Roddis Plywood & Door Co., Inc.

In the Matter Of RODDIS PLYWOOD & DOOR COMPANY , INC., EMPLOYER, and LOCAL 138, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, A. F. L., PETITIONER In the Matter of RODDIS Co:, INC.," EMPLOYER , and LocAL 1478, INTER- NATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION, A. F. L., PETITIONER Cases Nos. 2-RC-8f1 and 2-RC-1052, respectively.Decided June 15,1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon separate petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing was held before Lloyd S. Greenidge, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rul- ings 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 Reynolds]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. Each Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. Local 138, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, A. F. L., referred to herein as the Teamsters, is a labor organization claiming to represent employees of both Employers, and Local 1478, International Longshoremen's Association, A. F. L., referred to herein as Longshore- men, is a labor organization claiming to represent employees of Roddis Co., Inc. 1 Local 1478, International Longshoremen's Association , A. F. L., petitioned in Case No. 2-RC-1052 for a unit of employees at the warehouse at Port Newark, New Jersey, which had been established in September 1948, and which was then being operated either by Roddis Plywood, & Door Company, or by its parent corporation , Roddis Plywood Corpora- tion. At about the time of the hearing in the case, March 1, 1949 , Roddis Co , Inc, was organized as another subsidiary of Roddis Plywood Corporation to operate the Port New- ark warehouse. The parties in Case No 2-RC-1052 have agreed that all papers in that case should be amended to show Roddis Co , Inc , as the Employer at Port Newark. As none of the parties in the consolidated case will be prejudiced thereby, we shall permit the amendment. Roddis Co., Inc , has filed an appearance , and has consented to be bound by all actions taken in this proceeding to the extent applicable to it. 84 N. L. R. B., No. 36. 309 310 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 3. The Teamsters and Roddis Plywood & Door Company entered into a 1-year collective bargaining agreement in November 1947, cov- ering all chauffeurs, helpers, and warehousemen employed by the Em- ployer. Roddis Plywood & Door Company was then operating two warehouses, one in the Bronx and one in tong Island City, New York. For some time before the contract termination date the parties were negotiating the provisions of a new contract. On November 16, 1948, the Employer's attorney, the Union's business representative and two of its committeemen initialed a half-page, hand-written memorandum containing in summary form their agreement on the new provisions for their next contract. The Teamsters had filed its petition covering the Bronx and Long Island City warehouses and the newly established Port Newark ware- house about 10 days before the memorandum was drafted. The Long- shoremen requested recognition as bargaining representative for the Port Newark employees a few days before the date of the memoran- dum, but did not file its petition until January 28, 1949. The Team- sters contended at the hearing that the "memorandum of agreement constitutes a contract, covering the employees at the three ware- houses, which acts as a bar to the Longshoremen's petition. The Em- ployer does not agree that it has a current contract with the Team- sters, although it admits that it has put some of the new provisions into effect. The Employer's attorney who participated in the negotia- tions for a new agreement testified, without contradiction, that the Union's representatives had advised him that the membership of Local 138 would have to ratify the new agreement. Ratification was never obtained because disagreement over two points developed after the attorney for the Teamsters submitted a complete, typewritten draft of a contract to the Employer for its signature. The contract has not been signed by either party. We believe that the initialed memo- randum drawn up by the negotiating parties constituted no more than a tentative agreement upon certain contractual provisions, subject to ratification and approval by the union membership and to the subse- quent execution of a complete formal contract, and is not in itself, a contract which may bar a present determination of representatives.' We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation of certain employees of the Employers within the mean- ing of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.3 2 Matter of Monticello Charm Tred Mills, Incorporated, 80 N L R B 378 8 The parties stipulated at the hearing that the Teamsters represents a majority of the employees at the Bronx and Long Island City warehouses , and that no question concerning representation of these employees exists The Teamsters , however, requested that it be accorded a place on the ballot in any election involving the Port Newark employees. RODDIS PLYWOOD & DOOR COMPANY, INC. 311 4. The Teamsters requests a single unit composed of all chauffeurs, helpers, and warehousemen at the three warehouses in the Bronx and Long Island City, New York, and in Port Newark, New Jersey, exclud- ing office ,and professional employees, guards, and supervisors. The Loiigshoreinen requests a separate unit of the chauffeurs, helpers, and warehousemen at the Port Newark warehouse. The Employers' rep- resentative agreed at the hearing that the Port Newark warehouse would constitute a separate appropriate unit. It is the policy of Roddis Plywood Corporation, the parent corpor- ation of the Employers here involved, to operate its various ware- . houses and lumber mills throughout the country by means of a separate wholly owned subsidiary in each State in which it has facilities. The type of operations performed at each of the three warehouses, and the duties of the employees working there are similar. Apparently the two warehouses in the Bronx and Long Island City, New York, are supervised by' a single manager. The Port Newark warehouse has its own manager, who is in full charge of all employees there. He does his own hiring, and keeps his own accounting and pay-roll rec- ords. The parent corporation sets the sales and inventory policies for all its subsidiaries, but does not attempt to regulate their labor policies. Each of the three warehouses distributes doors and other plywood and lumber products in separate territories. The Port Newark warehouse was established to expand distribution into Penn- sylvania and New Jersey which had previously been inadequately supplied by the other warehouses. There is no interchange of em- ployees between the Port Newark warehouse and either the Bronx or Long Island City warehouses. Products shipped to the Port Newark warehouse are primarily intended for distribution from that point, and not for retransfer to the other warehouses. In view of the separate operation and management of the Port Newark warehouse, the absence of employee interchange as between this warehouse and the other branches of the operations of Roddis Plywood Corporation, and the separate control of labor relations by the management at Port Newark, we believe that the employees of the Port Newark warehouse constitute a separate appropriate unit' We find that all chauffeurs, helpers, and warehousemen employed by Roddis Co., Inc., at Port Newark, New Jersey, excluding office and professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 4 Matter of Sandler Mocrasin Co Inc. 80 N L It B 1079; Matter of Merchant Calca• rating Machine Company, 80 N L R B 442 312 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain -representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with the Employers, 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 Second 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 de- scribed 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 reinstated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by Local 138, Inter- national Brotherhood of Teamsters, A. F. L., by Local 1478, Inter- national Longshoremen's Association, A. F. L., or by neither.