Lynchburg Transit Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 9, 1948

79 N.L.R.B. 546 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of LYNCIIBURG TRANSIT COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
TEXTILE•WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 5-RC-18.-Decided Septeir„ber 9; 1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held at Lynchburg, Vir-
ginia, before John J. A. Reynolds, Jr., hearing officer. The hearing
officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and
are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case the Board finds :
1. Lynchburg Transit Company is a public carrier providing bus
service for the city of Lynchburg, Virginia, and environs. The Em-
ployer transports approximately 10,000 individual passengers or
33,000 fares daily, an unspecified number being employees of com-
panies engaged in interstate commerce.' None of the Employer's
busses or drivers are licensed for interstate service.
During the first 9 months of 1947, the Employer purchased busses
costing $166,000 and other equipment and supplies at a cost of
$50,971.19, all outside the Commonwealth of Virginia. During the
same period, the Employer's total operating revenue was $545,906
of which $2,345 represented income from transit advertisements,'
$46,340 from bus rentals, and $2,938 from charter and special bus
services. The Employer does not carry any mail.
During the first 9 months of 1947, the Employer received $81,000
to cover expenses incurred in servicing and repairing busses of Vir-
ginia Stage Lines, Inc., an interstate carrier, and $25,000 to cover
' The record discloses that in 1944 , the labor force of Lynchburg numbered 21,000 workers.
The Employer , Red Bus Lines , Greyhound Bus Lines, Virginia Stage Lines , and other
carriers share the transporting of these workers , the percentage each carries not being
shown.
2 A survey of transit advertisements showed that 9 out of 13 are advertisements of local
merchants.
79 N. L. R. B, No. 72.
546
LYNCHBURG TRANSIT COMPANY 547
similar services rendered to Trailways Service, Inc.,, and Safeway
Transit Company.'
-Under all these circumstances, and contrary to the contention.of
the Employer, we find that the Employer is engaged. in-commerce with-
in the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.4•
2. The labor organization named below claims to represent em-
ployees 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 appropriate unit :
The Petitioner seeks a unit of all employees engaged in the opera-
tion and maintenance of Lynchburg Transit Company busses, exclud-
ing office and clerical employees, and all supervisors as defined in the
Act. The Employer asserts that this unit is inappropriate, contend-
ing that the bus operators and the maintenance employees do not have
common interests and therefore should not be joined in the same unit.
We find no merit -in this contention. We have previously held that
bus operators and maintenance employees may with equal appropriate-
ness constitute separate units or be included in a single unit.5 - The
Employer further contends that, in any case, the unit should not in-
clude mechanics and mechanics' helpers, as they constitute a craft.
The record does not disclose the degree of skill possessed by the me-
chanics and their helpers. However, even assuming that they con-
stitute a skilled craft group, we have heretofore held that, although
such a group may function as a separate unit, it also may constitute
part of a larger units As no labor organization is here seeking to
represent the bus operators, or the maintenance employees, or the
mechanics and their helpers, in a separate unit, we shall include all
these employees in a single unit.
The parties disagree on the status of four bus operators.7 The
Employer would include them in the unit, but the Petitioner contends
that they are supervisors and therefore should be excluded. The four
a The record discloses that the principal officers and controlling stockholders of the
Employer also occupy similar positions in Virginia Stage Lines, Inc, Safeway Transit Co ,
Charlottesville and Albemarle Bus Co., Roanoke Railway and Electric Co ., and several other
,carriers.
4 Matter of Safety Motor Transit Corp , 78 N. L. R . B. 831 ; Matter of Wichita
Transportation Corp., 73 N. L R.' B. 1070 ; ' Matter of Tampa Transit Lines, Inc., 71
N. L. R. B 742. While Board Member Gray would not assert jurisdiction for the reasons
stated in his dissenting opinion in Matter of Amarillo , Bus Company , 78 N. L. R B. 1103,
he considers himself bound by the decision of the majority in that case
5 Matter of Auto Interurban Co , 73 N. L. It. B 214 ; Matter of Pennsylvania Lines,
et al, 3 N. L. R B. 622, 665.
6 Matter of Norge Division , Borg Warner Corp , 72 N L . R B 1020
7 The parties agree to exclude O. S. Ryan, a former bus driver who is now a permanent
safety instructor
548 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
bus operators in question have at various times acted as safety instruc-
tors. The duty of the Employer's safety instructors is to conduct
classes for newly employed bus operators, giving them instructions
-from texts in bus operation and safety precautions, and practical work
in actual driving with the instructor present. The record discloses
that an instructor may recommend the discharge of a driver if he is
not proficient. The record is not specific as to the frequency with
which these operators serve as safety instructors, other than that it is
"occasionally, on a temporary basis." As these four bus operators thus
exercise supervisory power only infrequently, and spend the greater
part of their time performing the usual functions of a bus operator,
we find-that those bus operators who serve as temporary safety in-
structors are not supervisors within the meaning of the Act. We
shall accordingly include them in the unit.
We find that all employees of the Employer engaged in the opera-
tion and maintenance of its busses, including the bus operators who
act at times as temporary safety instructors, but excluding office and
clerical employees, and all supervisors, constitute a unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Sec-
tion 9 (b) of the Act.
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 Fifth Region, and subject to
Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules
and Regulations-Series 5, 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 excluding employees on strike who
are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they
desire to be represented, for the purposes of collective bargaining, by
Textile Workers Union of America, CIO. .
8 Matter of Electric Auto-Late Co., 76 N . L R. B. 1189.