American Parts System

Inc. Teamsten Employees* 78, afffli- ated stera, Chauffeurs, Warehoueemen Helpem 20-RC- 15 15 l center.' ThereaRer, rcview sdlicient priate.% re vie^.^ case respect make8 findings: Fairfield, ' The appropriate condab "All regular prt-time and receiving employ&* warehouse empbyss at ita Furfield. distrib- utiag cenccr, dl employes, operations cmter uk, professional mployeeq o f k e clericd employ&* guu& supervimn as ' Tbe requat exclusion Ylea employea ' 30. 1980. an elstion w u conducted at f d t y bpllota Baud. 18. 1984 a re- queasd consideration isruea either grant requat that opentiona empbyea appropriate Rti- ti= stipulate requated and, miu n 24, 1980, the an and quested b u d ob- w e d t h t o p e n t a numerous fditiea m e organizational and ph* s t w u r e s c v d Stata that ita operations center m p l o y e a unita warehouse truckdriven, and employees has an isrue inconwe tmt raults at Bard's regional agree that policies arc thin cue, Decision applies Furfield, Cnlifornir, Petitioner's I center singlestory packing area twestory rea- troomr Upstairs employeer. res- trooms plateglass wherc o p eratiom custom- "picking ticket sent used packing, checking, r checking packing AMERICAN PARTS SYSTEM, INC. American Parts System, and Auto- motive Local Union No. with International Brotherhood of Term- and of America, Petitioner. Case February 18, 1981 DECISION ON REVIEW AND DIRECTION On September 30, 1980, the Acting Regional Di- rector for Region 20 issued a Decision and Direc- tion of Election in the above-entitled proceeding, in which he found appropriate the Petitioner's re- quested unit of all truckdrivers, shipping and re- ceiving employees, and warehouse employees at the Employer's Fairfield, California, distribution in accordance with the Nation- al Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended, the Employer filed a timely request for of the Acting Regional Direc- tor's decision on the ground that he had departed from officially reported precedent in finding that the Employer's operations-center employees lacked community of interest with warehouse employees to be included in the unit found appro- By telegraphic order dated October 29, 1980, the National Labor Relations Board granted the Employer's request for The Board has considered the entire record in this with to the issue under review and the following The Employer is engaged in the storage and wholesale distribution of automobile parts and ac- cessories. At its California, distribution center, it employs approximately 13 truckdrivers, unit found of full-time and truck drivers, shipping and employed by the Employer Californu excluding other employ&* employes and defined in the Act." Employer did not review of the Acting Regional Direc- tor's of from the unit found appropriate. On October the Employer's and the were impounded pmding further action by the On November the Petitioner filed motion in which it that the Bard. without further of the in- volved, the Employer's the center be included in the unit found or permit the to to the Employer's unit therefore, die the Employer's Request for Review moot. On November Employer filed opposition to the motion of Petitioner that the proceed with full review. The Employer it of the in and the inclusion of in of employees, and shipping receiving been producing the level. We with the Employer the of the Act best effectuated by continuing review in although our here only to the Employer's facility. We therefore hereby deny the motion. 254 NLRB No. 106 shipping and receiving clerks, and warehouse em- ployees, and the 4 operations center employees whose unit placement is here in dispute. All these employees work in the Employer's operations de- partment under the same general supervision, al- though the four operations center employees have a different immediate supervisor. The distribution is a rectangular facility containing a warehouse that is divided into a and six storage zones, with a receiving bay at the front of the building. Within the warehouse is an enclosed structure, on the first floor of which are located the front en- trance, the operations center, a catalog storage area, two managerial offices, and the employee are managerial offices a confer- ence room, and a combination lounge and lunch- room for the use of In order to reach the warehouse from the front entrance, or the from the warehouse, employees must pass through the operations center. All hourly paid per- sonnel punch a timeclock located in the operations center, which is separated from the warehouse by a large window. The Employer's daily distribution process begins in the operatiom center, three computer solicit orders from the Employer's em and enter the orders on a computer, which gen- erates a form known as a ticket." The picking is then to the warehouse area by pneumatic tube, where it is by warehouse em- ployees in locating, and loading the ordered parts for delivery to the customer. The ticket is then returned to the operations center and the completed order posted on the computer. The operations center employees also routinely respond to customer inquiries concerning the availability of specific parts; they determine whether a part is in stock by the computer, by calling a ware- house employee by intercom for the information, or by entering the warehouse to make a personal investigation. Other duties of the operations center employees include and distributing catalog in the warehouse area, working in the warehouse when new jobbers' orders must be filled or inven- tory taken, and performing such warehouse duties as shelf-stocking on occasional weekends. In addition to the three computer operators, a combination accounts payable clerk-computer oper- ator is also employed in the operations center. The clerk-operator prepares vouchers for processing by the Employer's regional office and occasionally drives one of the delivery vans to the post office in connection with the Employer's business. Other- wise the clerk-operator performs the same duties as the computer operators, filling in for them during 902 ern- warehow parta. employees func- tiona; i.e., picking needed his occruions M operations jobg often breaks group timeclock, scale, tht whole,* cm- ployees fa~ility.~ Member Jentinr othcrwi rely Nurum Corpmth 235 (1978), Regional optfatiom center employm from the found appropriate. concurs their includon here mkly because the Rtitioncr, u mtad ia wpm, h.l withdrawn ib objoAk~ r q u a t d commu&ty shall ie aa truck- operations Fairfield, employeas, salea officb guards supervisors detined ia the that, as ascertain purposcs employm Parts parties hrther s ~ a . e.g., &an ~srbvck Ca. 476,477 (1976). 4 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD break or leave time and when the workload re- quires. The record reveals that the operations center employees enter the warehouse area daily in the course of their duties. The operations center ployees are in constant visual and frequent verbal contact with the employees, with whom they exchange information concerning the process- ing of orders and the availability of Oper- ations center and warehouse handle the same form essential to their respective job the ticket. A warehouse employ- ee works in the operations center as follow- ing warehouse shift and on those per- form the same duties the computer operators. Three of the four center employees transferred from the warehouse to their present The operations center employees take their afternoon with the warehouse employ- ees, and the two punch the same share a common wage and have same pension program and sick and vacation leave bene- fits. Based upon the foregoing facts and the record as a we find that the operations center perform duties directly related to and inte- grated with the functional operation of the Em- ployer's The operations center employees who would on NLRB 1139 to uphold the Acting Director's exclu- sion of the unit in h. 3, to the Employer's unit. and 222 NLRB have regular contact with the warehouse employ- ees in ensuring efficient and accurate processing of orders, availability of merchandise and catalogues, and storage of parts; they work in an area directly adjacent and visible to the warehouse and share wage scales, working conditions, and fringe bene- fits with the employees in the unit requested by the Petitioner. Under these circumstances, we find that the disputed operations center employees share a of interest with other distribution center employees and include them in the unit. We conclude, therefore, that the appropriate unit follows: All full-time and regular part-time driven, shipping and receiving employees, warehouse employees, and center employees employed by the Employer at its California distribution center; exclud- ing all other employees, pro- fessional employees, clerical employees, and as Act. DIRECTION It is hereby directed part of the investi- gation to a representative for the of collective bargaining among certain employed by American System, Inc., Fair- field, California, in the appropriate unit, the Acting Regional Director for Region 20 shall, at a date to be determined by him, open and count the im- pounded ballots and, thereafter, prepare and cause to be served on the a tally of ballots, upon the basis of which he shall take such action as he deems appropriate.