Ritchie Grocer Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 13, 1946

69 N.L.R.B. 471 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter Of RITCHIE GROCER COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND
HELPERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL UNION 878, AFL
Case No. 15-R-1578.-Decided July 13,1946
Messrs. J. E. Gaughan, of Camden, Ark., and Ned Stewart, of Tex-
arkana, Tex., for the Company.
Messrs. Odell Smith and T. J. Gentry, of Little Rock, Ark., for the
Union.
Mr. Emil C.'Farkas, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Brotherhood of Team-
sters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local Union
878, AFL, herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Ritchie Grocer Company,' El Dorado, Arkansas, herein called the
Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appro-
priate. hearing upon due notice before Louis Moore, Trial Examiner.
The hearing was held at El Dorado, Arkansas, on May 10, 1946. The
Company 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. During the
course of the hearing the Company moved to dismiss the petition,
alleging that the Board was without jurisdiction. The Trial Ex-
aminer reserved ruling on motion for the Board. For reasons herein-
after stated, the motion is denied. The Trial Examiner's rulings made
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
All parties were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Ritchie Grocer Company is an Arkansas corporation, with its
principal place of business at El Dorado, Arkansas. The Company is
' The name of the Company appears as amended at the hearing.
69 N. L. H. B., No. 57. 471
472 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
engaged in purchasing, selling at wholesale, and distributing canned
goods, cereal, flour, foods, sugar, and related food products. The
Company has branch warehouses and offices at El Dorado, Camden,
Pine Bluff, Texarkana, Hope, DeQueen, in Arkansas and Monroe,
Russton, and Haynesville, in Louisana. The manager of each branch
office is responsible to the general manager and president of the Com-
pany, who have their offices at El Dorado. The business of the Com-
pany, covering all of its branches in both Arkansas and Louisiana,
approximates $10,000,000 annually.
The El Dorado branch, with which we are solely concerned in this
proceeding, annually purchases approximately $1,900,000 worth of
food products, of which approximately 80 percent is shipped from
points outside the State of Arkansas. All except about $50,000 worth
of such purchases are sold and delivered to customers within the State
of Arkansas. However, merchandise valued at approximately $50,000
is annually shipped from the El Dorado branch warehouse to ware-
houses of the Company in the State of Louisiana for sale by them,
and approximately $5,000 worth of merchandise is annually distributed
by the El Dorado branch to points outside the State. The Company
employs approximately 48 employees at the El Dorado branch.
Upon these facts, we find contrary to the Company's contention, that
in the operation of its El Dorado branch it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.2
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse-
men and Helpers of- America, Local Union 878, is a labor organization
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to mem-
bership employees of the Company.3
III. TILE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of certain of its employees until
the Union has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
2 See Matter of Frank L. Thiemonge , d/b/a Birmingham Grain Company , 55 N. L. R. B.
487; see also N. L. R. B . v. Suburban Lumber Company , 121 F . ( 2d) 829 ( C. C. A. 3 ), cert.
den. 314 U. S . 693; N. L . R. B. v. Kudile , 130 F. ( 2d) 615 ( C. C. A. 3 ), cert. den. 317
U. S. 694; N. L. R. B. v. Poultrymen '8 Service Corporation, 138 F. ( 2d) 204 ( C. C. A. 3) ;
N. L. R. B. v . Richter's Bakery, 140 F. ( 2d) 870 ( C. C. A. 5 ), cert . den. 332 U. S. 754.
3 It was contended by the Company at the hearing and in its brief that the Union is not
an appropriate bargaining agent for its employees , because the Union's main office is located
in Little Rock , 120 miles from El Dorado . This contention is without merit. The Union
is clearly a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2 ( 5) of the Act and may
properly represent the employees in the unit sought, despite the fact that its main office is
not located in the immediate vicinity of the El Dorado branch.
RITCHIE GROCER COMPANY 473
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. TI-[E APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in substantial accordance with the agreement of the parties,
that all truck drivers, warehousemen, and helpers of the Company's
El Dorado, Arkansas branch, excluding office workers, the manager,
salesmen, night watchmen, stenographers, bookkeepers, shipping and
receiving clerks, mechanics and mechanics' helpers, and all supervisory
employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively rec-
ommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec-
tion 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 Rela-
tions 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 Ritchie Grocer
Company of El Dorado, Arkansas, 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 Fifteenth Region, acting in this matter
as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Ar-
ticle III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among
the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who
were employed 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 temporarily
laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United
474 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 represented by Interna-
tional Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and
Helpers of America, Local Union 878, AFL, for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining.
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