The Rapid Transit Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 28, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 875 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of TI-IE RAPID TRANSIT COMPANY, EMPLOY ER and
AMALGAMATED ASSOCIATION OF STREET, ELECTRIC RAILWAY AND
MOTOR COACH EMPLOYEES OF AMERICA, LOWE DIVISION 1441, A. F. L.,
PETITIONER
Case No. 17-RC-604.-Decided February 28,19-50
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before William J.
Scott, hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The
hearing officer's rulings 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 Murdock].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
The Rapid Transit Company operates a local bus line in Lawrence,
Kansas . It has a total of 19 employees . The Company owns and
operates 10 busses, all of which were purchased outside the State of
Kansas. During the year ending October 31, 1949, the Company pur-
chased supplies, materials, and equipment valued at approximately
$33,500, of which amount approximately $13,000 was spent for mate-
rials and equipment obtained outside the State. The Company's gross
income during the same period vas approximately $130,000. The
Company does not have an I. C. C. license. Lawrence, Kansas, has a
population of approximately 27,000; this includes more than 8,000
students of the University of Kansas, and approximately 900 students
of Haskell Institute, both institutions being located in Lawrence.
Thus it appears that Lawrence is primarily a "college" town and that
the students are the Company's principal source of income 1 although,
also located in Lawrence, are 8 or 9 small industrial concerns, a small
percentage of whose employees use the Company's facilities. There
are 21 licensed taxicabs in Lawrence.
1 The record shows that the Company operates at a loss during summer months when sub-
stantially fewer students are in attendance at the university.
88 NLRB No. 153. 875
876 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon the foregoing facts, we are of the opinion that the Company's
operations are essentially local in character. Without deciding
whether these operations affect commerce within the meaning of the
Act, we believe that it would not effectuate the policies of the Act to
assert jurisdiction in this case.2 Accordingly, we shall dismiss this
petition.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition in this matter be, and it
hereby is, dismissed.
2 W. E. Whitfield, Jr., H. C. Whitfield, and DI. E. Whitfield, d/L/a Whitfield Bus Lines,
88 NLRB 261.