Alaska Communications Systems Holdings, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 27, 2019

19-RC-226955 (N.L.R.B. Jun. 27, 2019)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ALASKA COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS
HOLDINGS, INC.
Employer
and Case 19-RC-226955

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF
ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL 1547,
AFL-CIO
Petitioner
ORDER
The Employer’s Request for Review of the Regional Director’s Decision and
Direction of Election is denied as it raises no substantial issues warranting review.1
JOHN F. RING, CHAIRMAN
MARVIN E. KAPLAN, MEMBER
WILLIAM J. EMANUEL, MEMBER
Dated, Washington, D.C., June 27, 2019.

1 We express no view with respect to whether we agree or disagree with revisions made
by the Board’s Election Rule, but we agree that it applies here and warrants denial of
the Employer’s request for review.
Although we agree with the Regional Director’s conclusion that the Cable
Systems Group employees share a community of interest with the existing unit, we
note, contrary to his findings, that there is no evidence of temporary interchange present
in this case. While there are examples of Cable Systems Group employees traveling to
other facilities to “cross-train” or “shadow” other employees, and vice versa, interchange
involves temporary or permanent transfer into a different classification, and neither the
Regional Director nor the parties have identified any evidence of such temporary
interchange in the instant dispute. We also do not rely on the Regional Director’s
suggestion that departmental organization is “particularly” important in assessing the
propriety of a petitioned-for unit, to the extent this statement suggests departmental
organization is more important than other community-of-interest factors. Finally, we
observe that there is no bargaining history relevant to the community of interest analysis
in the instant self-determination dispute, as the petitioned-for Cable Systems Group
employees have never been represented by a labor union on either a more limited or
more comprehensive basis.