Murray Motor Transport

In the Matter of E. A. MURRAY D/B/A MURRAY MOTOR TRANSPORT, EM- PLOYER AND PETITIONER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAM- STERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, AFL, LOCAL 612 Case No. 10-RN-294.-Decided January 11, 1949 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 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-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board Members.* Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The labor organization named below claims to represent em- ployees of the Employer. 3. The question concerning representation : The Employer has three warehouse terminals located in Mobile, Montgomery, and Birmingham, Alabama. Its over-the-road drivers, the employees herein involved, drive trailer trucks hauling freight between the terminals and to points in States outside Alabama. The Employer also employs pick-up drivers, who move freight within each city to and from one of the warehouses. The working conditions of the two groups of drivers are different, and all parties agree that the two groups constitute separate appropriate units. The Employer agreed in 1945 to recognize the Union as the bar- gaining representative of its over-the-road drivers. The Union at that time presented to the Employer a printed contract form which *Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Murdock 81 N. L. R. B., No. 17. 93 94 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD h.id been negotiated and executed by the Southeast Operators Associa- tion Negotiating Committee with the Southern Conference of Team- sters Over-The-Road Negotiating Committee. The Employer at- tempted to bargain as to the terms of the agreement but, when the Union refused to vary from the printed form, the Employer signed the agreement as presented by the Union. The Employer has from time to time since 1945 signed new contracts with the Union identical with those executed by the Operators Association and the Teamsters Conference. These contract forms bore the printed signatures of the members of the two Negotiating Committees as parties to the contract, followed by spaces designated for signatures by the local union and the Employer. In June 1947, the Employer signed a printed copy of an agreement which had been consummated in January of that year by the Operators Association and the Teamsters Conference. In August of the same year, the Union presented to the Employer certain additions to the contract then in force. At the request of the Employer, the Union agreed that in at least one respect the Employer could vary in practice from the printed terms of the contract, but no changes were made on the face of the contract. The Union having notified the Employer that it desired to amend the contract last executed, the contract expired by its terms on November 15, 1948. The Employer questions whether the Union now represents a ma- ;;ority of its over-the-road drivers, and seeks an election. The Union contends that the Employer's petition should be dismissed on the grounds, among others, (1) that the Operators Association and the Teamsters Conference are essential parties to this proceeding and were not properly joined as parties; and (2) that the Employer has in the past bargained through the Operators Association, which is at present negotiating for it. The Operators Association represents a number, but not all, of the trucking employers in the area. The extent of its representation varies, as some employers have withdrawn from the Operators Asso- ciation to negotiate separately, while other employers have joined the Operators Association from time to time. In accordance with the terms of the contracts covering its over-the-road drivers, this Em- ployer has permitted employee grievances to be handled by the griev- ance committee of the Operators Association, and has participated with the members of this grievance committee in handling grievances involving other employers. Furthermore, the Employer, sometime in 1947, authorized the Operators Association to bargain for its pick-up drivers. However, the Employer is not a member of the Operators Association, and has never expressly authorized the Operators Asso- MURRAY MOTOR TRANSPORT 95 ciation to bargain for its over-the-road drivers. Although it has signed contracts negotiated by the Operators Association, it has al- ways signed as an individual employer. Under all these circum- stances, we find that the Employer's entire history of bargaining demonstrates that it has bargained in the past as an individual em- ployer and that, as further disclosed by the filing of this petition, it intends in the future to bargain as an individual employer. There- fore, we find that the Operators Association and the Teamsters Con- ference are not necessary parties, and that the Employer has not bound itself to bargain for its over-the-road drivers through the Op- erators Association. Accordingly, the Union's motion to dismiss the petition herein is hereby denied. % 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. 4. We find, in accordance with an agreement of the parties, that the following employees of the Employer constitute a unit appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Sec- tion 9 (b) of the Act: All over-the-road truck drivers employed by the Employer, exclud- ing pick-up and delivery drivers, guards, professional employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act. 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 Tenth 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 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 re- instated 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 Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, AFL, Local 612.