F. L. Roberts & Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 10, 1949

81 N.L.R.B. 67 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of F. L. ROBERTS & COMPANY, INC., EMPLOYER and
CHAUFFEURS, TEAMSTERS & HELPERS LOCAL UNION No. 404, INTER-
NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS , CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUS-
MEN & HELPERS OF AMERICA, AFL, PETITIONER
Case No.1-RC-733.Decided January 10, 1949
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing officer
of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's rulings
made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed.
Upon the basis of the entire record in this case, the Board 1 finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent
employees of the Employer.
3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of certain employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Sec-
tion 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act, for the following
reasons:
The petition states that the unit requested is composed of "truck
drivers on hauling and delivery of petroleum products," excluding
garage mechanics, clerical and supervisory employees, and employees
the Petitioner classifies as "oil-burner service men." At the hearing,
however, the Petitioner indicated that it seeks to represent only the
five employees who drive trailer trucks. The Employer contends that
the proposed unit is inappropriate for purposes of collective bargain-
ing inasmuch as it does not include all employees who drive trucks and
handle petroleum products.
The Employer is engaged in the sale and distribution of petroleum
products and in the incidental installation and servicing of oil
1 Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act , the Board has delegated its
powers in connection with this case to a three -man panel consisting of the undersigned
Board Members. [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Murdock].
81 N. L. R. B., No. 11.
829595-50-vol 81 6 67
68 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
burners.2 It employs 21 individuals and operates 16 trucks 3 and a
garage. All 16 trucks are used in some over-the-road delivery of
petroleum products.' There are 13 employees who drive tank trucks
and 1 mechanic. These employees have a common supervisor, the
same working conditions, and the same employee benefits, and are in
frequent association with each other.
The five employees in the unit as defined by the Petitioner at the
hearing are the only drivers who operate the trailer trucks. These
drivers, however, also drive tank trucks, although they are never re-
quested to service burners. The so-called oil-burner service men
drive tank and other trucks and deliver petroleum products. They
also install and service oil burners, but more than 50 percent of their
working time is devoted to truck driving in hauling and delivering
petroleum products. There is no effective history of bargaining by
the Petitioner for the oil-burner service men. The Petitioner has
apparently confined its organizational activities to the five employees
it now seeks to represent.,' We fail to perceive any persuasive reason
for distinguishing these five truck drivers from the other truck drivers
employed by the Employer-'
Under all the circumstances, we conclude that a unit confined to
trailer truck drivers is too limited in scope and not sufficiently
autonomous to be appropriate for collective bargaining; and we shall
therefore dismiss the petition.7
2 Only 10 percent of the Employer ' s revenue is derived from the installation and servicing
of oil burners
2 The Employer operates 5 trailer , 6 tank, 1 dump , 1 21/2-ton , 1 pick -up, and 2 panel
trucks . The trailer trucks have a special brake and weigh 25 tons when loaded. The
tank trucks weigh 5 tons unloaded . Employees qualify for driving trucks by "try-outs"
and recommendations.
4 The trailer and tank trucks are used for the bulk delivery of fuel oil , gas, and solvents ;
the panel trucks are used for the delivery of cases of motor oil and solvents.
We have held that the arbitrary grouping of employees by a labor organization be-
cause it has limited its organizational activities to such grouping does not justify a finding
of an appropriate unit on that basis. Matter of Hull-Rodell Motors , Inc, 79 N L. R B
1408 To accept such a basis would be to make the extent of organization controlling,
which we may not do. Section 9 (c) (5) of the Act, as amended . Matter of Westbrook
Enterprises, Inc., 79 N. L. R. B. 1032.
6 The difference in the size of the trucks is immaterial . See Matter of Merchants Delivery,
Inc, 72 N. L. It . B. 28 (pick-up and deliver ) , Matter of Thompson Products , Inc., 72
N. L. R. B 64, 67 ( heavy and panel ) ; Matter of Roane -Anderson Co., 77 N. L. R. B 953
( truck and passenger car). The slight difference in and method of pay are immaterial.
See Matter of Merchants Debtery, Inc, supra ; Matter of Chas. W. Bauermeister Co., Inc.,
59 N. L. R B. 1127 . The additional duties of the "oil-burner service men" are not as
important as the fact that they spend a good part of their time driving trucks. Matter
of Standard Oil Co. ( Ohio ), Cleveland Division , 63 N. L. It B . 1248 ( bulk station agents
included with truckers on the basis of part-time driving ). The "farm truck operator"
whom we separated from other truck drivers in Matter of Kallaher and Mee, Inc., 75
N. L. R. B. 802, was a service man who did not deliver any products. That case is
clearly distinguishable from the instant situation in which all the so -called service men
also deliver products
7 See Matter of Nolde Brothers, Inc., 79 N. L. It. B. 1245 ( driver-salesmen unit too
limited ) ; Matter of Roane-Anderson Co , 77 N. L. It. B. 953 ( chauffeurs, too limited) ;
Matter of Pryor Braun Transfer Co., 79 N. L. R. B. 1412 ( household movers, too limited).
F. L. ROBERTS & COMPANY, INC.
ORDER
69
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and the entire
record in the case, the Board hereby orders that the petition for
investigation and certification of representatives of employees of F. L.
Roberts & Company, Inc., filed by Chauffeurs, Teamsters & Helpers
Local Union No. 404, International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America, AFL, be, and it
hereby is, dismissed.8
8 The language of the petition is broad enough to cover the unit we would find ap-
propriate and we could , therefore , direct an election See Matter of Goodall Company,
80 N. L. R. B 562 . We are dismissing this petition , however, because the Petitioner
failed to make substantial showing of interest in the larger unit. Matter of Raybestos
Division of the Raybestos -Manhattan Company, Inc, 74 N. L . It. B. 1321.