Valley Truck and Tractor Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 19, 1948

80 N.L.R.B. 444 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter Of VALLEY TRUCK AND TRACTOR CO., EMPLOYER and
OPERATING ENGINEERS, LOCAL UNION No. 3 OF INTERNATIONAL
UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS, A. F. L.,1 PETITIONER
Case No. 20-RC-110.-Decided November 19, 1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial errors 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-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The business of the Employer :
Valley Truck and Tractor Co., a California corporation with its
only place of business in Marysville, California, is engaged in the
sale and servicing of farm machinery and motor trucks and in the
sale of parts and accessories therefor. During the first quarter of
1948,2 the Employer purchased materials, consisting of tractors, mow-
ers, plows, and other farm equipment, and parts and accessories for
such machines, valued at approximately $128,000, all obtained within
the State of California. Approximately 95 percent of these com-
pleted units and over 75 percent of the parts and accessories were
purchased from the International Harvester Company plant in Oak-
land, California, which, in turn, obtained over 69 percent of the com-
pleted machines from plants located outside the State of California.3
' The name of the Petitioner appears as amended at the hearing.
*Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Gray.
2 The Employer succeeded to the business of Herboth Tractor and Truck Company on
January 2, 1948.
8 The record does not reveal what percentage of the parts and accessories sold to the
Employer by the International Harvester Company plant at Oakland originates outside
the State.
80 N. L. R. B., No. 87.
444
VALLEY TRUCK AND TRACTOR CO. 445
During the same period, the Employer sold equipment valued at ap-
proximately $160,000, all of which was sold to customers within the
State.
We find, contrary to the contention of the Employer, that it is en-
gaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act 4
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent
employees 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 the Act.
4. The appropriate unit :
The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit of mechanics, mechanics'
helpers, and warehousemen, excluding parts men, salesmen, office and
clerical employees, and supervisors.5 The Employer contends that
parts men should be included in the unit.
There are four mechanics and two mechanics' helpers employed in
the Employer's shop who adjust, repair, and overhaul machinery.
A warehouse or assembly room, where new machinery is stored and
assembled, is located adjacent to the shop. Two warehousemen, or
set-up men, work in the warehouse assembling new equipment for
delivery to the Employer's customers. Occasionally, the mechanics or
helpers also work in the warehouse.
The parts department is located in a separate enclosure next to the
shop. The two parts men receive and deliver parts, both to the me-
chanics in the shop and to outside customers. Although there is no
interchange of duties between the shop employees and the parts men,
and although the parts men are subject to separate supervision, there
is a considerable amount of personal contact between these two groups
of employees. Mechanics and their helpers must go into the parts
department to obtain parts, and the parts men occasionally go into
the shop to consult with the mechanics and ascertain the parts neces-
sary for the repair or overhauling of equipment. The Board has
recently found appropriate units of shop and parts department em-
ployees employed in similar enterprises in the same general area.6
We shall therefore include the parts men in the unit.
4 Matter of Herboth Tractor Co et at., 79 N L. R. B. 431 ; Matter of Liddon White
Truck Company, Inc., 76 N. L. R. B. 1181.
6 Although the Petitioner in its petition requested inclusion of the parts men, it
amended its petition at the hearing to exclude them from the proposed unit.
9 Matter of Herboth Tractor Co. et al, supra. The employers involved in that case are
located at woodland, California , and Colusa , California , less than 50 miles from Marys-
ville But cf Matter of Liddon White Truck Company, Inc, supra ; Matter of Mark A.
Rathbun, Trading As Rathbun Implement Co, Case No . 19-RC-125, issued October 18,
1948.
446 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We find that all shop and parts department employees employed
by the Employer, including all mechanics, mechanics' helpers, ware-
housemen, and parts men, but excluding office and clerical employees,
salesmen, and supervisors, constitute a unit appropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining within the meaning 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 Valley Truck and Tractor Co.,
Marysville, California, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted
as early as possible, but not later than 30 days from the date of this
Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Direc-
tor for the Twentieth Region, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62
of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5,
as amended, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in
paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including
employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they
were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, 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, and also
excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to
determine whether or not they desird to be represented by Operating
Engineers, Local Union No. 3 of International Union of Operating
Engineers, A. F. L., for the purposes of collective bargaining.