Goar's Service and Supply

In the Matter Of WILLIAM GOAR, D/B/A GO-,),R'S SERVICE AND SUPPLY, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS , CFIAUF- FEURS, WAREIIOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA , LOCAL UNION No. 310, A. F. L., PETITIONER Case No. t1-RC-735.-Decided July 15, 19119 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing in this case was held before Ben Grodsky, hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudi- cial error and are hereby affirmed. At the hearing, the Employer moved to dismiss the petition insofar as it affects his tire recapping shop and Bisbee service station on the ground that these operations are not engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. For ,the reasons given below, the motion is hereby denied. 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 Reynolds and Gray]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The business of the Employer : William Goar, doing business as Goar's Service and Supply, is engaged in the sale of gasoline, Diesel fuel, and oil at wholesale and retail, in the sale of automotive parts, in the servicing and maintenance of automobiles and trucks, and in tire repair work. The Employer carries on operations in Willcox, Arizona, where he maintains a gaso- line service station and adjoining tourist camp; in Bisbee, Arizona, where he maintains a gasoline service station, a tire recapping shop, and an automotive supply shop ; and in Naco, Arizona, which is the headquarters for his wholesale fuel business, and the site where trucks used for the distribution of gasoline and oil are repaired and main- tained.' The only employees involved in this proceeding are those 'Until January 1949, these trucks were serviced and repaired at Bisbee . At the time of the hearing, however, the Employer was in the process of moving the headquarters for these trucks to Naco, and estimated that the move would be completed by July 1, 1949. 35 N. L. R. B., No. 39. 219 220 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD employed at the Bisbee service station.and tire recapping shop and those engaged in driving and repairing the Employer's fuel trucks.2 In the conduct of his various operations, the Employer purchases gasoline and oil, automobile and truck repair parts and supplies, and tire vulcanizing or recapping supplies. During 1948, he purchased over 2,000,000 gallons of gasoline and over 811,000 gallons of Diesel fuel oil, all of which he obtained from companies located outside the State of Arizona. About 50 percent of the automotive parts and supplies and of the camelback used by the Employer in his tire re- capping business was purchased from suppliers located outside the State and all were manufactured outside the State. During the same year, the Employer's gross revenue from all his operations amounted to almost $685,000. About 63 percent thereof was obtained from sales made and services rendered to Cananea Con- solidated Copper Company and Petroleas Mexicanos, both located in Mexico, and about 121/2 percent from sales and services to Inspiration Consolidated Copper Company, a mining company located at Inspira- tion, Arizona, which ships most of its products to points outside the State of Arizona .3 In addition, almost 5 percent of this revenue rep- resented fuel, supplies, and tire recapping services charged to the Employer's own trucks used in the operation of his wholesale gasoline and oil business, which is predominantly interstate.' About 60 percent of the Employer's gross revenue during 1948 was obtained from his interstate and foreign wholesale fuel business, almost 7 percent from his tire recapping operation, and almost 8 per- cent from his Bisbee service station. The Employer does not deny that he is engaged in commerce in the operation of his wholesale fuel business, but asserts that his tire recapping shop and his Bisbee service station are not engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. He contends that each of his operations is separate and distinct and that the effect of each upon interstate commerce should be considered separately. We find no merit in this contention. All the Employer's operations are closely integrated and are conducted as a single enter- prise under common management. Therefore, without deciding 2 Neither party requests the inclusion of the automotive supply shop employees or of the employees of the Willcox service station , which is located about 75 miles from Bisbee and approximately 84 miles from Naco. We shall therefore not include them in the unit. 8 See Matter of Inspiration Consolidated Copper Conepany; 44 N. L. R. B. 1160 , where the Board found that this company was engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. { As stated above, all gasoline and oil purchased by the Employer during 1948 was obtained from sources located outside the State of Arizona . Almost 85 percent of the gasoline was sold and delivered to Petroleas Mexicanos, a Mexican government-owned monopoly , about 5 percent was used by the Employer for his fuel trucks , and the remaining 10 percent was sold through the Employer 's Willcox and Bisbee service stations . Approxi- mately 70 percent of the Diesel fuel was sold to Cananea Consolidated Copper Company, located in Cananea, Sonora , Mexico, and about 24 percent to Inspiration Consolidated Copper Company. See footnote 3, supra. GOAR'S SERVICE AND SUPPLY 221 whether or not the Employer's tire recapping shop or Bisbee service station individually affects interstate commerce, we find that the Em- ployer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act.' We also find that it will effectuate the polices of the Act to assert juris- diction in view of the totality of the Employer's operations. 2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent 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) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The appropriate unit : The Petitioner seeks to represent a single unit of employees em- ployed at the Employer's Naco operation and at his Bisbee service station and tire recapping shop, including truck drivers, mechanics, servicemen, tire repairmen, and tire recappers, but excluding office and clerical employees and all supervisors as defined in the Act. Thee Employer does not oppose the categories of employees to be included. or excluded, but contends that these employees should not be grouped together, as they are engaged in three separate and distinct operations and therefore do not possess common skills, working conditions,' or interests. He asserts that only three separate units would be appro- priate, one for the truck drivers and mechanics employed at Naco, one for the servicemen employed at the Bisbee service station, and one for employees of his tire recapping shop at Bisbee. There is no history of collective bargaining with respect to any of these employees. The Employer maintains a bulk plant at Naco, where gasoline and oil are stored and from which his fuel trucks are dispatched. There are nine truck drivers employed at Naco who pick up petroleum products purchased in New Mexico and Texas, load the tank trucks, and drive them to Naco or, occasionally, directly to the Employer's Bisbee or Willcox service station. As stated above, until recently, the, trucks used in the Employer's fuel business were serviced at the Bisbee service station, approximately 9 miles from Naco, and gasoline and oil were also distributed from Bisbee. The Employer now main- tains a garage at Naco, however, where four employees, classified as mechanics' helpers, perform general mechanical maintenance work on the trucks. The Employer's tire recapping or tire vulcanizing busi- ness is carried on at Bisbee, in a building adjacent to his service station and garage. The five tire recapping employees are engaged in repairing all types of tires and tubes and in recapping tires. There 'Matter of Royal Palm Ice Company, 81 N. L. R. B. 858; Matter of North Memphis Lumber Company, 81 N L . R. B. 745; Matter of Turner-Petrus Co., 81 N. L . R. B.,380. '222 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD .are two employees e at the Bisbee service station, an "island" attendant, whose main duties are to work on the "island," filling gas tanks, and in the garage, greasing and servicing cars, fixing flat tires, and chang- ing oil,' and a mechanic, who does routine mechanical' work on auto- mobiles and trucks and occasionally works on the "island." Although there is no interchange of employees among the Employ- er's Naco operation and his service station and tire recapping shop at Bisbee and each operation is separately supervised, there is some personal contact among the employees in these three departments. Thus, the drivers employed at Naco bring gasoline and oil to the Bisbee service station, and the service station attendants sometimes help in unloading tires brought to the tire recapping shop for repair. Moreover, the ownership and control of all these operations and the final determination of labor relations matters are vested in one indi- vidual, the Employer. There is also some functional relationship among these departments; the tire recapping shop repairs tires used on the Employer's tank trucks and the Employer, in the operation of his wholesale fuel business, delivers gasoline and oil to the Bisbee service station. On the basis of all the facts, including the common ownership and control and physical proximity of these three opera- tions, we find that a single unit of employees is appropriate.,, We find that all employees employed at the Employer's bulk plant and garage in Naco, Arizona, and at his service station and tire recapping shop in Bisbee, Arizona, including truck drivers, mechanics, mechanics' helpers, servicemen, tire repairmen, and tire recappers, but excluding office and clerical employees and all supervisors 9 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. 4 The Employer asserts, and the Petitioner denies, that the third person employed at the service station, Vernon Greason, is a supervisor . Greason is a skilled ' mechanic and is the only one qualified to do all the work at the service station, including body and fender repair work and painting . About a month and a half before the hearing, when the Employer was moving his truck maintenance operation to Naco, he informed Greason that he would be the supervisor of the service station, but did not tell him exactly what his duties as such would be. It appears , however, that Greason is responsible for seeing that the work in the service station is performed and has authority to determine the working hours of the other two men . Moreover , although the Employer formerly spent a large part of his time at the central office , in Bisbee, he is now moving his office to Naco and will no longer be able to exercise personal supervision over his Bisbee operations. We find that Greason is a supervisor within the meaning of the Act. We shall therefore exclude him from the unit. Matter of The J. N. Bray Company, 83 N. L. R. B. 388 Matter of Maiden Spinning Mills, Inc., 82 N. L. R. B. 989. ' At the time of the hearing , this employee also spent about 2 hours a day driving a school bus between Naco and Bisbee . The Employer stated that, in order to acquire the Naco garage , he had to take over this bus franchise , but that the franchise was due to expire on May 20 , 1949, and he did not intend to rebid on it. 8 Matter of North Memphis Lumber Company, supra; Matter of The J. N. Bray Company, supra. D Including Vernon Greason . See footnote 6, supra. GOAR'S SERVICE AND SUPPLY DIRECTION OF ELECTION 223 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. supervision of the Regional Director for the Twenty-first Region and. subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations- Board Rules and Regulations, 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 thin Direction of Election, including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tern- porarily 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 or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining,, by International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse- men and Helpers of America, Local Union No. 310, A. F. L.