E. B. Hall & Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 23, 1943

49 N.L.R.B. 63 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of E. B. HALL & Co. and OIL WORKERS INTERNATIONAL
UNION, LOCAL 128, CIO
Case No. R-5145.-Decided April 03, 1943
Mr. Paul R. Watkins, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Company.
Messrs. C. P. Myers and John N. Starke, of Long Beach, Calif., for
the Union.
Mr. Philip L. Wilson, Jr., of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Committee.
Mr. David V. Easton, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by Oil Workers International Union, Local
128, CIO, herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting
coninierce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
E. B. Hall & Co., Los Angeles, California, herein called the Company,
the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice before Maurice J. Nicoson, Trial Examiner.
Said hearing was held at Los Angeles, California, on April 5, 1943.
The Company, the Union, and E. B. Hall & Co. Employees Coopera-
tive Committee, appeared,' participated, and were afforded full op-
portunity 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 2 the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
E. B. Hall & Co., a California corporation with its principal office
and place of business at Los Angeles, is engaged in the management
of oil properties within the Wilmington-Los Angeles field for the
Union Pacific Railroad Company, herein called the Railroad. The
Company operates under a contract with the Railroad, and in such
1 Joint Council of Teamsters was duly notified of this proceeding but did not appear.
2 Subsequent to the hearing , the parties entered into a stipulation providing for the cor-
rection of errors in the transcript . The stipulation is hereby made a part of the record:
and the transcript is ordered corrected in accordance therewith.
49 N. L. R. B ., No. 11.
63
,64 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
operation drills oil wells, maintains them, produces and ships crude oil
and petroleum. During the calendar year 1942 the Company pro-
duced and shipped to the Richfield Oil Corporation on behalf of the
Railroad 10,200,000 barrels of crude oil. During the same period the
Richfield Oil Corporation sold 22,500,000 barrels of petroleum, of
which approximately 52 percent represents sales to points outside the
State of California. The Richfield Oil Corporation and the Railroad
have an arrangement whereby Richfield -Oil Corporation purchases
oil produced by the Company for the Railroad and in turn Richfield
Oil Corporation sells fuel oil to the Railroad. The Company operates
and maintains all of the oil properties of the Railroad in the Wilming-
ton-Los Angeles field as an independent contractor. We are con-
cerned herein with the Company's operations in the Wilmington field.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Oil Workers International Union, Local 128, is a labor organization
affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to
membership employees of the Company.
E. B. Hall & Co. Employees Cooperative Committee is an unaffiliated
labor organization admitting to membership employees of the
Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to recognize the Union as the exclusive'
bargaining representative of the employees here involved, and con-
tends that a contract between it and the Committee, dated February
1, 1943, and expiring February 1, 1944, constitutes a bar to a present
determination of representatives. Although this contract was dated
.February 1, 1943, it was actually signed on March 10, 1943. The peti-
tion in the instant case was filed by the Union on March 1, 1943, and
both the Company and the Committee had notice thereof. Under
these circumstances, we find that the contract does not constitute a
bar to a present determination of representatives.
-A statement of the Field Examiner, introduced into evidence at
the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number
of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate .3
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. -
3 The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 114 application cards hearing
the apparently genuine original signatures of persons listed upon the Company 's pay roll
of March 30, 1943: This pay roll contained 176 employees within the appropriate unit.
The Committee submitted no evidence of membership but relies upon its contract
with the Company, dated February 1, 1943.
E. B. HALL & CO.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE 'UNIT
'65
In accordance with a stipulation of the parties, we find that all pro-
duction and maintenance employees of the Company employed at the
Wilmington field, including truck drivers, janitors, carpenters, clerical
workers, PBX operators, and gas testers in the laboratory, but ex-
cluding those engaged in a supervisory capacity with the right to
hire and discharge, petroleum engineers, and draftsmen, constitute a
unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. TIIE 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.
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 E. B. Hall & Co.,
Los Angeles; California, 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 Twenty-first 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 Di-
rection, 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 those employees
who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether
they desire to be represented by Oil Workers International Union,
Local 128, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
or by E. B. Hall & Co. Employees Cooperative Committee, for the
purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.