The Texas Pipe Line Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 8, 1944

59 N.L.R.B. 800 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of THE TEXAS PIPE LINE COMPANY and OIL WORKERS
INTERNATIONAL UNION, C. I. O.
Case No. 19-R-1383.-Decided December 8, 1944
Mr. Y. A. Land, of Tulsa, Okla., for the Company.
Mr. B. J. Rickey, of Casper, Wyo., for the Union.
Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND'
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by Oil Workers International Union,
C. I: O., herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
The Texas Pipe Line Company, Houston, Texas, herein called the
Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appro-
priate hearing upon due notice before Maurice M. Miller, Trial Ex-
aminer. Said hearing was held at Shelby, Montana, on November
18, 1944. The Company and the Union appeared, participated, and
were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-
examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues.
The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded
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
The Texas Pipe Line Company is a Texas corporation engaged in
the business of gathering and transporting crude petroleum and
petroleum products in six States. We are here concerned with its'
Montana area. The Company owns and operates 2,598 miles of
gathering lines and 3,811 miles of trunk lines. It is subject to the
Interstate Commerce Act.
59 N. L. R. B., No. 161. o
800
THE TEXAS PIPE LINE COMPANY 801
We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Oil Workers International Union is a labor organization affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to mem-
bership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On July 10, 1944, the Union requested recognition as the collective
bargaining representative of the employees in the Montana area.
The Company declined to recognize the Union until it had been certi-
fied by the Board.
A statement of the Trial Examiner, read into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.'
We find that a question affecting commerce has 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
We find, in substantial agreement with the parties, that all pro-
duction and maintenance employees in the pipe-line operations of the
Company in its Kevin-Sunburst and Cut Bank fields, including dis-
trict gauger, assistant district gaugers, pipe-liners, and tour engineers,
but excluding clerical employees,'superintendent, gang foremen, and
any other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote,
discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of
employees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by means of an election by secret ballot among
the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the
pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of
' The statement discloses that the Union submitted applications for membership bearing
the apparently genuine signatures of 7 persons whose names appeared on the Company's
September 15, 1944, pay roll. The said pay roll listed approximately 13 employees in the
appropriate unit.
802 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth
in the Direction.
The Company contends that its employees presently in 'the armed
forces of the United States should be afforded an opportunity to
vote. We are not unmindful of the fact that employees on military
leave retain their status as employees and, therefore, have a real in-
terest in the choice of a bargaining representative. For this reason,
our Direction of Election will provide, as has been the case of the past,
that those who appear at the polls in the election shall be allowed to
vote if otherwise eligible. However, the Company urges that to
assure an opportunity for all employees in the armed forces to vote,
a provision should be included in the Direction of Election requiring
the Regional Director to mail ballots to each such employee. We find
such a suggestion to be unfeasible for the reasons stated in Matter of
Mine Safety Appliances Co., 55 N. L. R. B. 1190. When it is deter-
mined that service men have returned to their employment in sufficient
numbers so that they comprise a substantial percentage of the em-
ployees in an appropriate unit in which we have certified a collective
bargaining representative, a new petition for the investigation and
certification of a bargaining agent may be filed with the Board. In
this manner, employees in the armed forces, who were unable to cast
a vote, will be afforded an opportunity to affirm or change the bar-
,gaining agent selected in their absence.
The Company further requests that all employees be polled by mail.
We shall deny the request; the Regional Director, however, in accord-
ance with customary practice, may conduct the balloting, in whole or
in part, by mail if such procedure is expedient.
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 Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with The Texas Pipe
Line Company, Houston, Texas, an election by secret ballot shall be
conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from
the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the
Regional Director -for the Nineteenth 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
employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who
were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the
date of this Direction, including employees who did not work during
THE TEXAS PIPE LINE COMPANY 803
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 any
who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been
rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented by Oil Workers Inter-
national Union, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining.