Shawnee Milling Co.

In the Matter of SHAWNEE MILLING' COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 886 (AFL) Case No. R-5608.-Decided July 14,1943 Abernathy & Abernathy, by Mr. G. C. Abernathy, of Shawnee, Okla., for the Company. Mr. A. D. Baugh, of Oklahoma City, Okla., for the Union. Mr. Robert E. Tillman, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 'Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local 886 (AFL), herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Shawnee Milling Company, Shawnee, Oklahoma, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hear- ing upon due notice before Robert F. Proctor, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Shawnee, Oklahoma, on June 25, 1943. The Com- pany and the Union appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are 'hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board. At the hearing the Company moved that the Union's petition be dismissed on the grounds that the unit requested was improper because too small, and that the Company had no opportunity to check the manner in which designation cards were obtained by the Union. The motion is hereby denied as being without merit. Upon the entire record in the case,, the Board makes the following: ' On July 1, 1943 , the parties entered into a stipulation correcting errors in the tran- script. Said stipulation is hereby incorporated in the record. 51 N. L. R. B., No. 67. 324 SHAWNEE MILLING COMPANY FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY 325 Shawnee Milling Company, an Oklahoma corporation, maintains its principal office and place of business in Shawnee, Oklahoma, where it is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of flour, corn meal, dairy feed, poultry feed, and related products. The principal raw material used by the Company is wheat. During the year 1942, the Company purchased approximately 2,000,000 bushels of wheat, of which approximately 15 percent was purchased outside the State of Oklahoma. During the same period, the Company sold and distrib- uted approximately 50 percent of its products to points outside the State of Oklahoma. H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse- men and Helpers of America, Local 886, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It admits to membership truck drivers employed by the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On or about May 26 and on June 4, 1943, a representative of the Union met with officials of the Company. He stated that he repre- sented a majority of the Company's truck drivers and requested that the Union be recognized as their collective bargaining representative. The Company replied that it would not recognize the Union in the absence of an election. A statement,of a Field Examiner of the Board, introduced in evidence at the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a sub- stantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.2 We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Union requests a unit of all truck drivers employed by the Company, excluding garage mechanics. The Company contends that garage mechanics should be included in the unit. There are two 8 The Field Examiner stated that the Union submitted to him 14 authorization cards, all bearing apparently genuine original signatures; and that 13 of the cards bore names of persons whose names appeared on the Company 's pay roll for May 20, 1943, which listed 1S persons in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate. 326 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELA! IONS BOARD garage mechanics who devote 80 to 85 percent of their time to me- chanical and repair work. Most of such work is performed on the Company's trucks, but part of it consists of repairing or maintaining equipment from the mill. The other 15 or 20 percent of their time is spent in driving trucks. However, such driving is not regular but occurs only in the event of emergencies. The Union alleges that mechanics are not eligible to membership in its organization. In Matter of Shawnee Milling Company, 51 N. L. R. B., No. 32, involv- ing the Company, United Grain Processors, Local 21987, in amending its petition for a production and maintenance unit, agreed to exclude specifically only truck drivers. In view of all these facts, we find that the garage mechanics are properly included in the production and maintenance unit and we shall exclude them from the unit of truck drivers. We find that the truck drivers employed by the Company, exclud- ing the garage mechanics, constitute a unit appropriate for the pur- poses of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by means of an election by secret ballot among the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of our Direction of Election, subject to the limitations and additions set forth therein. DIRECTION OF ELECTION By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the. National Labor Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Shawnee Milling Company, Shawnee, Oklahoma, 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 Sixteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 10, of said Rules and Regulations, 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 those employees who did not work SHAWNEE MILLING COMPANY 327 during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on 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 discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and - Helpers of America, Local 886 (AFL), for the purposes of collective bargaining.