Joseph A. Goddard Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 13, 1949

83 N.L.R.B. 605 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of JOSEPH A. GODDARD COMPANY, EMPLOYER and TEAM-
STERS LOCAL UNION No. 369, AFFILIATED WITH THE INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN &
HELPERS OF AMERICA, A. F. OF L., PETITIONER
Case No. 35-RC-192.-Decided May 13,1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before William Nai-
mark, 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.
Pursuant to 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 [Members Reynolds, Murdock, and Gray].
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 organizations involved claim to represent employees
of the Employer.
3. The intervenor, Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union,
Local 1017, C. I. 0., contends that a collective bargaining agreement
between it and the Employer, originally effective March 1, 1947, for
a period of 2 years and providing for its automatic renewal for an-
nual periods thereafter, constitutes a bar to a present election because
the Petitioner gave notice of its claim and filed its petition after the
operative date of the contract's automatic renewal provision. The
Petitioner, however, contends that the Intervenor, pursuant to the
terms of the automatic renewal clause, reopened the contract by the
giving of a timely notice, thus preventing its automatic renewal.
The record discloses that the contract provides, among other things,
that all employees covered by the terms of the contract must, within
30 days from the date of employment, become members of the Inter-
venor. Although the Intervenor has not'been certified by the Board
under Section 9 (e) (1) of the Act as being authorized to execute such
83 N. L. R. B., No. 89.
605
606 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
union-security provision, the Intervenor urges that because the orig-
inal bargaining agreement was executed before the enactment of the
Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, neither such contract, nor
any renewal thereof, is subject to the provisions of the Act requiring
Board authorization for union-security agreements. However, al-
though the absence of Board authorization for a union-security pro-
vision in a^contract executed prior to,the enactment of the Labor Man-
agement Relations Act of 1947 would not prevent such contract from
operating as a bar during the original term of such contract,' any re-
newal of the'original contract, after the effective date of the Labor
Management Relations Act, of 1947, is subject to the requirement of
Board authorization of union-security agreements. Because the con-
tract as renewed in 1949 contains an unauthorized union-security pro-
vision, we find, for this reason and without regard to other considera-
tions, that the contract, even if renewed, cannot serve as a bar to a
present determination of representatives 2
We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner- seeks a unit of drivers and warehousemen, ex-
cluding clerical and plant-protection employees, managerial em-
ployees, and supervisors as defined in the Act. The parties are in sub-
stantial agreement with respect to the unit sought. The Petitioner
and the Intervenor, however, would include, and the Employer would
exclude certain part-time employees. Because the work performed by
these part-time employees is the same as that performed by other em-
ployees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate, such part-time em-
ployees are clearly part of such unit.
We find that all drivers and warehousemen of the Employer at the
Employer's Muncie, Indiana, warehouse, excluding clerical and plant-
protection employees, managerial employees, and supervisors,' as
defined in the Act constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
.collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
Act. ,
5. The inclusion of the part-time employees in the unit of necessity
.requires a consideration of the question as to the eligibility of the
part-time employees to vote in any election which the Board may
direct. Two employees known as order pullers are employed on a
part-time basis in the produce department of the warehouse. These
1 Matter of Cribben t Sexton Company, 82 N . L. R. B. 1409.
8 Matter of General Electric Company , 80 N. L. R. B. 169; Matter of General Electric
-Company, Plastic Division of the Chemical Department, 81 N. L. R. B 476.
8 Among others included in this category are the produce buyer and frozen food buyer
who, the record discloses, have authority effectively to recommend the hire and discharge
of other employees.
JOSEPH A. GODDARD COMPANY 607
part-time employees have full employment with another employer.
As part-time employees, they work a regular schedule of 4 hours from
3 to 7 a. m., 4 days a week. In view of the regularity of their em-
ployment, these part-time employees have sufficient interest in the
terms and conditions of their employment and in the selection of a
bargaining representative to entitle them to vote. Accordingly, we
find that they are eligible to vote in the election hereinafter directed.,'
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses 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-Series 5, as amended, 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, or temporarily laid off, 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, and also ex-
cluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to
determine whether they desire to be represented, for purposes of collec-
tive bargaining, by Teamsters Local Union No. 369, affiliated with the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen
& Helpers of America, A. F. of L., or by Retail, Wholesale & Depart-
ment Store Union, Local 1017, C. I. 0., or by neither.
4 Matter of Marceilus M. Murdock , 67 N. L. R. B. 1426 ; Matter of Providence Public
Market Company, 79 N. L. R. B. 1482; Matter of Florshe im Retail Boot Shop, 80
N. L. R. B. 1812.