Yellow Bus Lines, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 10, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 28 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of YELLOW Bus LINES, INC., EMPLOYER and AIRLINE
DRIVERS' ASSOCIATION, PETITIONER
Case No. 15-R-1983.-Deeided June 107 1947
Mr. C. P. J. Mooney, of Memphis, Tenn., for the Employer.
Mr. Robert Tillman, of Memphis, Tenn., for the Petitioner.
Mr. L. W. Harrison, of Memphis, Tenn., for the Intervenor.
Mr. Abraham Frank, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Mem-
phis, Tennessee, on March 27, 1947, before Gerald A. Brown, 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 the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Yellow Bus Lines, Inc., a Tennessee corporation, is engaged in
operating 21 busses in a suburban bus service between 2 railroad
stations in Memphis, Tennessee, and 8 limousines in transporting air-
port passengers between downtown hotels and the Municipal Airport.
Its main office and principal place of business is located in Memphis,
Tennessee. During the period from April 1946, through September
1946, the Employer transported 66,681 passengers by limousine from
hotels and other points in Memphis, Tennessee, to the Municipal Air-
port, and from the airport to Memphis hotels. The Employer has
a certificate of public necessity and convenience from the Tennessee
Railroad and Public Utilities Commission, and is the only company
I At the hearing the Intervenor moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that an
unfair labor practice charge was pending The hearing officer reserved ruling on the
motion for the Board . Inasmuch as the charge has since been wrthdiawn, the motion is
hereby denied.
74 N L R. B., No. 7.
28
YELLOW BUS LINES, INC. 29
having such a certificate for the transportation of airport passengers
in Memphis, Tennessee. Operations of the Employer from September
1946 to March 1947 were substantially similar to those for the period
described above.
We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization , claiming to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
Memphis Yellow Cab Drivers ' Association , herein called the Inter-
venor, is a labor organization , claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
Petitioner seeks a unit comprising all limousine drivers, including
limousine dispatchers and excluding supervisory employees. The
Intervenor contends that such a unit is inappropriate on the ground
that the limousine drivers should be included within an existing unit
of cab drivers employed by the Yellow Cab Company, a Tennessee
corporation, closely connected with the Employer through common
ownership and management.
The Employer and the Yellow Cab Company, although controlled
by the same individuals, are separate corporate entities and driving
operations are carried on separately with no interchange of employees.
The limousine drivers are engaged exclusivly in transporting airport
passengers in vehicles designed especially for this purpose. More-
over, the history of collective bargaining shows that the Intervenor,
although it had represented both groups under a single contract prior
to 1945, in 1945 and 1946 negotiated separate contracts for the limou-
sine drivers. We are of the opinion,' in view of the foregoing, that
the limousine drivers may appropriately form a separate unit.
We find that all limousine drivers, including limousine dispatchers,
but excluding all supervisory employees with authority to hire, pro-
30 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
mote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of
employees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION2
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Yellow Bus Lines, Inc., of
Memphis, Tennessee, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted
as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date
of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the Fifteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for
the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55
and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula-
tions-Series 4, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in
Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period
immediately preceeding the date of this Direction, including em-
ployees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they
were nil or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including em-
ployees in the armed forces of the United States who present them-
selves in person at the polls, but excluding those employees who have
since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or
reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether or
not they desire to be represented by Airline Drivers' Association or by
Memphis Yellow Cab Drivers' Association, for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining, or by neither.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
2 Any participant in the election herein , may, upon its prompt request to and approval
thereof by the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot.