Harvey Lumber & Supply Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 17, 1957

118 N.L.R.B. 737 (N.L.R.B. 1957)

HARVEY LUMBER & SUPPLY co; 737
their names did not :appear on the eligibility list and that they are
not bona fide employees but were added to the Employer's payroll to
affect the results of the election. The Regional Director's investiga-
tion shows that Paul Brojde and Robert D. Furbee were hired by
the Employer as sales representatives in designated territories on
January 21 and January 2, 1957, respectively, and have remained on
the Employer's payroll thereafter. Their names did not appear on
an eligibility list submitted in November 1956 before their hire, but
their names did appear on eligibility lists submitted after the Decision
and. Direction of Election. Furbee, with permission from the Em-
ployer, did not sell for the 3 weeks in March ending on the 9th, 16th,
and 23d, and was not paid for this period. However, he continued
to receive sample merchandise, instructions for sales planning, and
received pay for the week ending March 30, 1957, and for all weeks.
thereafter. Brojde and Furbee appear to have the same duties and
conditions of employment. as other sales representatives in the unit;
The investigation revealed no indication that Brojde and Furbee are
not bona fide employees. We shall overrule the challenges to the
ballots of Brojde and Furbee. In view of Petitioner's failure to ad-
vance any affirmative evidence to indicate that the Regional Director's
findings are contrary to fact, we shall deny its request for a hearing
in this matter .2
As we have overruled the challenges to the 2 ballots and as the
outcome of the election depends on the consideration of these ballots,
we adopt the Regional Director's recommendation that these 2 ballots
be opened and counted.
[The Board directed" that the Regional Director for the Second
Region shall open and count the ballots of Paul Brojde and Robert
D: Furbee, and serve upon the parties a supplemental tally of ballots.]
' See ' American Cable and Radio Corporation, 107 NLRB 1090, 1092.
Harvey Lumber & Supply Co.i and General Truck Drivers, Chauf-
feurs, Warehousemen . and Helpers, Local #270, AFL-CIO, Pe-
titioner. Case No. 15-RC-1546. July 17,1957
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 William ' w Fox,
1}e4rxng.. offiGer. ,. , The. hearing ofl.cer 's, rulings .. made; at the,liearung ;ire
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
1 The SaSie of the Employer appears ae corrected at the hearing:
118 NLRB No. 85.
450553-5 8-vol. 118-48
-738 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 [Chairman Leedom and Members Murdock and Rodgers].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of the employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. (A). Scope of the unit: The Petitioner seeks a unit of employ-
ees 2 at the Employer's operation located on the Harvey Canal in
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, and referred to herein as the Harvey
operation. The Employer maintains that the only appropriate unit
is one including employees both at Harvey and at its operation located
on Bayou Boeuf in.Assumption Parish, near Morgan City, Louisiana,
referred to herein as the Morgan City operation. There is no
evidence of any bargaining history at either location.
The Employer is engaged in selling lumber, piling, chemicals,
heavy hardware, and drilling muds 3 to oil drilling concerns. It main-
tains its principal .office, and.place of business at the Harvey location,
and a recently established concentration point at Morgan City, about
85 miles from Harvey. There is a general manager in charge of the
Employer's entire operation. In addition, there is an assistant
manager and a yard superintendent at Harvey, and a manager and a
yard foreman at Morgan City. Both locations handle the same
products for the same type of customer, but the Harvey operation
handles a ' far 'greater volume than ' Morgan' City. The ' general
manager does most of the purchasing of materials, which are generally
shipped directly to each yard, although hardware occasionally comes
in by rail to Harvey, and the Morgan City trucks then pick up the
Morgan City allotment at Harvey.
The sales department operates out of Harvey,4 but the salesmen
relay the orders directly to whichever yard is closer to the customer
and can more. conveniently make the delivery. Orders for the
Employer's products cannot be anticipated, so stocks are frequently
transferred from one yard to another as the need arises. Trucks of
different sizes and other types of equipment are assigned to each
operation. Truckdrivers are employed at each yard, and some of
2 The unit as described in the petition includes "All employees and maintenance em-
ployees of the Employer at its plant located on Peters Road in Harvey , Louisiana, including
all Truck Drivers," and excludes "All other employees , office clerical employees , professional
employees , guards and watchmen and supervisors as defined in the Act as amended."
Ground barite, clays, and bentonite are classified as mud.
* The manager at the Morgan operation does some sales work also.
HARVEY LUMBER & SUPPLY CO. 739
them are regularly assigned to specific trucks. Material may be
carried from one yard to the other on whichever trucks are available,
and the crew at each yard helps the drivers load and unload.
The general manager determines personnel policies and wages for
both operations. Employees at both yards are, for the most part., in
the same categories, have the same working conditions, and receive
essentially the same wage rates. All the accounting work for both
yards is done at Harvey, including preparation of the payroll. The
yard foreman at Morgan City keeps a time book, which is mailed to
Harvey, and the Harvey office sends paychecks to Morgan City for
distribution.
The general manager flies to Morgan City in a company airplane for
a.few hours at least once a week. A mechanic who is an employee. of
the Morgan City yard comes to Harvey when needed to make minor
repairs on automotive equipment; major work is sent out. There is
no other interchange of personnel except for infrequent emergency
situations, when truckdrivers or yard employees may be temporarily
assigned from one yard to the other. There have been no transfers of
supervisory personnel, and no permanent transfers of employees from
one yard to the other. Employees are hired and discharged at each
yard, and live adjacent to the yard at which they work.
Although some of the foregoing factors indicate that a two-operation
unit would be appropriate, they are not so compelling as to require our
holding that only such a unit is appropriate. Other factors described
above support a finding that a unit of Harvey employees, as requested
by the Petitioner, is also appropriate. In view of those considerations,
including the fact that there is no history of collective bargaining in a
2-operati6 unit; that no union seeks such a unit; that the 2 operations
are geographically separated by a substantial distance; that, there, are
no transfers and virtually no interchange of personnel between the 2
operations ; that there is local supervision of the operations, including
hiring and discharge of employees; and that the Harvey operation is
completely autonomous, we conclude that a unit confined to the Harvey
operation is appropriate.'
(B). Composition of the unit: The Harvey operation has 5 trailer
trucks, 3 pickup trucks, and a stake body truck. It employs,5, truck-
drivers regularly assigned to the trailer trucks, 3 crane operators, 1
s Jocie Motor Lines, Inc., 112 NLRB 1201; Kearjott Company , Inc., 112 NLRB 979;
Bonded Freight ways , Inc., 103 NLRB 407.
The cases on which the Employer relies in its brief are clearly distinguishable, For
example, in Sidney Blumenthal & Company, Inc., 112 NLRB 579, the operations of the 2
plants involved were completely integrated, all the products of one plant being shipped to
the other plant for finishing , and then sold to customers by the finishing plant; and in
Southern Truck Line, 107 NLRB 615, the truckdrivers worked regularly out of either
of the 2 terminals involved,.andthe maintenance employees , who were included in the unit,
frequently interchanged between the .2 terminals.
740 DECISIONS. OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
forklift driver, 1 maintenance man,6 and 9 yard laborers, who are also
referred to as mud handlers. The truckdrivers sometimes work in the
yard, the laborers sometimes drive trucks, and the truckdrivers and
laborers sometimes operate the forklift. There was no dispute, and
we find, that all the above-mentioned categories should be included
in the unit.
The Employer maintains that a shipping and receiving clerk and
an inventory clerk should also be included. The Petitioner took no
position regarding these employees. As there is uncontradicted testi-
mony that these clerks spend a substantial amount of time in the yard
in the course of their work, and as their duties bring them constantly
into contact with the employees in the unit, we shall include the
shipping and receiving clerk and the inventory clerk in the unit as
plant clerical employees'
We find that the following employees of the Employer 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 at the Employer's Harvey, Louisiana, operation, including
all truckdrivers, crane operators, forklift drivers, yard laborers, the
shipping and receiving clerk, and the inventory clerk, but excluding all
office clerical employees, professional employees; guards and watchmen,
and all supervisors as defined in the Act.
[Text of. Direction of Election. omitted from publication.]
6 The maintenance man maintains the cranes , power saws, and other machines other
than 'the automotive equipment. -
7 Wm. R. Whittaker Co., Ltd., 117 NLRB 339; Engine Rebuilding Corporation , 115 NLRB-
1.776, 1778.
Pacific Isle Mining Company and International Union of Operat -
ing Engineers Local No . 49, AFL-CIO, Petitioner
Pacific Isle Mining Company and United Steelworkers of Amer-
ica, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Cases Nos. 18-RC-39216 and 18-RC-
3239. July 17,1957 - -
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon. separate. petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act,, a consolidated hearing was held before
Hjalmar Storlie, 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-mem-
ber panel .[Chairman Leedom and Members Murdock and Jenkins].
118 NLRB No. 86. '