Mountain States Power Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 7, 1944

58 N.L.R.B. 109 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter Of MOUNTAIN STATES POWER COMPANY and INTERNA-
TIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL UNION No. 659,
A. F. of L.
Case No. 19-R-1274.-Decided September 7,1944
Messrs. J. Ford and L. C. Sipe, of Albany, Oreg., for the Company.
Mr. C. W. Crary , of Medford , Oreg., for the I. B. E. W.
Mr. C. W. Owen , of Portland , Oreg., for the Engineers.
Mr. Louis Cokin , of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers, Local Union No. 659, A. F. of L., herein called the I. B. E. W.,
alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning
the representation of employees of Mountain States Power Company,
Albany, Oregon, herein called the Company, the National Labor Re-
lations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before Joseph D. Holmes, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held
at Albany, Oregon, on August 10, 1944.. At the commencement of the
hearing the Trial Examiner granted a motion of International Union
of Operating Engineers, Local No. 87, A. F. of L., herein called the
Engineers, to intervene. The Company, the I. B. E. W., and the
Engineers appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportu-
nity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to intro-
duce evidence bearing on the issues. During the course of the hearing
counsel for the Engineers moved to dismiss the petition. The Trial
Examiner reserved ruling thereon. The motion is hereby denied.
The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded
opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
58 N. L. R. B., No. 20.
0
109
110 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Mountain States Power Company is a Delaware corporation fur-
nishing electric, gas, steam heat, telephone, and water services in the
States of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. We
are here concerned with its hydroelectric generating plant at Albany,
Oregon, which is in the Company's Willamette Division. The Com-
pany is engaged in furnishing- only electric and water service in its
Willamette Division. During 1943, the Albany hydroelectric gen-
erating plant received 39.5 percent of the Company's entire total
water revenue, and produced 1.28 percent of the Company's total
output of electric energy. The Company's power lines cross the
Washington-Idaho boundary line, and most of the power distributed
by the Company in the State of Idaho is imported from the State of
Washington. The Company's telephone" lines connect with the Bell
System and project long distance calls to all parts of the United
States. Almost the entire output of the Company's Willamette
Division is used by companies engaged in war work.
We find that the Company is engaged in commerce 'within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. TIIE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union No.
659, and International Union of Operating Engineers, Local No. 87,
are labor organizations affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company..
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
During December 1943, the I. B. E. W. requested the Company to
recognize it as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of
the employees involved herein. The Company ' refused this request
on the ground that the Engineers also claimed to represent such
employees.
The Engineers contends that the petition should be dismissed be-
cause it and the I. B. E. W. are both affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor. In the past the Board has, as a matter of
policy, refused to permit rival unions affiliated with the same parent
organization to resort to the administrative processes of the Act for
settlement of their representation disputes were adequate and appro-'
priate machinery was available to them under the procedures of the-
MOUNTAIN STATES POWER COMPANY 11l
parent organization.' In the instant case the record indicates that the
dispute between the I. B. E. W. and the Engineers is of long standing
and universal in scope. Thus it is apparent that effective resolution
of the existing conflict cannot be had without resort to the adminis-
trative processes of the Act .2
A statement of the Regional Director, introduced into evidence
at the hearing, indicates that the I. B. E. W. and the Engineers each
represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter
found to be appropriate.'
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 Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The I. B. E. W. and the Company contend that the operators and
dispatchers at the Albany, Oregon, hydroelectric generating plant of
the Company, excluding supervisory employees, constitute an appro-
priate bargaining unit. The only controversy with respect to the unit
concerns dispatchers. The Engineers would exclude them from the
unit.
The dispatchers are classified by the Company as power plant fore-
men and load dispatchers. They have charge of the dispatching of
power loads throughout the Company-s entire system and give orders
to various plants and to plants supplying purchased energy. It
further appears that they have the authority to effectively recommend
the hire and discharge of any employee at the Albany, Oregon, hydro-
electric generating plant. We find that the dispatchers are super-
visory employees, and as such, we shall exclude them from the unit.
We find that all operators at the Albany, Oregon, hydroelectric gen-
erating plant of the Company, excluding dispatchers and any other
supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge,
discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or
effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by means of an election by secret ballot among
1 Matter of Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, 16 N. L. R. B. 902.
2 Matter o f W. H. Kistler Stationery Company, 51 N. L R B 978.
S The Regional Director reported that the I. B E. W. and the Engineers presented 3 and
4 authorization cards respectively, bearing the names of persons who appear on the Com-
pany's pay roll for the period ending February 3, 1944. There are approximately 5
employees In the appropriate unit. .
112 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the employees 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.
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 Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Mountain States
Power Company , Albany, Oregon, 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 Nineteenth Region, acting in this matter
as- agent for the Natonal Labor Relations Board, and subject 'to
Article III, Sections 10 and 11, 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 during
said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily
laid off , and including employees in the armed forces of the United
States who present themselves in person at the polls , but excluding
any who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not
been rehired or reinstatedprior to the date of the election , to determine
whether they desire to be represented by International Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers, Local Union No. 659, A. F. of L., or by
International Union of Operating Engineers , Local No. 87 , A. F. of
L., for the purposes of collective bargining , or by neither.