Gondrand Shipping Co., Inc.

J n the Matter of GONDRAND SHIPPING COMPANY, INC. and LOCAL 1, UNITED OFFICE &` PROFESSIONAL WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. O. Case No. 2-B-5186.-Decided February 13,1945 Mr. Arthur A. Atha, of New York City, and ,31r. Ernest B. Binder, of Great Neck, L. I., N. Y., for the Company. Miss Mildred Yawn, of New York City, for the Union. Mr. Julius Kirle, of counsel to the Board. DECISION . AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by Local 1, United Office & Professional Workers of America, C. I. 0., herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Gondrand Shipping Company, Inc., New York City, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board pro- vided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Jerome I. Macht, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at New York City, on January 15, 1945. The Company and the Union appeared and par- ticipated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bear- ing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS of-FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Gondrand Shipping Company, Inc., a New York corporation with its principal offices of New York City, is engaged in international transportation between the United States and foreign countries and the clearance thereof through the Customs. It maintains sales offices in various states of the United States and foreign countries. In connec- 60 N. L. R. B., No. 110. 584 GONDRAND SHIPPING COMPANY, INC. 585 tion with these operations, and as an adjunct thereto, the stockholders of the Company operate the Gondrand Transport Company, also a New York corporation, which handles the Customs clearances and the licenses for clearance to the Company's customers., We are con- cerned herein solely with the Company's New York offices. During the year ending January 15, 1945, the Company transported merchandise valued in excess of $10,000,000, 80 percent of which was shipped from the United States to foreign countries, and 20 percent of which came in to the United States from foreign countries. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Local 1, United Office & Professional Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the exclusive bargaining representative of certain of the Company's em- ployees until the Union has been certified by the Board in an appro- priate unit. - A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear- ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of em- ployees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.' We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The parties substantially agree that the' appropriate unit should comprise all office employees of the Company 3 at its New York offices, including those listed in Appendix A, but excluding the president, vice, president and secretary, and assistant secretary, who is also the office ' All of the stock in the Gondrand Transport Company is owned by its president and vice president who are also officers of the Company and owners of substantially all of the stock in the Company . The Gondrand Transport Company has no employees listed on the pay roll as such. It shares the office of the Company and all of its work is performed by the latter employees who are paid by the Company for such work and adjustments there- for made annually between the two corporations. ' The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 37 cards ; that the names of 32 persons appearing on the cards were listed on the Company 's pay roll which contains the names of 85 employees in the unit claimed appropriate ; and that the cards were dated from June 1944 , to December 1944. a See footnote 1, supra. 586 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD manager. The parties disagree, however, with respect to the status of the following categories whom the Union would exclude and the Company include : - O Beers of the Company. The'treasurer of the Company performs the duties usually associated with the treasurer of a corporation. In addition, he is also the head of a department. The assistant treasurer cosigns checks, and is secretary to, and under the immediate super- vision of the president of the Company. Although elected officers 'for the convenience of the Company, the duties of the foregoing employees, as designated in the bylaws of the Company, are those usually asso- ciated with such officers of a corporation and are in no way limited. We are of the opinion and find that these employees are part of man- agement. We shall, therefore, exclude them from the unit. O icers of the Gondrand Transport Company. The vice president of the Gondrand Transport Company, who is also a director thereof, is the entry-clerk department head and performs duties of a highly tech- nical nature requiring the passing of a United States Customs Adminis- tration examination to qualify for such work. The treasurer of Gond- rand Transport Company cosigns checks, and, although designated as entry clerk on the pay roll of the Company, performs work similar to the vice president. Although these employees were elected officers of Gondrand Transport Company solely for the purpose of qualifying them as entry clerks under the United States Customs Administration regulations, their duties, as designated in the bylaws of the corporation, are those usually associated with such officers of a corporation and are in no way limited. We are of the opinion and find that these employees are a part of management. We shall, accordingly exclude them. Heads of departments.' The Company employs heads of depart- ments, who direct from 4 to 14 employees in each department, receive $10 to $15 per week more than the other office employees, are not paid overtime as are the other office employees, and are responsible for the work performed in their respective departments. They take care of minor grievances and discipline employees for minor infractions, and otherwise report the insubordination or inefficiency of employees to the office manager, president, or the vice president who takes the necessary disciplinary action. We are of the opinion; and find, that the heads of departments fall within the Board's customary definition of super- visory employees. We shall exclude them. - - Paymaster. The paymaster prepares the Company's pay roll and enjoys the same status, pay, and working conditions as the heads of departments whom we have above excluded. We shall exclude him. Sales representative. The duties of the sales representative are pri- marily concerned with contacting customers outside the office. What time he spends in the office is devoted to taking care of correspondence GONDRAND SHIPPING COMPANY, INC. 587 pertaining to his-sales work. We are of the opinion that the duties of the sales representative are sufficiently different from those of the other employees to warrant his exclusion from the unit; we shall exclude him. We find that all office employees of the Company at its New York offices, including those employees lfsted in Appendix A, but excluding officers of the Company, officers of the Gondrand Transport Company, heads of departments, paymaster, sales representative , and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em- ployees=in the appropria.te _unit who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. DIRECTION OF ELECTION By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela- tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby / DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Gondrand Ship- ping Company, Inc., New York City, 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 Second Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations ,- 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 employees who did not work during -the said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tempo- rarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United States who present , themselves in person at the polls , but ex- cluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the 588 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD election to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Local 1, United Office & Professional Workers of America, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining. APPENDIX A Bookkeepers Bookkeeper-stenographers Bookkeeping machine operators Clerks-bookkeeping department Clerks-traffic department Consular-invoice clerks Correspondents' Custom House clerks Assistant bookkeepers Assistant billing clerks Billing Clerks Checking clerks Assistant import clerks Export clerks Filing clerks Import clerks Insurance clerks - Mail clerks Messengers Pay-roll clerk, bookkeepers Steno-typists, assistant bookkeep-- ers Steno-typists and bookkeepers Steno-typists Telephone operators Traffic clerks Typists-traffic department Typists k