Sherman White & Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 2, 1954

109 N.L.R.B. 1 (N.L.R.B. 1954)

SHERMAN WHITE & COMPANY and CHAUFFEURS , TEAMSTERS & HELPERS,
LOCAL No. 414, AFL, PETITIONER .1 Case No. 13-11C-3719. July
°2, 196.
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 Robert H. Cowdrill,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
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 organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees 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 Petitioner seeks to sever from the existing production and
maintenance unit at the Employer's plant at Fort Wayne, Indiana, a
unit of over-the-road truckdrivers and garage maintenance employees.
The Intervenor contends that only a plantwide unit is appropriate
here. The record does not indicate the Employer's position.
The Employer is engaged in the processing of poultry, eggs, and
cream. The primary duties of the 18 truckdrivers are to make de-
liveries to the plant from suppliers located within a 150-mile radius
of the plant, and to transport the Employer's products to various
markets. They are separately supervised. The 5 garage maintenance
employees' primary duties are to repair and maintain the Employer's
trucks. They work in a separate building apart from the other em-
ployees. Both truckdrivers and garage maintenance employees some-
times load and unload the trucks. The truckdrivers and the garage
maintenance employees also occasionally perform an unspecified
amount of production work but the record is not clear as to the amount
of such work. It does not appear to be substantial.
The truckdrivers and garage maintenance employees are a func-
tionally distinct group whom the Board has recognized as having
special interests apart from other employees.2 Furthermore, the Peti-
1 United Packinghouse Workers of America, Local Union No 121, CIO, was permitted to
intervene at the hearing on the basis of its current contract with the Employer.
L Pasco Packing Co., 106 NLRB 1223.
109 NLRB No. 6.
1
2 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tioner has traditionally devoted itself to serving the special interests
of such employees. Nor do we believe that the occasional production
work performed by these employees militates against their separate
representation. In view of the foregoing, we find that the truck-
drivers and garage maintenance employees may constitute a separate
appropriate unit if they so desire.8
Accordingly, we shall direct that an election be held in the follow-
ing voting group at the Employer's Fort Wayne, Indiana, plant, ex-
cluding all other employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act :
All over-the-road truckdrivers and garage maintenance employees.
If a majority vote for the Petitioner, they will be taken to' have
indicated their desire to be represented in a separate unit, and the
Regional Director conducting the election herein is instructed, in that
event, to issue a certification of representatives to the Petitioner for
such unit which the Board, under the circumstances, finds to be appro-
priate for purposes of collective bargaining. If, however, a majority
vote for the Intervenor, they will be taken to have indicated their
desire to remain part of the existing production and maintenance
unit, and the Regional Director is instructed to issue a certification of
results of election to such effect.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
MEMBER RODGERS took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
8 American Potash & Chemical Corporation , 107 NLRB 1418.
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, APPARATUS SALES DIVISION, SERVICE
SHOPS DEPARTMENT and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRI-
CAL WORKERS, LOCAL UNION No. 73, AFL, PETITIONER . Case No.
19-RC-1431. July 2,1954
Decision and Certification of Representatives
On March 19, 1954, pursuant to a stipulation for certification upon
consent election, an election by secret ballot was conducted under the
direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Nineteenth
Region among employees in the agreed appropriate unit. Following
the election, the Regional Director served on the parties a tally of
ballots, which showed that, of approximately 8 eligible voters, 8 cast
ballots in the election, of which 4 ballots were cast for the Petitioner;
3 ballots were cast for International Union of Electrical, Radio and
Machine Workers of America, CIO, the Intervenor herein; and 1
109 NLRB No. 4.