The Lima Kenton Grocery Co.

In the Matter of THE LIMA KENTON GROCERY COMPANY and LocA*L UNION No. 908, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUF- FEURS, STABLEMEN & HELPERS (AFL) Case No. R-0214.-Decided January 17, 1941 Jurisdiction : wholesale grocery industry. Practice and Procedure : petition dismissed where no appropriate unit within the scope of the petition. Mr. Melvin C. Light, of Lima, Ohio, for the Company. Mr. Morris C. Taylor, of Lima, Ohio, for the Union. Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board. DECISION' AND ORDER STATEMENT OF THE CASE On December 10, 1940, Local Union No. 908, International Broth- erhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen & Helpers, herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the Eighth Region (Cleveland, Ohio), a petition alleging that a question affecting com- merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of The Lima Kenton Grocery Company, Lima, Ohio, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of repre- sentatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act; 49 Stat.' 449, herein called the Act. On December 12, 1940, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide. for an appropriate hearing upon due 'notice. 'On December 13, 1940, the Regional Director issued 'a notice of heating, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the Union. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on December 16, 1940; at Lima, Ohio, before Max W. Johnstone, the Trial Ex- amindr duly designated by the Board., Full opportunity to be heard, 29 N. L. R. B, No. 14. 85 86 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS 'BOARD to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on motions and, on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board has re- viewed the rulings of -the Trial Examiner and finds that no prej- udicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board snakes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE CO3IPANY The Lima Kenton Grocery Company is an Ohio corporation maintaining two warehouses located in Lima and Kenton,'Ohio, where it is engaged in the wholesales distribution of groceries- and general merchandise. During 1940 the Company purchased ' about $1,000,000 worth of the' commodities which it distributes, approxi- mately 35 percent of which were shipped to it from points outside the State of Ohio. During the same period the Company's sales amounted to about $1,091,000, all of which were sold to points within the State of Ohio. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Local, Union No. 908, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen & Helpers is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It admits to membership -all warehousemen and truck drivers working out of the Lima ware- house of the Company. III. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Union• urges that all warehousemen and truck drivers working out of the Lima warehouse of the Company constitute a unit appro- priate for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Company contends that all warehousemen and truck drivers working out of the Lima and Kenton warehouses of the Company constitute an appropriate bargaining unit. There are 13.employees in the unit urged by the Union and 21 employees in the unit urged by the Company. A statement of the Trial Examiner during the hearing shows that nine employees have signed application cards in the Union. The Company's offices are located at Lima, and all employees of the Company are hired at the Lima offices. The Company's pay roll for'its Lima warehouse as well as that for the Kenton warehouse, THE LIMA KENTON GROCERY COMPANY 87 which is 28 miles from- Lima, are made up at Lima, and the time records. of the employees at the Lima and Kenton warehouses are kept at the Lima offices of the Company. The Company maintains substantially . identical wages, hours, and working conditions at, its Lima and Kenton warehouses, and the nature of the work at the two warehouses is the same. The record further discloses that a majority of the eight employees whom the Union seeks to exclude from the unit on the ground that they do not work out of Lima, actually divide £heir working time between the Liina and Kenton warehouses of the Company, although they customarily start their working day in Kenton. Under these circumstances, we believe that the unit urged by the Union is inappropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, and we so find. IV. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION' Since the bargaining unit sought to be established by the petition is not appropriate, as stated in Section III above, we find that ,no question has been raised concerning the representation of employees of the Company in an appropriate bargaining unit. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : CONCLUSION OF LAW No question concerning representation of employees of The Lima Kenton Grocery Company, Lima, Ohio, in a unit which is appro- priate for the purposes of collective bargaining has arisen, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act. ORDER Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and conclusion of law, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the petition for investigation and certification of representatives filed by Local Union No. 908, International Brotherhood' of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen & Helpers, be, and it hereby is, dismissed.