O. E. McIntyre, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 13, 1960

127 N.L.R.B. 733 (N.L.R.B. 1960)

0. E. McINTYRE, INC. 733
All regular full-time and regular part-time employees, excluding
casual employees, guards, and supervisors' as defined in the Act.
[The Board dismissed the petition insofar as it relates to Klimat
Master Aluminum Products Co., Inc.]
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.]
4 The Petitioner would exclude as a supervisor , and the Employer would include, Jerry
Bowling. As the record shows that this individual staples , prices, and sells merchandise
but has no authority to hire, discharge , or otherwise affect the status of others, we shall
include him . Apart from the status of Bowling , the record shows no dispute as to the
categories of employees to be included in the unit.
O. E. McIntyre, Inc. and Local 282, International Brotherhood
of Teamsters, Chauffeurs , Warehousemen and Helpers of
America, Independent and Local 1922 , International Brother-
hood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, Petitioners. Cases Nos.
2-RC-10399 and 2-RC-10403. May 13, 1960
DECISION, ORDER, AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before Joan Zweifel,
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 these cases to a three-
member panel [Chairman Leedom and Members Rodgers and
Fanning].
Upon the entire record in these cases, 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 em-
ployees 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) (1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner in Case No. 2-RC-10399, Local 282, International
Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers
of America, Independent, hereinafter called the Teamsters, primarily
seeks a unit of truckdrivers, tractor-trailer drivers, forklift operators,
and stock handlers III at the Employer's plant and warehouses at
Westbury and Farmingdale, New York. In the alternative, the Team-
sters seek a unit of drivers and forklift operators, either (1) excluding
all stock handlers, or (2) including only stock handlers in the shipping
and receiving department. The Petitioner in Case No. 2-RC-10403,
127 NLRB No. 101.
734 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR, RELATIONS BOARD
Local 1922, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-
CIO, hereinafter called the Electrical Workers, primarily seeks a
unit of maintenance leadmen and maintenance mechanics A and B, or,
in the alternative, a unit including, in addition to the above categories,
utility men and porters. The Employer primarily contends that only
an overall unit is appropriate for its employees, and moves to dismiss
the petitions on the ground, in substance, that none of the units re-
quested therein is appropriate for bargaining purposes.'
The Employer is currently engaged with some 1,350 employees at
its Westbury plant and its Farmingdale warehouses, located about
14 miles away, in a direct mail advertising business, supplying list
selection and mailing services to its clients. The Employer divides its
production operations, under the overall supervision of its vice presi-
dent for production, into six groups with numerous sections. These
groups are: list and mailing divisions, and scheduling and job instruc-
tions, personnel, systems, and engineering and maintenance depart-
ments. Employees in the list division prepare and maintain the Em-
ployer's mailing lists and print names and addresses on tape. Those
in the mailing division receive and store material sent to the Employer
by printers, do warehousing and transportation work, and assemble
and dispatch pieces of mail. Employees in the scheduling and job
instructions and personnel departments perform the usual duties of
their classifications. Employees in the systems department seek to
improve the Employer's IBM punchcard system, make reports for
the Employer and its customers, and do scheduling work. Employees
iii the engineering and maintenance department maintain the Em-
ployer's plant and equipment. All these employees work primarily at
the Westbury plant, except certain employees in the mailing division
and in the engineering and maintenance department, who work both
dt the plant and at the Farmingdale warehouse. All the Employer's
employees have similar benefits. There is some interchange among
the employees in similar job classifications. There is no history of
collective bargaining at any of the Employer's establishments.
In support of its contention that only a single overall unit is appro-
priate, the Employer relies on 0. E. McIntyre, Inc., 118 NLRB 1290,
Involving this same direct mail advertising business. In that case,
the requested unit included all production and maintenance employees
and machine mechanics at the Employer's Westbury plant.' The
Employer contended that only a plantwide unit was appropriate, and
the Board sustained this contention. However, in that case the only
issue was whether to include the Employer's office clericals in the
otherwise plantwide unit sought by the petitioner therein. There
'For reasons set forth below, this motion is denied with respect to the Teamsters'
petition, and is granted with respect to the Electrical Workers' petition
21t is not clear whether the Employer operated any warehouses at Farmingdale at
that time.
0. E. McINTYRE, INC. 735
was no issue there, as here, of establishing separate units on a craft
or departmental basis. We therefore reject the Employer's contention
that the cited case is precedent for finding that only a plantwide unit
is appropriate.
The Teamsters' Unit Requests (Case No. 2-RC-10399)
As stated, the Teamsters requests a unit of truckdrivers, tractor-
trailer drivers, forklift operators, and stock handlers III (a classifica-
tion which seems to have superseded "warehousemen"), or, alterna-
tively, a unit of d "rivers and forklift operators, either (1) excluding
all stock handlers or (2) including only stock handlers in the shipping
and receiving department.
The Employer's truckdrivers and tractor-trailer drivers work in
the shipping and receiving department of the mailing division. They
transport material between the Westbury plant and Farmingdale
warehouses, make trips to local post offices and customers' facilities,
help load and unload and do maintenance work on their trucks. They
sometimes work as forklift operators or stock handlers, but only on
an overtime and voluntary basis. Forklift operators assigned to the
shipping and receiving department help load and unload the Em-
ployer's trucks, and move material at the plant and at the warehouses.
There are also forklift operators assigned to the mail dispatch section
of the mailing division who work at one of the warehouses. It appears
that they assist in the dispatch of mail. Stock handlers assigned to
the shipping and receiving department move and store material at
the warehouses. There are also stock handlers assigned to the ship-
ping and receiving department who move material from the receiving
dock in the plant to a temporary storage area therein, and stock
handlers assigned to production departments who move material from
the storage area to production areas and, on occasion, from the receiv-
ing dock to such areas. In moving materials, the foregoing employees
use both manually powered and electrically powered equipment. In
addition, there are IBM clerks in the list division and at least one
receiving clerk in the shipping and receiving department, none of
whom is sought by the Teamsters, although they also move materials
at the plant and in so doing use equipment similar to that used by
forklift operators and stock handlers.
On the instant record, we are unable to find that the employees in
any of the units sought by the Teamsters constitute a homogeneous
grouping of the type which the Board has found appropriate for
bargaining purposes.' We therefore reject the Teamsters' unit re-
quests. However, truck-drivers and tractor-trailer drivers do consti-
3 Lsly Tulip Cup Corporation, 124 NLRB 982. Seaboard Warehouse Terminals, Inc.,
123 NLRB 378, relied on by the Teamsters, is clearly distinguishable in that the unit
sought was essentially an overall unit at a warehouse.
736 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tute a clearly identifiable and homogeneous group of employees such
as the Board has found to constitute an appropriate unit' We there-
fore find appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining a unit
of all truckdrivers and tractor-trailer drivers at the Employer's plant
and warehouses at Westbury and Farmingdale, New York, excluding
all other employees and all supervisors as defined in the Act.
The Electrical Workers' Unit Requests (Case No. 2-RC-1043)
As already stated, the Electrical Workers primarily seeks a unit of
maintenance leadmen and maintenance mechanics A and B, or, alter-
natively, a unit including, in addition to-the above categories, utility
men and porters. The Employer's maintenance leadmen and mainte-
nance mechanics work in the machine and building maintenance
sections of the engineering and maintenance department and in pro,
duction departments. They are skilled in and do various kinds of
maintenance work, such as carpentry, plumbing and heating, and elec-
trical, machine, and automotive maintenance. Utility men, porters,
and other employees, including secretaries, a matron, a draftsman,
and a clerk-typist, also work in the engineering and maintenance
department. As it does not appear that the employees in either of
the units requested by the Electrical Workers constitute a homogene-
ous craft group or a separate department of the Employer's opera-
tions such as the Board finds appropriate for bargaining purposes
and as no other basis appears on which to find either of these units
appropriate, we find that they are both inappropriate and shall there-
fore dismiss the Electrical Workers' petition.
[The Board dismissed the petition filed by Local 1922, Interna-
tional Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, in Case No.
2-RC-10403.]
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
4 Maas Brothers , Inc., 119 NLRB 568, 572; National Fireworks Ordnance Corporation,
104 NLRB 792, 796.
'Sunshine Biscuits , Inc., 94 NLRB 770.
Arlington Hotel Company, Inc. and Chauffeurs, Teamsters &
Helpers Local No . 878, International Brotherhood of Team-
sters, Chauffeurs , Warehousemen and Helpers of America.
Case No. 26-CA-778. May 16, 1960
DECISION AND ORDER
On January 19, 1960, Trial Examiner Arthur Leff issued his Inter-
mediate Report in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that the
Respondent had engaged in and was engaging in certain unfair labor
127 NLRB No. 94.