Donald Carroll Metals, Inc.

DONALD CARROLL METALS, INC. Donald Carroll Metals, Inc. and Warehouse and Mail Order Employees Union, Local No. 743, Interna- tional Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America, Petitioner. Case 13-RC-12127 August 27, 1970 DECISION AND DIRECTION BY CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS MCCULLOCH AND JENKINS Pursuant to a stipulation for certification upon consent election, executed on March 30, 1970, an election by secret ballot was conducted on April 24, 1970, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for Region 13 of the National Labor Relations Board among employees in the stipu- lated unit described below. After the election, the parties were furnished a tally of ballots showing that of approximately 25 eligible voters, 21 cast valid ballots of which 11 were for the Petitioner, 10 were against. Two voters cast challenged ballots. The chal- lenged ballots are sufficient in number to affect the results of the election. In accordance with the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, the Regional Director conducted an investigation and, on May 26, 1970, issued and duly served upon the parties his report on challenges, in which he recommended that the challenges to the ballots of Ralph Hayes and John Walkos be sustained, and that the Petitioner be certif- ied as the collective-bargaining representative of the Employer's employees in the stipulated unit. There- after, the Employer filed timely exceptions to the Regional Director's Report. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds: 1'. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act, and it will effectuate the purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein. 2. The Union is a labor organization claiming to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation of the employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 409 4. The parties stipulated, and we find, that the following employees constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean- ing of Section 9(b) of the Act: All warehouse, production and maintenance employees of the Employer at its Bensenville, Illinois, plant, but excluding office clerical employees, professional employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. 5. The Board has considered the Regional Director's Report, the Employer's exceptions, and the entire record in this case, and makes the following findings. The Employer excepts to the Regional Director's conclusion that truckdrivers Ralph Hayes and John Walkos do not have a sufficient community of interest with production employees to warrant their inclusion in the agreed-upon unit. For the reasons set forth below, we find merit in the Employer's exceptions, and hold that employees Hayes and Walkos were eligible to vote in the election held herein.' The parties failed to specify the inclusion of truck- drivers in the stipulated unit. However, we deem manifest the intent of the parties to include truckdri- vers, if otherwise appropriate, in view of the broad language used by them in defining the unit, i.e., "all warehouse, production and maintenance employ- ees" (Emphasis supplied), and the fact that truckdri- vers were not specifically excluded, as were others, from the stipulated unit. Moreover, where the parties to a Board proceeding use a term of art as "production and maintenance employees," we would, in the absence of evidence of a contrary intent, conclude that it was their intent to use the words as the Board would; hence the Board's normal considerations relating to inclusion or exclusion of truckdrivers become relevant. On the facts of this case it is clear that the Board would normally find that the truckdrivers are appropriately part of the production and maintenance unit. The Employer is engaged in the production of zinc and aluminum ingots derived, in substantial part, from the reprocessing of scrap metals which are melted down in the Employer's furnaces. Scrap metals are obtained from sources within a several-hundred-mile radius of Chicago, Illinois, and are transported to the Employer's plant, by its two tractor-trailers or by those of other firms, where they are unloaded and weighed by the Employer's employees. Ingots produced by the Employer are weighed, loaded onto trailers, and delivered to customers in the same man- ner. ' As there are no substantial questions of fact raised by the Employer's request for a hearing, said request is hereby denied 185 NLRB No. 67 410 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Hayes and Walkos , the only truckdrivers employed by Carroll Metals, spend approximately 60-65 percent of their working hours on the road picking up raw materials and delivering finished ingots to customers. The remainder of their time is spent at the plant, where, along with the production employees, they scale, load and unload the trailers. Eighty percent of their plant time is spent in such work and the remainder is spent in the maintenance of their vehicles. Thus, more than 25 percent of the truckdrivers' hours are spent performing the same type of production work as is performed by other employees. The drivers have the same supervisor as the produc- tion employees and both groups receive the same fnnge benefits (including vacation benefits, holiday pay, life insurance, hospitalization and medical insur- ance, and profitsharingbenefits ).Although the drivers' pay rate is higher than that of the other employees here involved, both groups are paid on an hourly basis and undergo the same periodic wage reviews. The truckdrivers work irregular hours while the production employees work in set 8-hour shifts. How- ever, on the 1 to 2 days per week when the drivers do not go out at all, they adhere to the schedule of the first-shift production workers. In view of the above, we find contrary to the Regional Director, that at all times material hereto, Ralph Hayes and John Walkos did share sufficient interests with production employees to warrant inclu- sion in the unit and , accordingly, that they were eligible to vote in the election held herein . Therefore, we shall direct that the Regional Director open and count the challenged ballots of Ralph Hayes and John Walkos, and prepare and cause to be served upon the parties a revised tally of ballots, and issue the appropriate certification. DIRECTION It is hereby directed that the Regional Director for Region 13 shall , pursuant to the Rules and Regula- tions of the Board, within 10 days from the date of this Decision, open and count the ballots of Ralph Hayes and John Walkos and prepare and cause to be served upon the parties a revised tally of ballots, including therein the count of the above-mentioned ballots, and issue the appropriate certification.