Airport Terminal Services

AIRPORT TERMINAL SERVICES Airport Terminal Services, Inc. and Automotive, Petroleum and Allied Industries Employees Union, Local No. 618, affiliated with International Broth- erhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Petitioner. Case 14-RC- 8463 September 29, 1977 DECISION ON REVIEW AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION BY CHAIRMAN FANNING AND MEMBERS JENKINS AND MURPHY On June 8, 1977, the Regional Director for Region 14 issued his Decision and Direction of Election in the above-entitled proceeding and directed an election in a unit of all full-time and regular part- time employees of the Employer. Thereafter, pursu- ant to National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended, Petitioner filed a timely request for review of the Regional Director's Decision, contending that he had erred by including in the unit certain classifications not sought in the petition. By telegraphic order dated June 27, 1977, the National Labor Relations Board granted the request for review and stayed the election pending decision on review. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. The Board has considered the entire record with respect to the issue under review and hereby makes the following findings: The Employer is engaged in providing aviation terminal facilities and services for various airline carriers at the St. Louis International Airport (Lambert Field) in St. Louis, Missouri. The Employ- er operates out of two locations at the airport, one situated at the International Wing of the Terminal Building, and another located at a separate, "fixed- base" facility less than I mile from the main terminal. The Petitioner sought a unit limited to mechanics, fixed-base employees, and ramp-service employees at the above-named facilities. The Regional Director found, in agreement with the Employer, that skycaps (also referred to as baggage porters) and ticket agents should also be included in the unit. This finding was based primarily on factors of common overall supervision and frequent contacts between those employees sought by Petitioner and those classifica- tions which it would have excluded from the unit. 232 NLRB No. 106 We find merit in the contentions of Petitioner that the fixed-base employees, ramp-service employees, and mechanics enjoy a sufficiently separate commu- nity of interest to constitute an appropriate unit and, for the reasons set forth below, we agree that the ticket agents and skycaps should be excluded from the unit. The Employer performs ground-handling services, including aircraft refueling and cleaning, baggage and ticketing services, and porter services for certain airlines (both charter and commercial) using the International Wing and the fixed-base facilities at the St. Louis International Airport. To accomplish the foregoing functions, the Employer utilizes the ser- vices of ticket agents, skycaps, ramp service person- nel, fixed-base employees, and mechanics. The ramp-service employees load passenger lug- gage onto aircraft (as well as unload) and are also responsible for the cleaning and refueling of planes. The fixed-base employees are similarly responsible for the cleaning and refueling of aircraft at the Employer's fixed-base facility. Skycaps are generally responsible for the transportation of passenger luggage from the ticketing area to a loading platform for transfer by the ramp-service employees to the aircraft. Ticket agents perform their functions of writing and processing at stations inside the main terminal building. One full-time and one part-time mechanic are employed to maintain small buslike vehicles (called plane mates) utilized by the Employ- er to transport baggage and passengers between aircraft and the terminal facility. The record reveals that fixed-base and ramp- service employees have infrequent contact with the ticket agents, although occasionally a ramp-service employee may drive a plane mate with passengers aboard from the ticketing area to the aircraft accompanied by a ticket agent. Skycaps come into contact with ramp-service and fixed-base employees on a more regular basis, inasmuch as their job function entails delivery of luggage to these employ- ees for loading onto the aircraft. The record further reveals that there is a substantial amount of job interchange between the ramp-service employees and the fixed-base employees. For the most part, fixed-base employees, ramp- service employees, and the two mechanics perform their respective job functions outside the airport terminal, while the majority of skycaps' and ticket agents' time is spent inside the terminal. In this regard, while the Employer's assistant vice president for operations, Don Bevans, has overall responsibili- ty for the Employer's operation at St. Louis Interna- tional Airport, it appears that the ramp-service employees and other unit employees are supervised by Kaliszewsky when they are working on planes. 633 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD With respect to hours of employment and rates of compensation, the fixed-base employees are the Employer's only full-time employees at present, the rest of the employee contingent being utilized on a part-time basis. Skycaps and ramp-service employees are guaranteed 3 hours of work per flight, and ticket agents are guaranteed 4 hours per flight. The top wage rates for ticket agents and skycaps is $3.25 and $3.50 per hour, respectively; the top wage for ramp- service employees is $4.25 per hour; and the highest paid fixed-base employee earns in excess of $5 per hour. All uniforms are provided by the Employer. As noted above, while there is frequent job interchange between fixed-base and ramp-service employees, there is no interchange between fixed-base and ramp-service employees and the ticket agents and skycaps. It is apparent from the foregoing that the ramp- service employees, fixed-base employees, and me- chanics perform distinctive functions directly on aircraft or plane mates, including loading and unloading luggage onto aircraft, cleaning and refuel- ing planes, and maintaining the plane mates. These duties clearly set them apart from the ticket agents and skycaps, whose job functions are significantly different in that they perform their duties primarily inside the terminal building, and come into regular I See Airkaman, Inc., 230 NLRB 924 (1977); see also Tri-Siate Aero, Inc., 180 NLRB 60 (1969). contact with airline passengers. The separate inter- ests of the fixed-base employees, ramp-service employees, and mechanics is underscored by the lack of interchange or transfer between them and the ticket agents and skycaps. While it is true, as found by the Regional Director, that these two groups of employees have some contact with one another and share certain similarities in benefits, these consider- ations are not sufficient to overcome the distinctly separate community of interest enjoyed by the fixed- base employees, ramp-service employees, and me- chanics.1 Accordingly, we find that the following employees constitute an appropriate unit for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act: All mechanics, fixed-base employees, and ramp service employees employed by the Employer at its facilities located at St. Louis International Airport (Lambert Field), St. Louis, Missouri; but excluding ticket agents, skycaps, office clerical employees, professional employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. [Direction of Election and Excelsior footnote omitted from publication.] 634