Murray Motor Transport

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 11, 1949

81 N.L.R.B. 93 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of E. A. MURRAY D/B/A MURRAY MOTOR TRANSPORT, EM-
PLOYER AND PETITIONER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAM-
STERS , CHAUFFEURS , WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA,
AFL, LOCAL 612
Case No. 10-RN-294.-Decided January 11, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a 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 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-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organization named below claims to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. The question concerning representation :
The Employer has three warehouse terminals located in Mobile,
Montgomery, and Birmingham, Alabama. Its over-the-road drivers,
the employees herein involved, drive trailer trucks hauling freight
between the terminals and to points in States outside Alabama. The
Employer also employs pick-up drivers, who move freight within
each city to and from one of the warehouses. The working conditions
of the two groups of drivers are different, and all parties agree that
the two groups constitute separate appropriate units.
The Employer agreed in 1945 to recognize the Union as the bar-
gaining representative of its over-the-road drivers. The Union at
that time presented to the Employer a printed contract form which
*Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Murdock
81 N. L. R. B., No. 17.
93
94 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
h.id been negotiated and executed by the Southeast Operators Associa-
tion Negotiating Committee with the Southern Conference of Team-
sters Over-The-Road Negotiating Committee. The Employer at-
tempted to bargain as to the terms of the agreement but, when the
Union refused to vary from the printed form, the Employer signed
the agreement as presented by the Union. The Employer has from
time to time since 1945 signed new contracts with the Union identical
with those executed by the Operators Association and the Teamsters
Conference. These contract forms bore the printed signatures of the
members of the two Negotiating Committees as parties to the contract,
followed by spaces designated for signatures by the local union and
the Employer.
In June 1947, the Employer signed a printed copy of an agreement
which had been consummated in January of that year by the Operators
Association and the Teamsters Conference. In August of the same
year, the Union presented to the Employer certain additions to the
contract then in force. At the request of the Employer, the Union
agreed that in at least one respect the Employer could vary in practice
from the printed terms of the contract, but no changes were made on
the face of the contract. The Union having notified the Employer
that it desired to amend the contract last executed, the contract expired
by its terms on November 15, 1948.
The Employer questions whether the Union now represents a ma-
;;ority of its over-the-road drivers, and seeks an election. The Union
contends that the Employer's petition should be dismissed on the
grounds, among others, (1) that the Operators Association and the
Teamsters Conference are essential parties to this proceeding and were
not properly joined as parties; and (2) that the Employer has in the
past bargained through the Operators Association, which is at present
negotiating for it.
The Operators Association represents a number, but not all, of the
trucking employers in the area. The extent of its representation
varies, as some employers have withdrawn from the Operators Asso-
ciation to negotiate separately, while other employers have joined the
Operators Association from time to time. In accordance with the
terms of the contracts covering its over-the-road drivers, this Em-
ployer has permitted employee grievances to be handled by the griev-
ance committee of the Operators Association, and has participated
with the members of this grievance committee in handling grievances
involving other employers. Furthermore, the Employer, sometime
in 1947, authorized the Operators Association to bargain for its pick-up
drivers. However, the Employer is not a member of the Operators
Association, and has never expressly authorized the Operators Asso-
MURRAY MOTOR TRANSPORT 95
ciation to bargain for its over-the-road drivers. Although it has
signed contracts negotiated by the Operators Association, it has al-
ways signed as an individual employer. Under all these circum-
stances, we find that the Employer's entire history of bargaining
demonstrates that it has bargained in the past as an individual em-
ployer and that, as further disclosed by the filing of this petition, it
intends in the future to bargain as an individual employer. There-
fore, we find that the Operators Association and the Teamsters Con-
ference are not necessary parties, and that the Employer has not
bound itself to bargain for its over-the-road drivers through the Op-
erators Association. Accordingly, the Union's motion to dismiss the
petition herein is hereby denied. %
We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. We find, in accordance with an agreement of the parties, that the
following employees of the Employer constitute a unit appropriate
for purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Sec-
tion 9 (b) of the Act:
All over-the-road truck drivers employed by the Employer, exclud-
ing pick-up and delivery drivers, guards, professional employees, and
supervisors as defined in 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 Tenth Region, 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 re-
instated 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 purposes of collective bar-
gaining, by International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs,
Warehousemen and Helpers of America, AFL, Local 612.