The Southland Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 26, 1951

94 N.L.R.B. 1563 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

THE SOUTHLAND CORPORATION 1563
However , we shall snake no final unit determinations at this time,
but shall be guided in part by the desires of the employees as expressed
in the elections hereinafter directed. If a majority of the employees
in either of the voting groups described above vote for the Petitioner,
they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a sepa-
rate appropriate unit. Otherwise, they will be taken to have indicated
a desire to remain part of the existing contract unit.7
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this
volume.]
"If the Petitioner does not wish to proceed to an election in the units as enlarged
herein , it may withdraw . its petition upon prompt request to and approval by the Regional
Director.
THE SOUTHLAND CORPORATION , OAK FARMS DAIRIES DIVISION and
LOCAL 745, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF. TEAMSTERS , CHAUF-
FEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS , OF AMERICA , PETITIONER . Case
No. 16-RC-706. June 6, 1951
Decision and Direction of Election
Upon a petition duly filed, under Section 9 (c) of the Act a hearing
was held before Charles Y. Latimer, hearing officer. 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
Murdock and Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
1. Oak Farms Dairies is 1 of 3 separately managed divisions of The
Southland Corporation, the Employer herein. The, other 2 are the
Ice Division, which manufactures and sells ice in numerous Texas
cities, both. at retail and to dealers, and-the Seven-Eleven Stores Di-
vision, which operates about 95 retail, drive-in grocery stores in the
State. The Dairies Division manufactures and distributes dairy prod-
ucts in a large area of the State both at wholesale and at retail. Its:
Dallas plant, here involved, operates on a wholesale basis, manufactur-
ing all the ice cream and cottage cheese for the division. The Dairies:
Division's purchases for 1950 amounted -to. approximately $3,000,000,,
in value, of which $370,000 were estimated as representing out-of-State
3 The Employer 's motion to dismiss because the ;petition as filed incorrectly named Oak
Farms, Ltd., as the Employer , rather than Southland Corporation , and because the dairy
operation is local in cnaracter , is denied. The petition was corrected by amendment at
the hearing and the Employer has shown no prejudice in this regard. In addition, see
the Board ' s discussion in paragraph numbered 1 of this Decision and Direction.
94 NLRB 228.
1564 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
purchases. Ten to twenty percent of its products are distributed by
the Stores Division, constituting at some of the stores the only dairy
products distributed.
Total purchases of the Employer during 1950 for all divisions were
estimated by it as exceeding $5,000,000 in value, and total sales, all
made in Texas, as $16,000,000, including $72,000 worth of ice to rail-
roads and $2,500 worth of milk to a Dallas airport restaurant. The
Employer's president was unable to state at the hearing whether as
much as $1,000,000 worth of its total purchases were merchandise
processed or manufactured outside the State, although, as noted
herein, its Dairies Division alone made direct out-of-State purchases
considerably in excess of one-third of that amount. Concerning the
Stores Division the record shows that purchases of canned goods, al-
though made from wholesalers within the State, consisted of na-
tionally known brands customarily distributed by grocers. Likewise
meats were purchased locally from such nationally known firms as
Swift & Co. The Employer estimated the inventory of an individual
store at $6,000.
The Employer contends that the Dairies Division is a purely local
business whose out-of-State purchases are insufficient to justify the
Board's assertion of jurisdiction in this proceeding, and that, as a
separately operated unit, only the extent of that Division' s business
and not that of the corporation as a whole should be considered. In
this connection the Employer in its brief states that a labor dispute
"at the dairy could not possibly affect interstate commerce touching
the other divisions of The Southland Corporation." 2 With this un-
realistic contention we cannot agree. It is. clear on this record that
the Southland Corporation is a single integrated enterprise, conduct-
ing related business operations under the immediate supervision of its
president.-' Therefore the totality of its operation, and- not just the
operation of its Dairies Division here involved, is relevant in de-
termining jurisdiction of the Board.4 We find upon the basis of the
2 The Employer contends that the Board lacks jurisdiction in this case because of the
decision in N. L. R. B. v. Shawnee Milling Company , d/b/a Paul8 Valley Milling Company,
184 F. 2d 57 (C. A. 10). Whatever the applicability of that decision , the Board, with
due respect for the opinion of the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, is constrained
to adhere to its original view until the Supreme Court of the United States has had an
opportunity to pass upon the question.
3 Concerning the separate operation of the Dairies Division the evidence offered by the
Employer indicated only that sales by It to the Stores Division are billed as any other
sale to the Stores Division would be, and that the main office of the Dairies Division is
separately located in Dallas, although the main office of the corporation , and its Stores
Division and Ice Division are at one location.
4 Morgan Packing Company, Inc ., 91 NLRB No. 104 Wentworth Bus Lines, Inc.,
92 NLRB 1356 . See also, Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., Parklabrea - Resident .Com-
munity, 93 NLRB 381 ; . H. E. Butt Grocery Company, 93 NLRB No . 88, not reported
in printed volumes of Board decisions.
HART CONCRETE PRODUCTS CO. 1565
Employer's total operations as revealed in this record that it is en-
gaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act.
It appears that in 1950 the Employer made direct out-of-State
purchases for its Dairies Division amounting in value to $370,000,
indirect out-of-State purchases for its Stores Division in substantial
amount, and, through its Ice Division, furnished within the State
$72,000 worth of services essential to an instrumentality of commerce.
As the indirect outflow of the Ice Division alone, without regard to
the substantial inflow of the Dairies and Stores Division, far exceeds
the minimum requirements which the Board considers in determining
whether to assert jurisdiction,' we find that it will effectuate the poli-
cies of the Act for the Board to assert jurisdiction in this case which
involves the Dallas plant of the Employer's Oak Farm Dairies
Division.
2. The labor organization involved claims 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 theActe
4. The following employees of the Employer constitute a unit ap-
propriate for purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the Act:
All inside employees of the Dallas plant of the Employer's Oak
Farm Dairies Division, including stock clerks, shipping clerks, bottle
and case receiving clerks, and the laboratory assistant, but excluding
office clerical employees, truck drivers, the special driver, the chief
operating engineer, the laboratory technician, and all other employees
excluded by the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
5 Hollow Tree Lumber Company, 91 NLRB 635.
6 The showing of the Petitioner is an administrative matter. O. D. Jennings & Co.,
68 NLRB 516 . The Board is satisfied that the Petitioner has made a sufficient showing
of interest to warrant an election.
HART CONCRETE PRODUCTS Co. and UNITED STONE AND ALLIED
PRODUCTS WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER . Case No. 10-
RC-1234. June 06, 1951
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 William J. Rains, hearing
94 NLRB No. 225.