Trumbull Asphalt Co. of Delaware

In the Matter of TRUMBULL ASPHALT COMPANY OF DELAWARE, EM- PLOYER and UNITED CHEMICAL WORKERS, CIO, PETITIONER Case No. 15M-R-28.Decided',April 25, 1,947 Mr. L. F. Bramble, of Chicago, Ill., and Mr. W. P. Beard, of Mem- phis, Tenn., for the Employer. Messrs. W. A. Copeland and J. D. Harris, of Memphis, Tenn., for the Petitioner. Mr. Martin Sacks, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Memphis, Tennessee, on March 14, 1947, before Gerald A. Brown, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prej- udicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes. the following : FINDINGS Or FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Trumbull Asphalt Company of Delaware is a Delaware corporation with its main office at Chicago, Illinois. At its Memphis, Tennessee, plant, the,only one involved in this proceeding, the Employer is en- gaged in the manufacture'of paving and roofing asphalt.,* During the last fiscal year the Employer purchased for use at, this plant raw materials valued at approximately $392,000, of which about $152,000 represented shipments from States other than the State of Tennessee. During the same period, sales of the Employer's products amounted -to $565,000 in value, of which about $28,900 represented shipments to customers outside the State of Tennessee and $19,000 represented sales to the Tennessee Valley, Authority. ., , , . , U,pon;,these facts, we find, contrary to t,.le`-position of.-the Employer that it is engaged, at, its Memphis,, Tennessee, plant, in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 73 N. L. R. B., No. 112.. 581 582 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. - III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees of the -Employer until the Petitioner has-been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. We find that a question affecting commerce, has arisen concerning ,the representation of employees of the Employer, within the-meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. TIIE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Petitioner seeks a unit of all employees, including stillmen, stillman's helpers, and laborers at the Employer's plant, except for office clerical personnel and supervisory employees. The Employer is in general agreement, except that it urges the exclusion of stillmen on the' ground that -they a,re= superv-isoiy employees. There` is no history ofcollective bargaining at this plant.- r - - The -Employer. is engaged in the processing of paving and roofiiig asphalt at its Memphis, Tennessee, plant. The plant consists of a single office and laboratory building and three stills which are located nearby. The normal employee complement consists of a -superin- tendent, assistant superintendent, yard foreman, stenographer, three stillmen, three Stillman's helpers, and eight laborers. The stills are tended, in three 8-hour shifts, -by ,a Stillman and a stillman's helper. During the 4 p. in. to midnight, and the midnight to 8 a. m. shifts, the Stillman and his helper are the only'employees-in the plant:` The sti]lman-i's charged-with-the responsibility of -operating 1the- stills and -testing the product on an assigned production schedule, which, how- ever, may be altered under certain' circumstances at his' discretion. The stillman's helper;, generally picked from among -the plant's laborers, assists the Stillman by mechanically handling the pumps and .lines= wliich ar6-used in the pumping of material' from tankcars into ,the stills, and from the stills to the storage tanks of the Employer's customers.:' The record discloses that laborers undergo apprentice training under-the day'stillman to-become; stillman's helpers- on the 2 night shifts ; and' that Stillman's ' -elpers can become stillmen. • Although it appears that the day. Stillman has the customary instructor's function of passing on the qualifications of 'his, apprentices, he has no super- visory authority over his helpers because of the presence in the plant 'TRUMBULL ASPHALT COMPANY OF DELAWARE 583 of the superintendent, assistant superintendent, and yard foreman, in whorri'it is admitted, the supervisory authority over the plant's 11 employees ultimately vests. All stilimen are hourly paid, are sub- ject to the same vacation policy, and are subject to the same control by, the Employer's superintendent and assistant superintendent as the other employees. The 2 night stillmen have, in the past,' discharged their helpers, but all such discharges were apparently made subject to the approval of the superintendent. ' Ina number of instances- these discharges have been approved, and, in other, the Employer has, instead, assigned the helper to another shift. We are of the opinion from all the foregoing that the relationship between the stillman and his helper is that of the master craftsman to his apprentice, rather than that of superior to' subordlnate.1 We note also that to grant the Employer's request would result in the addition of 3 employees to the admittedly supervisory employees making a total of 6 supervisors for 11 employees. Under all the circumstances, including the substantial community of interest between the stillman,and.other employees, we, shall include the stillmen in the unit hereinafter found appropriate. We find that all employees at the Employer's Memphis, Tennessee,' plant,, including stillmen but excluding office clerical employees, the yard foremen, assistant superintendent, superintendent, and all and any other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, dis- charge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em- ployees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit ap- propriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean- ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Trumbull Asphalt Company of Delaware, Memphis, Tennessee, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Fifteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regu- lations-Series 4, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction,,,including.emplo,,yees- who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the ' See Matter of Volney Felt Mills, Inc, 71 N. L R. B. 951. 584 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, 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, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by United Chemical Workers, CIO, for the purposes of collective bargaining. CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election.