Richard WarrenDownload PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsMar 7, 194666 N.L.R.B. 376 (N.L.R.B. 1946) Copy Citation In the Matter of RICHARD WARREN and DISTRICT 50, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA Case No. 17-B-1182.-Decided March 7, 1946 Mr. Richard Warren, of Rifle, Colo., for the Company. Messrs. Fred K. He f f erly and Frank N. Price, of Denver, Colo., for the Union. Mr. Herbert C. Kane, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by District 50, United Mine Workers of America, herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Richard Warren, Rifle, Colorado, herein called the Company,' the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Howard W. Kleeb, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Rifle, Colorado, on October 12, 1945. The Com- pany and the Union appeared and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded oppor- tunity to file briefs with the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT I. TILE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Richard Warren, a sole proprietor of a trucking business, with his principal place of business at Rifle, Colorado, is engaged in haul- 1 The name of the Company appears as amended at the hearing 66 N. L. R. B., No. 49. 376 RICHARD WARREN 377 ing ore and coal for the United States Vanadium Corporation. All this hauling is done within the State of Colorado. In connection with its business the Company operates 7 motor trucks. The Com- pany does not have its own Public Utilities Commission permit from the State of Colorado, but avails itself of the permit of the United States Vanadium Corporation by leasing its trucks to the corporation without monetary consideration. It is the function of the Company to haul ore, after it has been mined, from the United States Vanadium Corporation mine at Rifle, Colorado, a distance of about 15 miles, to a United States Vanadium mill, where it is processed and sacked for shipment. It also hauls coal, in behalf of the corporation, from the mines, of coal operators in the vicinity to the same mill for use in the processing operations. All the processed ore is shipped out of the State by the Corporation. Between January and June 1945, the Company transported 20,873 tons of vanadium ore and 4,898 tons of coal to the mill. It is apparent from the foregoing facts that the services rendered by the Company to the corporation, which is itself engaged in inter- state commerce,2 form an integrated and coordinated part of the Company's production effort and, as such, are so closely associated and connected with the flow of interstate commerce as to be entitled to the protection of the Act. We find, contrary to the contention of the Company, that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. II. THE QRGANIZATION INVOLVED District 50, United Mine Workers of America, is a labor organiza- tion, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the exclusive bargaining representative of its truck drivers and mechanics until the Union has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate .3 1 See Matter of United States Vanadium Corporation , 22-R-368; Matter of United States Vanadium Corporation , 22-C-575; Matter of United States Vanadium Corpora- tion, 17-C-1095. s The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted five cards and that four of these cards bore the names of employees listed on the Company 's pay roll of August 1, 1945. There are approximately four employees in the appropriate unit 378 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT We find, in substantial accord with the agreement of the parties, that all truck drivers and mechanics of the Company, excluding working foremen, and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, consti- tute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES The Union requested that the Board use the Company's pay roll current at the time of the hearing to determine eligibility of employees to vote in the election. The Company urges that the Board's usual practice be followed . Inasmuch as no sufficient reason appears for departing from our usual practice, we shall deny the Union's request. Accordingly, we shall direct that the question concerning representa- tion which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among' the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. DIRECTION OF ELECTION By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Re- lations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Richard Warren, Rifle; Colorado, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Seventeenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were em- RICHARD WARREN 379 ployed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tempo- rarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, 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, to determine whether or not they desire to be repre- sented by District 50, United Mine Workers of America, for the purposes of collective bargaining. 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