Volney Felt Mills, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 7, 1954

110 N.L.R.B. 1244 (N.L.R.B. 1954)

1244 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ployees and Moving Picture Machine Operators of the United States
and Canada, A. F. L., shall each notify the Regional Director for
the Thirteenth Region , in writing, of the steps it has taken to comply
with the terms of this Decision and Determination of Dispute.
VOLNEY FELT MILLS, INC.' and PRODUCTION AND MISCELLANEOUS
WORKERS OF CHICAGO AND VICINITY, A SUBDIVISION OF CHICAGO
TRUCK DRIVERS , CHAUFFEURS AND HELPERS UNION OF CHICAGO AND
VICINITY, LOCAL 705, INDEPENDENT , PETITIONER
LLOYD A. FRY ROOFING COMPANY and LOCAL 710, MEAT DRIVERS AND
HELPERS, HIGHWAY DRIVERS, DOCKMEN AND HELPERS, OF THE INTER-
NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS AND WAREHOUSEMEN OF
AMERICA, A. F. L., PETITIONER. Cases Nos. 13-RC-3997 and 13-RC-
4067. December 7,1954
Decision and Direction of Elections
Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, separate hearings were held before
William D. Boetticher and Allen P. Haas, hearing officers.2 The
hearing officers' rulings made at the hearings are free from prejudicial
error and are hereby affirmed.3
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
The name of Volney Felt Mills, Inc , appears as amended at the hearing
2 For the purposes of this decision, Case No. 13-RC-3997 and Case No. 13-RC-4067
have been consolidated.
3 The hearing officers referred to the Board the Independent 's motion to add truck-
drivers to the list of categories excluded from the requested production and maintenance
unit in Case No. 13-RC-3997, and Fry's motion to make Volney a party to Case No.
13-RC-4067. These motions, for reasons set forth in paragraph numbered 4, are hereby
granted.
We do not find merit in the several motions by Fry to dismiss the petition in Case No.
13-RC-4067 in substance on the grounds : ( 1) That the issue of the unit placement of
highway truckdrivers was also raised in Case No . 13-RC-3997; (2) that the Teamsters
failed to intervene in Case No. 13-RC-3997, although it was aware of the pendency of
that proceeding ; ( 3) that the unit requests of both the Independent and the Teamsters
are based on the extent of their organization ; and (4 ) that the Teamsters have made no
substantial showing of interest These motions are denied . As to ( 1), we do not regard
the fact that the unit placement of the highway truckdrivers was in issue in the related
proceeding in Case No . 13-RC-3997 as precluding the Teamsters' unit request; as to
(2), formal notice of the pendency of Case No 13-RC-3997 was not given to the Team-
sters ; as to ( 3), since we have determined on the merits that the unit requests in these
cases are appropriate , the fact that the respective showings of interest herein coincide
therewith is not material , and as to ( 4), the Board has repeatedly held that showing of
interest is an administrative matter within the Board 's discretion.
110 NLRB No. 196.
VOLNEY FELT MILLS, INC. 1245
3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the representa-
tion of employees of Volney Felt Mills, Inc., herein referred to as
Volney, and employees of Lloyd A. Fry Roofing Company, herein
referred to as Fry, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and
Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner in Case No. 13-RC-3997, herein called the Inde-
pendent, seeks to represent production and maintenance employees.
at the Summit, Illinois, plant of Volney. In the alternative, the
Independent seeks to represent in a single unit production and main-
tenance employees at the Summit plants of both Volney and Fry.
The Independent would exclude highway truckdrivers from either
such unit. The Petitioner in Case No. 13-RC-4067, herein referred
to as the Teamsters, seeks to represent all highway truckdrivers at
the Fry plant in Summit. Volney and Fry contend that the only
appropriate unit is one that embraces all employees, including high-
way truckdrivers, at both Summit plants. There is no history of
collective bargaining for any of the employees concerned.
Volney and Fry are Delaware corporations. They have a combined
home office at Summit, Illinois. Volney is the wholly owned sub-
sidiary of Fry, and both companies have the same board of directors,
president, vice president, and secretary-treasurer. Sales, collections,
and personnel policies formulated at the home office are identical for
all Volney and Fry plants. These plants are located throughout the
United States 4
In Summit, the manufacturing plants of Volney and Fry are located
in the same building. This building is divided by a fire wall. Volney's
operations are conducted on one side of this wall and Fry's operations
are conducted on the other. The fire wall was erected so that a
reduced fire insurance rate could be obtained; it has two openings,
each large enough for a truck to be driven through. The base for all
roofing manufactured by Fry in Summit is felt, and all the felt that
Fry uses is produced by Volney. As Volney produces felt, it is taken
to the Fry side of the fire wall where it is processed into finished
roofing. One plant manager and one assistant plant manager are
in charge of both the Volney and the Fry operations at Summit.
Employees have been transferred between these operations, and some
of those laid off by one company have been recalled by the other. All
production and maintenance employees of both companies, with the
exception of highway truckdrivers, are hourly paid. Whether they
are employed by Volney or Fry, those employees with comparable
skills receive the same pay. Should a breakdown occur in either plant,
mechanics of both companies join together to make repairs. There
is 1 electrician for both the Volney and the Fry operations; and 1
4 There are 19 Fry roofing plants and 12 Volney felt mills in the United States. Of the
19 roofing plants, 10 have felt mills connected with them.
1246 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
plant office, with 1 plant manager in charge, handles all clerical work
for both companies.
It is clear from the foregoing facts, and we so find, that at Summit,
Illinois, Volney and Fry constitute a single employer, and that
because of the integration of the operations of the two companies, a
unit limited to the operations of either would be inappropriate. We
find further that, in view of such integration, a unit, or units, embrac-
ing the employees of both companies is, or are, appropriate.' Accord-
ingly, Fry is hereby made a party to Case No. 13-RC-3997, and Volney
is hereby made a party to Case No. 13-RC-4067.
There are 8 highway truckdrivers and 1 dump truck driver
employed at the Summit plants of Volney and Fry. The highway
truckdrivers are hired, fired, and disciplined by Fry. They are directly
supervised by the Fry dispatcher and it is their sole function to trans-
port finished products to various points within a 350-mile radius
of Summit. These drivers are paid on a mileage basis, and are laid
off when there are no trips to be made. On the other hand, the dump
truck driver, who is on Volney's payroll, is hourly paid. Although
he regularly hauls trash to the city dump, the major portion of his
time is devoted to regular laborer's duties at the plant.
It is apparent from these facts that the highway truckdrivers con-
stitute a distinct, well-defined, homogeneous group of employees with
special interests distinguishable from those of other employees at the
Summit plants. The Board has traditionally established such a group
as a separate appropriate bargaining unit in the absence of a bar-
gaining history affecting such employees.6 We therefore find, in
agreement with the Teamsters' contention, that the highway truck-
drivers may constitute a separate appropriate unit for purposes of
collective bargaining. We shall, however, include the dump truck
driver in the unit of production and maintenance employees herein-
after found appropriate.
At the Summit plant, there are certain employees who are desig-
nated as tour bosses by Volney, and as foremen by Fry. They have
the authority to hire, discipline, and adjust grievances. In the per-
formance of their duties they are required to exercise independent
judgment and discretion and responsibly to direct production and
maintenance employees. Accordingly, we find, in agreement with the
Independent's contention,' that the tour bosses and foremen are
6 See Lloyd A. Fry Roofing Company and Volney Felt Mills, Inc., 92 NLRB 1170; Lloyd
A. Fry Roofing Company, 95 NLRB 158.
6 See Colonial Stot es, Inc ., 78 NLRB 1254; Lewis & Bowman Inc., 109 NLRB 796;
cf. Tennessee Egg Company, 110 NLRB 189, in which such a group was granted a "globe"
election for severance from an existing production and maintenance unit.
7 At the hearing and in its brief in Case No 13-RC-3997, the Employer took the posi-
tion that tour bosses and foremen should be included in the unit, predicating this posi-
tion on the testimony of Plant Manager Givney. At the hearing in Case No . 13-RC-4067,
Givney contradicted his previous testimony , testifying that these employees possessed
supervisory powers.
INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY 1247
supervisors. We shall, therefore, exclude these employees from the
production and maintenance unit.
We find that the employees at the Summit, Illinois, plants, of Vol-
ney and Fry, constitute the following two separate units appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining :
(1) All production and maintenance employees including the dump
truck driver and shipping clerks, but excluding highway truckdrivers,
tour bosses, foremen, office clerical employees, professional employees,
guards, the dispatcher, and other supervisors as defined in the Act.:
(2) All highway truckdrivers, excluding the dump truck driver, ;
and all other employees, guards, the dispatcher, and other supervisors:
as defined in the Act..
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.]
INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY, FARMALL WORKS and INTER-
NATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT, AND AGRICUL-
TURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, AND ITS FE LOCAL
109, UAW-CIO, PETITIONER
INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY, FARMALL WORKS and INTER-
NATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT AND AGRICUL-
TURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, AND ITS FE LOCAL
109, UAW-CIO, PETITIONER
INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY, FARMALL WORKS and INTER-
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF TOOL CRAFTSMEN, LOCAL No. 1, PETI-
TIONER. Cases Nos. 13-RC-3910, 13-RC-3911, and 13-RC-3977.
December 7, 1954
Decision and Direction of Election
Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before
Richard B. Simon, 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 meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain
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.
1 United Electrical , Radio and Machine Workers of America , and its United Farm
Equipment and Metal Workers , Local 109 , UE, intervened in the consolidated proceeding
on the basis of its current contract covering the employees involved herein.
110 NLRB No. 191.