American Bakeries Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 27, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 399 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of AMERICAN BAKERIES COMPANY, EMPLOYER and IN-
TERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WARE-
HOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, GENERAL DRIVERS, WARE-
IIOUSEMEN AND HELPERS, LOCAL UNION No. 258, A. F. of L.,
PETITIONER
Case No. 10-R-2.14.9/..-Decided June 27, 1947
Messrs. William K. Meadow and G. Grant , both of Atlanta, Ga.,
for the Employer.
Mr. Phil B. Wells , of Orlando , Fla., for the Petitioner.
Mr . Jerome A. Reiner, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, the National Labor Relations Board on
March 19, 1947, conducted a prehearing election among employees of
the Employer in the alleged appropriate unit, to determine whether
or not they desired to be represented by the Petitioner for the purposes
of collective bargaining.
At the close of the election the parties were furnished a Tally of
Ballots. The Tally shows that of the approximately 27 eligible voters,
11 cast valid ballots, of which 8 were for and 3 against the Petitioner.
There were 12 challenged ballots and 1 void ballot.
Thereafter, a hearing was held at Orlando, Florida, on April 28,
1947, before Oscar Geltman, 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 the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
American Bakeries Company is a Florida corporation with 19
bakeries located in the States of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Alabama, where
74 N. L. R. B., No. 70. 399
755420-48-vol. 74-27
400 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
it is engaged in the baking, sale, and distribution of baked goods at
wholesale . The principal office of the Employer is located in Atlanta,
Georgia. During the year 1946 it purchased raw products valued in
excess of $100,000 for use in its Orlando, Florida, plant, of which-75
percent was obtained from points outside the State of Florida. Dur-
ing the same period it sold finished products from this plant valued
in excess of $500,000, all of which were shipped to points within the
State of Florida.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner seeks a unit of 11 city driver salesmen and 1 relief
driver who are employed in the Employer's Orlando, Florida, plant.
The Employer contends that the appropriate unit should also include
15 driver-salesmen who operate outside the city of Orlando.
All the city and outside drivers sell and deliver the baked goods
to grocery stores and restaurants located on their routes, and make
collections therefor. The city drivers work within the city of Or-
lando; the so-called outside drivers cover an area 80 miles north of
Orlando, 75 miles south of Orlando, and 70 miles to the east and 60
miles to the west of Orlando. The city drivers load their trucks at
the Orlando plant, while the outside drivers obtain their products at
warehouses maintained and stocked by the Employer in their respec-
tive territories ; in all other respects the duties and working conditions
of all drivers are similar. Each driver is assigned a route and is re-
quired to complete deliveries and collections on that route. They do
not have definite working hours and are not required to punch a clock.
They all receive the same salary and same rate of commission. All
receive their salary on Saturday, the city drivers being paid by the
AMERICAN BAKERIES COMPANY 401
company cashier at the Orlando plant, while the outside drivers deduct
their salaries from the Saturday receipts. The commissions of the
outside drivers are paid on Monday when they receive salary receipts
from the Employer authorizing them to deduct the amounts due them
from that day's receipts. All the drivers turn in daily reports; the
city drivers turn in their reports in person at the Orlando plant while
the outside drivers mail them in or send them in by company truck.
The employment qualifications of all driver salesmen are the same.
The relief driver whom the Petitioner seeks to include in the unit
relieves both city drivers and outside drivers.
All driver salesmen are under the ultimate supervision of the plant
manager in Orlando who has the authority to hire and discharge them.
Under the plant manager are 3 sales supervisors,' who individually
supervise both city drivers and outside drivers. When necessary, a
sales supervisor will substitute for a driver by making the actual
deliveries and collections on any route, whether or not the particular
route is under his individual supervision. Three or four times a year
a meeting of all drivers of the Employer is held in Orlando where
they confer with the plant manager and sales supervisors and discuss
common problems and methods of promoting business. The trucks
used by the drivers belong to and are maintained by the Employer.
Repairs on trucks driven by city drivers are made at the Employer's
garage in Orlando. Minor repairs on trucks of outside drivers are
made by mechanics in the local areas of the outside drivers and the Em-
ployer pays the bills therefor. All major repairs on trucks of out-
side drivers are made at Orlando. The Employer's labor and indus-
trial relations policies are formulated and controlled by its main office
in Atlanta, Georgia, and are applied indiscriminately to city and
outside drivers throughout the entire 19 plants that make up its
organization.
In view of the foregoing we are of the opinion that the interests of
the city drivers and the outside drivers are closely allied.2 The similar
supervision, duties, and wages, hours, and working conditions of all
the driver salesmen of the Employer clearly indicate that they com-
prise a functionally coherent, homogeneous group having common
interests for collective bargaining purposes. Undet these circum-
stances, we find that there is no reasonable basis for confining a unit
' The parties stipulated , and we find, that the sales supervisors are supervisory employees
within the Board ' s customary definition of the term.
2 The record indicates that the Board has certified units of driver salesmen at the
Employer 's plants at Atlanta , Georgia , and Gadsden , Alabama , and that the Employer has
entered into collective bargaining contracts with the bargaining agents of these employees
In both instances these certifications followed elections held pursuant to consent election
agreements in which both city drivers and outside drivers were included in the respective
units.
402 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
to the city drivers.3 Accordingly, we shall include all city drivers and
outside drivers of the Employer's Orlando plant in one unit 4
We find that all driver salesmen of the Employer, including city
drivers, outside drivers, and the relief driver, but excluding the sales
supervisors and all other supervisory employees with authority to
hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the
status of employees or effectively recommend such action, constitute a
unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of th i e Act.
v. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The 12 ballots cast by the outside drivers were challenged by the
Petitioner and were therefore not counted. In accordance with our
unit determination above, we shall overrule the challenges to their
ballots.
DIRECTION
IT IS HEREBY DIRECTED that the Regional Director for the Tenth
Region open and count the ballots of the outside drivers, and there-
after prepare and serve on the parties in this proceeding a Supple-
mental Tally of Ballots together with a report embodying therein his
findings and recommendations.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction.
, See hatter of Nash Motors I)tvision of Nash Kelvinator Sales Corporation ( Phtiladel-
phia Zone ), 68 N. L. It. B. 651, 653
The Petitioner, in support of its contention for a smaller unit , asserted that it has no
jurisdiction over the outside drivers. While such circumstance is one of the factors con-
sidered by the Board in making a unit determination , it is nevertheless not a conclusive
one where , as here, there are more cogent countervailing circumstances.
4 Cf. Matter of Wilson and Company, Inc, 64 N. L. R . B 1124 , 1126-1129.