Arkansas-Missouri Power Co., 1600 (1965)

DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION

Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing was held before Hearing Officer 152 NLRB No. 155.

ARKANSAS- MISSOURI POWER COMPANY 1601

Robert H. Kubie. The Hearing Officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Briefs were filed by both the Employer and Petitioner.

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel [Members Fanning, Brown, and Jenkins].

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.

3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation of certain employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c) (1) and 2(6) and (7) of the Act.

4. The Employer is an Arkansas corporation engaged in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electric power and natural gas in Arkansas and Missouri. For operating purposes, the Company has divided its properties into two parts, its northern and southern interconnected systems. There is no physical connection between the two systems. The southern interconnected system is divided into districts A and B, district A encompassing the system's Arkansas operations, and district B, the Missouri operations.

The power sources for the southern interconnected system are the Jim Hill steam plant at Campbell, Missouri, a standby hydroelectric plant at Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, and two standby diesel generating plants at Blytheville, Arkansas. These generating plants are wholly within the southern interconnected system. Power required by the Company not generated at one of these plants is purchased from other power companies in the area at points of connection with the southern system.

The Petitioner seeks to represent the production, construction, and maintenance employees at the main power generating plant known as the Jim Hill plant. Alternatively, the Petitioner seeks an expanded unit of all production, construction, and maintenance employees at that plant and the generating plants at Mammoth Spring, Blytheville, and Piedmont, Missouri.' The Company contends that neither the primary unit nor the alternative unit requested is appropriate, and that the only appropriate unit is one consisting of all construction, maintenance, and production employees of the Company's southern interconnected system.

' The Piedmont plant currently has no employees and is staffed only in special situa.

tions. It is located in and provides power for the northern interconnected system 7 3 9-7 3 0-6 6-v o f 15 2-10 2

There are 159 employees in the southern interconnected system engaged in the production of electrical energy and in the maintenance and construction of the Company's electric facilities within the...