Wilson & Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 31, 1951

92 N.L.R.B. 1793 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

In the Matter of WILSON & Co., INC., EMPLOYER and LOCAL 328, AMAL-
GAMATED MEAT CUTTERS AND BUTCHER WORKMEN OF NORTH AMER-
ICA, AFL, and LOCAL 64, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAM-
STERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS, AFL, PETI-
TIONERS
Case No. 1-RC-1918.Decided January 31, 1951
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Joseph Lepie, hearing officer.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju-
dicial 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 this case to a three-member
panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Murdock].
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 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 Petitioners request a single unit of employees engaged in the
production and distribution of the Employer's products. The Em-
ployer takes the position that there should be two units, one of pro-
duction employees and one of chauffeurs (truck drivers). There is
no history of collective bargaining at this plant.
Chauffeurs (truck drivers) work approximately the same hours as
the production men. On occasion an inside employee drives a com-
pany truck. More frequently, chauffeurs help the production em-
ployees in loading or unloading the trucks. In view of these facts,
and as no other union presently seeks to represent the chauffeurs
separately, we believe that they should be represented with the pro-
duction employees as a single unit .1
' United States Hoffman Machinery Corporation, 91 NLRB No. 56; Wilson & Company,
Inc., 67 NLRB 1037.
92 NLRB No. 261. 1793
1794 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We find that all employees of the Employer's branch at Providence,
Rhode Island, engaged in the production and distribution of the Em-
ployer's products, including chauffeurs (truck drivers), but excluding
salesmen, office clericals, professional employees, guards, the manager
of the shipping department, and other supervisors, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
5. The petition in this case was filed jointly by -the Petitioners.
The Employer contends that.it is improper for the Board to entertain
a petition jointly signed by two unions, and that it would be improper
for the Board to certify the Petitioners jointly as the bargaining rep-
resentative of the employees in the unit found appropriate. We. see
no reason to depart from past practice in such cases.2 The names of
the Petitioners will appear jointly on the ballot and, if they are suc-
cessful in the election hereinafter directed, they will be certified jointly
as the bargaining representative of the employees in the entire ap-
propriate unit. The Employer may then insist that the Petitioners
bargain jointly for such employees as a single unit.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
1 Qua Giilerman Iron and Metal Co., 88 NLRB 1232; White Motor Company, 86 NLRB
380.