John A. Denie's Sons Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 21, 1949

86 N.L.R.B. 682 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of JOHN A. DENIE'S SONS Co., EMPLOYER and TRUCK
DRIVERS, SALESMEN , WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS , LOCAL 667,
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS , CHAUFFEURS, WARE-
HOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA , A. F. L.
Case No. 32-RC-1-52.-Decided October 21, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Andrew P.
Carter, 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 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 Murdock].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is a Tennessee corporation with its principal office
and places of business at Memphis and Raleigh, Tennessee. It is en-
gaged in the manufacture and sale of ready-mixed concrete, concrete
blocks, and bricks; it also deals in other building materials such as
gravel, wallboard, roofing materials, and steel.
In connection with these operations, the Employer purchases an-
nually $150,000 worth of cement outside the State. It also purchases
from local agents or suppliers unspecified amounts of roofing material,
wallboard, and steel, for shipment from points outside the State. The
Employer's sales, in 1948, totaled $3,000,000, of which $60,000 repre-
sented shipments outside the State.
Under these circumstances, we find that the operations of the Em-
ployer affect commerce within the meaning of the Act.'
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
'.Matter of Alabama Brick & Tile Company, Inc., 80 N. L. R. B. 1365; see also Matter of
Spickelmier Company and /or Builders Sand & Gravel Company, S3 N. L. R. B. 452. Com-
pare Makins Sand & Gravel Co., Inc., 85 N. L. R. B., No. 37. The instant case is distin-
guishable from the Makins case in that the Employer here is engaged in the sale of prod-
ucts other than concrete, sand, and gravel, and in that there is a substantial amount of
outflow to other States.
86 N. L. B. B., No. 98.
682
JOHN A. DENIE ' S SONS CO. 683
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 appropriate unit :
The Petitioner seeks to sever a unit of the Employer's truck drivers
from the production and maintenance unit which the Intervenor,
Local 128, United Stove and Allied Product Workers of America,
CIO,2 has heretofore represented, and which the Intervenor contends
is the only appropriate unit. The Employer takes a neutral position.
The Intervenor urges the past bargaining history on a more inclu-
sive basis to support its position. We find no merit in this contention.
We have often held that truck drivers comprise a skilled group which
may be established as a separate unit notwithstanding a bargaining
history, as here, on a more inclusive basis.3
Accordingly, we find that the following employees may constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within
the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act :
All truck drivers of the Employer at its Ready-Mix Plant No. 1
and No. 2 and its warehouse, brickyard and concrete block plant,
excluding all production and maintenance employees, office and clerical
employees, guards, professional employees, and supervisors.
However, we shall make no final unit determination at this time,
but shall be guided in part by the desires of these employees as ex-
pressed in the election hereinafter directed. If a majority vote for
the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to
constitute a separate appropriate unit.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case
was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees
in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who
were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the
date of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not
work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation
2 The name of the Intervenor appears as corrected pursuant to the Board ' s Order to
Show Cause why the Intervenor's motion to correct the record should not be granted.
U Matter of New England Dressed Meat and Wool Company, 81 N. L. R. B. 1197; Matter
of National Automotive Fibres, Inc ., Findlay Division, 81 N. L. R. B. 1232.
°684 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election , and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
they desire to be represented , for purposes of collective bargaining,
by Truck Drivers, Salesmen, Warehousemen and Helpers Local 667,
International Brotherhood of Teamsters , Chauffeurs, Warehousemen
and Helpers of America , A. F. L., or by Local 128, United Stone and
.gaining, by United Packinghouse Workers of America, CIO.