Gastonia Transit Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 10, 1950

91 N.L.R.B. 894 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of GASTONIA TRANSIT COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
BROTHERHOOD OF RAILROAD . TRAINMEN, PETITIONER
Case No. 34-RC-207.-Decided October 10, 1950
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Miles J. McCormick, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.'
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-member
panel [Members Houston, Reynolds, and Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is a North Carolina corporation engaged in the
transportation of passengers by bus in the city of Gastonia, North
Carolina.2 During the first 6 months of 1950, the Employer had a total
revenue of $136,841.44. During the same period, it bought two busses
at a cost of $17,600 from the General Motors Corporation at Pontiac,
Michigan .3. The tires used on the busses are leased by the Employer
from the U. S. Rubber Company at 7.29 cents per mile. The busses
travel approximately 65,000 miles a month. All tires are shipped to
the Employer from the U. S. Rubber Company's warehouse in Char-
lotte, North Carolina. All of the gas and oil used in the busses is
bought locally.4
The Employer operates 13 busses over 10 routes.5 Two routes are
wholly within the city limits, and 8 go a short distance outside the city
limits. During the first 6 months of 1950, 501,001 cash and token
i The hearing officer referred to the Board the Employer ' s motion to dismiss the petition
for lack of jurisdiction . For the reasons stated herein , this motion is hereby denied.
2 The Employer holds an exclusive franchise from the city of Gastonia to operate within
the city limits , and a franchise from the State of North Carolina to operate in Gaston
County, within a short distance of the city limits.
3 During 1949 the Employer purchased two busses . All of the Employer ' s busses are
bought outside the State of North Carolina.
4 Approximately 95 percent of the Employer 's supplies is purchased within the State of
North Carolina . During the first 6 months of 1950, the Employer purchased approximately
73,000 gallons of gasoline.
5 The longest distance of any of the routes from the city square , which is the terminus of
all routes, is 4.6 miles. The busses operate from 5 a. m. until midnight every day except
Sunday, when they start at 6 a. m.
91 NLRB No. 139.
894
GASTONIA TRANSIT COMPANY 895
passengers were carried on the busses, and 285,787 passengers were
carried by transfer. The Employer's busses go within 1 block of the
Southern Railroad station. They also stop at either end of the street
in which is located the interstate bus terminal, used by Greyhound
Lines and other bus companies. The busses pass by several mills which
are engaged in commerce.6 The Employer changes one of its usually
travelled routes, for 3 trips in the morning and 3 in the afternoon, in
order to deliver and pick up passengers at one of these mills.
Upon the foregoing facts, we find that the Employer is engaged in
commerce within the meaning of the Act. In accordance with our
recently announced policy in Local Transit Lines,7 we find that it would
effectuate the policies of the Act to assert jurisdiction in this case.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c)
(1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner seeks a unit of all of the Employer's bus drivers,
including part-time and summer relief drivers. The Employer con-
tends that the maintenance employees who work in its garage should
also be included in the unit.
The Employer employs 30 regular bus drivers, l part-time bus driver,
and 2 summer relief drivers. It also employs 3 bus mechanics and
servicemen, 4 helpers, and 1 clean-up man in its garage. The mechan-
ics, like the bus drivers, are hourly paid employees but are paid approx-
imately 10 cents an hour less than the drivers. The record does not
show that there is any interchange of work between the bus drivers and
the maintenance employees who work in the garage.
In numerous cases the Board has held that either a unit of drivers
and maintenance employees, or a unit limited to drivers may be ap-
propriate for collective bargaining purposes." There has been no
past bargaining history with respect to the Employer's operations.
Because of the absence of any interchange of duties or close-working
relationship between the bus drivers and the maintenance employees,
we believe that the bus drivers may constitute a separate appropriate
unit.
6 These are the Gastonia Combed Yarn Corporation, Gastonia Weaving Company, and
Cocker Machine & Foundry Company, over which the Board has asserted jurisdiction.
4 Local Transit Lines, 91 NLRB 623.
8 Tennessee Coa,ch Company, 88 NLRB 253; Central Bus Lines, Inc., 88 NLRB 1223 ;
Continental Bus System, Inc., 84 NLRB 670; Gate City Transit Lines, Inc., 81 NLRB 79.
896 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL, LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We find that all of the Employer 's regular bus drivers, including
part-time and summer relief drivers,s but excluding garage mechanics
and helpers, office and clerical employees, and supervisors, constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within
the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
9 The parties agree that the part-time and summer relief drivers should be included in
the unit.