Truss-Mart Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 20, 1958

121 N.L.R.B. 1430 (N.L.R.B. 1958)

1430 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Truss-Mart Corporation 1 and Gaines Construction Co., Inc .2 and
International Brotherhood of Teamsters , Chauffeurs, Ware-
housemen and Helpers of America, Local 290,3 Petitioner
Truss-Mart Corporation and Gaines Construction Co., Inc. and
Local No. 478, International Hod Carriers Building and Com-
mon Laborers Union of America, AFL-CIO,' Petitioner
Truss-Mart Corporation and Gaines Construction Co., Inc. and
Carpenters Industrial Local Union No. 2820 , United Brother-
hood of Carpenters and Joiners of America , AFL-CIO,' Peti-
tioner. Cases Nos. 12-RC-287, 12-RC-289," and 12-RC-292.
October 20, 1958
DECISION, ORDER, AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS -
Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Herbert A. Watterson, hear-
ing 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 Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this proceeding to a three-
member panel [Members Rodgers, Bean, and Fanning].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
1. At the hearing Truss-Mart and Gaines moved to dismiss the
petitions on the ground that they are not engaged in commerce, or,
in the alternative, that their operations have insufficient impact upon
commerce to warrant asserting jurisdiction. Truss-Mart also moved
to dismiss the petition as to it on the ground that it employed no
employees in any of the units sought by the Petitioners. These mo-
tions are denied for the following reasons :
The record shows that Truss-Mart purchases materials which it sup-
plies to Gaines for the manufacture of wood roof-trusses, which are
then sold by Truss-Mart. In this transaction Gaines acts as a-sub-
contractor for Truss-Mart. Both enterprises are Florida corporations
with offices and plant facilities at the same location. Julius Gaines
is the president and majority stockholder of both'corporations and 3
1 Hereinafter called Truss-Mart
Hereinafter called Gaines
3 The name of the Petitioner, hereinafter called Teamsters , appears as corrected at the
hearing
4 Hereinafter called Hod Carriers.
5 Hereinafter called Carpenters Local 2820
" The hearing officer, over objection of counsel for Truss -Mart, granted the Petitioners'
motions to amend all of the petitions to join Gaines as a party to the proceedings. The
objection was predicated on the contention that Gaines was not represented at the hearing
However, the president of Gaines was present throughout the hearing and testified. No
requestwas made for continuance Under-these circumstances , we affirm the hearing
officer 's action in permitting the amendment
121 NLRB No. 181.
TRUSS-MART CORP. AND GAINES CONST. CO., INC. 1431
individuals who comprise the board of directors of Gaines are also 3
of the 6 directors of Truss-Mart. Gaines' only other officer is also an
officer of Truss-Mart.' The record discloses that during the past fiscal
year, Truss-Mart has limited its operations to purchasing lumber and
selling wood trusses and has employed no production or maintenance
employees. It does, however, employ office and clerical employees,
and in prior years it has employed production workers, interchanging
them with Gaines as occasion required. On July 16, 1954, Truss-
Mart executed a contract with Carpenters District Council of Miami,
Florida, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America,
AFL-CIO,' effective until March 31, 1957, covering certain of these
employees, who were subsequently transferred to Gaines.
In view of the common ownership and management of the two
companies and their functional integration, we find that Truss-Mart
and Gaines are operated as a single enterprise, and constitute a single
Employer for unit and jurisdictional purposes.' As Truss-Mart an-
nually receives raw materials from outside the State of Florida valued
in excess of $500,000, we find that the Employer meets the Board's
jurisdictional standard for nonretail enterprises and that it will ef-
fectuate the policies of the Act to assert jurisdiction over Truss-Mart
and Gaines.io
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. Carpenters Local 2820, Hod Carriers and Teamsters seek to repre-
sent three different units of employees at the Employer's plant, the
Carpenters Local 2820, seeking a plantwide unit, the Hod Carriers
seeking a unit limited to laborers, and the Teamsters seeking to repre-
sent only the truckdrivers and forklift operators. At the hearing the
Hod Carriers moved to dismiss the petition of Carpenters Local 2820
(Case No. 12-RC-292) on the ground that the expired 1954 contract'
(mentioned above) between Truss-Mart and the Carpenters District
Council covering the carpenters in the unit sought by the Carpenters
Local 2820 has been, in effect, extended by the action of the Employer
in continuing to recognize the Council as the representative of such
employees and to abide by the terms of such contract. We find no
merit in this motion, and it is denied because, apart from any other
consideration, it is well settled that an oral extension agreement, such
as is here urged, may not bar a petition.
We find that questions affecting commerce exist concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
G Truss-Mart has two other officers, who have no connection with Gaines
8 Hereinafter called the Council
8 Brown & Root Caribe, Inc, 119 NLRB 815.
10 The T H Rogers Lumber Company, 117 NLRB 1732, 1735 In view of our "single-
employer" finding herein, it is immaterial that Truss-Mart itself has no employees in the
unit sought.
1432 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
4. As already stated, the Carpenters Local 2820, Hod Carriers, and
Teamsters. seek to represent three different units of employees at the
Employer's ' plant, Carpenters Local 2820 seeking a plantwide unit,
the Hod Carriers seeking a unit limited to laborers, and the Teamsters
seeking to ' represent only the truckdrivers and, forklift operators.
The Employer takes no position as to what unit, if any, it deems
appropriate.
Gaines' manufactures wood trusses at its Miami, Florida, plant. It
receives lumber at its plant where it is unloaded by the laborers and
the forklift operators and stored until needed in the production proc-
ess, at which time it is moved by the laborers and forklift operators
into the plant proper. The carpenters, who work inside the plant ex-
clusively, operate ' powersaws with which they convert lumber into
trusses and they attach connector plates and nail plates to the trusses.
They also do layout work on jigs and benches and cut patterns. After
the lumber is processed by the carpenters, it is bound and loaded by
laborers and forklift operators onto trucks for delivery. At the time
of the hearing there was no interchange between carpenters and
laborers. However, about 50 percent of the carpenters were formerly
laborers. The forklift operators work at the plant, where they spend
50 percent of their time operating the forklifts in connection with the
loading and transportation of the Employer's production within the
plant, and the remainder of their time performing laborer's duties.
The three truckdrivers make local and long distance pickups and
deliveries. They perform no other duties. Apart from the expired
contract with the Council mentioned above covering the carpenters,
there is no history of bargaining covering any of the employees in
any of the units sought by any of the Petitioners.ll
In accord with Board policy, we find that the plantwide unit
sought by Carpenters Local 2820 is appropriate. As the employees
sought by Hod Carriers do not constitute a craft group or depart-
ment such as the Board ordinarily deems appropriate, we shall dis-
miss the Hod Carriers' petition. However, we find that the truck-
drivers comprise a unit of the type which the Board has frequently
found appropriate.12 These employees may, if they so desire, be
represented separately or be included ,in the plantwide unit sought
by the Carpenters Local 2820. However, as the forklift operators
perform no driving outside the plant premises, but work entirely
within the plant, we find that they may not appropriately be included
in the unit sought by Teamsters. We shall include them in the
plantwide unit.
u In view of the fact that the Employer has not, in fact, bargained with the Council
since March 1957, when its contract expired ( although it has conformed to the prior
contract and to current area practice ), we give ' no weight to the foregoing bargaining
history in making our unit findings.
12 Lewis & Bowman, Inc., 109 NLRB 796, 798.
LLOYD A. FRY ROOFING COMPANY 1433
Accordingly, we shall direct elections in the two following voting
groups of employees at the Employer's Opa Locka,-Florida, plant,
excluding from each group office clerical employees and supervisors
as defined in the Act.
Group 1. All employees engaged in the manufacture of wood
trusses, including carpenters, laborers, and forklift operators.
Group 2. All truckdrivers.
We shall place the names of both Carpenters Local 2820 and Hod
-Carriers 13 on the ballot in the election among the employees in both
voting groups. -
4. If a majority of the employees in voting group 2 select,the
Teamsters, they will' be taken to have indicated their desire to con-
stitute a separate unit, and the Regional Director conducting the
elections directed herein is hereby instructed to issue a certification
of representatives to the Teamsters for such unit, which the Board
in such circumstances finds appropriate for purposes of- collective
bargaining. '
If, however, a majority in voting group 2 does not vote for the
Teamsters, such group will appropriately be included with the
employees in voting group 1 and their' votes will be pooled with
those in voting- group , 1.14 - The Regional Director conducting the
;election is instructed to issue a certification of representatives to the
labor organization selected by a majority of the employees in the
pooled gl'oup, which the Board in such circumstances finds to be
appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining.'
[The Board. dismissed the petition in Case No. 12-RC-289.]
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.]
13 As the Hod Carriers have made a showing of interest herein, we have placed their
name on the ballots in the elections directed . In the event they do not desire to par-
ticipate in the elections, they may withdraw by making their timely request of the
Regional Director.
14 If the votes are pooled, they are to be tallied in the following manner • The votes
for the Teamsters shall be counted as valid votes but neither for no"r against the other
labor organizations ; all other votes are to be accorded their face value, whether for a
union or for no union. -
Lloyd A. Fry Roofing Company and Volney Felt Mills, division
thereof and Warehouse, Processing and Distribution Workers'
Union , Local 26, I. L . W. U., Petitioner . Case No. 21-RC-4912.
October 20, 1958 -
SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND DIRECTION
Pursuant to a Supplemental Decision, Order, and Direction of Sec-
ond Election 1 issued by the Board on February 27,1958, in the above-
entitled proceeding, a-second election by secret ballot was conducted
I Unpublished.
121 NLRB No. 184.