Sherman White & Co.

SHERMAN WHITE & COMPANY and CHAUFFEURS, TEAMSTERS & HELPERS, LOCAL No. 414, AFL, PETITIONER .1 Case No. 13-11C-3719. July °2, 196. 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 Robert H. Cowdrill, 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 in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em- ployees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tion 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 sever from the existing production and maintenance unit at the Employer's plant at Fort Wayne, Indiana, a unit of over-the-road truckdrivers and garage maintenance employees. The Intervenor contends that only a plantwide unit is appropriate here. The record does not indicate the Employer's position. The Employer is engaged in the processing of poultry, eggs, and cream. The primary duties of the 18 truckdrivers are to make de- liveries to the plant from suppliers located within a 150-mile radius of the plant, and to transport the Employer's products to various markets. They are separately supervised. The 5 garage maintenance employees' primary duties are to repair and maintain the Employer's trucks. They work in a separate building apart from the other em- ployees. Both truckdrivers and garage maintenance employees some- times load and unload the trucks. The truckdrivers and the garage maintenance employees also occasionally perform an unspecified amount of production work but the record is not clear as to the amount of such work. It does not appear to be substantial. The truckdrivers and garage maintenance employees are a func- tionally distinct group whom the Board has recognized as having special interests apart from other employees.2 Furthermore, the Peti- 1 United Packinghouse Workers of America, Local Union No 121, CIO, was permitted to intervene at the hearing on the basis of its current contract with the Employer. L Pasco Packing Co., 106 NLRB 1223. 109 NLRB No. 6. 1 2 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD tioner has traditionally devoted itself to serving the special interests of such employees. Nor do we believe that the occasional production work performed by these employees militates against their separate representation. In view of the foregoing, we find that the truck- drivers and garage maintenance employees may constitute a separate appropriate unit if they so desire.8 Accordingly, we shall direct that an election be held in the follow- ing voting group at the Employer's Fort Wayne, Indiana, plant, ex- cluding all other employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act : All over-the-road truckdrivers and garage maintenance employees. If a majority vote for the Petitioner, they will be taken to' have indicated their desire to be represented in a separate unit, and the Regional Director conducting the election herein is instructed, in that event, to issue a certification of representatives to the Petitioner for such unit which the Board, under the circumstances, finds to be appro- priate for purposes of collective bargaining. If, however, a majority vote for the Intervenor, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to remain part of the existing production and maintenance unit, and the Regional Director is instructed to issue a certification of results of election to such effect. [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.] MEMBER RODGERS took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election. 8 American Potash & Chemical Corporation , 107 NLRB 1418. GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, APPARATUS SALES DIVISION, SERVICE SHOPS DEPARTMENT and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRI- CAL WORKERS, LOCAL UNION No. 73, AFL, PETITIONER. Case No. 19-RC-1431. July 2,1954 Decision and Certification of Representatives On March 19, 1954, pursuant to a stipulation for certification upon consent election, an election by secret ballot was conducted under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region among employees in the agreed appropriate unit. Following the election, the Regional Director served on the parties a tally of ballots, which showed that, of approximately 8 eligible voters, 8 cast ballots in the election, of which 4 ballots were cast for the Petitioner; 3 ballots were cast for International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, CIO, the Intervenor herein; and 1 109 NLRB No. 4.