Phillips Petroleum Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 20, 1951

97 N.L.R.B. 67 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

PHILLIPS PETROLEUM COMPANY 67
Accordingly, we shall direct that a self-determination election be
held in a voting group composed of timekeepers and other plant cleri-
cal employees at the Employer's Fremont, Ohio, plant, excluding all
other employees, guards, professional employees,' and supervisors '
as defined in the Act. If a majority of the employees voting cast
ballots for the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their
desire to be a part of the production and maintenance unit, and the
Petitioner may bargain for them as part of the existing unit.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
0In substantial accord with the agreement of the parties , we shall exclude as professional
employees the three registered nurses who only occasionally perform clerical duties
7 The parties agree , and we find , that the two expediters should be excluded as supervisors.
PHILLIPS PETROLEUM COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPER-
ATING ENGINEERS, AFL, PETITIONER. Case No. 16-RCi-$11. No-
vember 20, 1951
Decision and Direction of Election
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Willis C. Darby, Jr.,
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 [Members Houston, Murdock, and Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.'
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
' The Employer is a Delaware corporation with offices and plants in more than 25 States
within the United States and, in 1950 , delivered more than $1,000,000 worth of petroleum
products into interstate commerce and received a like amount of goods through interstate
commerce. The Employer's Bartlesville , Oklahoma , operations , here involved, include an
apartment hotel built and owned by the Employer. The Employer does not contest that it is
engaged in interstate commerce but contends that jurisdiction should not be asserted over
the employees of the apartment hotel The housing accommodations at the latter location,
the record indicates , were supplied by the Employer for the prime purpose of satisfying
housing needs for employees and guests of the company . While the Board, as a matter of
policy, does not exercise jurisdiction over hotels normally, the apartment hotel involved
herein is clearly an integral part of the Employer' s operations at the Bartlesville location
Accordingly, we shall assume jurisdiction over the Employer 's operations including the
apartment hotel Cf. Metropolstan Life Insurance Company, Parklabrea Resident Com-
munity, 93 NLRB 381.
97 NLRB No. 16.
68 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner requests that the Board find appropriate a unit
of personnel engaged in operation and maintenance of a number of
buildings owned or leased by the Employer at its Bartlesville, Okla-
homa, operations. The Employer opposes the inclusion of certain
employees of its apartment hotel in the unit and contends these em-
ployees should constitute a separate bargaining group. The Employer
and the Petitioner also disagree as to the alleged supervisory status
of janitor foremen and combination foremen whom the Petitioner
would include within the proposed unit.
Twelve buildings at Bartlesville are maintained and operated by
the building division of the Employer's treasury department? The
unit sought by Petitioner conforms to the boundaries of this adminis-
trative setup. The Employer, however, contends that employees
at the Phillips Apartment Hotel, although within the building divi-
sion, actually are a part of a separate business with divergent interests
and conditions of employment. There are approximately 310 em-
ployees in the building division, of whom about 35 work at the apart-
ment hotel. The latter building was built in 1950, the record indi-
cates, to make housing available for guests and employees of the
company. The hotel is operated by a manager who, while reporting
to the head of the building division, exercises a degree of autonomy
in matters dealing solely with the hotel. Hiring of hotel personnel
is done by the hotel manager, although clerical paper work is done
by the personnel department of the building division. On the other
hand, the hotel employees share the same general personnel benefits
and policies as other employees of the building division and other
departments of the Employer's plant. Seniority of employees is
determined by initial date of employment notwithstanding'any sub-
sequent transfer to another department. Despite certain differences
in working hours,-3 the employees at the hotel whom the Petitioner
wishes to include in the unit apparently perform the same general
tasks as those employees in the same or related classifications in other
parts of the building division. Permanent transfers have occurred
between the two groups and on emergency occasions, temporary as-
2 buildings , which are used for office or other headquarters activity, consist of the
Adams Building , Phillips Building , Bank Building , Thurman Building, Safety Building,
research laboratory , carpenter shop, power plant, machine shop, airport, mailing room, and
the Phillips Apartment Hotel. The airport is municipally owned but is operated by the
Employer. The building division only supplies certain janitor services at that location
8 Cleaning and maintenance of office buildings is generally done at night , while the same
services at the hotel are generally performed during the day. The hotel is also open on
week ends and holidays at which time the remaining buildings are not. On some of these
occasions , however, only a skeleton crew is on duty at the hotel.
PHILLIPS PETROLEUM COMPANY 69
signments of other building division personnel to hotel duties have
been made. The record does not show any appreciable difference in
working conditions and interests between hotel personnel eligible for
inclusion in the unit and employees elsewhere in the proposed group-
ing.4 On the entire record the Board finds that the apartment hotel
employees share common interests and skills with other employees in
the building division and we shall include them in the unit herein-
after found appropriate.
There remains the question of the supervisory status of 5 employees
classified as janitor foremen and 3 employees in the classification of
combination foreman. The Employer asserts these employees are
supervisors and should be excluded from the unit while the Petitioner
requests their inclusion. The janitor foremen 5 are in charge of clean-
ing crews of from 6 to 23 employees for whose work they are respon-
sible. These foremen, while doing some manual work themselves,
have authority to discharge for cause subject to appeal to higher au-
thority, and may assign overtime and authorize absences from work.
The combination foremen are assigned to the power plant where they
work as control operators for 3 days of each week and take the place
of operations foremen for the remaining 2 days. As foremen, they
supervise the work of the control operators and helpers in the opera-
tion of the power plant. The combination foremen may discharge
employees for cause subject to independent investigation by their
superiors and may assign overtime, adjust grievances, and authorize
absences . Both the janitor foremen and the combination foremen re-
sponsibly direct employees under their supervision. On the entire
record we find that these individuals are supervisors as defined in
the amended Act and we shall exclude the janitor foremen and the
combination foremen from the unit hereinafter found appropriate e
Upon the entire record the Board finds that all employees of the
building division of the treasury department of the Employer engaged
in the operation and maintenance of the Adams Building, Phillips
Building, Bank Building, Thurman Building, Safety Building, re-
search laboratory, carpenter shop, power plant, machine shop, air-
port, mailing room, and the Phillips Apartment Hotel, all located at
Bartlesville, Oklahoma, including the lead men on the night cleaning
4 The maintenance and operation personnel at the apartment hotel consist of a house-
keeper, two housemen , six maids , an operations foreman or chief engineer , two control
operators , and three helpers.
5 Two other employees also have the title of janitor foreman. One of these is in charge
of the night cleaning crew of the research laboratory and the other is over the light cleaning
crew. The parties agree and the record shows that these employees are lead men who do
not have any of the indicia of supervisory authority. Accordingly they will be included
in the unit.
9 See Phillips Petroleum Company, 88 NLRB 925. The fact that the combination fore-
men do not serve in a supervisory capacity for the entire workweek does not destroy their
status as supervisors . See The Texas Company, Salem Gasoline Plant , 85 NLRB 1211.
986209-52-vol 97-6
70 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
crew of the research laboratory and the light cleaning craw, but ex-
eluding mail register, file, stored records, and all other clerks, recep-
tionists, mail sorters, typists, night service board operator, steno-
grapher, secretary, personnel director, auditors, telephone operators,
and all other office and clerical employees, cigar stand attendants,
watchmen, professional employees, confidential employees, mainte-
nance foremen, operations foremen, day service foremen, carpenter
shop foremen, warehouse foremen, elevator operator foremen, electri-
cal supervisor, shipping supervisor, office supervisor, mail section
supervisor, the housekeeper, assistant manager, and manager at the
hotel, janitor foremen, combination foremen, and all other super-
visors as defined in the amended Act, constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9
(b) of the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.] -
HOLLYWOOD MAXWELL Co. and INTERNATIONAL LADIES' GARMENT
WORKERS' UNION, AFL, PETITIONER. Case No. 17-RC-1122.
November 20,1951
Decision and Direction of Election
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Harry Irwig, 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 Reynolds and Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the represen-
tation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate unit :
The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit of production and shipping
department employees at the Employer's Topeka, Kansas, plant, ex-
cluding maintenance men, designers, office and clerical employees,
guards, watchmen, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
97 NLRB No. 13.