Stanislaus Implement and Hardware Co., Ltd.

In the Matter of STANISLAUS IMPLEMENT AND HARDWARE COMPANY, LIMITED,1 EMPLOYER and DISTRICT LODGE No. 41, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, PETITIONER Case No. 20-RC-1-068.-Decided October 3, 1950 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing-was held before Nathan R. Berke, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged at Modesto, California, in the retail sale of hardware, machinery, implements, and parts used principally in connection with farming. In addition, the Employer services, repairs, and fabricates farm machinery and equipment. During 1949, the Employer's over-all purchases amounted to $600,000. A substantial part of its purchases consisted of merchandise produced by national manufacturing concerns in other States and shipped to distribution points of these concerns in California, whence they were reshipped to the Employer. Thus, purchases from the International Harvester Company of tractors manufactured in Illinois amounted to $426,000, and from Fairbanks-Morse and Company of pumps man- ufactured in Wisconsin amounted to $24,000. Orchard sprayers valued at an undisclosed sum were purchased from a Michigan manu- facturer, and other unspecified goods were purchased from an Illinois concern. The Employer's sales during 1949 were approximately $1,300,000, of which 98 percent was made to customers within the State. The remaining 2 percent, amounting in value to approximately $26,000, consisted of shipments made to points outside the State. We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. Without considering the amount and character of the inflow, we further find, in view of the fact that the Employer's 1 The Employer's name appears as amended at the hearing. 91 NLRB No. 116. 618 STANISLAUS IMPLEMENT AND HARDWARE COMPANY, LIMITED 619' annual shipment of goods to points outside the State amounted in value to more than $25,000, that it will effectuate the policies of the. Act for this Board to assert jurisdiction. In future cases we will exercise jurisdiction over employers which annually ship goods valued at $25,000 or more out of a State. 2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent. certain employees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the represen- tation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit consisting of all the Employer's employees in the tractor,. welding, and implement and pump shops, including the truck driver and janitors in these shops, but excluding all employees in the parts department, including the parts runner, all employees of the hardware department, floor sales- men, outside salesmen, office-and clerical employees, assistant foremen, and all other supervisors as defined in the Act. The Employer does not oppose the composition of the unit, except that it would include therein the employees of the parts and hardware departments, on the ground that their interests are closely related to those of the other employees in the unit and because of the functional integration of its operations. The Employer also contends that assistant foremen are not supervisors and should therefore be included in the unit. There is no history of collective bargaining for these employees. The Employer's operations are conducted in two main buildings 2 separated by an alley. One of these buildings contains a display floor for farm machines and hardware items,3 the parts department, and the tractor shop. To the rear of the display floor are the Em- ployer's sales, credit, accounting, and other administrative offices. The display room and the parts department are separated by a par- tition which has an opening, and the tractor shop is separated from the parts department by a cement wall. The other main building consists of the implement and pump shop, the welding shop, and a warehouse. Each of these is in a separately enclosed area. There is also a small building used essentially as a paint shop which is located behind the tractor shop. The greater part of the employees sought to be represented by the Petitioner appear to be highly skilled mechanics,,who repair, re- build, assemble, install, and fabricate farm machines and equipment. 2 The Employer 's physical facilities also include several storage 'yards and a warehouse building. 3 The record does not specifically indicate the location of the hardware department. We conclude from the fact that hardware items are contained within the area of the display floor, that this area also houses the hardware department. 620 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD There are 13 employees in the tractor shop, including a painter ana janitor, supervised by a foreman, who repair tractors. In the imple- ment and pump shop there are 17 employees, including a.truck driver :and janitor, supervised by 2 foremen. These employees assemble new machines before they are delivered to customers, rebuild and. recon- dition old equipment, repair old pumps, and install new pumps on customers' premises. The truck driver spends approximately 80 per- cent of his time making deliveries to customers. The rest of his time is spent in the implement and pump shop performing whatever duties are assigned to him by one of the foremen in this shop. When load- ing heavy equipment on his truck he is assisted by employees of this shop. Five employees, including a janitor, work in the welding shop under a foreman and spend most of their time fabricating farm ma- chinery on special order from customers as well as certain stock machines sold by the Employer under its own name. These machines include scrapers, bulldozers, cultivators, and farm specialty tools. There are nine employees in the parts department and seven em- ployees in the hardware department ,4 who are essentially engaged in making over-the-counter sales. and in filling requisitions for materials used in the Employer's shops for repairs and fabrication. In addi- tion, they unpack and store the merchandise received in their depart- ments and keep stock inventories. Requisitions are prepared in the shops by a parts department employee called a parts runner, who presents the requisitions to the parts and hardware departments. The requisitions are priced by the parts runner with the assistance of parts ,and hardware department employees. After the materials have been issued they are delivered to the shops by the parts runner. Parts and hardware department employees are each supervised by a separate. department head. In addition to the foregoing employees, there are eight office clerical -employees, two floor salesmen, and eight outside salesmen. The floor salesmen, as distinguished.from the parts and hardware department employees, sell heavy equipment displayed on the floor such as tractors and large pumps. The clerical employees are supervised by the office manager and the salesmen by the sales manager. All shop mechanics as well as the painter, truck driver, and the janitors who work in the shops are hourly paid. All other employees receive a monthly salary with no deductions from their salaries for time lost because of illness or other excusable absences. Hourly paid employees are compensated only for time actually worked. Working 4 There is also a janitor who is administratively in this department whose duties are confined to the parts and hardware departments and to the administrative offices. STANISLAUS IMPLEMENT AND HARDWARE COMPANY, LIMITED 621 hours for all employees are generally the same except that parts and. hardware department employees, the office clerical employees, and salesmen work a half day each Saturday, whereas shop employees work only a 5-day week. Parts and hardware department employees are never interchanged with shop employees. There has been some, though very little, interchange between the shop departments. There have also been a few permanent transfers from one shop to another. As noted above shop employees are separately supervised, as are the -parts and hardware department employees. Employee benefits, such as vacations and insurance, are the same for all. employees. The foregoing circumstances clearly indicate that the bulk of the employees of the shop departments sought to be represented comprise a distinct, homogeneous group of skilled mechanics whose duties, terms of employment, supervision, and interests are different from those of the parts and hardware department employees. We perceive insuffi cient merit in the Employer's contention that the functions of the parts and hardware department employees are so closely integrated with those of the shop employees that only a single unit of these employees is appropriate for representation. We have previously found, under facts similar to those presented here, that a unit of employees, such as that requested by the Petitioner, may appropriately constitute either a separate bargaining unit or a part of a more comprehensive one.5 In the instant proceeding, no labor organization seeks to represent the employees in the larger unit 'claimed to be appropriate by the Employer. We conclude that the unit sought by the. Petitioner is appropriate. There remains the determination of the supervisory status 'of the assistant foremen. The record discloses that there is one employee in this category in each of the tractor, implement and pump, and welding shops. In the absence of their foremen during vacation periods, be- cause of sickness, or for other reasons, they take over their duties. The Employer estimated that they spend 20 to 25 percent of their time as supervisors, and spend the rest of their time performing the same work as the other men in their shops. Only the shop foremen have the right to hire and discharge employees, but the assistant foremen may effectively recommend- such action to them. The assistant fore- men receive a higher hourly rate than the other mechanics. We find, contrary to the Employer's contention, in view of the frequent and substantial time devoted by the assistant foremen to supervisory duties that they are supervisors within the meaning of the Act. We shall therefore exclude them from the unit.6 6 J. B. Cook Auto Machine Company, Inc., 73 NLRB 249. 6 East Tennessee Packing Company , 89 NLRB 535. 622 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD We find that all employees at the Employer's place of business at Modesto, California, who are employed in the tractor, welding, and implement and pump shops, including the truck driver and janitors in these shops, but excluding all other employees, assistant foremen, and all other supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropri- ate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this volume,]