The Western Union Telegraph Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsNov 14, 1941

36 N.L.R.B. 907 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY and DENVER LOCAL #31, WESTERN UNION SYSTEM DIVISION #2, COM- MERCIAL TELEGRAPHERS' UNION Case No. R-2984.-Decided November 14, 1941 Jurisdiction : telegraph industry. Practice and Procedure : petition dismissed where no appropriate unit within scope of petition ; single non-functionar office unit held inappropriate. Mr. C. R. Nichols, of Dallas, Texas, for the Company. Mr. J. A. Payne, of Kansas City, Mo., for the C. T. U. Mr. L. B. Morrell, of Denver, Colo., for the I. B. E. W. Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND ORDER STATEMENT OF THE CASE On March 31 and June 5, 1941, respectively, Denver Local #31, Western Union System Division #2, Commercial Telegraphers' Union, herein called the C. T. U., filed with the Regional Director for the Twenty-second Region (Denver, Colorado) a petition and an amended, petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen con- cerning the representation of employees of The Western Union Tele- graph Company, Greeley, Colorado, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pur- suant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On August 15, 1941, 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 2, as amended, ordered an investi- gation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to pro- vide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On August 25, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear- ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the C. T. U., International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, herein called the I. B. E. W., a labor organization claiming to represent employees 36 N. L. R. B., No. 186. 907 908 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD directly affected by the investigation, and upon American Communi- cations Association. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on Septem- ber 9, 1941, at Denver, Colorado, before Willard Y. Morris, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Com- pany, the C. T. U., and the I. B. E. W. were represented and participated in the hearing. American Communications Association did not appear at 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 several rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed these rulings 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 COMPANY The Western Union Telegraph Company is a New York corporation with its principal office at New York City. It is engaged throughout the United States and various foreign countries in the receiving and transmission by telegraph and cable of intrastate, interstate, and inter- national communications. In the operation of its national and inter- national communications' system, the Company owns and/or operates 214,220 miles of pole lines, 4,160 miles of land-line cable, 1,876,993 miles of wire, 30,344 nautical miles of ocean cable, and 20,445 telegraph offices. At the close of 1940, the Company employed approximately 49,000 employees. The Company maintains an office at Greeley, Colo- rado;.with' which we are,here' concerned: It admits'.,â€¢that it,>ist,engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Denver Local #31, Western Union System Division #2, Commercial Telegraphers' Union, is a labor organization affiliated with the Amer- ican Federation of Labor. It admits to membership employees at the. Greeley office of the Company. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is a labor organi- zation affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT ' The C. T. U. urges that all employees at the Greeley office of the Company, including the manager , but excluding temporary employees, constitute an appropriate unit. THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY 909 The Company maintains some 20,455 telegraph offices throughout the United States. It is the contention of the Company in this and other cases involving its employees that the most appropriate unit for the purposes of collective bargaining is a Nation-wide unit composed of all its employees. However, it concedes that pending the self-organization of its employees on a Nation-wide basis, smaller units may be appropriate. In numerous cases we have found, upon the basis of the extent of self-organization of the employees, that units composed of employees in single offices of the Company are appropriate. Many of these cases have involved cities in which the Company maintains what it designates as functional offices.' Others have involved non-functional offices.2 Our decisions in those cases disclose that :functional offices for the most part are limited to the larger metropolitan areas of the country. Non-functional offices are maintained in smaller cities, towns, and hamlets. As disclosed by the number of cases decided by, and pending before us, self-organi- zation of employees has extended beyond the metropolitan areas to small non-functional offices throughout the geographical districts and divisions of the Company's organization. We are, therefore, of the opinion that, on the basis of the extent of self-organization and in view of the desire of both the employer and the interested labor organizations for a single Nation-wide unit, each separate office of the Company throughout the country, should not be estab- â€¢lished as,an,=appropriate bargaining unit. However, we believe that the employees of functional offices of the Company in large metro- politan areas may continue, until self-organization is further ex- tended, to be established as separate appropriate units. In determin- ing whether non-functional offices ' in smaller communities shall hereafter be found to constitute separate appropriate units, we shall consider, among other factors, the effectiveness of each such office as a separate bargaining unit, the number of employees in each such office, â€¢ and .the extent of organization of employees in other offices .throughout, the: district in which the office in-question is located. In districts where self-organization of employees has extended to a 1 A functional office is one in which the business is conducted through four separate departments, namely : traffic, commercial, plant, and accounting. Matter of Western Union Telegraph Company and Commercial Telegraphers Union, Local 48, A. F. L., 31 N. L. R. B. No. 106. See also Matter of Western Union Telegraph Company and American Federation of Labor, Commercial Telegraphers Union, 30 N. L. R. B., No. 165; Matter of The Western Union Telegraph Company and Telegraph Employees Independent Union, 32 N. L. R. B., No. 86. a A non-functional office is one in which the commercial department handles the trans- mission of messages (a duty of the traffic department in a functional office), as well as the acceptance of messages from the public for transmission and. the delivery of messages received. See Matter of The Western Union Telegraph Company, a corporation and American Communications Association, 17 N. L. It. B. 34, Appendix A therein . See also Matter of Western Union Telegraph Company and Sab-Local 55-B, American Co,nnsunica- tions Association , affiliated with the C. 1- 0., 34 N. L. It. B., No.,49. 910 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD substantial number of non-functional offices, we are satisfied that, in the absence of other controlling factors, the purposes of the Act will be best effectuated by establishing a district-wide unit rather than separate non-functional office units. The petition before us in this case involves a single non-functional office employing approximately seven persons. All the employees are under the-direct supervision of a. district superintendent. A sub- stantial number of such employees have joined the C. T.. U. How- ever, the records in other cases involving the Company now pending before us disclose that employees in other non-functional offices in the district in which the Greeley office is located have organized themselves for the purposes of collective bargaining. We are con- vinced that the effectiveness of collective bargaining with the Com- pany will be enhanced by larger and fewer units. Under the cir- cumstances, we find that the employees at the Greeley office of the Company do not constitute a separate appropriate unit for the purposes.of collective bargaining. IV. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION Since, as pointed out in Section III above, the bargaining unit sought to be established by the petition, as amended, is inappro- priate for.the purposes of collective bargaining with The Western Union Telegraph Company, Greeley, Colorado, we find that no ques- tion has been raised concerning the representation of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : CONCLUSION OF LAW No question concerning the representation of employees of The Western Union Telegraph Company, Greeley, Colorado, in a unit which is appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining'has arisen, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act. ORDER Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and conclusion of law, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the petition, as amended, for investigation and certification of represent- atives filed by Denver Local #31, Western Union System Division #2, Commercial Telegraphers' Union, be, and it hereby is, dismissed. MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Order.