Rockford Coca-Cola Bottling Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 10, 1949

81 N.L.R.B. 579 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of ROCKFORD COCA-COLA BOTTLING Co., EMPLOYER and
MILKWAGON DRIVERS UNION LOCAL No. 482, I. B. OF T. C. W. AND
H. OF A., PETITIONER
Case No. 13-RC-273.-Decided February 10, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, 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, an Illinois corporation, is engaged in the bottling
and sale of Coca-Cola in a designated area entirely within the State
of Illinois. It carries on its operations under a contract with Western
Coca-Cola Bottling Company, also an Illinois corporation, herein
called Western. By the terms of this contract, Western conveys to
the Employer certain franchise rights to bottle and sell Coca-Cola,
which the former acquired by reason of a contract with The Coca-Cola
Company of Delaware. The Coca-Cola Company of Delaware con-
sents to and ratifies the contract between the Employer and Western,
which governs the Employer's operations. The terms of this con-
tract make the Employer the exclusive customer and licensee of
Western within the described geographical area.
Under the terms of its contract with Western, the Employer buys
all its Coca-Cola syrup from Western 2 and acquires the license to use
the distinctive Coca-Cola bottles and tops, purchasing the same from
firms designated by Western. The use of Coca-Cola syrup by the
Employer is expressly defined by the terms of the contract. The syrup
3 The original hearing was held on July 28, 1948; further hearing was held on December
9, 1948.
'Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Gray.
' Western sells Coca-Cola syrup to bottlers In approximately 18 States.
81 N. L . R. B., No. 100. 579
829595-50-vol. 81-38
580 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
sold to the Employer is manufactured by The Coca-Cola Company at
its Illinois plants. The Employer agrees to promote the sale of Coca-
Cola. The measure of the amount of Coca-Cola syrup that Western
annually sells to the Employer is by the contract made the criterion of
the proper "pushing" of sales of Coca-Cola by the Employer. The
Employer buys advertising placards and other promotional material
from Western, making its selections of this material from the Coca-
Cola catalog.
During the year 1947 the Employer made purchases totalling $475,-
544.70. Of this amount the Employer purchased goods in the sum
of $314,651.49 within the State of Illinois. This sum includes the
price of the Coca-Cola syrup purchased from Western, as noted
above. The Employer brought into the State of Illinois, from sources
of supply outside that State, goods valued at $160,893.21. Under its
contract with Western, all sales by the Employer are made within the
State of Illinois.
On the basis of these facts and the entire record in the case, we find,
contrary to the contention of the Employer, that the Employer is en-
gaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act.3
2. The labor organization named below claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of certain employees of the Employer within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner contends that route salesmen, refrigeration
maintenance men, the garage mechanic, and the trailer truck driver
at the Employer's Coca-Cola bottling plant, excluding other produc-
tion and maintenance employees, office and clerical employees, ad-
ministrative employees, and supervisors, constitute an appropriate
bargaining unit. The Employer contends that its route salesmen are
independent contractors, but that, if route salesmen are employees
and may be included in a bargaining unit, refrigeration maintenance
men and the trailer truck driver and the garage mechanic should
be excluded from the unit.
Route salesmen, of whom there are presently 21, are engaged in
the sale and delivery of bottled Coca-Cola within the areas desig-
nated by their Employer. Although their deliveries are made to
regular customers of the Employer, route salesmen are expected to
acquire new customers within their territories. The trucks of cases
of Coca=Cola are loaded at the Employer's plant by plant employees.
Route salesmen unload their cases of Coca-Cola at places of delivery,
8 Matter of Raleigh Coca-Cola Bottling Works, 80 N . L. R. B., No. 119.
ROCKFORD COCA-COLA BOTTLING CO. 581
and load empty cases which they pick up. They set up various ad-
vertising displays for their customers, and drain coolers. They col-
lect from customers money for which they are responsible to their
Employer. They necessarily spend the greater part of their working
time away from the plant, carrying out their sales and delivery work.
Route salesmen are instructed in their duties and supervised by
a route manager under the assistant sales manager. Route salesmen
attend periodic sales meetings, at which they receive sales instruc-
tions. They do not punch time clocks. They are paid a weekly sal-
ary of $10, plus commissions. One route salesman testified that his
present take-home pay amounted to approximately $75 per week.
Route salesmen work under the close supervision of the Employer,
with the Employer's equipment, and within an area restricted by the
Employer. Upon the entire record, we find that they are not inde-
pendent contractors,4 but employees of the Employer who may be
placed in an appropriate bargaining unit.
Refrigeration maintenance men, of whom there are two at the plant,
maintain refrigeration equipment, coolers, and coin vending machines.
They are plant-trained for their work. They punch time clocks and
are hourly paid. They principally spend their time repairing coolers,
either at the plant or on service calls to customers. They spend ap-
proximately half their time at the plant. These employees come di-
rectly under the supervision of the plant superintendent, the highest
level of supervisory authority. Two other employees, learners and
less skilled, deliver and service coolers. The Petitioner would not
include them in its proposed unit.
The garage mechanic repairs and maintains automotive equipment
for the Employer's plant, including the delivery trucks used by the
route salesmen and the tow motor or lift truck. He also repairs com-
pressors used in the production department. The garage mechanic
punches a time clock and is hourly paid. He works at the back of the
plant in the same department with the painter and metal worker. All
three employees assist one another and are supervised by the garage
foreman.
The trailer truck driver drives a semi-truck for the purpose of trans-
porting the Employer's products to redistribution points at DeKalb
and Dixon, Illinois. When not needed for driving the trailer truck,
the driver stacks supplies in the plant, repairs the trailer and performs
various odd jobs in the plant which may be assigned to him. He is
hourly paid. He reports to two supervisors known as "checkers,"
whose function is to check incoming and outgoing trucks and control
inventories.
4 Matter of Ca8key Baking Company, 80 N. L . R. B. 374.
582 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The unit proposed by the Petitioner is primarily a unit of sales-
men. We have included salesmen in a general production and main-
tenance unit of a Coca-Cola bottling plant where the parties have
agreed on this all inclusive unit.5 We have excluded route salesmen
from a general plant unit where the parties have not been in agree-
ment on their inclusion and the record has indicated clearly the sep-
arable work interest of route salesmen 6 It appears that a unit of
route salesmen at the Employer's plant is prima facie an appropriate
unit.' The trailer truck driver whom the Petitioner would include
in its proposed unit spends the greater part of his time driving a truck,
but he does no sales work, and his interests appear to tie in more
closely with those of other plant employees rather than with those of
route salesmen. Refrigeration maintenance men and the garage me-
chanic are essentially repair men whose hours, method of payment,
employment and responsibilities differ radically from those of route
salesmen who work under various and different lines of supervisory
authority. We find no reason to include these employees in a unit of
route salesmen from which other plant employees are excluded. For
this reason we will exclude refrigeration maintenance men, the garage
mechanic, and the trailer truck driver from the unit of route salesmen.
We find that all route salesmen of the Employer at its Rockford
Coca-Cola plant, excluding refrigeration maintenance men, the garage
mechanic, the trailer truck driver, other plant employees, office and
clerical employees, administrative 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
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 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
'Matter of Raleigh Coca-Cola Bottling Works, supra.
" Matter of Roanoke Coca-Cola Bottling Works, Inc. 72 N L. R. B. 733.
z Matter of Carnation Company of Texas, 78 N. L. R B. 519.
ROCKFORD COCA-COLA BOTTLING CO. 583
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 exclud-
ing employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to de-
lermine whether or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of
collective bargaining, by Milkwagon Drivers Union Local No. 482,
I. B. of T. C. W. and H. of A.