D. P. Welch

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 27, 1944

58 N.L.R.B. 1426 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of D. P. WELCH and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF
PAPER MAKERS, A. F. OF L.
Case No. _ 1-R-2050.Decided October 27, 194141
Mr. Irwin S. Kendall, of Brattleboro, Vt., for the Company.
Mr. Edward M. Moore, of Holyoke, Mass., for the Paper Makers.
Mr. Emile Plaisance, of Manchester, N. H., for the Teamsters.
Mr. Erwin A. Peterson, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Brotherhood of Paper
Makers, A. F. of L., herein called the Paper Makers, alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of D. P. Welch, Hinsdale, New Hampshire, herein called
the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an
appropriate hearing upon due notice before Samuel G. Zack, Trial
Examiner. Said hearing was held at Brattleboro, Vermont, on Sep-
tember 29, 1944. The Company, the Paper Makers, and the Inter-
national Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and
Helpers of America, Local No. 633, affiliated with the A. F. of L., herein
called the Teamsters, 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
D. P. Welch, an individual, is engaged in the business of handling,
hauling, trucking, and delivering freight in and near Hinsdale, New
1 The Team§ters intervened at the hearing but during the course of the hearing it with-
drew and claimed no interest in the matter.
58 N. L. R. B., No. 260.
1426
D. P. WELCH 1427
Hampshire. Welch operates a fleet of eight trucks. All of the trucks
are registered with the Interstate Commerce Commission. His trucks
are engaged in hauling for the Hinsdale Paper Company, Hinsdale,
New Hampshire, and White-Washburne Company, Hinsdale, New
Hampshire. The Hinsdale Paper Company manufactures paper in
rolls weighing from 400 to 700 pounds, and White-Washburne takes
those rolls and converts them into smaller sizes for domestic use, such
as tissue paper and paper towels. Raw materials used in connection
with the manufacture of those products generally are purchased by
the paper companies in various parts of the United States and are
shipped to them by rail to Hinsdale, New Hampshire. Welch's trucks
are engaged in taking raw materials from the freight cars at the depot
to the paper companies. They also, in reverse order, pick up the
finished products and transport them to the freight yards where the
materials are placed in the freight cars for shipment to points outside
the State of New Hampshire. In addition to trucking between the
plants and the depot for the paper companies, Welch hauls materials
by truck over the road, from the Hinsdale Paper Company plant to
Holyoke, Massachusetts, and also picks up raw materials in Holyoke,
Massachusetts , which on the return trip, are delivered to the Hinsdale
Paper Company in Hinsdale , New Hampshire.
During the period from January 1944 to July 1944, Welch hauled
approximately 42,000,000 pounds of raw materials between the depot
and the plants and approximately 6,400,000 pounds over the road from
Hinsdale , New Hampshire, to Holyoke, Massachusetts.
In view of the. foregoing facts, we find that the Company is engaged
in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations
Act.2
I.T. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Paper Makers, affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to
membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING RETRESENTATION
The Paper Makers requested the Company to recognize it as the
statutory bargaining agent for the Company's employees, and the
Company declined to recognize the Paper Makers unless and until it
is certified by the Board.
A statement of Field Examiner introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the Paper Makers represents a substantial number
of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.3
' See Matter of Carrol Transfer Company , 56 N L. R B 935.
The Field Examiner reported that the Paper Makers submitted 9 application-for-
membership cards, 8 of which were dated in August 1944, and 1 was undated, all of
which bore apparently genuine original signatures . The Company 's pay roll for August
19, 1944, contained 10 names.
1428 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR 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 Paper Makers contends that all truck drivers and helpers em-
ployed by D. P. Welch, except for supervisors, constitute an appro-
priate bargaining unit.
The Company contends that the truck drivers and the helpers,
respectively, constitute separate units. The record reveals that the
helpers always work on the trucks along with the truck drivers.
They both load and unload freight cars as well as the trucks. The
drivers and helpers travel together, they report at the same time to
the garage, their hours and working conditions are identical, and they
are both under the same supervision.
We find that all truck drivers and helpers of D. P. Welch, Hins-
dale, New Hampshire, excluding all supervisory employees with au-
thority 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 bar-
gaining 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 Relations Act,
and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of. the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with D. P. Welch, Hins-
dale, New Hampshire, an election 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 First Region, acting in this matter as agent for the
National Labor Relations Board and subject to Article III, Sections
10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations among the employees in the
D. P. WELCH 1429
unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, of this Direction, 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 tem-
porarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the
United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but ex-
cluding those employees who have since quit or have 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 International Brotherhood of Paper Makers, A. F. of L., for the
purposes of collective bargaining.