Central Swallow Coach Lines, Inc.

In the Matter of CENTRAL SWALLOW COACH LINES, INC., EMPLOYER and DIVISION 1211, AMALGAMATED ASSOCIATION OF STREET , ELECTRIC RAILWAY AND MOTOR COACH EMPLOYEES OF AMERICA , A. F. OF L., PETITIONER Case No. .35-RC-153.-Decided March 2.9, 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-member panel.* 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 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) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Petitioner seeks to represent the Employer's bus drivers. The Employer moves to dismiss the petition on the ground that the only appropriate unit for its bus drivers is a multi-employer unit, which would also include the bus drivers of Suburban Lines, Inc., Indianapolis Transit Company, Inc., and Transit Service Company, Inc. 1 The Employer moves to dismiss the petition on the following grounds : (1) that the unit sought by the Petitioner is inappropriate and (2 ) that no election may be held in this proceeding, as an earlier election covering the same employees was held within the preceding 12-month period . We find no merit in these contentions. As to ( 1), our reasons are set forth in paragraph 4, below. As to (2) no valid election has been held among these employees during the preceding 12-month period, in that a consent election, held on April 27, 1948, among employees in an agreed multi-employer unit, including em- ployees of the Employer, in Case No 35-RC-50, was set aside by the Regional Director, the petition withdrawn, and no further action taken . Matter of NAPA New York Ware- house, Inc., 76 N. L. R. B. 840. 'Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Gray. 82 N. L. R. B., No. 57. 487 Ogg DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD This Employer, and Suburban Lines, Inc., Indianapolis Transit Company, Inc., and Transit Service Company, Inc., are engaged in the transportation of passengers by bus between terminals in Indiana. Transit Sales Company operates a garage in Indianapolis for main- taining, repairing, and storing the vehicles of the other four com- panies, for which it also purchases materials and equipment. All five companies use the same general office and terminals, located in In- dianapolis, and share the expenses thereof jointly. They are subject in a large degree to common control and management, as shown by the fact that seven individuals presently serve as the officers, directors, and stockholders in all five companies. One general manager is in charge of the operations, maintenance and labor relations of all these companies. Accounting for all five companies is centralized under one auditor, who prepares separate accounts for each. Each com- pany files separate tax returns and maintains a separate pay roll for its drivers. The conditions of employment are essentially the same for drivers of each company. Drivers are paid at the same rate, have the same hours of work, and enjoy the same vacation, insurance, pension, and bonus privileges. One dispatcher assigns extra drivers from a com- mon extra board to any company requiring them. Each company, however, maintains its own seniority system. There is no interchange of regular drivers among the several companies. There has been no history of collective bargaining on a multi- employer basis. There has been no history of collective bargaining for employees of the Employer on a single-employer basis 2 In view of some bargaining history on a single-employer basis and none on multi-employer basis as well as the separate seniority and lack of interchange among regular bus drivers of the several companies, we are of the opinion that, contrary to the contention of the Employer, the Employer's drivers may constitute a separate appropriate unit, apart from employees of the related companies .3 We will include in the unit all regular full-time drivers employed by the Employer.4 We find that all regular bus drivers of the Employer, excluding extra drivers, part-time drivers, dispatchers, all other employees, and supervisors, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. ' Employees of the predecessor to Suburban Lines, Inc., and employees of Indianapolis Transit Company bargained in single -employer units before these companies came under common control. 3 Matter of Illin-t Coach Company, et at., 80 N. L. R. B. 273. 4 The Petitioner would include in the unit two part-time drivers who spend a part of the day driving, but the greater part of the day working in the garage of Transit Sales Company. The record is not clear that any but regular bus drivers have any substantial employment interest in the unit herein found appropriate. We will therefore not permit the part-time drivers to vote in this Central Swallow unit. CENTRAL SWALLOW COACH LINES, INC . 489 DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur- poses of collective bargaining with the Employer, a separate election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than 60 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision 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-Series 5, as amended, among the employees of the Employer in the unit found appropriate in para- graph 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 ex- eluding 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, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be repre- sented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by Division 1211, Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America, A. F. of L.