E. T. Gresham Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 26, 1949

85 N.L.R.B. 891 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of E. T. GRESHAM COMPANY, INC., EMPLOYER and
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS, LOCAL 147, A. F.
OF L., PETITIONER
Case No. 5-RC-298.Decided August 2 6., 1949
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Harold G. Bier-
mann, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hear-
ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Gray].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
The Employer is a Virginia corporation engaged at Norfolk, Vir-
ginia, in the business of industrial building construction, hauling and
rigging, and the rental of trucks and cranes. During the calendar
year 1948, the Employer's total revenue was $652,927.37, of which
$403,974.86 was derived from building construction, $142,987.80 from
the operation and rental of the Employer's cranes, and $105,964.71
from the operation and rental of the Employer's trucks.' All of the
Employer's building construction is performed within the State of
Virginia, and in 1948 included such projects as construction on a dairy
plant, a Sunday School, a warehouse for a truck line, and an oyster
shucking shed for a fish company.2 Except in emergencies, the Em-
ployer's trucks and cranes are used only within Virginia .3 Approx-
imately one-half of 1 percent of the Employer's truck and crane rev-
enue was derived from the out-of-State use of such equipment. From
1 The employer estimated that approximately 10 percent of the crane revenue and 12 to 15
percent of the truck revenue represented work on the Employer ' s own building construction
projects.
' The record does not reflect whether or not the dairy plant, the truck line, or the fish
company are engaged in commerce.
" The Employer 's cranes have been utilized on local construction work for certain oil
companies which are concededly engaged in commerce . They have also been utilized on
local construction work for various manufacturing concerns ; the record does not reflect
whether or not such manufacturing concerns are engaged in commerce.
85 N. L. R. B., No. 152.
891
892 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
1 to 2 percent of the Employer's total revenue was derived from work
performed for the United States Government.
During the same period, the Employer purchased supplies and
equipment 4 valued at $217,559.28. With the exception of purchases
valued at $19,828.97, which were made from manufacturers or dis-
tributors located outside of Virginia, all such purchases were made
from manufacturers or distributors located within the State of Vir-
ginia. Of the purchases made within Virginia, purchases valued at
$16,937.88 were made from Virginia distributors of interstate enter-
prises, or from Virginia enterprises over which the Board has pre-
viously asserted jurisdiction. In addition, cable, tires, and parts for
the Employer's cranes and trucks, valued at $5,519.29, although pur-
chased within Virginia, were manufactured outside of Virginia.
The Employer's president conceded that additional supplies and
equipment purchased from Virginia distributors may have been manu-
factured outside of Virginia. He was, however, unable to estimate,
and the record does not disclose, what proportion of such purchases
were manufactured outside of Virginia.5
The Employer asserts that it is not engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the Act. Although we do not find that the Employer's
operations are wholly unrelated to commerce, we believe that they are
essentially local in nature, and that the assertion of jurisdiction in this
case would not effectuate the policies of the Act 6 We shall, accord-
ingly, dismiss the petition.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition herein be, and it hereby is,
dismissed.
,'The supplies and equipment purchased were primarily for use in the Employer's con-
struction operations.
6 The Employer ' s 8 cranes , 14 trucks , 5 welding machines , and 4 compressors , which cost
the Employer in excess of $170,000 , were purchased from distributors located in Virginia,
but were manufactured outside of Virginia . It does not appear that any of such equip-
ment has been purchased since 1947 ; nor does the record reflect the Employer ' s plans with
respect to the future purchases of such equipment . The out-of -State origin of the Employer's
capital equipment does not, despite the substantial value of such equipment , transform an
essentially local operation into an interstate enterprise . See Matter of Richter Transfer
Company, 80 N. L. R. B . 1246 ( Member Reynolds dissenting).
6 Matter of Building and Construction Trades Council of Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania, and
Vicinity, et al., 85 N. L. R. B. 241 ; Matter of William Rush Swoape d/b/a Swoape Truck
and Crane Service, 83 N. L. It. B. 671 ; Matter of Harvey M. Hanawalt, d/b/a Hanawalt
Bros ., 80 N. L. R. B. 1302; Matter of Richter Transfer Company, 80 N. L. It, B. 1246.