Wm. J. Silva Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 5, 1949

85 N.L.R.B. 573 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

'In the Matter of Wl'I. J. SILVA COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTERNA-
TIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, DISTRICT LODGE No. 41,
PETITIONER
Case No. 20-RC-552.-Decided August 5, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Robert V.
Magor, hearing officer of .the National Labor Relations Board. 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 National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Gray].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer operates a Studebaker sales and service establish-
ment in Modesto, California, under a franchise from Studebaker Paci-
fic Corporation, Vernon, California, an assembly plant subsidiary of
Studebaker Corporation, South Bend, Indiana.
In. 1948 the Employer purchased, from Studebaker Pacific Corpo-
ration, new cars, trucks, and parts worth more than $60,000. Of this
amount, $20,000 represents purchases of trucks, shipped directly to the
Employer from without the State ; the remainder represents purchases
of automobiles, shipped prior to assembly- from without the State;-and
parts, originally supplied to Studebaker Pacific, Corporation by
dealers within and without the State. During 1948, the Employer sold
automotive equipment and parts worth more than $70,000 and per-
formed services worth more than $10,000. None of the sales occurred
outside the State and none of the services were performed on automo-
biles or trucks engaged in the transportation of goods in commerce.
We find, contrary to the Employer's contention, that its operations
affect commerce within the meaning of the Act.,
'Matter of Harrys Cadillac -Pontiac Company , Incorporated, et al., 81 N. L. R. B. 1,.
and cases cited therein.
85 N. L.-.R. B., No. 103.
573
574. DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain em-
ployees 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 Petitioner seeks a "craft" unit of "mechanics, their helpers,
and apprentices," including the partsman, at the Employer's automo-
tive sales and service establishment. In the alternative, the Peti-
tioner seeks to represent any unit of mechanics which the Board may
find appropriate. The Employer has no classification of helpers or
apprentices. It employs mechanics, a partsman, service floormen, a
wash rack employee, an assistant manager, a mechanic foreman, and
a service manager. The Employer contends that any unit appropriate
for its mechanics should include service floormen, the wash rack em-
ployee, and the service manager. There is no past history of collec-
tive bargaining among the Employer's employees.
The Employer's operations are housed in one building, with an
office and a salesroom in the front, a combined storage room and serv-
ice floor behind the salesroom, and a garage in the rear. Supervision
of all departments is in the assistant manager; under him is a mechanic
foreman, who supervises both the mechanics 'and the service floormen.
Both the assistant manager and the mechanic foreman have authority
to hire and discharge. Assisting the mechanic foreman is the service
manager, who is. directly in charge of the service floormen and the
wash rack employee.
- Service floormen usually lubricate cars, change spark plugs, adjust
brakes, put on fan belts, change wheel bearings, and perform ordinary
emergency repairs on the service floor; mechanics, on the other hand,
do the finer machine tune-ups and.valve and bearing jobs in the garage.
Service floormen at times work alongside the mechanics, either on the
service floor or in the garage. Service floormen receive less pay than
mechanics. Service floormen with sufficient qualifications and ability
are advanced to the status of mechanics;. five service floormen have
already been so advanced: The wash rack employee washes cars and
at other times performs light service jobs on the service floor, under
the direction of the service manager. The record does. not disclose
that the automotive mechanics employed at the Employer's shop are
craftsmen. We have, however, established units of auto service em-
ployees such as those employed in the Employer's plant.2 The service
floormen and -the wash rack employee -have. employment. interests and
2 Matter o f Harrys Cadillac -Pontiac Company, Incorporated,.- et.al., supra ;. Matter: of
Liddon White Truck Company, Inc., 76 N. L. R. B. 1181.
WM. J. SILVA COMPANY 575
job functions closely related to those of the mechanics; we shall there-
fore include them with mechanics in the unit herein found appropriate.
The service manager spends from 20 to 25 percent of his time assign-
ing work to the service floormen; the remainder of the time he per-
forms the same work as the service floormen. He has no power to
hire, discharge, or promote employees, or to effectively recommend the
same. In the absence of the mechanic foreman, he assumes none of
the latter's authority. We find that the service manager is not a super-
visor and shall include him in the unit herein found appropriate.
We find that all auto service, repair, and maintenance employees at
the Employer's sales and service establishment in Modesto, California,
including mechanics, service floormen, the wash rack employee, the
partsman, and the service manager, but excluding salesmen, office and
clerical employees, and the mechanic foreman, the assistant manager,
and other supervisors constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining.3
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, 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 super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was
heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations, 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 of Election, 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 rein-
stated 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 desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bar-
gaining, by International Association of Machinists, District Lodge
No. 41.
0
3 See Matter of Harrys Cadillac-Pontiac 'Company, incorporated, et at., supra.