Drexel Enterprises, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 16, 1969

180 N.L.R.B. 475 (N.L.R.B. 1969)

DREXEL ENTERPRISES, INC.
Drexel Enterprises, Inc. and Southern Council of
Lumber and Plywood Workers, United
Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of
America, AFL-CIO, Petitioner . Case I I-RC-3013
December 16, 1969
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF
ELECTION
BY MEMBERS FANNING, BROWN, AND ZAGORIA
Upon a petition filed under Section 9 (c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a
hearing was held before Hearing Officer Guy F.
Driver , Jr. Following the hearing and pursuant to
Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations and Statement of
Procedure , Series 8, as amended , and by direction of
the Regional Director for Region 11, this case was
transferred to the National Labor Relations Board
for decision.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
powers in connection with this case to a
three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's
rulings made at the hearing and finds that they are
free from prejudicial error . They are hereby
affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case the Board
finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the Act, and it will effectuate the
purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
2. The labor organization involved claims to
represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists
concerning the representation of employees of the
Employer within the meaning of Sections 9(c)(1)
and 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
The Employer operates approximately 24
furniture manufacturing plants within the State of
North Carolina . The Petitioner seeks a multiplant
unit, as amended at the hearing, consisting of all
production and maintenance employees and yard
employees including local truckdrivers and
installation men employed by Drexel Enterprises,
Inc., in its furniture plants in the State of North
Carolina, exclusive of all office clerical employees,
technical employees , professional employees , guards
and supervisors as defined in the Act. The Employer
contends that the multiplant unit sought is
inappropriate ' on the grounds that the plants are
geographically separated , there is little interchange
of employees between the plants , there is no
integration of operations , and the plants are nearly
autonomous . The Employer also contends that the
over-the-road truckdrivers are improperly excluded
from the proposed unit.
475
The factors cited by the Employer in support of
its argument against the proposed unit tend to
establish that single-plant units would be
appropriate . However, the fact that one type of unit
may be appropriate does not preclude a finding that
a different unit including all or some of the same
employees is also appropriate .' Here , the following
factors tend to establish that a multiplant unit is
appropriate : All of the plants are included within the
same State ; they are all under the same corporate
direction ; all of the fringe benefits are uniform' and
established at corporate headquarters ; and all billing
and order placement is done at corporate
headquarters .' After careful consideration of these
factors and of the entire record we conclude that a
multiplant unit is appropriate.'
There remains for consideration the unit
placement of the 12 over- the-road drivers. The
Petitioner seeks to exclude these employees from the
unit while the Employer contends that they should
be included . These drivers haul directly from the
plant to customers who are located in 25 States.
They spend very little of their time doing production
work and have little contact with the remaining
employees in the unit . They are paid by the mile
instead of on the hourly basis used to compensate
the production and maintenance employees. Under
these circumstances we find that the over-the-road
truckdrivers should be excluded from the proposed
unit.'
Accordingly , we find that the following employees
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9(b) of the Act:
All production and maintenance employees and
yard employees including local truckdrivers and
installation men employed by Drexel Enterprises,
Inc., in its furniture plants in the State of North
'The Employer also contends that it has a collective -bargaining
agreement with the Furniture Workers Division of the United Brotherhood
of Carpenters and Joiners covering its plant No 10 located in Black
Mountain , North Carolina, and that this agreement constitutes a bar to an
election at the plant . This plant was acquired from the Morgan
Manufacturing Co , Inc., on October 4, 1969 . At that time the Employer
assumed the contract between Morgan and the Furniture Workers Division
of the Carpenters covering the production and maintenance employees at
this plant . The contract is for a 3-year period expiring June 30, 1971 We
find that this contract constitutes a bar to an election in this plant Deluxe
Metal Furniture Company, 121 NLRB 995. Accordingly , our further
consideration does not include this plant.
'In Drexel Furniture Company. 116 NLRB 1434 , we found that one of
the plants involved herein constituted an appropriate single -plant unit as
against Employer 's contention in that case that only a multiplant unit was
appropriate In doing so, we stated that , although certain factors favored
the Employer 's position , they were not so compelling as to require our
holding that no other unit is appropriate.
'The only exception is the plant in Asheville acquired in August 1969
The Employer has, pending study, maintained the fringe benefits existing
at the time of acquisition.
'With the exception of the Heritage and Southern Desk plants.
'The fact that the plants possess substantial operational autonomy and
that there is little employee interchange among them does not in view of
the other relevant factors supporting the Petitioner 's requested unit require
a finding that the multiplant unit is inappropriate
'E. II. Koester Bakery Co., Inc. 136 NLRB 1006, 1008-1013.
180 NLRB No. 67
476 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Carolina, exclusive of the employees of Plant No.
10, Black Mountain , North Carolina, and
exclusive of all office clerical employees,
over-the-road truckdrivers, technical employees,
professional employees , guards and supervisors as
defined in the Act.
[Direction of Election' omitted from publication.]
'In order to assure that all eligible voters may have the opportunity to
be informed of the issues in the exercise of their statutory right to vote, all
parties to the election should have access to a list of voters and their
addresses which may be used to communicate with them Excelsior
Underwear Inc. 156 NLRB 1236, N L R. B v Wyman -Gordon Company,
394 U S 759 Accordingly , it is hereby directed that an election eligibility
list, containing the names and addresses of all the eligible voters, must be
filed by the Employer with the Regional Director for Region 11 within 7
days of the date of this Decision and Direction of Election The Regional
Director shall make the list available to all parties to the election No
extension of time to file this list shall be granted by the Regional Director
except in extraordinary circumstances Failure to comply with this
requirement shall be grounds for setting aside the election whenever proper
objections are filed.