Trumbull Asphalt Co. of Delaware

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 25, 1947

73 N.L.R.B. 581 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of TRUMBULL ASPHALT COMPANY OF DELAWARE, EM-
PLOYER and UNITED CHEMICAL WORKERS, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 15M-R-28.Decided ',April 25, 1,947
Mr. L. F. Bramble, of Chicago , Ill., and Mr. W. P. Beard, of Mem-
phis, Tenn., for the Employer.
Messrs. W. A. Copeland and J . D. Harris, of Memphis, Tenn., for
the Petitioner.
Mr. Martin Sacks, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Memphis,
Tennessee, on March 14, 1947, before Gerald A. Brown, hearing officer.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prej-
udicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes. the following :
FINDINGS Or FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Trumbull Asphalt Company of Delaware is a Delaware corporation
with its main office at Chicago, Illinois. At its Memphis, Tennessee,
plant, the,only one involved in this proceeding, the Employer is en-
gaged in the manufacture'of paving and roofing asphalt.,* During the
last fiscal year the Employer purchased for use at, this plant raw
materials valued at approximately $392,000, of which about $152,000
represented shipments from States other than the State of Tennessee.
During the same period, sales of the Employer's products amounted -to
$565,000 in value, of which about $28,900 represented shipments to
customers outside the State of Tennessee and $19,000 represented sales
to the Tennessee Valley, Authority. ., , , . ,
U,pon;,these facts, we find, contrary to t,.le`-position of.-the Employer
that it is engaged, at, its Memphis,, Tennessee, plant, in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
73 N. L. R. B., No. 112..
581
582 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer. -
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the -Employer until the
Petitioner has-been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce, has arisen concerning
,the representation of employees of the Employer, within the-meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. TIIE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner seeks a unit of all employees, including stillmen,
stillman's helpers, and laborers at the Employer's plant, except for
office clerical personnel and supervisory employees. The Employer
is in general agreement, except that it urges the exclusion of stillmen
on the' ground that -they a,re= superv-isoiy employees. There` is no
history ofcollective bargaining at this plant.-
r
- -
The -Employer. is engaged in the processing of paving and roofiiig
asphalt at its Memphis, Tennessee, plant. The plant consists of a
single office and laboratory building and three stills which are located
nearby. The normal employee complement consists of a -superin-
tendent, assistant superintendent, yard foreman, stenographer, three
stillmen, three Stillman's helpers, and eight laborers. The stills are
tended, in three 8-hour shifts, -by ,a Stillman and a stillman's helper.
During the 4 p. in. to midnight, and the midnight to 8 a. m. shifts, the
Stillman and his helper are the only'employees-in the plant:` The
sti]lman-i's charged-with-the responsibility of -operating 1the- stills and
-testing the product on an assigned production schedule, which, how-
ever, may be altered under certain' circumstances at his' discretion.
The stillman's helper;, generally picked from among -the plant's
laborers, assists the Stillman by mechanically handling the pumps and
.lines= wliich ar6-used in the pumping of material' from tankcars into
,the stills, and from the stills to the storage tanks of the Employer's
customers.:'
The record discloses that laborers undergo apprentice training
under-the day'stillman to-become; stillman's helpers- on the 2 night
shifts ; and' that Stillman's ' -elpers can become stillmen. • Although it
appears that the day. Stillman has the customary instructor's function
of passing on the qualifications of 'his, apprentices, he has no super-
visory authority over his helpers because of the presence in the plant
'TRUMBULL ASPHALT COMPANY OF DELAWARE 583
of the superintendent, assistant superintendent, and yard foreman,
in whorri'it is admitted, the supervisory authority over the plant's 11
employees ultimately vests. All stilimen are hourly paid, are sub-
ject to the same vacation policy, and are subject to the same control by,
the Employer's superintendent and assistant superintendent as the
other employees. The 2 night stillmen have, in the past,' discharged
their helpers, but all such discharges were apparently made subject
to the approval of the superintendent. ' Ina number of instances- these
discharges have been approved, and, in other, the Employer has,
instead, assigned the helper to another shift. We are of the opinion
from all the foregoing that the relationship between the stillman and
his helper is that of the master craftsman to his apprentice, rather
than that of superior to' subordlnate.1 We note also that to grant the
Employer's request would result in the addition of 3 employees to the
admittedly supervisory employees making a total of 6 supervisors
for 11 employees.
Under all the circumstances, including the substantial community
of interest between the stillman,and.other employees, we, shall include
the stillmen in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.
We find that all employees at the Employer's Memphis, Tennessee,'
plant,, including stillmen but excluding office clerical employees, the
yard foremen, assistant superintendent, superintendent, and all and
any other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, dis-
charge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em-
ployees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit ap-
propriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Trumbull Asphalt Company
of Delaware, Memphis, Tennessee, an election by secret ballot shall be
conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from
the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the
Regional Director for the Fifteenth Region, acting in this matter as
agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections
203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regu-
lations-Series 4, among the employees in the unit found appropriate
in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period
immediately preceding the date of this Direction,,,including.emplo,,yees-
who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or
on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the
' See Matter of Volney Felt Mills, Inc, 71 N. L R. B. 951.
584 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person
at the polls, 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, to determine whether or not they desire to be
represented by United Chemical Workers, CIO, for the purposes
of collective bargaining.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.