Motor Transport Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 22, 1936

2 N.L.R.B. 492 (N.L.R.B. 1936)

In the Matter of MOTOR TRANSPORT COMPANY and GENERAL CHAUF-
FEURS, TEAMSTERS AND HELPERS, LOCAL UNION No. 200
Case No. R-113
Motor Truck Transportation Industry-Election Ordered: prior to decision;
controversy concerning representation of employees-rival organizations; re-
fusal by employer to recognize union as exclusive representative-question
affecting commerce : confusion and unrest among employees-Unit Appropriate
for Collective Bargaining: community of interest ; established labor organiza-
tions in industry ; history of collective bargaining relations in industry ; geo-
graphical differences ; occupational differences-Certification of Representa-
tives.
Mr. Robert R. Rissman for the Board.
Shaw, Muskat and Paulsen, by Mr. F. H. Prosser, of Milwaukee,
Wis., for the Company.
Mr. Joseph A. Padway, by Mr. I. E. Goldberg, of Milwaukee,
Wis., for the Union.
Mr. James P. Taugher and Mr. J. B. Zinzow, of Milwaukee, Wis.,
for Union of Public Utility Employees.
Mr. I. S. Dorfman, of counsel to the Board.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
December 02, 1936
The National Labor Relations Board, having found that a ques-
tion affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of
the drivers, drivers' helpers, dockmen and dockmen's helpers, in Mil-
waukee County, Wisconsin, employed by Motor Transport Com-
pany, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and that said employees constitute a
unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within
the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act,
and acting pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of said Act, and pursuant to
Article III, Section 8 of National Labor Relations Board Rules
and Regulations,-Series 1, as amended, hereby
DIRECTS that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with Motor Transport Company, an election by secret ballot shall be
conducted within a period of twenty (20) days after the date of
this Direction of Election, under the direction and supervision of
492
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 493
the Regional Director for the Twelfth Region, acting in this matter
as the agent of the National Labor Relations Board and subject to
Article III, Section 9 of said Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as
amended, among the drivers, drivers' helpers, dockmen and dock-
men's helpers in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, employed by Motor
Transport Company, on the payroll as of November 16, 1936, the
date of the filing of the petition herein, to determine whether they
desire to be represented by General Chauffeurs, Teamsters and Help-
ers, Local Union No. 200, or by Union of Public Utility Employees.
SAME TITLE
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF 'REPRESENTATIVES
January 22, 1937
STATEMENT OF CASE
On November 16, 1936, General Chauffeurs, Teamsters & Helpers,
Local Union No. 200, hereinafter called Local 200, filed with the
Regional Director for the Twelfth Region a petition alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of drivers, drivers' helpers, dockmen and dockmen's helpers, em-
ployed by Motor Transport Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, here-
inafter called the Company, in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, and
requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pur-
suant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat.
449, hereinafter called the Act. On November 19, 1936, the National
Labor Relations Board, hereinafter called the Board, authorized the
Regional Director to conduct an investigation and to provide for an
appropriate hearing upon due notice. Pursuant to notice duly
served upon the parties and upon Union of Public Utility Employees,
a corporation, hereinafter called the U. P. U. E., a hearing was held
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on November 24 and 25, 1936, before
George O. Pratt, Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. All
who were served with notice were represented at and participated in
the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-
examine, witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing upon the issues
was afforded to those who participated in the hearing. Without
waiving its right thereafter to defend on the ground that the Act or
the Board's action under it was unconstitutional, the Company, at
the hearing, entered into a written stipulation with the Board cov-
ering the pertinent facts relating to the nature of its business.
494 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
After examining the record in the case, the Board concluded that
a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa-
tion of drivers, drivers' helpers, dockmen, and dockmen's helpers
in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, employed by the Company, and
on the basis of such conclusion, and acting pursuant to Article III,
Section 8 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula-
tions-Series 1, as amended, issued a Direction of Election on De-
cember 22, 1936, in which it was found that said employees con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining,
and in which the Board designated the Regional Director for the
Twelfth Region as its agent to conduct the election. For the pur-
pose of expediting the election, the Board issued the Direction of
Election without at the same time issuing a decision embodying com-
plete findings of fact and conclusions of law.
The election was conducted on January 6, 1937. Pursuant to
Article III, Section 9 of said Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as
amended, an Intermediate Report upon the election was subsequently
prepared by Nathaniel S. Clark, who conducted the election as agent
of the Board, and duly served upon the parties. The Intermediate
Report found that 76 employees were eligible to vote, of whom 52
voted for representation by Local 200, and 24 voted for representa-
tion by the U. P. U. E. No objections to the ballot or to the Inter-
mediate Report were filed by the parties.
Upon the entire record in the case, the stenographic report of the
hearing, the stipulation and other evidence offered and received, the
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE COMPANY AND ITS BUSINESS
The Company is a corporation organized and existing under the
laws of the State of Wisconsin. Its principal office and place of
business is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it operates as a local
cartage carrier, and as a contract and common carrier of freight
in interstate commerce. In the latter phase of its business it is
subject to and is registered under the Federal Motor Carriers Act,
49 Stat. 543. In the conduct of its business the Company owns and
operates 67 single unit trucks, 41 tractors and 65 trailers. These
are operated by 147 drivers and helpers employed by the Company.
Seventeen dockmen and helpers participate in the unloading of
trucks and the preparation of freight for loading at terminals owned
and operated by the Company in Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha,
Waukesha, Burlington, Watertown, and Sheboygan, in the State
of Wisconsin. At Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Company also em-
DECISIONS AND ORDERS ' 495
ploys nine mechanics and mechanics' helpers and a clerical force of
10 persons. Besides the terminals, the Company has warehouse
facilities and stations in approximately 50 other cities and towns in
the State of Wisconsin, and in North Chicago, Waukegan, Winthrop
Harbor, Beech, Zion, and South Beloit, in the State of Illinois.
The Company transports freight and, general cartage daily ex-
cept Sundays and holidays, on regular, continuous and well estab-
lished schedules in the City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, between va-
rious points within the State of Wisconsin outside of the city, and
from points in the State of Wisconsin to the cities and towns named
in Illinois. The Company also engages in interstate transportation
of freight as joint carrier with other common carriers. Freight
shipments originating in Wisconsin are transferred by means, of
trucks and other equipment of the Company to connecting interstate
carriers for delivery to destinations in States other than Wisconsin,
and likewise, shipments originating in States other than Wisconsin
are transported in interstate commerce by the connecting carriers
and transferred to the Company's equipment for delivery in the
State of Wisconsin, all such transfers being accomplished at the
Company's several terminals, depots, and stations in the States of
Wisconsin and Illinois. In all, approximately 22.7 per cent- of the
freight tonnage transported by the Company is carried in interstate
commerce. From January 1 to October 31, 1936, a representative
period, the Company transported in intrastate and interstate com-
merce a total of 185,000,000 pounds of freight.
We find, therefore, that the Company is engaged in traffic, com-
merce and transportation among the several States, and that the
drivers, drivers' helpers, dockmen and dockmen's helpers employed
by the Company are engaged in such traffic, commerce and transpor-
tation.
II. QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION AND ITS EFFECT ON COMMERCE
Local 200 is a local of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Chauffeurs, Stablemen and Helpers of America, affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor. On November 10, 1936, a committee
designated by Local 200 waited upon George H. Tiernan, vice-
president of the Company, asserted that a majority of the drivers,
dockmen and their respective helpers employed by the Company in
Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, had designated Local 200 as their
representative for purposes of collective bargaining, and presented
a proposed written contract to be entered into by the Company and
Local 200 covering wages, hours and working conditions of all the
drivers, dockmen and their respective helpers employed by, the
Company in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Tiernan replied that
496 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the 'Regional Labor Board, Tenth District, of the old National Labor
Relations Board,l had certified the U. P., U. E. as the collective
bargaining agency of the employees engaged by the Company, and
that the Company will continue to bargain with the U. P. U. E., and
not with Local 200, until such time as the Board certifies another
agency.' Thereupon Local 200 filed the petition before us. Whether
the U. P. U. E. or Local 200 shall represent them is extremely vital
to the employees. Failure to resolve this issue is likely to bring
unrest among the employees and consequent impairment of efficiency,
safety and operation of instrumentalities of commerce. All parties
who participated in the hearing agreed that an election by secret
ballot is the only feasible solution to the problem.
We find, therefore, that a question concerning the representation
of employees of the Company has arisen , and that this question
tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing, commerce
and the free flow of commerce.
III. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT FOR THE PURPOSES OF COLLECTIVE BARGAIN-
ING, AND EMPLOYEES ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ELECTION
Local 200 suggested that the unit should consist of drivers,
drivers' helpers, dockmen and dockmen's helpers in Milwaukee
County, Wisconsin, employed by the Company. The U. P. U. E.
differed from Local 200 in that it would also include in the unit
mechanics, mechanics' helpers and office personnel, and moreover
would embrace employees of the Company' outside of Milwaukee
County, Wisconsin, wherever situated.
The status and function of the office force is completely different
from that of other employees of the Company engaged in or about
the transportation of freight, with the result that there is not that
community of interest regarding wages, hours and working condi-
tions which makes for an appropriate collective bargaining unit.
We therefore find that the employees engaged in the office of the
Company shall not be included in the appropriate unit.
The mechanics and mechanics' helpers are of course more closely
related to the actual transportation process, and barring other con-
siderations their inclusion in the unit in question would not neces-
sarily be regarded as inappropriate. However, traditionally me-
chanics have organized into labor organizations apart from other
i Appointed pursuant to Public Resolution No. 44, 73rd Congress ( 48 Stat 1183).
2 The certification referred to by Tiernan was the result of an election conducted at
the behest of the U. P. U E. and with the consent of the Company The appropriate
unit was not contested, and the U. P . U. E. was the only candidate on the ballot.
Thereafter , on February 11, 1935, an agreement was entered into between the Company
and the U. P . U. E., which at the expiration of one year was renewed with some
modifications for another year.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 497
employees in the freight transportation industry, and have set up
their own standards of working conditions. This condition exists
in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, as well as in other parts of the
United States. Furthermore, the mechanics employed by the Com-
pany have themselves expressed no desire to be included in the
unit under consideration. For these reasons, we hold that the me-
chanics employed by the Company shall not be included in the
appropriate unit.
The remaining problem is whether all the drivers, drivers' helpers,
dockmen and dockmen's helpers employed by the Company, or only
those engaged in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, constitute an ap-
propriate unit. Here again, were this presented as an original mat-
ter, the question would not be free of doubt. The issue is posed,
however, years after drivers and dockmen in the industry generally
and in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, had adopted the procedure
of bargaining in individual units covering employees in local com-
munities only. Thus Local 200 has jurisdiction over employees in
Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, only.3 This practice has arisen from
the collective experience of drivers and dockmen the country over
influenced by variations in the cost of living, wage scales, working
conditions, and standards of living from community to community,
and by the desirability of obtaining maximum participation in the
affairs of the labor organization by members wherever situated. The
form of organization thus voluntarily chosen and retained for many
years by employees in the industry generally is necessarily entitled
to great weight in determining the unit in question. Moreover, it
appears that 59 of the 80 drivers, drivers' helpers, dockmen and dock-
men's helpers employed by the Company in Milwaukee Wisconsin,
exclusive of supervisory employees, desire that the appropriate unit
be defined in keeping with the practice in the industry.- Although
53 other employees of the Company signed a petition requesting
that the unit should embrace- all employees of the Company it is
significant that not one of the signers was employed in Milwaukee
County, Wisconsin. The Board is loath to combine in one unit em-
ployees of the Company engaged in and outside of Milwaukee
County, Wisconsin, knowing that a majority of the former prefer
to bargain as a separate unit.
It was contended by the Union that friction and antagonisms may
result between those employed in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, and
those engaged by the Company elsewhere, in the event that the
former were declared to constitute an appropriate unit. This argu-
$ Other locals of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen
and Helpers admit to membership employees situated outside of Milwaukee County,
Wisconsin.
A This preference was expressed in the form of a petition addressed to the Board.
498 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ment is not convincing for two reasons : (1) It is based on the as-
sumption that an appropriate unit consisting of the Milwaukee
County, Wisconsin, employees must necessarily result in a choice of
rival labor organizations to represent the employees in and outside
of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, which is a non sequitur; and (2)
employees of the Company belonging to the U. P. U. E. and to Local
200 are working together harmoniously at the present time despite
the rivalry between the two labor organizations.
We therefore find that the drivers, drivers' helpers, dockmen and
dockmen's helpers, in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, employed by
the Company, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of the Company, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) and Section 2, subdivisions (6) and (7) of the National
Labor Relations Act.
2. The drivers, drivers' helpers, dockmen and dockmen's helpers
in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, employed by Motor Transport
Company, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National
Labor Relations Act.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
A petition for certification of representatives having been duly
filed, and an investigation and hearing having been duly authorized
and conducted, and an election by secret ballot having been con-
ducted on January,6, 1937, among the drivers, drivers' helpers, dock-
men and dockmen's helpers, employed in Milwaukee County, Wis-
consin, by Motor Transport Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
pursuant to the National Labor Relations Board's Direction of
Election dated December 22, 1936, and an Intermediate Report upon
the secret ballot having been prepared by Nathaniel S. Clark, the
agent of the Board designated to conduct the election, and duly
served upon the parties, and no objections to the ballot and to the
Intermediate Report having been filed with the Board by the parties
pursuant to Article III, Section 9 of National Labor Relations Board
Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended,
THEREFORE, by virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the
National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III,
Section 8 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula-
tions-Series 1, as amended,
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 499
IT Is hEREBY CEIrrIFIED that General Drivers, Teamsters and Help-
ers, Local Union No. 200, has been selected by a majority of the
drivers, drivers' helpers, dockmen and dockmen's helpers employed
in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, by the Motor Transport Company,
as their representative for the purposes of collective bargaining,
and that pursuant to the provisions of Section 9 (a) of said Act,
General Drivers, Teamsters and Helpers, Local Union No. 200, is the
exclusive representative of all such employees for the purposes of
collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of
employment and other conditions of employment.
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