Citizens Gas Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 30, 1951

92 N.L.R.B. 1743 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

In the Matter Of CITIZENS GAS COMPANY, SUSSEX GAS COMPANY, AND
THE DOVER GAS LIGHT COMPANY, EMPLOYERS and CHAUFFEURS,
WAREHOUSEMEN & HELPERS, LOCAL UNION # 876, INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS , CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN & HELP-
ERS OF AMERICA, A. F. L., PETITIONER
Case No. 5-RC-733.-Decided January 30, 1951
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Sidney J. Barban, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.'
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three- member
panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Murdock and Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 2
1. The Employers are three gas companies operating in Maryland
and Delaware. The stock of all three corporations is held by a holding
company, Chesapeake Utilities Company. Citizens Gas Company,
herein referred to as Citizens, is located at Salisbury, Maryland, where
it manufactures and distributes water gas to domestic and commercial
consumers. It operates as a public utility and is regulated as such by
the Maryland Public Service Commission.. In addition to its water
gas operations, Citizens engages in the sales, installation, and service
of various appliances, such as gas ranges and water heaters. During
the year 1949 Citizens purchased raw materials, pipe, and appliances
s The Employers moved at the hearing to dismiss the petition on grounds that the record
contains no affirmative showing of compliance with the filing requirements of Section 9
(f), (g), and (h) of the Act, either by the Petitioner, by International Brotherhood of
Teamsters, Chauffeurs , Warehousemen & Helpers of America, or by the American Federa-
tion of Labor. This motion was referred to the Board by the hearing officer and is hereby
denied. Compliance with the requirements of Section 9 (f), (g), and ( h) is an adminis-
trative matter not open to collateral attack. Stremel Bros. Manufacturing Company, 89
NLRB 1404. Moreover, the Board is administratively advised that the Petitioner, Its
International , and the A. F. L., are all in compliance with these requirements.
The Employers also moved to dismiss the petition on the grounds that their operations
do not affect commerce and that the requested unit is inappropriate . These motions, which
were also referred to the Board, are dismissed for the reasons given in paragraphs numbered
1 and 4 below.
2 The Employers ' request for oral argument is denied as the Employers ' memorandum
and the record in the case adequately present the positions of the parties.
92 NLRB No. 246. 1743
1744 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
valued in excess of $122,000. Of this amount, approximately 53 per-
cent was shipped directly to Citizens from points outside the State
of Maryland, and 44 percent was shipped indirectly to it from points
outside the State. During the same period Citizens sold gas and
appliances to its consumers valued in excess of $274,000, approximately
$17,000 of which went to consumers outside the State of Maryland.
Sussex Gas Company, herein referred to as Sussex, is located at
Seaford, Delaware, where it purchases, processes, and distributes pro-
pane gas to domestic and commercial consumers. It operates as a
public utility incorporated by the State of Delaware. Like Citizens
it engages in the sale of appliances. During the year 1949 Sussex
purchased propane gas valued in excess of $30,000, all of which was
shipped indirectly to it from points outside the State of Delaware,
and appliances valued at approximately $2,000 which were shipped
directly to it from points' outside the State. During the same period
its -receipts from gas and appliance sales amounted to approximately
$87,500, all of which represented'. sales made within the State of
.Delaware.
"The Dover Gas Light Company, herein referred to as Dover, is
located at Dover, Delaware, where it operates a business similar to
that of Sussex. Its consumers are also domestic and commercial users.
Like Sussex it is a public utility incorporated by the State of Dela-
ware. During the year 1949 it purchased gas valued at approximately
$52,000, all of which was shipped' indirectly to it from points out-
side the State of Delaware, and appliances valued at approximately
$11,000, all of which were shipped directly to it from points outside
the State.
From the 'facts given above, we find, contrary to the contention
made by the Employers, that all three companies are engaged in
commerce within the meaning of. the Act.' Therefore, in accordance
with recently established Board policy to take jurisdiction over public
utilities in order to effectuate the policies of the Act, we shall assert
jurisdiction in this case.4
2. The labor organization involved claims.to represent employees
'of the Employers.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employers within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner seeks a single unit consisting of all production
and maintenance employees of all three Employers, including service
8 Cf. Plymouth Electric Cooperative Association, 92 NLRB 1183 ; Cherokee County
Rural Electric Cooperative Association, 92 NLRB 1181.
4 W. C. King d/b/a Local Transit Lines, 91 NLRB 623.
'CITIZENS GAS COMPANY 1745
department employees, assistant service employees, assistant service
and meter employees, laborers, gas makers, and firemen, but excluding
office clerical, employees, professional employees, watchmen, guards,
and supervisors as defined in the Act. • The Employers contend that
a three-plant unit is inappropriate.5 Although each of the Employers
is a subsidiary of the same holding company, and each has officers and
directors in common with the others, it appears that, each is run as a
separate entity. Each has its own books, payroll, offices, and work-
men's compensation policies. There is no common direction of the
labor policies of the three companies. The hiring and discharging of
employees is handled by the local supervisory personnel of each com-
pany. There is no permanent interchange of employees between the
three companies, although in emergencies employees are transferred
from one of the Employers to another. However, at these times, the
Employer in distress may also obtain the services of companies with
which it is not affiliated, reimbursing all the companies who aid it in
the same manner without regard to whether or not they are affiliates.
In addition there is no physical -connection between any of the Em-
ployers' plants and, with a slight exception,° none furnishes gas to
any of the others. In view of the complete separation of the Em-
ployers' operations, as detailed above, and the presumptive propriety
of an employer unit,7 in the absence of any bargaining history on a
three-plant basis, we find that the requested three-plant unit is in-
appropriate.
In addition to their objection to a three-plant unit, the Employers
object to the composition of the requested unit on the ground that
it would combine skilled and unskilled employees. The Employers
contend that service, assistant service, and assistant service and meter
employees are skilled, and 'that laborers, gas makers, and firemen are
unskilled employees. At Citizens and Dover the Employers would
establish units which would separate skilled and unskilled employees."
The service, assistant service, and assistant service and meter em-
ployees, whom the Employers contend are skilled workers, are en-
gaged in installing and adjusting appliances, adjusting complaints of
poor service, changing and repairing meters, reading meters, changing
fuel lines to accommodate appliances, and other work of a mechanical
The Petitioner has shown a sufficient interest to warrant the holding of a bargaining
election in each of the three plants, and it has expressed a willingness to participate in
such elections should the Board decide that the three -plant unit is inappropriate.
9 Citizens supplies gas to 14 customers who live in the adjoining Sussex area.
4 Hamilton aas Corporation, 72 NLRB 269.
8 Citizens employs 13 workers, approximately half of whom are engaged in what it
contends is skilled labor ; Sussex employs 3 persons all of whom it would consider in the
skilled category ; Dover employs 5 persons , 4 of whom would fall into the skilled category
and 1 of whom would be considered unskilled.
1746 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
nature. Before an assistant service or assistant service and meterman
can become a finished serviceman he must have approximately 3
years' experience. However, no special education is required to be a
serviceman and, admittedly, Citizens has promoted men from its un-
skilled labor supply to the service department. The laborers perform
only. manual labor and need "no training, and the gas makers -and fire-
men require 1 or 2 weeks' training. Although the service department
employees do not work at the plant, they are responsible to the same
ultimate supervisor at Citizens and the same immediate supervisor
at Dover. Both groups of employees enjoy the same employment
privileges and benefits, such as vacations and sick leave. It appears,
therefore, that despite some differences in skills and working condi-
tions, the interests of the two groups of employees are similar. Ac-
cordingly, we shall deny the Employers' contention that they be rep-
resented in separate units.
We find that the following groups of employees constitute units
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act :
(a) All production and maintenance employees of Citizens at its
Salisbury, Maryland, plant, including service department employees,
assistant service employees, assistant service and meter employees,
laborers, gas makers, and firemen, but excluding office clerical em-
ployees, professional employees, watchmen, guards, and supervisors
as defined in the Act.
(b) All production and maintenance employees of Sussex at its
Seaford, Delaware, plant, including service department employees,
assistant service, and assistant service and meter employees, but ex-
cluding office clerical employees, professional employees, watchmen,
guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
(c) All production and maintenance employees of Dover at its
Dover, Delaware, plant, including service department employees,
assistant service employees, assistant service and meter employees, and
the laborer, but excluding office clerical employees, professional em-
ployees, watchmen, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this
volume.]