English Freight Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 27, 1944

58 N.L.R.B. 1387 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of ENGLISH FREIGHT COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND
HELPERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL No. 47, A. F. L.
Case No . 16-R-1012.-Decided October 27, 1944
Messrs. Carl B. Calloway and Clarence L. Calloway, of Dallas, Tex.,
for the Company.
Mr. TV. F. Derden , of Fort Worth , Tex., for the Union.
Mr. Thomas A. Ricci, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Brotherhood of Team-
sters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local No.
47, A. F. L., herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
English Freight Company, Dallas, Texas, herein called the Company,
the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice before Glenn L. Moller, Trial Examiner.
Said hearing was held at Fort Worth, Texas, on September 19, 1944.
The Company and the Union 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
English Freight Company is a Texas corporation having its prin-
cipal office and place of business in Dallas, Texas. Pursuant to au-
58 N. L. R. B., No. 252.
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1388 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
thorization of the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Company
is engaged in transporting general commodities in the States of Texas
and Oklahoma, and in each of those States maintains a number
of terminals. This proceeding solely concerns certain of the Com-
pany's employees at its Fort Worth, Texas terminal. During the
12-month period preceding the hearing herein, the Company's gross
income was in excess of $1,200,000, of which income approximately
50 percent was derived from shipments by the Company from points
within one State to points in other States, or from freight which
was delivered to the Company by other carriers which brought said
goods across State lines.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
IL THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse-
men and Helpers of America, Local No. 47, affiliated with the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor, 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 Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of certain of the Company's em-
ployees until the Union has been certified by the Board in an.appro-
priate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of
,employees in the unit herinafter found appropriate?
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union seeks a unit consisting of all pick-up and delivery truck
drivers and dockmen employed at the Company's Fort Worth, Texas
terminal, but excluding clerical employees, the solicitor, the terminal
agent, and all "over-the-road" truck drivers running in and out of
that terminal. The Company declined to state what it believes to be
I The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted four application cards, and that
there are five employees in the alleged appropriate unit.
ENGLISH FREIGHT COMPANY 1389
an appropriate unit, but contends that the unit as sought by the
Union is inappropriate.2
The pick-up and delivery truck drivers employed at the Fort Worth
terminal drive small trucks for deliveries to consignees in the Fort
Worth area and pick up new shipments which are then accumulated at-
the terminal for long distance hauls in the large "over-the-road"
trucks. They also solicit business for the Company in the Fort
Worth area and a substantial part of their earnings consists of com-
missions from such new business. The dockmen work at the terminal,
loading and unloading both the city pick-up trucks and the larger
long distance trucks. Pick-up and delivery truck drivers and dock-
men are paid on an hourly basis, and, except or an occasional long
distance run by a pick-up driver to facilitate the handling of an
unusually large single consignment, the terminal employees do not
leave the Fort Worth area. Their supervisor is the terminal agent.
The only remaining employees stationed at the Fort Worth terminal
are a solicitor and two clerical workers. -
Clearly distinguished from these terminal employees with respect
to function and position, are the "over-the-road" or long distance
truck drivers who come in and out of the Fort Worth terminal while
driving from terminal to terminal. Some of these employees never deal
directly with the Company's customers. They are paid on a mileage
basis and their working conditions regarding hours, skill, and licenses
are governed by Interstate Commerce Commission regulations. They
are stationed at Dallas, Texas, and work under the company superin-
tendent. Although pick-up and delivery truck drivers and "over-the-
road" drivers sometimes assist one another in loading their respective
trucks, their divergent interests are further shown by their respective
bargaining units at the Company's Tulsa, Oklahoma terminal, where
the Company employs both categories of employees and has a sepa-
rate collective bargaining contract for each of the units, although
with the same union.
In Matter of English Freight Company, 58 N. L. R. B. 67, we
found appropriate a unit consisting of all the Company's "over-the-
line" drivers, except those represented by the petitioning union there-
in at the Company's Tulsa, Oklahoma terminal, and rejected the
2The Company urges that the finding in Matter of Central Freight Lines, Incorporated,
and Central Forwardenq, Inc., 58 N L It B 263, wherein "over-the-line" drivers and
terminal employees ( including city pick-up drivers ) were included in a single appropriate
unit , precludes the establishment of a separate unit for terminal employees in the instant
proceeding That case is to be distinguished from this proceeding in that there the petition-
ing union had organized the Company ' s entire system and the parties were in accord with
respect to joining "over -the-line" drivers and city pick -up drivers in a single unit In that
case the disagreement concerned the inclusion of the employees of two separate companies
within a single unit.
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1390 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Company's contention that pick-up' and delivery drivers could not
properly be separated from "over-the-line" drivers. The record in
the instant proceeding does not indicate that the Union has attempted
to organize any pick-up and delivery drivers in the Company's other
terminals. We are of the-opinion that the employees in the unit
sought herein are a clearly defined, homogeneous and functionally
distinct group which, under the circumstances, can effectively be rep-
resented as a separate unit for collective bargaining purposes.3.
Accordingly, we find that all pick-up and delivery truck drivers
and dockmen employed at the Company's Fort Worth, Texas termi-
nal, but excluding clerical employees, the solicitor, the terminal agent,
all "over-the-road" truck drivers running in and out of that terminal,
and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote,
discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em-
ployees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appro-
priate 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
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with English Freight
Company, Dallas, Texas, an election by secret ballot shall be con-
ducted 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 Sixteenth 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 unit 4ound appropriate in Section IV, above,
who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preced-
3 See Matter of East Texas Motor Fi eight Ltnes, 55 N. L R B 967.
ENGLISH FREIGHT COMPANY 1391
ing 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 themselves in person at the polls,
but excluding those employees 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 repre-
sented by International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs,
Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local No. 47, A. F. L., for
the purposes of collective bargaining.
Mu. JOHN M. HOUSTON took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Direction of Election.