Hampton Roads Maritime Association

HAMPTON ROADS MARITIME ASSN. Hampton Roads Maritime Association , Atlantic & Gulf Stevedoring Associates, Atlantic & Gulf Stevedores, Inc., Hampton Roads Stevedoring Corporation, Old Dominion Stevedoring Corporation , Southern Stevedoring Corporation, Tidewater Stevedoring Corporation , Marine Stevedoring Corporation, Nacirema Operating Company, Inc. and International Longshoremen's Association , AFL-CIO, Local No. 1624, Petitioner. Case 5-RC-6612 August 28, 1969 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS BROWN AND ZAGORIA Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing was held before Hearing Officer Leonard R. Miller Briefs were filed by the Hampton Roads Maritime Association, five of the Employer-Members of the Association and International Longshoremen's Association, AFL-CIO, Local No. 1624 Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel.' The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's rulings made at the hearing and finds that no prejudicial error was committed The rulings are hereby affirmed Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds: 1. Hampton Roads Maritime Association, herein referred to as HRMA, is an incorporated association admitting to membership persons, firms, associations, and corporations interested in the promotion of the maritime commerce of the ports of Hampton Roads and vicinity It has some 400 members, consisting of a wide variety of persons and businesses, including the Employer-Members named in the caption of this proceeding. Within the corporate structure of HRMA are various organizations which deal with the Petitioner regarding the wages, hours, and working conditions of those individuals employed at the port facilities. Most important of' these are the Negotiating Committees which have dealt with the Petitioner regarding the employment of the various types of employees at the ports These committees are selected by those members of the HRMA who employ a particular kind of labor and the contracts are signed by the Employer-Members of the negotiating committee, officials of the Petitioner, The "Stevedore Employers" have also requested oral argument The record , including the exceptions and briefs , adequately presents the issues and the positions of the parties We, therefore , deny the request 263 the "employing interests" who utilize the particular classification of labor which is the subject matter of the contract involved and, with one exception, an official of the HRMA.' There are also organizations within the HRMA which handle vacations, welfare and pension benefits for those employed at the port facilities, and the HRMA has, in its own publications, stated that it provides. "Representation of employer interests in waterfront labor negotiations." Neither HRMA nor the individual employer-members contest the Board's jurisdiction in this case. The record discloses that each of the employer-members here involved is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. We find it will effectuate the policies of' the Act to assert jurisdiction in this proceeding. 2 The petitioning labor organization claims to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation of certain employees of the Employers within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Petitioner seeks an election to determine whether the timekeepers employed by the Employers named in the caption wish to be included in an existing multiemployer portwide unit of checkers and weighers with whom the Employers have a collective-bargaining agreement. The HRMA contends that it is not authorized to bargain and has not bargained, for employment conditions of any of the employees employed at the port's maritime facilities. The Employer-Members of HRMA contend that these employees are confidential employees and should not be included in a unit of checkers and weighers and that, if any unit is appropriate, it would consist of a unit of timekeepers of each individual Employer-Member. As has been pointed out above, there is, within the structure of the HRMA, a negotiating committee which has negotiated collective-bargaining agreements with the Petitioner for various classes of employees, including a contract covering the checkers and weighers. The HRMA and all of the Employer-Members set forth in the caption, are signatories to the checkers and weighers contract. There thus exists a portwide multiemployer bargaining unit agreed to by the parties in which additional employees may be included if their duties justify their inclusion in the unit. We think the question of the inclusion of the timekeepers in a unit of checkers and weighers is controlled by the Board's decision in Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore, Inc ' In that case the Board found that the duties of the timekeepers were integrated with those of the checkers to such a degree that the two classifications of employees had a community of interest justifying their inclusion in 'The only contract in evidence not signed by an official of the HRMA is the contract involving terminal checkers '155 NLRB 232 178 NLRB No. 44 264 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the same unit The record herein shows the same relationship between the duties of the timekeepers and those of the checkers and weighers in the performance of their work at the maritime facilities of the Ports of Hampton Roads and thus warrants the conclusion that the timekeepers should be included in the existing unit of checkers and weighers As stated above, the Employer-Members contend that the timekeepers should be excluded from a multiemployer unit on the grounds that they are confidential employees. The evidence in the record shows that to the extent that the timekeepers may be said to have access to information of their employers, the information pertains to the performance of their duties as timekeepers and has nothing to do with the labor policies of the Employer-Members. Nor is there any evidence that the timekeepers otherwise participate in the formulation, determination, or effectuation of the Employer-Members' general labor policies. We therefore perceive no reason for excluding timekeepers from a multiemployer unit as confidential employees.' 'Pacific Far East Line , Inc , 174 NLRB No 172, Gulf States Telephone Co, 118 NLRB 1039, 1042 'The inclusion of certain individual employees is in question Sylvester Brown , an employee of Southern Stevedoring Corporation has the authority to hire and fire, assign overtime , set vacation schedules , instruct new employees and attends supervisory meetings We find him to be a supervisor and exclude him from the unit Southern Stevedoring Corporation also contends that Victor Cherry is a manager trainee and should likewise be excluded from the unit Cherry' s present duties are the same as those of other timekeepers and there is no formal program for his advancement to managerial duties We shall therefore include him in the unit, Heckett Engineering Company , 117 NLRB 1395, 1398 Old Dominion Stevedoring Corporation would exclude George Clark as a casual employee Clark is 60 years old and retired He works on an average of 3 days a week and is never off from work more than a week at a time He performs the same work as other timekeepers , receive a Christmas bonus and participates in the profit sharing, medical and life insurance plans of the Employer as do the other timekeepers He is paid on a daily basis rather than on the guaranteed weekly salary enjoyed by the other timekeepers He does not receive a paid vacation On these facts, we find that his employment is regular and not intermittent and sporadic and that he thus has a community of interest with the other timekeepers which requires his inclusion in the unit Quality Markets Inc , 160 NLRB 44, 51 Accordingly, we find that the timekeepers constitute an appropriate voting group, and we shall direct an election among them for the purpose of determining whether they wish to be represented as part of the existing unit of checkers and weighers' If a majority of the employees in such voting group vote for Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to be included in the existing checkers and weighers unit of employees. If a majority of the employees in such group vote against representation by Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to remain outside such existing unit. In either event, the Regional Director is instructed to issue a certification of the results of the election to such effect. 5. Having found that an election should be directed among the employees sought by the Petitioner, we shall direct an election in the following described voting group- All timekeepers employed by the members of Hampton Roads Maritime Association," in the Ports of Hampton Roads and vicinity, Virginia, excluding all other employees and supervisors as defined in the Act [Direction of Election' omitted from publication ] `The individual employer-members of the Association currently employing timekeepers are Atlantic and Gulf Stevedoring Associates, Atlantic & Gulf Stevedores , Inc Hampton Roads Stevedoring Corporation, Old Dominion Stevedoring Corporation, Southern Stevedoring Corporation, Tidewater Stevedoring Corporation, Marine Stevedoring Corporation , Nacirema Operating Company, Inc 'In order to assure that all eligible voters may have the opportunity to be informed of the issues in the exercise of their statutory right to vote, all parties to the election should have access to a list of voters and their addresses which may be used to communicate with them Excelsior Underwear Inc, 156 NLRB 1236, N L R B v Wyman-Gordon Company, 394 U S 759 Accordingly, it is hereby directed that an election eligibility list, containing the names and addresses of all the eligible voters, must be filed by the Employer with the Regional Director for Region 5 within 7 days of the date of this Decision and Direction of Election The Regional Director shall make the list available to all parties to the election No extension of time to file this list shall be granted by the Regional Director except in extradordinary circumstances Failure to comply with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside the election whenever proper objections are filed