Columbus-Celina Coach Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 7, 1946

65 N.L.R.B. 886 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of FRANK A . CLUFF, D/B/A COLUMBUS-CELINA COACH
COMPANY and AMALGAMATED ASSOCIATION OF STREET, ELECTRIC RAIL-
WAY AND MOTOR COACH EMPLOYEES OF AMERICA, AFFILIATED WITH
THE A. F. OF L.
Case No. 9-R-1937.-Decided February 7, 1946
Mr. D. H. Armstrong, of Columbus, Ohio, for the Company.
Mr. Floyd W. Kriesel, of Worthington, Ohio, for the Amalgamated.
Mr. John J. Ryan, of Columbus, Ohio, for the Transport Workers.
Mr. Jack Mantel, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Amalgamated Association of Street,
Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America, affiliated
with the A. F. or L., herein called the Amalgamated, alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of Frank A. Cluff, d/b/a Columbus-Celina Coach Com-
pany of Columbus, Ohio, herein called the Company, the National
Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due
notice before Herbert J. Nester, Trial Examiner. The hearing was
held in Columbus, Ohio, on October 12, 1945. The Company and the
Amalgamated appeared and 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 rul-
ings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are here-
by affirmed. All parties were afforded an opportunity to file briefs
with the Board. On December 6,1945, while the petition of the Amal-
gamated was still pending before the Board, Transport Workers Union
of America, CIO, herein called the Transport Workers, filed a motion
to intervene. In support of its motion, the Transport Workers alleged
that it represented a substantial number of the Company's employees.
None of the parties objected to this motion, which is hereby granted.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
65 N. L . R. B., No. 157.
886
COLUMBUS-CELINA COACH COMPANY
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF TIIE COMPANY
887
Frank A. Cluff, an individual, is the sole owner of a business known
as the Columbus-Celina Coach Company and has his principal office
in Columbus, Ohio.
The Company transports passengers on bus lines operating between
Columbus, Ohio, and Celina, Ohio; between, Columbus, Ohio, and
Grove City, Ohio; and between Columbus, Ohio, and United States
Air Depot located near Lockbourne, Ohio. In addition to the fore-
going bus lines the Company also operates the Arlington Bus Line,
the routes of which are located wholly within the corporate limits of
Columbus, Ohio. The Company leases a portion of its rolling stock
to the Atlantic-Greyhound Bus Corporation which leased equipment
is utilized by the said Atlantic-Greyhound Bus Corporation in its
interstate operations. Materials and equipment purchased by the
Company for the calendar year of 1944 were valued in excess of
$35,000, approximately, 30 percent of which originated from points
outside the State of Ohio. Gross receipts of the Company for the
calendar year of 1944 were in excess of $100,000, over 5 percent of
which represents income emanating from its leases existing with the
Atlantic-Greyhound Bus Corporation.
The Company admits that its business affects commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
IT. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor
Coach Employees of America, affiliated with the A. F. of L., is a labor
organization admitting to membership employees of the Company.
Transport `Yorkers Union of America, affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to mem-
bership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Amalgamated
as the exclusive bargaining representative of its bus drivers until the
Amalgamated has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Field Examiner, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Amalgamated represents a substantial
number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.'
1 The Field Examiner reported that the Amalgamated submitted 15 application -for-mem-
bership cards . The Regional Director reported that the Transport Workers submitted
18 membership application cards. The record indicates that there are approximately 32
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.
The Company objected to the authenticity of the cards presented by the Transport
Workers. We find no merit in the Company's contention . The Board has frequently
888 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LA$OR RELATIONS BOARD
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.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Amalgamated and the Transport Workers agree that all bus
drivers and garage or shop employees of the Company, excluding cleri-
cal employees, the dispatcher, and other supervisory employees, con-
stitute an appropriate unit.2 The Company is in substantial accord
with such unit, but some doubt exists with respect to its position con-
cerning the clerical employees and the dispatcher.
The record indicates that the dispatcher, who has authority to dis-
cipline the Company's bus drivers, is a supervisor within the Board's
customary definition thereof; we shall therefore exclude him.
The Company employs two clerical employees. We are of the opin-
ion that their interests are sufficiently dissimilar to those of bus driv-
ers and mechanics to warrant their exclusion from the unit. Accord-
ingly, we shall exclude them.
We find that all bus drivers and garage or shop employees of the
Company, excluding clerical employees, the dispatcher, and all other
supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, dis-
cipline, 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 the Act.
V. *THE 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 Elec-
tion 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 Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is
hereby
stated that the submission of cards is an administrative expedient adopted by the Board,
to determine for itself whether or not a question concerning representation has arisen.
Matter of Buffalo Arms Corporation, 57 N. L. R. B. 1560
R After the hearing , the Amalgamated requested permission to amend its petition to
conform to the above -described unit. The request is hereby granted.
COLUMBUS- CELINA COACH COMPANY 889
DInEOTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Frank A. Cluff,
d/b/a Columbus-Celina Coach Company of Columbus, Ohio, an elec-
tion 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 Ninth
Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Rela-
tions Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said
Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found appro-
priate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including
employees who did not work during the 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 present them-
selves in person at the polls, but excluding those who have since quit
or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated
prior to the date of the election, to determine whether or not they.
desire to be represented by Amalgamated Association of Street, Elec-
tric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America, affiliated with
the A. F. of L., or by Transport Workers Union of America, CIO, for
the purposes of collective bargaining, or by.neither.