Tollefson Brothers

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 30, 1954

108 N.L.R.B. 1666 (N.L.R.B. 1954)

1666 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
GEORGE R. TOLLEFSON and MARGARET A. TOLLEFSON
d/ b/ a TOLLEFSON BROTHERS and I NTERNATIONAL
LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION, AFL, Petitioner. Case
No. 2-RC-6580. June 30, 1954
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 Harry E.
Knowlton , 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 mean-
ing of the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent
certain employees of the Employer. 1
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the rep-
resentation 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 represent a unit of scalers,
sandblasters , laborers , boiler cleaners , and general main-
tenance workers employed by the Employer in its ship main-
tenance and repair operations . The Employer and Intervenor
agree that this unit is appropriate , buttheywould exclude from
the unit three employees referred to in the record as shopmen,
while the Petitioner would include them.
All employees id the unit but the shopmen are hired by the
Employer as needed for a single job at a time . Each job lasts
a few days or longer and the employees involved are recruited
from a general labor pool . They work for the most part at the
location of the ship they are repairing away from the Employer's
yard . The three shopmen are employed on a permanent basis
and work at the Employer's yard . They are salaried while
the other employees are hourly paid , and the shopmen receive
sick leave , hospitalization benefits , and other benefits which the
other employees in the unit do not receive.
One of the shopmen , Henrichsen , works in the Employer's
paint shop . He mixes paint and prepares the proper quantities
for delivery to the locations of repair jobs . Another, Benien-
stien , works in the garage . He performs general maintenance
functions and repairs on the Employer ' s trucks and boats. On
occasion these two employees drive trucks on general errands
for the Employer . Cordts , the third shopman , works in the
toolroom where he keeps the inventory of tools and small parts
and hands out tools. He also performs miscellaneous mainte-
nance duties around the shop . The three shopmen have some
contact with the other employees in the unit.
'Locals 1277 and 1804, International Longshoremen 's Association, independent. intervened
on the basis of a recent contractual interest.
108 NLRB No. 214.
TOLLEFSON BROTHERS 1667
In view of the nature of the shopmen's duties, and the fact
that they, like the outside employees, are engaged in main-
tenance work, we find, upon the entire record, that the interests
of the shopmen are sufficiently similar to those of the other
employees to warrant their inclusion in the unit.'
We find that the following employees of the Employer con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act:
All scalers, cleaners , sandblasters, laborers, boiler clean-
ers, general maintenance workers, and shopmen, excluding
executives , office clerical employees, painters, bricklayers,
vehicle drivers, watchmen. guards , and supervisors as de-
fined in the Act.
5. The parties agreed that normal voting eligibility require-
ments should not apply in this case and stipulated that all em-
ployees in the unit who worked 555 or more hours during
calendar year 1953 should be permitted to vote. The record
shows that, out of more than 250 employees who worked for
the Employer between January 1, 1953, and February 14,
1954, only 27 would be permitted to vote under this require-
ment. We agree that the normal eligibility requirements should
not apply in this case, but find that the stipulated requirement
would not permit employees having a significant and substan-
tial interest in collective bargaining with the Employer to
participate in the selection of the bargaining representative.
We are of the opinion that all employees in the appropriate
unit whose names appear on 8 or more different payrolls of
the Employer within the 6-month period preceding the issuance
of this Decision and Direction of Election should be eligible to
vote , substantially as we have provided in other cases involving
single-employer units of intermittent employees in the ship-
ping industry. s Accordingly, we so provide.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
Member Rodgers took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Direction of Election.
2Cordts is the father of Margaret Tollefson and father-in-law of George Tollefson, the
owners of the Employer. In the absence of any evidence that Cordts enjoys special status
because of his relationship to the partners, there is no reason to exclude him from the unit
because of it. International Metal Products Company, 107 NLRB 65.
$See American Fruit and Steamship Company, 88 NLRB 207; B and C Stevedoring Co.,
Incorporated, 88 NLRB 321; Crenshaw Bros. Produce Company, 88 NLRB 324; Tamphon
Trading Company, Inc., 88 NLRB 597.