The Western Union Telegraph Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 9, 1942

39 N.L.R.B. 596 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter of THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY and
COMMERCIAL TELEGRAPHERS' UNION, LOCAL 33
Case No. R-3576.-Decided March 9, 1942
Jurisdiction : telegraph communications industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: refusal
of Company to accord union recognition until certified by the Board; election
necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees at the Company's
Little Rock, Arkansas, office, excluding the city superintendent, sales manager,
delivery manager, assistant chief operator, T. & R. chief, city foreman, all
temporary employees, and messengers engaged exclusively in errand and
distribution service; no controversy as to.
Mr. C. R. Nichols, of Dallas, Tex., for the Company.
Mr. Jesse A. Payne, of Kansas City, Mo., for the Union.
Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On October 27, 1941, and January 21, 1942, respectively, Com-
mercial Telegraphers' Union, Local 33, herein called the Union, filed
with the Regional Director for the Fifteenth Region (New Orleans,
Louisiana) a petition and an amended petition alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of
employees of The Western Union Telegraph Company, Little Rock,
Arkansas, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation
and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act.
On January 21, 1942, 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 investigation and
authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an
appropriate hearing upon due notice.
On February 9, 1942, the Regional' Director issued a notice of
hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the
39 N. L. R. B., No. 108.
596
THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY 597
Union, and American Communications Association. Pursuant to
notice, a hearing was held on February 24, 1942, at Little Rock,
Arkansas, before Charles A. Kyle, the Trial Examiner duly desig-
nated by, the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company and the Union
were represented and participated in the. hearing. American Com-
munications Association did not appear at the hearing. Full oppor-
tunity 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 granted a motion
of the Union to amend its petition as to formal matters. During the
course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on
other 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
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Western Union Telegraph Company is a New York corpora-
tion with its principal office at New York City. It is engaged through-
out the United States and in various foreign countries in the receiving
and transmission by telegraph and cable of intrastate, interstate, and
international communications. In the operation of its national and
international communications system, the Company owns and/or
operates 210,311 miles of pole lines, 4,082 miles of land-line cable,
1,878,197 miles, of wire, 30,312 nautical miles of ocean cable, and
19,140 telegraph offices. At the close of 1940, the Company employed
51,153 persons. The Company maintains an office at Little Rock,
Arkansas, with which we are here concerned. It admits that it is
engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Commercial Telegraphers' Union, Local 33, is a labor organization
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to mem-
bership employees at the Little Rock office of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company refuses to recognize the Union until such time as it
is certified by the Board. A statement of the Regional Director,
introduced in evidence at the' hearing, shows that, the Union repre-
sents'a substantial number of employees in the unit which it alleges
is appropriate.'
I The Regional Director stated that the Union presented a designation petition signed by 86 persons who
appear on the Company 's pay roll of January 10, 1942, for the Little Rock office . There are approximately
140 employees at the Little Rock office.
598 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We find that a question has arisen concerning the 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
relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States and
tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce
and the free flow of commerce.,
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union urges that all employees at the Little Rock office of the
Company, excluding the city superintendent, sales manager, delivery
manager, assistant chief operator, T. & R. chief, city foreman, all
temporary employees, and messengers engaged exclusively in errand
and distribution' service, constitute an appropriate unit. The Com-
pany stated that it had no objection to this unit.2 -
We find that all employees at the Little Rock office of the Com-
pany, excluding the city superintendent, sales manager, delivery
manager, assistant chief operator, T. & R. chief, city foreman, all
temporary employees, and messengers engaged exclusively in errand
and distribution service, constitute a unit appropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining and that such unit will insure to em-
ployees of the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organi-
zation and to collective bargaining and otherwise will effectuate the
policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find , that the question concerning representation which has
arisen can best be resolved by the holding of an election by secret
ballot. We shall direct that the employees of the Company eligible
to vote in the election shall be those in the appropriate unit who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of the Direction of Election herein, subject to the limitations and
additions set forth in the Direction.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following:
2 The Company stated that although it considered a Nation-wide unit appropriate , it had no objection
to the setting up of divisional cities, such as Little Rock , as separate bargaining units.
THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY 599
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees'of The Western Union Telegraph Company,
Little Rock, Arkansas, within the,meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section
2 (6) and (7) of-the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All employees at the Little Rock office of the Company, excluding
the, city superintendent, sales manager, delivery manager, assistant
chief operator, T. & R. chief, city foreman, all temporary employees,
and messengers engaged exclusively in errand and distribution service,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes 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 2, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation ordered by the Board to
ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with
The Western Union Telegraph Company, Little Rock, Arkansas, 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 Fifteenth
Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Rela-
tions Board and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and
Regulations, among all employees at the Little Rock office of the
Company who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately
preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not
work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation
or in the active military service or training of the United States; or
temporarily laid, off, but excluding the city superintendent, sales
manager, delivery manager, assistant chief operator, T. & R. chief,
city foreman, temporary employees, messengers engaged exclusively
in errand and distribution service, and employees who have since quit
or been discharged, for cause, to determine whether or not they desire
to be represented by Commercial Telegraphers' Union, Local 33,
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of
collective bargaining.
MR. WM. M. LEISERSON took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Direction of Election.
In the Matter of THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY any'
COMMERCIAL TELEGRAPHERS' UNION, LOCAL 33
Case No. B-3576
AMENDMENT TO DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Marc/i 06, 194
On March 9, 1942, the National Labor Relations Board , herein called
the Board , issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-
entitled proceeding? On March 9, 1942 , The Western Union Tele-
graph Company , Commercial Telegraphers' Union , Local 33, A. F. L.,
and an attorney for the Board, entered into a Stipulation to Correct
Error in Transcript.
Upon the basis of the stipulation , the Board hereby amends its Deci-
sion and Direction of Election of March 9, 1942 , by inserting the words
"traffic managers" between the words "delivery manager and assistant
chief operator" in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Section V, and in paragraph
2 of the Conclusions of Law.
The Board also amends its Direction of Election by inserting the
words "traffic managers" between the words "delivery manager and
assistant chief operator" therein.
1 39 N. L. R. B. 596.
39 N. L. R. B., No. 108a.
600