Hulburd, Warren & ChandlerDownload PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsJun 16, 194350 N.L.R.B. 675 (N.L.R.B. 1943) Copy Citation In the Matter of HuLBURD , WARREN & CHANDLER and COMMERCIAL TELEGRAPHERS ' UNION, WESTERN BROKER DIVISION , A. F. OF L. Case No. R-5411.-Decided June 16, 1943 Gardner, Carton c Douglas , by Mr. William J. Nealon, of Chicago, I11.; for the Company. Mr. W. L . Allen, of Washington , D. C., and Mr. John B. Alcorn, of Detroit, Mich ., for the Union. Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by Commercial Telegraphers' Union, Western Broker Division, herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Hulburd, Warren & Chandler, Chicago, Illinois, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Russell Packard, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Chicago, Illinois, on May 24, 1943.' The Company and the Union appeared and participated in the hearing and 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. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Hulburd, Warren & Chandler is a partnership with its principal place of business at Chicago, Illinois. The Company maintains offices at Chicago, Battle Creek, Bay City, Kalamazoo, Flint, Lansing, Grand Rapids,, Madison, Kankakee, Kentland, and Toledo, where it is en= 50 N. L R. B., No. 90. 675 676' DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR REiLATIO\S BOARD gaged in buying and selling commodities and securities. The Com- pany is a member of the Chicago Board of Trade, New York Produce Exchange, Toledo Board of Trade, Winnipeg Grain Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, New York Curb Exchange, Detroit Stock Ex- change, Chicago Stock Exchange, and Chicago Mercantile. Exchange. During 1942 the Company's brokerage of grain futures was 59,000,000 bushels, 48 percent of which involved interstate transactions. During the same period the-Company's transactions in `securities exceeded 750,000 shares, a substantial portion of which resulted in interstate delivery of the certificates of stock. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. III. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Commercial Telegraphers' Union, Western Broker Division, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION - On April 5, 1943, the Union, claiming to represent a majority of the telegraphers employed by the Company, asked the Company for recognition as exclusive collective bargaining representative of such employees. The Company refused this request until such, time as the'' Union was certified by the Board. A statement of the Regional Director, introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicates that the Union 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 Union urges that all telegraphers at all offices of the Company constitute a single appropriate unit. The Company contends that the' telegraphers at each of the 11 named offices constitute separate units. The Company employs telegraphers at each of its offices.'' "All of the telegraphers involved transmit and receive market intelligence, orders, price quotations, market change flashes,, and trade news over private wires of the Company. The work of the telegraphers at each of the offices is similar. In support of its contention, the Company points out that the telegraphers at its various offices are paid on different wage scales, that the offices are widely separated geographically, and that the telegraphers are not iliterchanged between offices. The Union's organi-. ' The Regional Dii ector reported that the Union presented 12, membership application cards bearing apparently genuine signatures of persons whose names appear on the Com- pany's pay ioll of May 3, 1943 There are 15 employees in the appropriate unit. HULBURD, WARREN & CHANDLER 677 zation has progressed on a system-wide basis. The Company's ac- counting is organized on a system-wide basis, the pay rolls for its. various offices are made up at Chicago, and all personnel records are kept at that office. There is no history of collective bargaining either on an individual office or on a system-wide basis. Under all the cir-- cumstances we find that asystem-wide unit of telegraphers is appro-- priate. ;The Company has an employee at its Chicago office classified by it as wire' chief. The Company and the Union agreed'at the hearing that the wire chief should be included in the unit. The record indicates, that the wire chief spends most of his time performing clerical and supervisory duties. He hires telegraphers for the Chicago office and some of the branch offices, has the authority to discharge telegraphers and supervises all the employees in the wire room at Chicago. We find that the wire chief is a supervisory employee, and we shall exclude him from the unit. We find that all telegraphers at all offices of the Company, excluding the wire chief at Chicago, constitute a single 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 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. The Company employs a person at its Chicago office designated by it as a relief operator. The relief operator has worked for the Com- pany 2 hours each day during the past 6 years. The Union requests that he be deemed eligible to vote in the election, while the Company contends that inasmuch as the relief operator has regular employment in another job, he should be deemed ineligible to vote. There is no indication that the relief operator works on any different basis than full-time employees as to duties or other conditions of employment. Employees who do sufficient work to give them an interest in the con- ditions of employment also have a sufficient interest in the outcome to entitle them to vote in an election. We believe this principle to be no less applicable in the case of regular part-time employees who also happen to have regular employment elsewhere, for this circumstance, alone, can neither destroy nor reduce the interest which such employees would otherwise have to participate in the selection of a bargaining representative? We, therefore, find that the relief operator employed Matter of Wagner Foldiy Box Corporation , 49 N L R B 346 536105-44-vol 50-4 678 - ,DEOISiFom OFF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD by the Company at' its Chicago office should be eligible to vote in the election. - 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 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 Hulburd, Warren & Chandler, Chicago, Illinois, an election by secret ballot shall be con- ducted 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 Thirteenth-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 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 pre- sent themselves in person at the polls, but excluding any who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine'whether or not they desire to be represented by Commercial Telegraphers' Union, Western Broker Division, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining. MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election. I t 4 0 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation