Royal Crown Bottling Co. of Puerto Rico

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 21, 1951

93 N.L.R.B. 371 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

ROYAL CROWN BOTTLING COMPANY OF PUERTO RICO 371
ROYAL CROWN BOTTLING COMPANY OF PUERTO Rico and UNION DE
TRABAJADORES DE LA INDUSTRIA DE ROYAL CROWN ( FLT), PETI-
TIONER. Case No. 24-RC-35. February 21, 1951
Decision and Order
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before George L. Weasler, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.'
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent employees
of the Employer.
3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Sec-
tion 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act, for the following
reasons:
The Petitioner seeks' a unit of driver-salesmen and their helpers
or, in the alternative, that these employees be given an opportunity
to become a part of the already existing production and maintenance
unit being represented by the Petitioner.2 The Employer contends
that neither unit is appropriate inasmuch as the driver-salesmen and
helpers are not employees but independent contractors.3
There are approximately seven driver-salesmen. Each driver-
salesman has one helper with the exception of one individual who has
two helpers. The driver-salesmen pick up cases of Royal Crown
Cola at the Employer's plant and are debited by the Employer for
the number of cases taken. They then call on customers in a specific
territory assigned them by the Employer for selling purposes. The
cases of cola are sold at an Employer-fixed price of 80 cents per case.
The driver-salesmen pay the Employer 71 cents per case for the
beverage sold and are credited for the amount unsold. In addition,
they pay 2 cents per case to the Employer for the upkeep of the
truck. The driver-salesmen make cash collections from the customers
as the cola is delivered, except as to Army and Navy installations and
some of the larger hotels, which are billed directly by the Employer.
The sales to these large purchasers constitute approximately 5 percent
' Panatleria Sucesion Alonso, 87 NLRB 877.
2 The Employer has recognized the Petitioner as the bargaining representative of its
production and maintenance employees since late 1942 or early 1943 Contracts between
the parties have been made annually since that time. The agreement currently in effect
was signed in August 1949.
3 Section 2 (3) of the Act, as amended, provides that the term "employee" shall not
include "any individual having the status of an independent contractor."
93 NLRB No. 57.
I
372 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of the total sales. Generally, all of the trucks are owned by the
Employer, who pays for the gasoline, oil, and other upkeep.
The driver-salesmen are given a free hand in the manner in which
they service their territory and may set a route which is most con-
venient to themselves. At present, oral agreements establish the
manner of payment and other incidents of the relationship between
the driver-salesmen and the Employer.
The helpers are hired directly by the driver-salesmen and may be
discharged by the latter without recourse to the Employer. The
driver-salesmen pay their helpers' wages and provide for their work-
ing conditions. The Employer makes no payments to the workmen's
compensation fund on behalf of the driver-salesmen or the helpers.
There is no income tax payroll deduction system in Puerto Rico.
The work of the helpers is sharply differentiated from that of the
driver-salesmen or the other employees of the Employer. The helpers
are hired solely to load and unload cases of cola from the trucks. In
Puerto Rico this type of physical work is not performed by the driver-
salesmen. The helpers do not assist the driver-salesmen either in
driving the trucks or selling cola to customers of the Employer.
From the foregoing it appears that there is a virtual, if not absolute,
employer-employee relationship between the driver-salesmen and their
helpers. In any event, it is clear that the interests and working con-
ditions of these two groups are so dissimilar that a unit including
both groups would not be appropriate for purposes of collective bar-
gaining.4 Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed herein be, and it hereby
is, dismissed.
MEMBERS REYNOLDS and STYLES took no part in the consideration
of the above Decision and Order.
We therefore find It unnecessary to determine whether the driver- salesmen are
independent contractors or employees of the Employer.
DAVIS & FURBER MACHINE COMPANY and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF
LABOR, PETITIONER . Case No. 1-RC-1841. February 91, 1951
Decision and Order
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Leo J. Halloran, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
93 NLRB No. 58.