Oklahoma Scrap Paper Co.

In the Matter of OKLAHOMA SCRAP PAPER COMPANY, EMPLOYER and GENERAL DRIVERS, LOCAL UNION, No. 886, A. F. L., PETITIONER In the Matter of OKLAHOMA SCRAP PAPER COMPANY, EMPLOYER and LAUNDRY WORKERS' -INTERNATIONAL UNION, LOCAL No. 170, PETITIONER Cases Nos. 16-R-9293 and 16-R-2294, respectively.-Decided January 15, 1948 Messrs. Earl Pruet and Barton Hahn, both of Oklahoma City, Okla., for the Employer. Messrs. Rutherford H. Brett and ,Sam H. Ambrister, both of Okla- homa City, Okla., for the Teamsters. Messrs. Rutherford H. Brett and Ray Hughes, both of Oklahoma City, Okla., for the Laundry Workers. DECISION DIRECTION OF ELECTION AND ORDER Upon petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing in these cases was held at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on July 30, 1947, before Robert Silagi, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hear- ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. On September 9, 1947, the Board notified the Teamsters and the Laundry Workers, by letter, that if they did not comply with the filing requirements of Section 9 (f), (g), and (h) of the Act, as amended, within 20 days, the petitions would be subject to dismissal without further notice. On September 19, 1947, the time for complet- ing compliance was extended upon request to October 31, 1947. The Teamsters has complied fully. However, since the Laundry Workers local union has made no effort to comply with the filing requirements, we shall dismiss the Laundry Workers' petition. Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : 75 N. L. R. B., No. 105. 854 OKLAHOMA SCRAP PAPER COMPANY FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF TIIE EMPLOYER 855 Oklahoma Scrap Paper Company is a corporation authorized to carry on business in the State of Oklahoma, with its principal office in Denver, Colorado. The Employer maintains a plant in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, which is the only plant involved in these proceedings. The Employer collects scrap paper in the State of Oklahoma. At the Oklahoma City plant, the scrap is sorted, baled, and loaded into freight cars and trucks for shipment to various paper converters. All scrap paper is shipped to points outside the State. An average day's shipment is approximately 10 tons. During the 6 months immediately preceding the hearing, the scrap paper processed by the Employer ex- ceeded $50,000 in value. The Employer admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.' II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED General Drivers, Chauffeurs & Helpers, Local Union No. 886, of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse- men and Helpers of America, herein called the Teamsters, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claim- ing to represent employees of the Employer. Local No. 170, Laundry Workers' International Union, herein called the Laundry Workers, is a labor organization affiliated with the Amer- ican Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Em- ployer. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employer refuses to recognize the Teamsters as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until it has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. We find that a question affecting commerce exists 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. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Teamsters seeks a unit composed of all truck drivers and helpers, including the power lift operator, but excluding supervisors. i At the hearing, counsel for the Employer stated that there are three of the Employer's employees who are engaged in processing paper who never leave the State , and maintained that these employees. are not engaged in interstate commerce . This contention is without merit Inasmuch as the Employer' s products enter the stream of interstate commerce, it is immaterial that its employees cross no State lines. 856 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD- The Employer expresses no position as to the appropriate unit, except to state that it is generally opposed to the unionization of its em- ployees. The Employer owns five or six trucks, but only operates two or three. The truck drivers drive the trucks, gather scrap paper, and unload it at the plant. The duties of these drivers and their helpers therefore appear to be those normal to their classification. Truck drivers and helpers have long been regarded as having interests sufficiently di- verse from those of other employees to warrant the establishment of a separate unit for them. The Teamsters would include in the drivers' unit the operator of the gasoline power lift in the plant. The Employer did not indicate its position with respect to this employee. Counsel for the Teamsters asserted that this particular type of work falls within one of the work categories within the Teamsters' jurisdiction. The record indicates that this employee is classified as a laborer. He spends a maximum of 1 hour per day operating the power lift and the balance of his time sweeping the floors, dusting the machinery, and assisting two other employees to operate a baling machine. He receives the same rate of pay as do the other two employees with whom, he works on the baling machine. In view of these facts, we shall exclude the power lift operator. We find that all truck drivers and helpers employed at the Em- ployer's Oklahoma City plant, excluding the power lift operator and supervisors, as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes 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 pur- poses of collective bargaining with Oklahoma Scrap Paper Company, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, an election by secret ballot shall be con- ducted 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 Sixteenth Region, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regu- lations-Series 5, 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 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, to determine OKLAHOMA SCRAP PAPER COMPANY 857 whether or not they desire to be represented by General Drivers, Local Union No. 886, A. F. L., for the purposes of collective bargaining. ORDER • IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition for investig1ition and-certifica- tion of representatives of employees of Oklahoma Scrap Paper Com- pany, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, filed by Laundry Workers' Inter- national Union, Local No. 170 (Case No. 16-R-2294), be, and it hereby is, dismissed. MEMBER HOUSTON took no part in the consideration of the above Decision, Direction of Election, and Order. • C