Rosedale Passenger Lines, Inc.

In the Matter Of ROSEDALE PASSENGER LINES, INC., EMPLOYER and AMALGAMATED ASSOCIATION OF STREET, ELECTRIC RAILWAY AND MOTOR COACH EMPLOYEES OF AMERICA, DIVISION 1300, A. F. L. Case No. 5-RC-329.-Decided August 3, 1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Charles B. Slaughter, hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju- dicial 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 [Members Reynolds, Murdock, and Gray]. Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER The Employer, which is certified by the Maryland Public Service Commission , is engaged in the transportation of passengers by motor bus in Baltimore, Maryland, a city of some one million population, and between Baltimore and its surrounding suburban and rural areas. According to information filed with the commission, the Company's annual gross revenue for 1948 was $362,292.11 and the total operating costs amounted to $310,488 .96. Out-of-State purchases amounted to $4,112.56. Purchases of gas, oil , and tires , bought from local distrib- utors but originating outside the State, amounted to $81,157.70. In 1948 the Company bought 2 new busses from General Motors at a cost of some $26,000 and 6 new busses from the White Company, Baltimore, which were manufactured outside the State and consigned specifically to the Company at a price of approximately $39,000. The Company owns a total of 46 busses, of which only 41 are usually operated at any one time. 85 N. L. It. B., No. 91. 527 528. DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The Company operates over regularly scheduled routes, 2 of which cross into and connect with routes of the Baltimore Transit Company,. which we have held to be engaged in commerce.' It transports daily some 620 employees of the Glenn L. Martin Company, airplane manu- facturer, whose fares constitute, approximately 8 percent of the Coin- papy's revenue, and it carries employees to the U. S. Signal Corps installations in the City of Baltimore. In addition to these regularly scheduled routes, the Company operates busses under a written con- tract with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for the daily trans- portation, to and from work, of some 62 of the railroad's employees working at the railroad's North Hump. The Company also operates busses under an oral agreement with the Rheems Manufacturing Com- pany, manufacturer of water heaters, for the daily transportation of some 32 of the latter's employees. The Company also receives an an- nual revenue of $1,282.50 from advertising posted in its busses adver- tising products of many manufacturers engaged in interstate com- merce, and a stipulated compensation of $30 a month for carrying U. S. mail.2 On these facts, we find, contrary to the Employer's contention, that the Employer is engaged in activities affecting commerce within the meaning of the Act.' H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED The Petitioner and an intervening -union, International Association of Machinists, herein called the Intervenor, are labor organizations claiming to represent employees of the Employer. 111. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION 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 Petitioner seeks a unit of all drivers, mechanics, helpers, and maintenance employees , employed by the Company, but excluding all clerical and part-time employees, and supervisory employees as de- fined in the Act. While all parties are in substantial agreement as to' the general composition of the unit, the Company takes the position 1 N. L. R. B. v. Baltimore Transit Co., 1.40 F. 2d 51 (C. A. 4) ; 47 N. L. R. B. 109. 2 The evidence showed that in the past 2 years the Company also did charter work into Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. 3 Dlatter of Gate City Transit Lines, Inc., 81 N. L. R. B. 79; Matter of El Paso-Ysleta Bus Company, Inc., 79 N. L. R. B. 1068; Matter of Amarillo Bus Company, 78 N. L R. B. 1103, ROSEDALE PASSENGER LINES, INC. 529, that the unit should include the part-time employees, seven relatives of the owners and top-management officials, and three dispatchers, all of whom the Intervenor and Petitioner would exclude. Part-time employees The record shows that out of 66 employees who come within the unit sought, 26 work on a part-time basis as drivers of busses to and from schools.' These part-time drivers work regularly from 1 to 31/.: hours on school days and are under the supervision and control of the chief dispatcher, as are the full-time drivers. Some of the part-time drivers also regularly work week ends. The part-time drivers are generally employed by other companies and drive busses to supple- ment their income. Their hourly rate of pay is 10 cents less than the full-time drivers. The Petitioner and Intervenor contend that the part-time drivers. should not be included since their first duty is to other companies,. where they may be members of other unions, they work fewer hours, some as little at 41/2 hours a week, and they are paid a lesser rate than the full-time drivers. The Employer contends they should be iu-• clucled since otherwise it would be faced with a difficult problem in having only a part of its drivers in the union. We are of the opinion that the part-time drivers should be included, in the proposed unit. The Board has held in numerous decisions that part-time employees, regularly employed, may properly be included, with the full-time employees in the appropriate unit.' The night watchman The night watchman works daily from 9 p. in. until 5: 30 a. in. He spends about 2 hours in putting oil and gas into the busses and 3 hours. in cleaning them out. He also sweeps out the garage, and keeps watch over the premises. He is under the direct supervision of the night dispatcher. The Petitioner and Intervenor wish to include him in the unit. The Employer would leave the question to the Board. We shall include the night watchman, since the record shows that he is engaged chiefly as a service employee and not as a guard.' 4 The Company stated that over one-third of its fares are derived from the transportation of school children on busses operated by the part-time workers. Matter of Peter Picknelly, doing business as Peter Pan Bits Lines, 82 N. L. R. B. 830 Matter of Amarillo Bus Co., 78 N. L. R. B. 1.103 and cases cited in footnote 4 ; Matter of American Lawn Mower Co., 79 N. L. R. B. 367; Matter of Cocoline Products, Inc., 79 N. L. R. B. 1.426 ; Matter of Ozark Central Telephone Co., 83 N. L. R. B. 258. 6 Matter of California Growers, Inc., et at., 80 N. L. R. B. 578 ; Matter of United States Gypsum Co., 81 N. L. R. B. 344 ; Matter of Beutwood Products, Inc., 81 N. L. R. B. 635 ; Matter of Radio Corporation of America, 76 N. L. R. B. 826, where the Board held that an employee will he considered a guard "only if his guard duties constitute a dominant aspect and not merely an incidental feature, of his total work pattern." 530 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The dispatchers The company employs five dispatchers, the day and the night dis- patchers who work at the Company's main offices and three dispatchers who work at substations at Lakewood and Fayette Streets in Baltimore and at the Glenn L. Martin plant. It is agreed that the day and night dispatchers are supervisors. They shall be excluded from the unit which is established herein. There is disagreement as to the three dispatchers, two women and one man, employed at the substations. The Petitioner and Intervenor contend that these three should also be excluded as supervisors. The Employer wishes to include them. The chief duties of the three substation dispatchers are to sell tickets and ticket books and to keep records of such sales. They also note the arrival and departure of the busses and keep records of these opera- tions. The evidence adduced at the hearing does not indicate that they have the power to change, or to effectively recommend the change of the status of any employee of the Employer. We therefore find that these three dispatchers are not supervisors, within the meaning of the Act. However, since their primary job is to sell tickets and since they work under different conditions and are under separate super- vision, we find that their work is more closely related to the Employ- er's clerical and office employees rather than to the drivers and main- tenance men. We shall therefore exclude the three dispatchers from the unit.? Working foreman The Petitioner and Intervenor would exclude and the Employer in- clude Elmer Andrathy, a mechanic employed in the garage at the same rate of pay as other mechanics. He is put in charge of the shop only when the manager-vice president is out or on vacation, which the latter testified is only 10 percent of the time. Under these circumstances, we find Andrathy exercises supervisory authority only sporadically ' Matter of Ferguson Steere Motor Company, 76 N. L. R. B . 1122. Dispatchers were excluded from a unit of drivers , servicemen , loaders , and mechanics on the ground that the former' s work was primarily clerical . The record showed that the dispatchers did not allocate runs or direct the work of the drivers , tasks usually associated with that job in the industry , but spent most of their time in the office, receiving orders, making out bills of lading and occasionally loading or driving a truck or changing a tire. Matter of Keerville Bus Company, 60 N. L. R. B. 1192. Dispatchers who dispatched regularly scheduled and additional busses and who were paid on a different basis from the drivers were excluded from a unit of bus drivers on the ground that the nature of their employment and working conditions differed from that of the drivers . Matter of Detroit Edison Co., 75 N. L. R. B. 1281, where the Board excluded dispatchers from a unit of manual workers in the sales department of the utility company , on the ground that their duties were primarily clerical. Cf. Matter of Oklahoma Transportation Co., 56 N. L. R. B. 1717. Dispatchers were Included on the ground these jobs were regularly assigned to bus drivers by rotation . Matter of Florida Power Corp ., 59 N. L . R. B. 1493. Dispatcher was included because he was regarded as doing the same work as the working foreman whom both petitioner and company desired to include in the unit of all production , distribution , and substation employees. ROSEDALE PASSENGER LINES, INC. 531 and on infrequent occasions, and is therefore not a supervisor within the meaning of the Act. We shall therefore include him in the pro- posed unit.8 Relatives of owners and top management Petitioner and Intervenor would exclude and the Company include the following seven relatives of the owner and top management of the Employer : (a) four brothers of the vice president and nephews of the president employed as bus drivers and garage worker; (b) two nephews of the president employed as bus drivers; (c) one brother of the president, who is regularly employed on a part-time basis to do clean-up work for the Employer. In accordance with our established policy, we shall exclude these employees because of their close relationship to the Employer.9 We find that the following employees of the Employer constitute a unit appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act: All drivers, mechanics, helpers, and maintenance employees, the night watchman, and all part-time drivers and maintenance men ex- cluding dispatchers, the relatives of the vice president and president enumerated above, executives, office and clerical employees, guards, professional employees,' and supervisors as defined in the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION 10 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 Region in which this case was heard, 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 this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation 8 Matter of Ohio Power Co., 80 N. L. R. B. 1334; Matter of Lynchburg Transit Co., 79 N. L. R. B. 54(3; Matter of United States Gypsum Co., 79 N. L. R. B. 1059; Matter of Magnolia Petroleum Co., 79 N. L. R. B. 1027; Matter of Kentucky Utilities Co., 81 N. L. R. B. 1006. 1 Matter of Superior Bakery, 78 N. L. R. B. 1172 and cases cited therein in footnote 3 ; Matter of Cocoline Products, Inc.,, supra; Matter of Deep Rock, Inc., 83 N. L. R. B. 694 Matter of J. H. Kosberg Mfg. Co., No. 13-RC-251, issued July 30, 1948. 10 Any participant in the election herein may, upon its prompt request to, and approval thereof by, the Regional Director , have its name removed from the ballot. 857829-50-vol. 85--35 532 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein- stated 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 Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America, Division 1300, A. F. L., or by Inter- national Association of Machinists, or by neither.