Campbell Transportation Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 27, 1943

49 N.L.R.B. 178 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of CAMPBELL TRANSPORTATION COMPANY and THE
MISSISSIPPI & OHIO RIVER PILOTS ASSOCIATION (UNAFFILIATED)
0
In the Matter of CAMPBELL TRANSPORTATION COMPANY and NATIONAL
ORGANIZATION MASTERS, MATES & PILOTS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 25
Cases Nos. B-5079 and R-5080, respectively. Decided April 07, 1943
Thorp, Bostwick, Reed ct Armstrong, by Mr. John E. Laughlin, Jr.,
of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the Company.
Campbell, Wick, Hoick cC Thomas, by Mr. Philip R. McLaughlin,
of.Pittsburgh, Pa., and Mr. Russell J. O'Shea, of Cairo, Ill., for the
Association.
Messrs. W. H. Griffith and Zeno Fritz, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the
M. M. P.
Dlr. Robert Silagi, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petitions and an amended petition duly filed by The Missis-
sippi & Ohio River Pilots Association, herein called the Association,
and the National Organization Masters, Mates & Pilots of America,
Local 25, herein called the M. M. P., each alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Campbell Transportation Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsyl-
vania, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board
consolidated the cases and provided for an appropriate hearing upon
due notice before Henry Shore, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was
held at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on March 29, 1943. The Company,
the Association, and the M. M. P., appeared and participated. All
parties 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. On April 10, 1943,
the M. M. P. filed a brief and on April 12, the Company and the
,Association filed briefs which the Board has considered. - - -
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
49 N. L. R: B., No. 24.
178
CAMPBEUL TRAMPORTATION COMPANY 179
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Campbell Transportation Company, a Delaware corporation li-
censed to • do business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, main-
tains its principal office and place of business in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. The Company is engaged in the business of river trans-
portation and operates six towboats, and several barges. Its routes
extend from Fairmount, West Virginia, to Cairo, Illinois. All of its
outstanding capital stock is owned by the Mississippi Valley, Barge
,Line Company, Inc., herein called the parent company, a Missouri
corporation engaged in the transportation of freight by water from
St. Louis, Missouri, to the Gulf Ports. During the year 1942, the total
gross freight revenue of the Company exceeded $1,750,000, of which
approximately 221/ percent represented freight transported between
the States of the United States. The Company is classified as a com-
mon carrier by water under the Interstate Commerce Act. While the'
Company has no direct war contracts, most of the freight it hauls is
related to war work.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. .
IT. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Mississippi & Ohio' River Pilots Association, an Illinois corpo-
ration, is an unaffiliated labor organization, admitting to membership
employees of the Company.
National Organization Masters, Mates & Pilots of America, Locl
25, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,' is a labor
organization admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCEIINING REPRESENTATION
In a prior case, involving the sane parties, the Board directed an
election among masters and pilots of the Company. Following a run-
off election in which the vote was equally divided between the M. M. P.
and the Association, the Board issued an order disinissing the petition
on July 13, 1942. In September 1942, the Association made an oral
request upon the Company for recognition as the exclusive bargaining
representative of the Company's masters and pilots. This request was
refused by the Company on the ground tliat- the Association lacked a
Board certification. The Association then filed its petition on Decem-
ber 3, 1942. Following the filing of this petition, the M. M. P. filed
' Matter of Campbell Transportation Company and National Organization Masters,
Mates & Pilots of America, Local No. 25, 36 N. L. R. B. 1030.
i
531647-43-vol 49-13
180 DEICZSIONS OF NATIIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
a petition on January 2, 1943, in which it sought an investigation and
certification of representatives for a bargaining unit to consist of mas-
ters, mates and pilots of the Company. At the hearing the Company
stipulated that it would not recognize either, organization without
certification by the Board. -
A statement of the Regional Director, introduced into evidence at
the hearing, indicates that each Union represents a substantial num-
ber of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2
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 National Labor
Relations Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Association seeks a unit composed of masters and pilots' em-
ployed by the Company. The Al. Al. P. seeks to include first mates
in the unit along with masters and pilots. At the hearing and in its
brief the Company adopted the following alternative positions: (1)
That masters and pilots are representatives of management and should
therefore be excluded from any unit found to be appropriate; (2) if
masters and pilots are to be included in the unit, then a single unit
consisting of masters and pilots of both the Company and the parent
company should be found to be appropriate; and (3) that in any
-event first and second mates should be excluded from the appropriate
unit, but if first mates are to be included second mates should also be
inclded.
-As to the Company's first contention, the Board's decisions clearly
establish that masters and pilots are employees within the meaning
of the Act and that they are entitled to the full benefits of self-organi-
zation and collective bargaining 3
With respect to the Company's second contention, the facts are :
Since September 1941, the date of the acquisition of the Company's
stock by the parent company, the two companies have, to some extent,
,pooled their resources. Freight originating at points along the Ohio
2 The Regional Director reported that the Association submitted 7 application for mem-
bership cards, all of which bore apparently genuine original signatures; that the names
of all poisons appearing on the cards were listed on the Company's pay roll of February 1,
1943, which contained 13 employees in the unit alleged to be appropriate by the Associa-
tion ; that the cards were dated as follows 4 in October 1942, 2 in November and 1 in
December 1942
The M M P submitted 15 authorization cards, all of which bore apparently genuine
original signatures ; the names of 10 persons appearing on the cards were listed on the
Compani;'s pay roll of Februaiy 1, 1943, which contained 19 employees in the unit alleged
to be appiopriate by the M. M. P ; and these cards were dated as follows: 10 in 1941,
and5in 1942. $ 1
8 See Matter of New York & Cuba Mail Steamship Company and National Organization
Masters, Mates and Pilots of Ameiica, 9 N L R B 51 ; Matter of Standard Oil Company
of New Jersey and United Licensed officers of the U S. A., 8 N L R B. 930, and subse-
quent cases.
1
CAMPBEILI TRANSPORTAT'ION COANY 181
River and destined for a Gulf port is transferred- at Cairo, Illinois,
from the Company to tl,e parent company, and the procedure is
reversed on freight going north. Ordinarily cargoes are not reloaded,
but the barges are merely taken in tow by the boats of the receiving
company. Sometimes, however, the boat itself is transferred from one
company to another, in which case the entire crew goes along with the
boat. The record shows that except in the unusual instance where
a boat is transferred, interchange of personnel occurs only in the case
of pilots. , This is due to the fact that not all pilots are licensed to
navigate along the entire length of a river; consequently, it is often
necessary to shift a pilot from one company to the other in order to
navigate a boat through certain areas. At all times, however, the
transferred employee is carried on the pay roll of the originating
company, although he is subject to the orders of the master of the
boat on which he is working.
The Company and the parent company have separate contracts with
the National Maritime Union, herein called the N. M. U., covering un-
licensed personnel and mates. They also have separate contracts with
the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association covering licensed engi-
neers, and the parent company has a contract with the Association
covering masters and mates. Under all the circumstances we find that
a unit confined to the employees of the Company is appropriate.
The third contention of the Company, in which the Association joins,
is predicated upon two arguments : (a) that the interests of the master-
pilot group and of the mates are different, "and, in fact, to some extent
hostile to each other" and (b) that the above-mentioned contract be-
tween the Company and the N. M. U. effectively bars a unit which in-
cludes first mates. We find no merit in the first of these arguments.
Historically, licensed deck officers, a group which includes masters,
pilots and mates, have always been treated as a single unit.' It is only
in the face of compelling reasons, as in the prior case involving these
parties, that this traditional unit has been split.5
As to the second argument, we find the contract to be an obstacle to
the inclusion of the first mates in the unit. Prior to September 1941,
mates on the Ohio River were not required to have licenses. They
therefore-came within the jurisdiction of the N. M. U., which included
them in its contracts with the Company, the latest of which was exe-
cuted on July, 10, 1942, and will not expire until June 1, 1944. The
record clearly shows that the N. M. U. continued to represent the mates
4 See Matter of Lykes Brothers Steamship Company, Inc, et al. and National Marine
Engineers Beneficial Association, et al., 2 N. L. R. B. 102; also Matter of Carnegie-
Illinois Steel Corporation and National Organization Masters, Mates & Pilots, Harbor 25,
37 N. L R. B. 19. -
5 See footnote 1, supra. -
,182 DECISION'S OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
after it had signed this contract with the Company. Moreover, the
N. M. U. has never sought to modify the,provisions of the contract
relating to mates, or advised the Company that it desired to do so.
While a representative of the N. M. U. testified at the hearing and of-
fered to waive and disclaim the rights of the N. M. U. under, the con-
tract to represent the mates,, the Company refused to surrender its
rights under the contract and insisted upon rigid adherence to the
terms thereof.?
Since neither labor organization seeks to include second mates in
the unit, we find it unnecessary to make any determination with respect
to them.
We find that all masters and pilots'of the Company constitute a unit
appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act. This finding, however, shall not pre-
clude a later determination, upon due petition, that mates may be in-
cluded in the appropriate unit after the termination of the present
contract between the Company and the N. M. U.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em-
ployees 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.
F
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 9, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it
is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Campbell Trans-
portation Company, 'Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 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
6It should be noted that the N. M. U. is willing to relinquish its claims with respect
to the first mates only . Second mates or watchmen , as the N M. U . calls them , are not
required to be licensed and are therefore eligible for N. M. U. membership and not for
M. M. P. membership. In those instances when a second mate substitutes for a first mate
during vacation or leave, 2 to 3 months a year , the N. M. U. is willing to arrange with
the M. M. P. so as to release jurisdiction over the second mate for that ;period;of time.
7 Cf. Matter of Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation, supra, where , although there was
a contract with the N . M. U. covering unlicensed personnel including mates, ' neither the
Company nor the N. M. U. contended that the contract constituted a bar to a determina-
tion of representatives among the mates.
i I
CAMPBELL TR'ANS'P10RTATI011T COMPANY 183
supervision of the Regional Director for the Sixth Region, acting in
this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and
subject to Article III, Section 10, 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 dur-
ing said -pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tem-
porarily laid off, and including employees in the armed ' forces of the
United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but ex-
cluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged for
cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Missis-
sippi & Ohio River Pilots Association, or, by National Organization
of Masters, Mates & Pilots of America, Harbor 25,$ for the purposes
of collective -bargaining, or by neither.
DIR. GERA1 D D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
8 A request to appear thus on the ballot is hereby granted.