Merchants Delivery, Inc.

In the Matter Of MERCHANTS DELIVERY, INC., EMPLOYER and INTER- NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS , CHAUFFEURS , WAREHOUSE- MEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, AFL, LoCAL 745, PETITIONER Case No. 16-B-1737.-Decided January 13, 1947 Bowyer, Gray, Thomas, Crozier ct Jaffe, by Messrs. H. T. Bowyer and H. Bascom Thomas, of Dallas, Tex., for the Employer. Messrs. James B. Turner and M. R. Dixon, of Dallas, Tex., for the Petitioner. Mr. Leonard J. Mandl, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Dallas, Texas, on September 23, 1646, before Elmer Davis, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju- dicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Merchants Delivery, Inc.,' a Texas corporation, is engaged in the trucking business in Dallas, -Texas. Through its retail delivery divi- sion, it serves most of the retail stores in Dallas picking up packages of merchandise sold by them and delivering these items to the ad- dresses in and around Dallas. The Employer uses 31 trucks for this service, and it owns a building in Dallas where packages are sorted. The income from its retail pick-up and delivery business amounts to more than $100,000 annually. Through its other division, the Acme Freight Division, the Employer picks up all incoming freight from the Dallas terminal of the St. Louis-Southwestern Railway Com- pany,2 an interstate carrier, and delivers it to consignees at points in and around Dallas. It handles the freight business pursuant to an exclusive contract with Acme Fast Freight Inc., which company, in turn, has an exclusive contract with the railroad to deliver to the ' The name of the Employer appears as amended at the hearing. 2 The St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company is generally known as the Cotton Belt Route. 72 N. L. R. B., No. 7. 28 MERCHANTS DELIVERY, INC. 29 consignees all such incoming shipments. This division utilizes about 26 trucks and handles from 4 to 61/2 million pounds of such freight per month. The Employer's income from this service amounts -to from $5,000 to $8,000 per month. The Employer is also engaged in the truck leasing business. The nature and extent of such operations, . however, is not fully disclosed in the record. It is apparent from the foregoing that, apart from other considera- tions, t?e service performed by the Employer on freight carried by the railroad, which is itself engaged in interstate commerce, consti- tutes an integral part of the shipment of goods from other States to their ultimate destination in the State of Texas, and that an inter- ruption of the Employer's service by reason of a labor dispute would dislocate the movement of such freight, and would thereby burden and obstruct commerce, and the free flow of commerce. We therefore find, contrary to the contention of the Employer, that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Na- tional Labor Relations Act.3 II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The En p1oyer has, on each of two occasions after the filing of the petition herein, refused to agree to a consent election to determine whether or not the Petitioner is the exclusive bargaining representa- tive of certain employees of the Employer. It was also apparent at the hearing that the Employer will not recognize the Petitioner as such exclusive bargaining representative in the absence of a Board certification. 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. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Petitioner seeks a unit of all drivers, clockmen, and ware- housemen in the Acme Freight Division of the Employer, exclusive of clerical employees, the foreman, and all other supervisory em- ployees.' The Employer takes no position as to the appropriateness of the requested unit. ' Matter of Phillips Transfer Company, 69 N. L. R. B. 493, and cases cited therein "The unit requested appears above as amended at the healing without objection hN the Employer. 30 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD As heretofore noted, the Employer's business consists of two types of services; the pick-up and delivery of general commodities, which is handled by the retail delivery division, and the delivery of freight from the Dallas terminal of the St. Louis-Southwestern Railway Company for the Acme Fast Freight Company, which is performed by the Acme Freight Division. The drivers performing pick-up and delivery service operate small panel-type trucks, while the drivers handling freight operate big trucks. There is a difference inhe rate of pay for each division, and skill and educational requirements are at variance. There is no interchange of drivers between the two divisions and the Employer maintains a separate pay roll and separate books for each division. In addition, each division is under the super- vision of a separate foreman. We find, in accordance with the unopposed request of the Petitioner, that all drivers, dockmen, and warehousemen of the Acme Freight Division of the Employer, excluding office and clerical employees, the foreman, and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively reconunend such action, consti- tnte a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning 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 Merchants Deli%,ery, Inc., Dallas, Texas, 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 Direc- tor for the Sixteenth 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 Regulations- Series 4, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in See- t ion IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period imme- diately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who (lid not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or oil vacation or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been dis- charged 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 International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen, and Helpers of America, AFL, Local 745, for-the purposes of collective bargaining.