Airline Bus Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 31, 1945

64 N.L.R.B. 620 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter o f AIRLINE Bus COMPANY and BROTHERHOOD OF RAIL-
ROAD TItAINMEN
Case No. 20-R-1394.-Decided October 31, 1945
Mr. William J. Hanrahan, of San Francisco, Calif., for the
Company.
Mr. J. M. Merritt, of Oakland, Calif., for the Brotherhood.
Messrs. William A. Northway and R. E. Hassel'inan, of San Fran-
cisco, Calif., for the AFL.
Mr. Nathan Saks, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen,
herein called the Brotherhood, alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Air-
line Bus Company, San Francisco, California, herein called the
Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an ap-
propriate hearing upon due notice before Robert E. Tillman, Trial
Examiner. The hearing was held at San Francisco, California, on
July 10, 1945. The Company, the Brotherhood, and Almagated As-
sociation of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of
America, Division 1225, A. F. L., herein called the AFL, appeared and
participated. 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. All
parties were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Airline Bus Company, a California corporation with its principal
office in San Francisco, California, is a common carrier engaged in
64 N. L . R. B., No. 104.
620
AIRLINE BUS COMPANY 621
carrying passengers for hire. It functions under a certificate of con-
venience and necessity from the California Railroad Commission, to
which body it submits annual reports; it is also registered with the
Interstate Commerce Commission, but submits no reports to that
Commission. The Company operates its busses between San Fran-
cisco and Los Angeles, California, and in connection therewith main-
tains 3 northbound and 3 southbound passenger schedules daily. By
agreement with 3 other bus lines, viz, All American Bus Lines, Inc.,
Pacific Greyhound Lines, and Dollar Lines, the Company honors for
passage over its lines tickets presented by passengers arriving from,
or bound for, points outside the State of California on these other
lines. During the year 1944, the Company carried 68,762 passengers,
of whom only 756, or 1 percent of the total number of passengers
carried, were traveling on an interstate journey. During the month
of May 1945, a typical month, the Company carried 5,500 passengers,
of whom 83, or 11/2 percent of the total number of passengers carried,
were initiating or completing an interstate journey.'
The AFL, relying upon the small volume of the Company's inter-
state business, contends that the Company is not engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the Act, and that the Board is, therefore,
without jurisdiction. While we do not agree with the AFL's position
that the Company's operations are beyond the purview of the Act,2 we
are, nevertheless, of the opinion that, in view of the insubstantial
nature of the Company's interstate business, the policies of the Act
will not be effectuated by the assumption of jurisdiction in this case.
We shall, therefore, dismiss the petition.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, and pursuant to
Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, the National
Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the petition for investiga-
tion and certification of representatives of employees of Airline Bus
Company, San Francisco, California, filed by Brotherhood of Railroad
Trainmen, be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Order.
' There is no evidence as to the dollar value of the Company ' s business.
2 See Matter of Turner Transportation Company & Shawnee City Lines , 60 N. L. R B
87, and Matter of Peerless Stages, Inc., 62 N L R . B 1514. See also N. L R. B v
Suburban Lumber Company, 121 F. ( 2d) 829 , 832 (C. C A. 3), cert den 314 U. S 693,
in which the Court adopts the rule enunciated in N. L. It. B v. Fainblatt , 306 U. S 601.
607, that the ... "Act [does not] depend on any particular volume of commerce affected
more than that to which courts would apply the maxim de minimis," and holds that "De
minimis in the law has always been taken to mean trifles-matter of few dollars or less."