American Oil Co.

AMERICAN OIL COMPANY 229 American Oil Company and Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers In- ternational Union , AFL-CIO,' Petitioner American Oil Company and Local 251, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, AFL-CIO,' Petitioner. Cases Nos. 1-RC-4794 and 1- RC-4826. June 19, 1957 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Joseph Lepie, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-mem- ber panel [Chairman Leedom and Members Murdock and Jenkins]. 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 employees 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) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Oil Workers seeks a unit of all employees at the Employer's Providence and East Providence, Rhode Island, operations, where it is engaged in the distribution and sale of oil and petroleum products. The Teamsters requests a separate unit of truckdrivers. The Employer and the Oil Workers contend that a unit of truckdrivers, who have been included in a companywide unit of all employees for over 10 years, is inappropriate in view of the past bargaining history. The truckdrivers spend all of their time delivering fuel oil by tank trailer to industrial customers of the Employer in Rhode Island. They work different hours and shifts than the other employees and their duties are not performed by any other employees. As their duties are confined to driving, we find that the drivers constitute a functionally distinct group such as the Board has traditionally accorded the right to self-determination, notwithstanding a history of bargaining on a broader basis. In addition, the Teamsters is a union which has his- torically represented truckdrivers.3 Accordingly, we find that the 1 Herein called the Oil workers. Herein called the Teamsters. Swift cG Company, 117 NLRB 61 ; Painesville Works. General Chemical Division, Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation, 116 NLRB 1784; Interchemical Corporation, 116 NLRB 1443. 118 NLRB No. 26. 230 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Employer's truckdrivers may, if they so desire, constitute a separate appropriate unit for the purposes of collective bargaining. Under the circumstances, we shall make no final unit determination at this time, but shall direct that separate elections be held in the following voting groups at the Employer's Providence and East Provi- dence, Rhode Island, operations : (a) All truckdrivers, excluding all other employees and supervisors as defined in the Act. (b) All employees, including bargemen, but excluding truck- drivers, executives, office clerical employees,4 professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. If a majority of employees in voting group (a) select the Teamsters, that group will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bargaining unit, which the Board, under those circumstances, finds to be appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining, and the Regional Director conducting the elections is hereby instructed to issue a certification of representatives to such union for such unit. In that event, if a majority of the employees in voting group (b) select the Oil Workers, then the Regional Director is instructed to issue a certification of representatives to such union for a separate unit of the Employer's employees, which the Board under such cir- cumstances finds to be appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining. However, if a majority of the employees in voting group (a) do not vote for the Teamsters, such group will be appropriately included in the same unit with the employees in voting group (b) and their votes will be pooled with those in voting group (b).' If a majority of employees in the pooled group select the Oil Workers, the Regional Director is instructed to issue a certification of representatives to that union for such unit, which under such circumstances the Board finds to be appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining. 5. With respect to voting group (a), the Teamsters and the Oil Workers are in dispute as to the voting eligibility of five truckdrivers who were recently laid off due to a seasonal slack. The Employer's practice for the past 35 years is to recall such laid-off employees and the record shows that, in 1956, all drivers who were laid off as a result 4 All of the following employees work in the main office performing clerical duties under the supervision of the chief clerk or the branch manager : Marian Stachowiak, Anna O'Neil, Martha Elstrom, James Smith, Ann Whittaker. John F. 1lartiman, Majorie Prior, Dorothy Whittaker, Thomas Pury, and William J. Delderfield, Jr. Only one of these employees, John F . Fiartiman , ever leaves the office to contact employees in the voting group and the record shows that he does so on infrequent occasions. We have excluded them from the voting group as office clerical employees. Pacific lfouttied Products, 111 NLRB 882, 884. The Employer does not employ plant clericals. 5 If the votes are pooled , they are to be tallied in the following manner : The votes for the Teamsters shall be counted as valid votes, but neither for nor against the Oil. Workers ; all other votes are to be accorded their face value, whether for representation by the Oil Workers or for no union. OHRBACH'S, INC. 231 of the seasonal slack were rehired. As the laid-off drivers have a reasonable expectancy of reemployment , we find that they are eligible to vote in the election.' [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.] 6 A roostook Federat ion of Farmers, Inc., 117 NLRB 31. Ohrbach's, Inc. and District 65, Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case No. 2-RC-8533. June 19, 1957 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 John J. Carmody, hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel [Members Rodgers, Bean, and Jenkins]. 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 organization named below claims to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tion of certain employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The following employees of the Employer constitute a unit ap- propriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean- ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act.' 1 Petitioner seeks a unit of department store employees including clericals who deal direct- ly with customers or handle merchandise but excluding all clericals who do not . It would exclude the tailor shop , menders, and the milliner . Except as to those exclusions, the Employer agrees with the unit. There is no bargaining history . The clerical employees in issue include general office employees located on the 10th floor , and, on other floors, in- voice process clerks in the receiving departments , a display department clerical, reception- ist-typists in the buying offices , and purchasing department clericals, all of whom perform a variety of office and clerical duties. The tailor shop includes seamstresses , pressers, and tailors , who do cleaning , pressing, and sewing for the store and repairs for customers. Menders in the selling departments and the milliner in the millinery department perform mending and cleaning duties and the menders affix tickets to merchandise . All employees are subject to the sauce personnel management and have the same benefits, and, although the general office employees also perform services for other stores of the Employer in addi- tion to the store herein involved , the Board has recognized a functional integration and mutuality of interest among all employees of a retail establishment . In these circum- stances and as no union is seeking to represent the disputed categories , we shall include them in the unit. J. J. Moreau it Sons, Inc., 107 NLRB 999; Fanny Farmer Candy Shops, 118 NLRB No. 39.