Allen's, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 15, 1958

120 N.L.R.B. 1021 (N.L.R.B. 1958)

ALLEN'S, INC. 1021
of America, AFL-CIO, said labor organization not having been
certified as the representative of the employees of Roy Lumber
Co. under the provisions of Section 9 of the Act.
UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS
AND JOINERS OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO,
Labor Organization.
Dated---------------- By------------------------------------_
(Representative ) ( Title)
CARPENTER'S DISTRICT COUNCIL OF
SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, AFI,
CIO,
Labor Organization.
Dated---------------- By-------------------------------------
(Representative ) (Title)
Dated---------------- ---------------------------------------
(RICHARD P . GRIFFIN)
Dated----------------
Dated----------------
Dated----------------
(FRANK BARRY)
(WALTER J . LAFRANCIS)
(HARRY P. HOGAN)
Allen's, Inc.' and International Brotherhood of Teamsters , Chauf-
feurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America , Chauffeurs,
Teamsters; and Helpers , Local No. 795, Petitioner .2 Case No.
17-RC-2591. May 16, 1958
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 William J. Cassidy, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. Allen's moves the dismissal of the petition herein on the ground
that its operations do not meet the Board's jurisdictional standards.
The Petitioner, which seeks to represent Allen's truckdrivers, con-
tends that this company together with nine others I located in Wichita,
1 The Employer 's name, herein called Allen 's, appears as amended at the hearing.
The name of the Petitioner appears as amended at the hearing.
Airway Concrete, Inc. ; Pre-Mixed Concrete, Inc. ; Quality Concrete, Inc. ; Speedy-Mix
Concrete, Inc. ; R. & A. Maintenance Corp. ; Superior Sand Company, Inc. ; Ritchie Bros.
Construction Company ; Asphalt Paving, Inc.; and Commercial Asphalt, Inc., herein called,
respectively, Airway, Pre-Mixed, Quality, Speedy-Mix, R. & A., Superior, Ritchie Bros.,
Asphalt, and Commercial.
Ritchie Bros., a partnership, is the only company that is not a corporation.
120 NLRB No. 137.
1022 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Kansas, which are operated and owned principally by three brothers,
H. D., E. D., and J. P. Ritchie, constitute a single Employer that
meets the Board's indirect outflow test. Alternatively, the Petitioner
contends that Allen's sales alone result in sufficient indirect outflow to
warrant assertion of jurisdiction by the Board.
Allen's, which is engaged in the business of selling and delivering
ready-mixed concrete, purchases the output of Airway, Pre-Mixed,
Quality, and Speedy-Mix.4 The latter companies as well as Com-
mercial, a producer of asphalt, Asphalt, a company devoted to small
paving projects, and Ritchie Bros., a street paving company, secure
their_ sand from' Superior, -a sand and gravel mining company.
Ritchie, Bros. depends upon Asphalt and ,Allen's respectively for its
supply of asphalt and concrete. Finally, R. & A., a service company,
does the major repair work on the vehicles, machinery,- and equipment
of the foregoing Ritchie enterprises.
The record shows that H. D., E. D., and J. P. Ritchie,-except in the
case of Commercial, are equal and exclusive owners of the 10 Ritchie
-enterprises.' Although H. D. Ritchie testified that E. D. and J. P.
Ritchie together actively manage and operate Commercial, Asphalt,
and Ritchie Bros., and that H. D. Ritchie is responsible for Allen's
and the other six companies, the latter admitted that he has an equal
voice with his brothers whom he sees fairly regularly in determining
the policies to be carried out by Ritchie Bros. The companies have
their own trucks and equipment, file separate income-tax returns, keep
-separate production, payroll, social-security, and unemployment com-
pensation records, and, except for Allen's occasional renting of trucks
and personnel to Ritchie Bros.,-there is no transfer or interchange of
personnel among the companies. However, it is significant that the
companies, all of which use the same auditor and legal firm, grant
their office employees the same sick-leave privileges, and extend to
their employees the same holidays, similar safety and Christmas bonus
plans, and coverage by common hospitalization and Workmen's Com-
pensation policies. In view of the foregoing, particularly the integra-
tion of the Ritchie enterprises, their common family ownership, the
regular consultations of the Ritchie brothers, and the benefits -common
to all employees, we find that the 10 Ritchie companies constitute a
single Employer for the purposes of determining jurisdiction.6
The record shows that the Employer sold products valued at more
than $100,000 to companies each of which has an annual direct out-
flow in excess of $50,000. As the Employer meets the Board's indirect
outflow standard, we find that it is engaged in interstate commerce
and that it will effectuate the policies of the Act to assert jurisdiction
4 However , Speedy-Mix was not in operation at the time of the hearing , January 1958.
'Four other members of the family are minority stockholders in Commercial
e See Empan e Milling Company , 117 NLRB 1782 ; Sanitary Mattress Company, at al , 109
NLRB 1010.
COOPER SUPPLY COMPANY 1023
in this proceeding.' Accordingly, we hereby deny' the Employer's
.motion to dismiss the instant petition.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain
-employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce, exists concerning the represen-
tation of certain employees of the Employer within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. -
4. The parties, which agree on -a unit of truckdrivers, are in dispute
only as to the unit placement of the tire serviceman, Vernon Hale.
-Hale has frequent contact with the truckdrivers in the course of his
tire repair and maintenance work. He receives the same hourly rate
.of pay, attends the same safety meetings, and is under the same super-
vision as the truckdrivers. As his interests are allied to those of the
truckdrivers and he would otherwise be unrepresented, we shall include
the tire serviceman in the unit. Accordingly, we find that the follow-
ing employees of the Employer constitute a unit appropriate- for the
-purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9
(b) of the Act: All truckdrivers employed by Allen's, Inc., Wichita,
Kansas, including the tire serviceman, but excluding professional
employees, all other employees, guards, and supervisors as defined
in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
MEMBERS BEAN and FANNING took no part in the consideration of
,the above Decision and Direction of Election.
' Jonesboro Gratin Drying Cooperative, 110 NLRB 481, 483-484.
Cooper Supply Company, Petitioner -and Tulsa General Drivers,
Warehousemen , and Helpers , Local No. 523 , International Broth-
erhood of Teamsters , Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of
America. Case No. 16-RM-155. May 15,1958
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND. CERTIFICATION OF
RESULTS OF ELECTION
Pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election issued by the
National Labor Relations Board on December 19,. 1957 (not pub-
lished), an election by secret ballot was conducted on January 14,
1958, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for
the Sixteenth Region among the employees in the unit found appro-
priate by the Board. At the close of the election the parties were
furnished a tally of ballots which showed that there were approxi-
mately 10 eligible employees and that 11 ballots were cast, of which
120 NLRB No. 139.