Santa Fe Trails Transportation Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 28, 1943

52 N.L.R.B. 895 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of SANTA FE TRAILS TRANSPORTATION COMPANY and
BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY AND STEAMSHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HAN-
DLERS, EXPRESS AND STATION EMPLOYEES , A. F. OF L.
Case No. B-5850.-Decided September 08, 1943
Mr. L. W. Butterfiield, of Los Angeles, Calif. , and Mr. H. G. Brandt,
of Chicago , Ill., for the Company.
Messrs. F. T. Ricketts , R. M. Hileman , and E. E. Eckley, of Los
Angeles, Calif ., Mr. J. E. Muratet, of Riverside , Calif. , and Mr. W. M.
Liggett, of South Gate, Calif. , for the Union.
Mr. David V. Easton, of Counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon an amended petition duly filed by Brotherhood of Railway
and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Em-
ployees, A. F. of L., herein called the Union,, alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Santa Fe Trails Transportation Company, Los Angeles,
California, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations
Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before
William B. Esterman, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at
Los Angeles, California, on August 12 and 13, 1943. The Company
and the Union appeared, participated, and were afforded full oppor-
tunity to be/heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to
introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rul-
ings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs
with thg Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:,
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Santa Fe Trails Transportation Company , a Kansas corporation,
is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe
52 N. L. It. B., No. 159.
895
896 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Railway Company, and is engaged in the intrastate and interstate
transportation of passengers by motorbus. For this purpose the
Company maintains several terminals and bus depots. We are con-
cerned herein with the employees of the depots and terminals of the
western lines of the Company (Albuquerque and west). During the
calendar year 1942, the gross ticket sales of the Company amounted
to in excess of $8,000,000 in value, of which approximately $4;500,000
represented the value of the tickets purchased for the purpose of
interstate transportation. The Company admits that it is engaged
in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers,
Express and Station Employees is a labor organization affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership
employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to recognize the Union as the exclusive
bargaining representative of its terminal employees on the ground
that the unit sought by the Union is inappropriate.
A statement of the Field Examiner, introduced into evidence at
the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number
of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.'.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union contends that all employees of the Company's western
lines (Albuquerque and west), at its Albuquerque, Flagstaff, Fresno,
Hollywood, Los Angeles, Merced, Modesto, Phoenix, Prescott, and
San Fernado stations, including terminal managers and transporta-
tion supervisors, if any, at these points, as well as the transportation
supervisors at Bakersfield and San Diego depots, but excluding su-
pervisory employees above the grade of terminal manager, and steno-
graphic and clerical employees at the Albuquerque and Phoenix
stations, constitute an appropiate unit.2
1 The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 73 authorization cards, 42
of which bore the apparently genuine original signatures of persons whose names were
listed on the Company 's pay roll of March 16 to 31, 1943 ; said pay roll contained the
names of 86 employees in the appropriate unit.
2 The Union originally sought to include within the unit those redcaps at the Los
Angeles station not engaged in personal services . However, in its brief , the Union waived
its contention with regard to these employees , at least insofar as this proceeding is
concerned.
SANTA FE TRAILS TRANSPORTATION COMPANY 897
The Company disputes the appropriateness of the unit, contending
that transportation supervisors and terminal managers in Class "A"
and "B" stations are supervisory employees 3 and should be excluded
from the unit; it has no objection to the inclusion within the unit of
terminal managers at Class "C" stations.
Terminal managers: The Company operates on its western lines
10 depots consisting of one Class "A" station (Los Angeles), 5 Class
"B" stations (Hollywood, Fresno, Albuquerque, Phoenix, and Flag-
staff) and 4 Class "C" stations (Prescott, San Fernando, Modesto, and
Merced). These classifications were given to the terminals by the Com-
pany upon the basis of their importance and the amount of traffic
handled by them. Each station is under the direction and supervision
of a terminal manager, who is in turn responsible to the General Pas-
senger Agent. The terminal managers are responsible for, and have
supervision of, the personnel at their respective depots; they prepare
the work schedules of the station, instruct employees under their super-
vision with respect to matters of depot operation, and issue bulletins
thereon; and generally act as the Company representative at these
depots. The discretion and authority of these employees are limited,
however, in inverse proportion to the importance of the terminal; and
the amount of routine duties performed by them in common with the
persons under their supervision varies similarly. Thus, the terminal
manager at the Class "A" stations has the authority to hire and dis-
charge, subject to ratification by the passenger agent, and merely
fills in as a ticket seller in times of emergency. The terminal man-
agers at the Class "B" stations have the power to make recommenda-
tions with respect to the employees whom they supervise, and ap-
praisals of their work; they may, under certain conditions, suspend
them from employment, subject to final determination by the General
Passenger Agent.4 Although they do not serve a regular 8-hour
shift, during certain regular periods of the day they perform the
routine duties of ticket sellers. The discretion of the terminal man-
agers at Class "C" stations is limited to the routine running of the
terminal. Since they have few employees to assist them, they are
required to serve a complete shift as ticket sellers, in addition to
making out routine station reports. The Company designates these
terminal managers as "agents," and as noted before, does not object
to their inclusion within the unit sought by the Union because of
the limited scope of their authority.
3 The Company objects to the inclusion of transportation supervisors , not only on the
ground , that they are supervisory employees , but also because of the fact that they are
not within the same department as the other employees,which the Union seeks to represent
herein
* These employees also have the power , according to the Company, to discharge in the
event of drunkenness , insubordination , or breach of trust
898 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
In addition to the terminal managers and the agents, the Com-
pany employes an assistant terminal manager at the Los Angeles
station, who succeeds to all the powers and duties of the terminal
manager in the latter's absence. The terminal managers, as indi-
cated by the record, interview prospective employees, and thereafter
send those whom they believe qualified to the General Passenger Agent
for final acceptance or rejection. In times of emergency the terminal
managers, and particularly the terminal manager at the Los Angeles
depot, have been given authority to advertise for and hire employees
for the purposes of filling vacancies, although such action is not final
until the consent of the General Passenger Agent has been received.
While there is little difference in the base salaries of the terminal
managers and the "agents," 5 who are paid on a monthly basis,"
there is a substantial difference in the amount of bonus paid to these
employees, the bonus being based upon a 'percentage of the volume
of business conducted at each station.
We are of the opinion and find that the nature of the duties of the
terminal managers at the Class "A" and "B" stations, as well as those
of the assistant terminal manager at the Class "A" station, are suf-
ficiently supervisory in character to warrant their exclusion from the
unit. We shall, therefore, exclude the terminal managers at the
Class "A" and "B" stations, as well as the assistant terminal manager
at the Class "A" station, from the unit hereinafter found appropriate.
Transportation supervisors: These employees are engaged in the
Operating Department of the Company, which is concerned with
the management of drivers and the actual transportation of pas-
sengers and baggage, as distinguished from the Traffic Department,?
which is concerned with the operation of depots and terminals and
the sale of tickets. The duties of these employees consist of the
supervision and dispatching of busses and drivers, the loading of
passengers and baggage, and the determination of problems and ques-
tions arising out of the transportation operations; in addition, they
break in new drivers and keep the Company records with respect to
ibus runs. We are of the opinion and find that the character of the
duties of these employees are supervisory in nature. , We shall, there-
fore, exclude them from the unit.
We find that all employees of the Company engaged in the termi-
nals of its western lines (Albuquerque and west), excluding terminal
managers and assistant terminal managers at the Class "A" and "B"
stations, transportation supervisors, and all other supervisory em-
5 This difference amounts to approximately $10 00 per month between the "agents" and
the Class "B" terminal managers, and between the Class "B" terminal managers and thek
Class "A" terminal manager.
e Other employees at the depots are usually hourly paid.
All other employees in the unit sought by the Union herein are classified by the Com-
pany as within the Traffic Department.
1
SANTA FE TRAILS TRANSPORTATION COMPANY 899
ployees with the power to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively rec-
ommend such action, all redcaps at the Los Angeles station, and steno-
graphic.and clerical employees at the Albuquerque and Phoenix sta-
tions, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the
employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the
pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of
Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in
the Direction.
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 Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Santa Fe Trails
Transportation Company, Los Angeles, California, 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 Twenty-
first Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor
Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of
said Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found
appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the
pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction,
Including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period
because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and
including employees in the armed forces of the United States who
present themselves in person at the polls, but excluding those employ-
ees who have "since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine
whether or, not they desire to be represented by Brotherhood of
Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and
Station Employees, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,
for the purposes of collective bargaining.
CHAIRMAN MILLIS took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
549875-44-vol. 52-58