Safeway Stores, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 27, 1975

216 N.L.R.B. 819 (N.L.R.B. 1975)

SAFEWAY STORES , INC. 819
Safeway Stores, Inc. and Brotherhood of Teamsters
and Auto Truck Drivers, Local 70, International
Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Ware-
housemen and Helpers of America . Case 20-UC-
75
February 27, 1975
DECISION ON REVIEW AND ORDER
BY MEMBERS FANNING, JENKINS, AND
PENELLO
On October 8, 1974, the Regional Director for
Region 20 issued a Decision and Order in the above-
entitled proceeding in which he dismissed the
Employer's petition seeking to clarify the unit
placement of the trucking or shipping supervisor or
dispatcher at the Employer's Fremont, California,
distribution center' (hereinafter supervisor-dispatch-
er). Thereafter, in accordance with Section 102.67 of
the National Labor Relations Board Rules and
Regulations , Series 8, as amended , the Employer
filed a timely request for review of the Regional
Director's decision on the grounds, inter alia, that in
dismissing the unit clarification petition he departed
from Board precedent and made findings of fact
which are clearly erroneous.
The National Labor Relations Board, by telegraph-
ic order dated December 9, 1974, granted the request
for review. The Employer filed a brief on review and
the Union filed a statement of position.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has considered the entire record in this
case with respect to the issues under review,
including the documents filed by the parties, and
makes the following findings:
The Employer operates a chain of retail supermar-
kets in various States throughout the United States
and maintains distribution centers, including one at
Fremont, California, involved herein.
The record discloses that the Employer and the
Union are parties to a current multiemployer
collective-bargaining agreement running from Au-
gust 1 , 1972, until July 31, 1975. Section 10 of the
agreement sets out wage rates for drivers, hostlers,
helpers on trucks, platform men, delicatessen cold
i At the hearing , the titles "trucking and shipping supervisor" and
"dispatcher" were used interchangeably.
2 The record discloses that Walt Collin occupied that position from the
date of the opening until July 8 , 1974, when he was succeeded by another
indivOual . Collin was formerly the trucking and shipping supervisor at the
Employer's Richmond distribution center . In that former capacity, he
participated in management meetings with respect to the opening of the
Fremont distribution center.
storage men, and working foremen. Section 9-D
provides:
A Dispatcher shall be considered a Working
Foreman within the Drivers classification. Upon
ratification of this Agreement, those houses
employing union dispatchers shall maintain those
positions. The dispatcher's duties shall be limited
to the routing, assigning and dispatching of runs.
The Fremont distribution center has been in opera-
tion since September 1973, and it is undisputed that,
with the exception of the supervisor-dispatcher, a
position occupied since that date, the' current
agreement has been applied to employees at that
facility.2
The Regional Director dismissed the petition
seeking clarification of the supervisor-dispatcher's
status concluding it would be disruptive of the
bargaining relationship voluntarily entered into by
the parties to clarify the unit at this time. In so doing,
he referred to the contractual language above
relating to the inclusion of dispatchers and noted
that during negotiations the parties had addressed
themselves to that issue and concluded that any
dispute regarding the application of said clause
concerning dispatchers could be resolved through the
contract grievance procedure.3 The Employer asserts
the duties of the Fremont supervisor-dispatcher do
not fall clearly within any of the job classifications
covered by the parties' current collective-bargaining
agreement, and that position should be excluded
from the unit as supervisory. We find merit in the
Employer's contention.
Contrary to the Regional Director, we do not find
it would be disruptive of the collective-bargaining
relationship to clarify the unit at this time. It is
settled that the Board will not normally entertain a
petition for unit clarification during the term of a
contract to modify a unit which is clearly defined in
the current bargaining agreement.4 Here, the petition
does not seek to modify such a unit but to have the
Board determine the placement of the trucking and
shipping supervisor (supervisor-dispatcher), a posi-
tion not expressly covered in the agreement and
which did not exist at the time the parties executed
their contract. Thus, we conclude it is appropriate to
entertain the clarification petition at this time.5
The record reveals that in addition to performing
certain dispatching duties, the Fremont supervisor-
3 The parties ' current contract provides for binding arbitration of
disputes concerning the application or enforcement of the agreement The
Union agrees that the dispute concerning the Fremont supervisor -dispatch-
er is one of contractual interpretation , and should be resolved through the
grievance procedure
4 See Wallace-Murray Corporation, Schwitzer Division, 192 NLRB 1090
(1971).
5 Cf Monongahela Power Company, 198 NLRB 1183 (1972)
216 NLRB No. 153
820 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
dispatcher oversees the work of the 25 trucking and
shipping department employees employed at that
distribution center. He also visits the Employer's
stores serviced by the Fremont distribution center to
observe the performance of the drivers and discuss
the delivery of merchandise with the various store
managers. He reports directly to the warehouse
manager, who is in charge of the entire operation at
the Fremont distribution center. The supervisor-
dispatcher effectively hires and terminates employees
in the trucking and shipping department, grants time
off, assigns work, and approves overtime for drivers .6
He participates in weekly management meetings held
at the Fremont center and with the warehouse
manager represents the Employer in grievances
involving trucking and shipping department employ-
ees. Unlike the employees whose work he oversees,
the supervisor-dispatcher is paid an annual salary
and receives fringe benefits reserved for the Employ-
er's management personnel.
Based on the foregoing, and the record as a whole,
it is clear that the position of the Fremont distribu-
tion center supervisor-dispatcher was created after
the execution of the current agreement and that the
incumbent performs duties beyond those described
in the agreement regarding dispatchers. Further, in
view of the authority he possesses, we find that the
supervisor-dispatcher is a supervisor within the
meaning of the Act. Accordingly, we shall exclude
him from the unit.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the contractual collective-
bargaining unit covering the employees of Safeway
Stores, Inc., Fremont, California, represented by the
Brotherhood of Teamsters and Auto Truck Drivers,
Local 70, International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America,
be, and it hereby is, clarified by excluding therefrom
the position known as the trucking or shipping
supervisor or dispatcher at the Fremont, California,
distribution center.
6 The Regional Director acknowledged that the record disclosed the supervisor-dispatcher performed supervisory duties