salesmen, office employees , and others having the right to hire and discharge , constitute a unit appropriate for the pur- poses of collective bargaining , within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. 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 , 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 part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with The Middle West Corporation, of Chicago, Illinois, Kentucky Utilities Company, Kentucky Power & Light Company, and Old Dominion Power Company , of Lexington , Kentucky , an election by secret ballot shall be conducted within thirty ( 30) days from the date of this Direction , under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Ninth 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 employees of the Companies whose names appear on the Companies' pay roll for August 15, 1938, including the names of Henry Cummins, J. W. Snavely, J. R. Thomp- son, and W. Berry Vick, and excluding supervisors , foremen, clerical forces, janitc.rs and janitresses, salesmen, office employees, and others having the right to hire and discharge, and excluding employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for the purposes of collective bargaining.