Roddis Plywood & Door Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 15, 1949

84 N.L.R.B. 309 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter Of RODDIS PLYWOOD & DOOR COMPANY , INC., EMPLOYER,
and LOCAL 138, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS,
A. F. L., PETITIONER
In the Matter of RODDIS Co:, INC.," EMPLOYER , and LocAL 1478, INTER-
NATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN 'S ASSOCIATION , A. F. L., PETITIONER
Cases Nos. 2-RC-8f1 and 2-RC-1052, respectively.Decided June
15,1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon separate petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing was held
before Lloyd S. Greenidge , hearing officer. The hearing officer's rul-
ings 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 Reynolds].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. Each Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. Local 138, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, A. F. L.,
referred to herein as the Teamsters, is a labor organization claiming to
represent employees of both Employers, and Local 1478, International
Longshoremen's Association, A. F. L., referred to herein as Longshore-
men, is a labor organization claiming to represent employees of Roddis
Co., Inc.
1 Local 1478 , International Longshoremen's Association , A. F. L., petitioned in Case No.
2-RC-1052 for a unit of employees at the warehouse at Port Newark, New Jersey, which
had been established in September 1948, and which was then being operated either by
Roddis Plywood , & Door Company , or by its parent corporation , Roddis Plywood Corpora-
tion. At about the time of the hearing in the case, March 1, 1949 , Roddis Co , Inc, was
organized as another subsidiary of Roddis Plywood Corporation to operate the Port New-
ark warehouse . The parties in Case No 2-RC-1052 have agreed that all papers in that
case should be amended to show Roddis Co , Inc , as the Employer at Port Newark. As
none of the parties in the consolidated case will be prejudiced thereby, we shall permit
the amendment. Roddis Co ., Inc , has filed an appearance , and has consented to be bound
by all actions taken in this proceeding to the extent applicable to it.
84 N. L . R. B., No. 36.
309
310 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
3. The Teamsters and Roddis Plywood & Door Company entered
into a 1-year collective bargaining agreement in November 1947, cov-
ering all chauffeurs, helpers, and warehousemen employed by the Em-
ployer. Roddis Plywood & Door Company was then operating two
warehouses, one in the Bronx and one in tong Island City, New York.
For some time before the contract termination date the parties were
negotiating the provisions of a new contract. On November 16, 1948,
the Employer's attorney, the Union's business representative and two
of its committeemen initialed a half-page, hand-written memorandum
containing in summary form their agreement on the new provisions
for their next contract.
The Teamsters had filed its petition covering the Bronx and Long
Island City warehouses and the newly established Port Newark ware-
house about 10 days before the memorandum was drafted. The Long-
shoremen requested recognition as bargaining representative for the
Port Newark employees a few days before the date of the memoran-
dum, but did not file its petition until January 28, 1949. The Team-
sters contended at the hearing that the "memorandum of agreement
constitutes a contract, covering the employees at the three ware-
houses, which acts as a bar to the Longshoremen's petition. The Em-
ployer does not agree that it has a current contract with the Team-
sters, although it admits that it has put some of the new provisions
into effect. The Employer's attorney who participated in the negotia-
tions for a new agreement testified, without contradiction, that the
Union's representatives had advised him that the membership of
Local 138 would have to ratify the new agreement. Ratification was
never obtained because disagreement over two points developed after
the attorney for the Teamsters submitted a complete, typewritten draft
of a contract to the Employer for its signature. The contract has not
been signed by either party. We believe that the initialed memo-
randum drawn up by the negotiating parties constituted no more than
a tentative agreement upon certain contractual provisions, subject to
ratification and approval by the union membership and to the subse-
quent execution of a complete formal contract, and is not in itself, a
contract which may bar a present determination of representatives.'
We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of certain employees of the Employers within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.3
2 Matter of Monticello Charm Tred Mills, Incorporated , 80 N L R B 378
8 The parties stipulated at the hearing that the Teamsters represents a majority of the
employees at the Bronx and Long Island City warehouses , and that no question concerning
representation of these employees exists The Teamsters , however, requested that it be
accorded a place on the ballot in any election involving the Port Newark employees.
RODDIS PLYWOOD & DOOR COMPANY, INC. 311
4. The Teamsters requests a single unit composed of all chauffeurs,
helpers, and warehousemen at the three warehouses in the Bronx and
Long Island City, New York, and in Port Newark, New Jersey, exclud-
ing office ,and professional employees, guards, and supervisors. The
Loiigshoreinen requests a separate unit of the chauffeurs, helpers, and
warehousemen at the Port Newark warehouse. The Employers' rep-
resentative agreed at the hearing that the Port Newark warehouse
would constitute a separate appropriate unit.
It is the policy of Roddis Plywood Corporation, the parent corpor-
ation of the Employers here involved, to operate its various ware- .
houses and lumber mills throughout the country by means of a separate
wholly owned subsidiary in each State in which it has facilities. The
type of operations performed at each of the three warehouses, and the
duties of the employees working there are similar. Apparently the
two warehouses in the Bronx and Long Island City, New York, are
supervised by' a single manager. The Port Newark warehouse has
its own manager, who is in full charge of all employees there. He
does his own hiring, and keeps his own accounting and pay-roll rec-
ords. The parent corporation sets the sales and inventory policies
for all its subsidiaries, but does not attempt to regulate their labor
policies. Each of the three warehouses distributes doors and other
plywood and lumber products in separate territories. The Port
Newark warehouse was established to expand distribution into Penn-
sylvania and New Jersey which had previously been inadequately
supplied by the other warehouses. There is no interchange of em-
ployees between the Port Newark warehouse and either the Bronx
or Long Island City warehouses. Products shipped to the Port
Newark warehouse are primarily intended for distribution from that
point, and not for retransfer to the other warehouses.
In view of the separate operation and management of the Port
Newark warehouse, the absence of employee interchange as between
this warehouse and the other branches of the operations of Roddis
Plywood Corporation, and the separate control of labor relations
by the management at Port Newark, we believe that the employees
of the Port Newark warehouse constitute a separate appropriate unit'
We find that all chauffeurs, helpers, and warehousemen employed
by Roddis Co., Inc., at Port Newark, New Jersey, excluding office and
professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act,
constitute a unit appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
4 Matter of Sandler Mocrasin Co Inc. 80 N L It B 1079; Matter of Merchant Calca•
rating Machine Company, 80 N L R B 442
312 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain -representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employers, 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 Second 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 de-
scribed 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 reinstated prior to the date
of the election, and also excluding employees on strike who are not
entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether they desire to be
represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by Local 138, Inter-
national Brotherhood of Teamsters, A. F. L., by Local 1478, Inter-
national Longshoremen's Association, A. F. L., or by neither.