Porto Rican Express Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 28, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 866 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of PORTO RICAN ExPRE ss' COMPANY. EMPLOYER and
UNION DE TRABAJADORES DE LA Powuo RICAN EXPRESS CO. DE SAN
JUAN, PUERTO Rico, C. G. T. (AUTENTICA), PETITIONER
Case No. 38-RC-125.-Decided February 28,1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a. petition duly filed, a. hearing was held before Luis G. Estades
and Lewis Moore, hearing officers. The hearing officers' 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 engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain 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 Petitioner, which has been the recognized bargaining repre-
sentative of the Employer's chauffeurs and helpers in San Juan, Puerto
Rico, since 1939, now seeks to include in the unit all the chauffeurs and
helpers employed by the Employer throughout Puerto Rico. The
Employer contends that the enlarged unit sought by the Petitioner is
inappropriate, that its employees in San Juan constitute a separate
appropriate unit.
The Employer is engaged in the pickup, forwarding, and delivery.
of freight, mail, and merchandise throughout the principal cities of the
island. Its principal place of business is in San Juan and it has branch
offices in eight other cities. All the employees involved herein are
hourly paid; although the rate is higher in San Juan than in the
other offices, the rate of pay is determined by the San Juan office.
88 NLRB No. 166.
866
PORTO RICAN EXPRESS COMPANY 867
The duties of the chauffeurs and helpers throughout the island are.
similar. There is no interchange of employees between the various.
offices. Local agents in charge of each of the branch offices determine
the hours of work, and have authority to hire, discharge, or discipline
employees without the prior approval of the San Juan office. However,,
labor relations are handled by the San Juan office, and the local agents
have no authority to engage in collective bargaining:
In view of tUie centralized control of the Employer's labor relations,,
the similarity of work performed by all the employees in the unit
proposed by the Petitioner, and the ultimate supervision exercised by
the Employer's San Juan office, we find that a single unit covering all
the Employer's offices is appropriate.
The parties are in agreement concerning the classifications to be in-
cluded in the unit. Accordingly, we find that all chauffeurs, chauf-
feur substitutes, helpers, and collectors, in the Employer's Puerto
Rican offices, excluding all office and clerical employees, carpenters,,
watchmen and guards, professional employees, and supervisors, con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION I
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 Relations
Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found
appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed dur-
ing the payroll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction
of Election, including employees who did not work during said payroll
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 repre-
sented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by Union de Trabaja-
dores de la Porto Rican Express Co. de San Juan, Puerto Rico, C. G. T.
(Autentica).
I The compliance of the Petitioner has lapsed since the hearing in this matter. In the
event it fails to renew its compliance with Section 9 (f), (g), and (h) within 2 weeks of
this Direction, the Regional Director is to advise the Board to that effect. No election
shall be conducted unless and until compliance has been renewed.
S821.91-51 56