Shawnee Milling Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 14, 1943

51 N.L.R.B. 324 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of SHAWNEE MILLING' COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS , CHAUFFEURS , WAREHOUSEMEN AND
HELPERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 886 (AFL)
Case No. R-5608.-Decided July 14,1943
Abernathy & Abernathy, by Mr. G. C. Abernathy, of Shawnee,
Okla., for the Company.
Mr. A. D. Baugh, of Oklahoma City, Okla., for the Union.
Mr. Robert E. Tillman, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
'Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local 886 (AFL),
herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce
had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Shawnee
Milling Company, Shawnee, Oklahoma, herein called the Company,
the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hear-
ing upon due notice before Robert F. Proctor, Trial Examiner. Said
hearing was held at Shawnee, Oklahoma, on June 25, 1943. The Com-
pany and the Union appeared, participated, and 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 opportunity to file briefs
with the Board.
At the hearing the Company moved that the Union's petition be
dismissed on the grounds that the unit requested was improper because
too small, and that the Company had no opportunity to check the
manner in which designation cards were obtained by the Union.
The motion is hereby denied as being without merit.
Upon the entire record in the case,, the Board makes the following:
' On July 1, 1943 , the parties entered into a stipulation correcting errors in the tran-
script. Said stipulation is hereby incorporated in the record.
51 N. L. R. B., No. 67.
324
SHAWNEE MILLING COMPANY
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
325
Shawnee Milling Company, an Oklahoma corporation, maintains its
principal office and place of business in Shawnee, Oklahoma, where it
is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of flour, corn
meal, dairy feed, poultry feed, and related products. The principal
raw material used by the Company is wheat. During the year 1942,
the Company purchased approximately 2,000,000 bushels of wheat,
of which approximately 15 percent was purchased outside the State
of Oklahoma. During the same period, the Company sold and distrib-
uted approximately 50 percent of its products to points outside the
State of Oklahoma.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse-
men and Helpers of America, Local 886, is a labor organization
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It admits to
membership truck drivers employed by the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On or about May 26 and on June 4, 1943, a representative of the
Union met with officials of the Company. He stated that he repre-
sented a majority of the Company's truck drivers and requested that
the Union be recognized as their collective bargaining representative.
The Company replied that it would not recognize the Union in the
absence of an election.
A statement,of a Field Examiner of the Board, introduced in
evidence at the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a sub-
stantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be
appropriate.2
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
The Union requests a unit of all truck drivers employed by the
Company, excluding garage mechanics. The Company contends that
garage mechanics should be included in the unit. There are two
8 The Field Examiner stated that the Union submitted to him 14 authorization cards, all
bearing apparently genuine original signatures; and that 13 of the cards bore names of
persons whose names appeared on the Company ' s pay roll for May 20, 1943 , which listed
1S persons in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.
326 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELA! IONS BOARD
garage mechanics who devote 80 to 85 percent of their time to me-
chanical and repair work. Most of such work is performed on the
Company's trucks, but part of it consists of repairing or maintaining
equipment from the mill. The other 15 or 20 percent of their time
is spent in driving trucks. However, such driving is not regular but
occurs only in the event of emergencies. The Union alleges that
mechanics are not eligible to membership in its organization. In
Matter of Shawnee Milling Company, 51 N. L. R. B., No. 32, involv-
ing the Company, United Grain Processors, Local 21987, in amending
its petition for a production and maintenance unit, agreed to exclude
specifically only truck drivers. In view of all these facts, we find that
the garage mechanics are properly included in the production and
maintenance unit and we shall exclude them from the unit of truck
drivers.
We find that the truck drivers employed by the Company, exclud-
ing the garage mechanics, constitute a unit appropriate for the pur-
poses 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 means of 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 our Direction of
Election, subject to the limitations and additions set forth therein.
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
Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended,
it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Shawnee Milling
Company, Shawnee, Oklahoma, 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 Sixteenth Region, acting in this
matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject
to Article III, Section 10, 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 those employees who did not work
SHAWNEE MILLING COMPANY 327
during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or
temporarily 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, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen
and - Helpers of America, Local 886 (AFL), for the purposes of
collective bargaining.