General Petroleum Corp. of California

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 26, 1942

39 N.L.R.B. 1180 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter of GENERAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA' and
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WARE
HOUSEMEN & HELPERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 208, AFL
Case No. R-3517.-Decided March W, 1942
Jurisdiction : oil producing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re-
fusal of the Company to award recognition to petitioner until certified by the
Board ; election necessary. `
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : determination of whether truck
drivers and their helpers in the transportation department shall constitute a
unit separate from other employees in the Company's two plants, held depend-
ent upon desires of employees ; statements of plant policy and rules and regu-
lations resulting from conferences between representatives of Company and
of employees held not to preclude craft unit if employees so desire.
Mr. D. W. Woods, of Los Angeles; Calif., for the Company.
Mr. Dewey Copelan and Mr. George O.'Prescott, of Los Angeles.
Calif., for the Teamsters.
Mr. Rufus Bailey, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Employees Union.
Mrs. Augusta Spaulding, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On November 24, 1941, International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America, Local 208, AFL,
herein called the Teamsters, filed with the Regional Director for the
Twenty-first Region (Los Angeles, California) a petition, and on
November 27, 1941, an amended petition, alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of General Petroleum Corporation of California, Los Angeles,
California, herein called the Company, and requesting an investiga-
tion and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of
the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act.
On January 6, 1942, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called
the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article
39 N. L. It. B., No. 218
1180
GENERAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA 1181
III, Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regu-
lations-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 January 21, 1942, the Regional Director issued a ,notice of hear-
ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the
Teamsters, and upon Employees Union of the General Petroleum
Corporation of California, herein called the Employees Union, a labor
organization claiming to represent employees directly affected by the
investigation. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on February 4,
1942, at Los Angeles, California, before Charles M.-Ryan, the Trial
Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Com-
pany and the Employees Union were represented by counsel, and the
Teamsters by two' representatives. All parties participated in the
hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, 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 reviewed the rulings of the Trial,Exam-
iner and finds that no prejudicial errors .were committed. The rulings
are hereby affirmed.
On February 26, 1942, the Employees Union filed a brief, which
the Board has considered.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
General Petroleum Corporation of California is engaged in pro-
ducing, refining, and marketing oil and oil products. The company's
principal office is at Los Angeles, California., The only plants in-
volved in this proceeding are located at Vernon ,and Taft, California.)
During the period from January 1, 1941, to September.-30, 1941,
the Company purchased raw materials value at $12,096,000, of which
$68,000 represents materials purchased outside California. - During
the' same period the Company's sales, amounted to $39,392,000; of
which $17,066,000, represents sales of products for delivery outside
California. .
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Brotherhood, of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse-
men & Helpers of America, Local 208, is a labor organization affiliated
' These plants are also known in the record as the Los Angeles and Bakersfield plants
on account of their respective proximity to these larger cities in California.
1182 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership
employees of the Company.
Employees Union of the General Petroleum Corporation of Cali-
fornia is an unaffiliated labor organization, admitting to membership
employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On or about November 24, 1941, the Teamsters asked the Company
to bargain for the truck drivers in the transportation department.
The Company' refused to bargain,until the Board should certify the
Teamsters as their bargaining agent. The Teamsters thereupon filed
a petition initiating this proceeding.
A statement of the Regional Director introduced into evidence
indicates that the Teamsters and the Employees Union each represents
a substantial number of employees in the appropriate unit.2
We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of
the Company's employees.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company
described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial
relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States and
tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce
and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Teamsters contends that truck drivers and their helpers 3 in the
transportation department of the Company's plants at Vernon and
Taft, California, constitute an appropriate bargaining unit. The Em-
ployees Union contends that'all production employees of the Company
at the two plants constitute a single appropriate unit. The Company
takes no position with respect to the unit.
The Company's plants at Vernon and Taft, California, are 130 miles
apart and operate as a unit. The transportation department is under
the supervision of a department manager. Equipment in the trans-
portation department includes freight trucks of various weights, tank
trucks, and dirt-moving equipment, which includes tractors, cranes,
2 The Teamsters submitted 22 membership cards, of which 12 are dated in 1934 and the
remainder undated , 18 of which bear names of employees on the pay roll of ,December 8, 1941
Employees Union submitted 33 membership cards, 18 dated in 1941 and 15 undated, 16
of which bear names of employees on the pay roll of December 8, 1941, in the unit claimed
appropriate by the Teamsters . There are about 40 employees in'the appropriate unit.
3 Such helpers are also known in the record as swampers.
GENERAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA 1183
and bulldozers. The department includes 141 employees, of whom 40
drive trucks exclusively and 10 spend a portion of their time in truck
driving and the remainder of their time in operating dirt-moving
equipment. The Teamsters does not admit to membership employees
who operate dirt-moving equipment.4
All property moved by the Company's trucks is the property of the
Company, and its drivers are hourly paid. The Company transfers
both its employees and its equipment from one department to another.
In the sales department there are about 110, employees who drive
freight trucks and tank trucks exclusively, and in other departments
there are in all 413 employees who include truck driving as part of
their work. Truck drivers in the transportation department, how-
ever, differ from drivers in other departments in that their hours of
work are irregular and in that they are sometimes sent on long hauls
that require their absence from home 2 or 3 days at a time. During
such time the Company pays their expenses. Although drivers of
trucks in the departments of, the plants other than the transportation
department are, as such, eligible to membership in the Teamsters, the
record discloses that the Teamsters has not organized such employees
at this time. The work of truck drivers in the transportation depart-
ment, however, appears to be sufficiently different from the work of
other truck drivers employed by the Company that they can function
as a separate bargaining unit.
Since 1934, with respect to matters concerning general conditions
of employment, the Company has conferred with the Employees
Union, and a similar organization which preceded it, through repre-
sentatives of its employees elected in the "several departments of its
plants. From time to time the Company has published statements
of labor policies and rules and regulations governing its employees,
which were the products of such conferences.' Although the record
thus discloses that, through these conferences, negotiations between
the Company and its employees assumed plant-wide proportions, it
is clear that such negotiations have not established collective'bargain-
ing relations between employer and employees of a character which
would preclude the formation of a smaller bargaining unit which
might otherwise be entirely appropriate at this time.e
The record thus discloses that truck drivers and, their helpers in the
transporation department could function as a separate bargaining
unit. On the other hand, such employees could be included either with
4 A representative of the Company testified at the hearing that the Operating Engineers
had requested the Company to bargain on behalf of such employees.
e Neither the Company nor the Employees Union contends that these present statements
of policy , or such rules and regulations , constitute a contract between the Company and
its employees , which would operate as a bar to this proceeding
Cf. Matter of A E. Staley Manufacturing Company and United Grain Processors Union,,
Local 41290, affiliated with the A . F. of L., et al., 31 N. L R. B. 946.
448105-42-vol. 39-76
1184 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD,
other truck drivers in a larger unit of drivers or, as the, Employees
Union contends, with, production, employees • in a general industrial
unit. Under these circumstances, we hold that the desire of the'em-
ployees should, in part, • determine the bargaining unit. Since the
Teamsters has not organized the Company's truck drivers other than
those in the transportation department and does not seek a larger unit
of drivers at this time, and furthermore, since in this proceeding no,
organization seeks certification as the exclusive bargaining representa-
tive of employees in a general industrial unit,? we shall, at this time,
hold an election only among truck drivers and their helpers in the trans-
portation department to determine whether they desire to be repre-
sented by the Teamsters, by the Employees Union, or by neither. Until
after the election we shall make no determination of the appropriate
unit. We•shall'rely upon the results of this election to determine in
part.the scope of the bargaining unit. If a majority of.truck drivers
and their helpers in the transportation department cast their votes for
the'Teamsters, we shall find that all such employees constitute a sepa-
rate.bargaining unit, and we shall certify the Teamsters as their
exclusive bargaining representative. If, however,` a majority of such
employees cast their votes for the Employees Union or for neither, we
shall conclude that truck drivers and= their helpers in the transportation
department do not constitute a' bargaining unit separate from other
employees in the plants, and we shall dismiss the petition filed by the
Teamsters herein." '
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
Asnoted in Section V' above, we find that the question concerning
representation can best be resolved' by an election, and we shall direct
an election by secret ballot. 't '
Those eligible to vote in the election shall be truck drivers and their
helpers in- the transportation department who were employed 'during
the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of our Direction
of Election,' subject to the limitations and additions set forth therein.
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 '
A question affecting, commerce has- arisen concerning the representa-
tion of employees of General Petroleum Corporation of California, Los
The Employees Union has not filed a petition for investigat i on and certification of
representatives of employees in' the industrial unit which it contends is an appropriate
bargaining unit, nor did it appear at the hearing that the Employees Union desired an
election among such employees at this time.
& Matter of •L.'B Lockwood Cona'pany ;and International Brotherhood of Firemen and
'Oilers Local Union 4t52 (d. F. 0 f L .), 16 N. L R. B. on.
GENERAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA 1185
Angeles, California, at its Vernon and Taft plants within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act,
49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is
hereby
DniECTED that, as part of the investigation ordered by the Board to
ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with General Petroleum Corporation of California, Los Angeles,, Cali-
fornia, 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 of
Election, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director
for the Twenty-first Region, acting in this matter as agent for thb
National Labor Relations Board and subject to Article-III, Section 9,
of said Rules and Regulations, among all truck drivers and their help-
ers in the transportation department of the Company's Vernon and
Taft plants, who were employed during the pay-roll period immedi-
ately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, including em-
ployees who did 'not work during such pay-roll period because they
were ill or on vacation or in the active military service or training of
the United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding drivers of
dirt-moving equipment and employees who have since quit or been
discharged fQr cause, to determine whether they desire to be repre-
sented by International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Ware-
housemen & Helpers of America, Local 208, AFL, or by Employees
Union of the General Petroleum Corporation of California, for the
purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
MR. WM. M. LEISERSON took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.