Shell Oil Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 12, 1950

90 N.L.R.B. 371 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of SHELL OIL COMPANY,' EMPLOYER and LOCAL 971,
AFFILIATED WITH INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS,
CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, AFL,
PETITIONER
Case No. 14-RC-1013.-Decided June 10, 1950
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Milton O. Talent, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed .2
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member
panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.'
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate unit :
The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit consisting of all service
station attendants at the Avenue Service Station on Edwardsville
Road, Woodriver, Illinois, excluding the service station manager and
other supervisors. The Employer agrees that the proposed unit would
be appropriate, but that the employees in the proposed unit are not
employees of the Employer but employees of the service station man-
ager, an independent contractor.
The Employer, hereinafter called Shell, leases the property on which
the Woodriver service station is located and owns a substantial amount
' The Employer's name appears as amended at the hearing.
z The motions of the parties for oral argument are denied , as, in our opinion , the positions
of the parties and the issues are clearly set forth in the record and the briefs.
8 William Goar, d/b/a, Goar's Service and Supply, 85 NLRB 219, and cases cited therein ;
Shell Oil Company, Incorporated , 66 NLRB 510.
90 NLRB No. 53.
371
372 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of the equipment located on the premises. Other equipment owned
by the station manager was purchased from Shell or bought from
other private sources. Shell furnishes all utilities at the service
station, except the telephone service. The service station manager
pays no rent for use of this station.
The service station manager operates the station for Shell under
Yan employment agreement terminable by either party on 24 hours'
notice. Compensation of the station manager is outlined on a com-
mission basis. The agreement provides : (1) That title to all petroleum
products delivered to the station shall remain in Shell until sold at
prices fixed by Shell; (2) that the manager, on his own account, pur-
chase from others and sell at the station such automobile accessories
•and other merchandise as Shell may approve, and perform such
services for others as Shell may approve ; (3) that the manager shall
-devote his full business time to the operation of the station and shall
use his best efforts to promote the sale of "Shell" products; and (4)
that the manager shall comply strictly and fully with all Shell's in-
structions, rules and regulations, . . . and keep such records and
make such reports as Shell may require. The agreement further pro-
vides that the manager shall employ and pay all wages and salaries
of such assistants at said station as Shell may require or approve,
and shall discharge any such assistant at Shell's request and that, at
Shell's request, the manager shall furnish Shell satisfactory surety
bonds covering the manager and any or all of his assistants. Shell
further requires the attendants at the service station to undergo a
physical examination as a condition of employment. It requires the
manager to deduct and forward to it social security and withholding
taxes; on which Shell reports to the Government and issues W-2
forms to the attendants. Other monthly reports are required of the
manager by Shell on Shell's own forms.
Through its sales representatives, who occasionally visit the service
station, Shell advises the manager as to sales promotion and. makes
"suggestions" to the attendants in regard to neatness and cleanliness
at the station. The record shows that the attendants feel obligated
to follow these "suggestions." Shell recommends dress regulations
and Shell's sales representative has the authority to- insist upon the
discharge of an attendant of whose appearance he does not approve.
Wages, hours, and duration and conditions of employment of the
station attendants are set by the station manager, subject, however,
to Shell's approval.
Because it clearly appears that Shell retains substantial and
responsible direct control over the station manager and other attend-
ants at the station, dictating their mode of operation, we find that
SHELL OIL COMPANY 373
the station manager is not an independent contractor, and that the
other attendants at the station are employees of Shell, and that Shell
is their employer within the meaning of the Act.4
The following employees of the Employer constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the Act; all service station attendants at the
Employer's Avenue Service Station on Edwardsville Road, Wood-
river, Illinois, excluding the service station manager and other
supervisors.
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 supervision 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, 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
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 deter-
mine whether or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of col-
lective bargaining, by Local 971, affiliated with International Brother-
hood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of
America, AFL.
* Del Rio & Winter Garden Telephone Company, 85 NLRB 199; Louis Pizitz Dry Goods
Company, 71 NLRB 579, and cases cited therein ; General Motors Corporation (Eastern
Aircraft Division) et al., 60 NLRB 81 ; R. C. Brooks d/b/a Beechwood Lumber Company,
77 NLRB 1053.