Western Union Telegraph Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 15, 1941

34 N.L.R.B. 300 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter Of WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY and SUB-
LOCAL 55-B, AMERICAN COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION, AFFILIATED
WITH THE C. I. O.
Case No. R-t3746.-Decided August 15, 1941
Jurisdiction : telegraph operation industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : Com-
pany refused union recognition until certified by the Board; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees in the commercial
and plant departments at the Kalamazoo office of the Company, with the
exception of supervisory employees ; agreement as to.
Mr. E. C. Ziesel, of Chicago, Ill., and Mr. F. H. Smith, of Lansing,
Mich., for the Company.
Mr. William Burke, of Detroit, Mich., and Mr. Samuel R. Crisman,
of Comstock, Mich., for the A. C. A.
Mr. John B. Alcorn, of Detroit, Mich., for the C. T. U.
Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board. _
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On March 4, 1941, Sub -Local 55-B, American Communications
Association , affiliated with the C. I. 0., herein called the A. C. A.,
filed with the Regional Director for the Seventh Region (Detroit,
Michigan) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had
arisen concerning the representation of employees of Western Union
Telegraph Company, Kalamazoo , Michigan , herein called the Com-
pany, and requesting an investigation and certification of representa-
tives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act.
49 Stat. 449 , herein called the Act. On June -30, 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, or-
dered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to con-
duct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
On July 11, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served upon the Company , the A. C. A.,
34 N. L. R. B., No. 49.
aj,x_300
WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY 301
and Commercial Telegraphers' Union, herein called the C. T. U., a
labor organization claiming to represent employees directly affected
by the investigation. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on
July 17, 1941, at Kalamazoo, Michigan, before Woodrow J. Sandler,
the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner.
The Company, the A. C. A., and the C. T. U. were represented and
participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to ex-
amine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing
on the issues was afforded all parties. At the commencement of the
hearing, the Trial Examiner granted a motion of the C. T. U. to
intervene in these proceedings. At the same time, the Trial Ex-
aminer denied a motion of the C. T. U. to appear on the ballot
in any election directed as the result of these proceedings. The
ruling is hereby affirmed for the reasons stated in Section VI below.
During the course of the hearing, the Trial Examiner made several
rulings on other motions and objections to the admission of evi-
dence. The Board has reviewed all the rulings of the Trial Ex-
aminer 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 corpora-
tion with its principal office at New York City. It is engaged
throughout the United States and in various foreign countries in the
receiving and transmission by telegraph and cable of intrastate, inter-
state, and international communications. In the operation of its na-
tional and international communications system, the Company owns
and/or operates 211,530 miles of pole lines, 4,070 miles of landline
cable, 1,876,876 miles of wire, 30,324 nautical miles of ocean cable,
and 19,543 telegraph offices. At the close of 1939 the Company em-
ployed approximately 44,299 employees. The Company maintains an
office in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with which we are here concerned.
The Company admits that it is engaged in interstate commerce within
the meaning of Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Sub-Local 55-B, American Communications Association, is a labor
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
It admits to membership employees at the Kalamazoo office of the
Company.
302 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Commercial Telegraphers' Union is a labor organization affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor. It admits to membership
employees at the Kalamazoo office of the Company.
*111 . THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The A. C. A. has requested the Company to recognize it as the
exclusive bargaining representative of the employees at the Kala-
mazoo office of the Company. The Company denied this request until
such time as the A. C. A. is certified by the Board as such repre-
sentative. A statement of the Regional Director, introduced in evi-
dence, shows that the A. C. A. represents a substantial number of
employees of the Company.'
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 Company, the A. C. A., and the C. T. U. agreed at the hearing,
and we find, that all employees hired on a permanent basis in the
commercial and plant departments at the Kalamazoo office of the
Company, excluding supervisory employees who have the right to
hire or discharge, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining.2 We further find that such 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.3
I The Regional Director reported that the A. C. A. presented a petition to him containing
the signatures of 13 persons who appear on the Company's pay roll of April 4, 1941.
There are 24 employees on the April 4, 1941, pay roll. The C. T. U did not present any
evidence of membership to the Regional Director or the Trial Examiner.
2 The Company stated that although it considered a Nation-wide unit appropriate, it
would adjust itself to any unit found to be appropriate by the Board. It further stated
that this, statement in no way withdrew its agreement to the unit in this case.
8 The Company maintains no traffic or accounting department at its Kalamazoo office.
WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
303
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. As stated
above, the C. T. U. desires to appear on the ballot in any election
ordered by the Board in this proceeding. However, the C. T. U. did
not present any evidence of representation among the employees at
the Kalamazoo office to the Regional Director or the Trial Examiner.
For this reason, we shall not accord a place to the C. T. U. on the
ballot.
The A. C. A. stated that, in the event the Board directs an election,
eligibility to vote should be determined by a pay roll of the Company
for the week preceding the date of the election. The C. T. U. con-
tended that only those employees who are on the pay roll for a period
of sixty (60) days preceding the date of the Direction of Election
should be deemed eligible to vote. The Company took no position
with respect to the eligibility date. It appears that the Company has
about a 45-per cent turn-over among its personnel every 3 months.
We do not consider this turn-over sufficient reason for varying our
usual practice and accordingly, 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 im;
mediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein,
subject to such limitations and additions as are 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:
CONCLUSIONS OF LAw
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the rep-
resentation of -employees of Western Union Telegraph Company,
Kalamazoo, Michigan, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Sec-
tion 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All employees hired on a permanent basis in the commercial and
plant departments at the Kalamazoo office of the Company, excluding
supervisory employees who have the right to hire or discharge, con-
stitute 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
304 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, 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 Western Union Telegraph Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 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 Seventh
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 hired on a permanent basis in
the commercial and plant departments at the Kalamazoo 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 supervisory employees who have
the right to hire or discharge and employees who have since quit or
been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire
to be represented by Sub-Local 55-B, American Communications
Association, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
for the purposes of collective bargaining.
MR. EDwiN S. SMITH took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.