Sedalia Marshall Boonville Stage Lines, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsMar 12, 1953

103 N.L.R.B. 489 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

SEDALIA MARSHALL BOONVILLE STAGE LINES, INC . 489 The Board has carefully analyzed the evidence adduced in the pres- ent proceeding and finds no reason to depart from the findings set forth at some length in its decisions in the representation proceeding mentioned above, where we considered the issue of the unit placement â€¢of work tasks of the type here disputed. Under these circumstances, and on the basis of the entire record, we conclude that special lighting effects are included in the lighting duties which characterize stage electricians, and that employees operating special effects projectors have interests in working conditions more closely related to those of stage electricians than to those of engineers. Accordingly, the Board finds that the disputed work tasks appropriately are included in the bargaining unit presently represented by IATSE. Determination of the Dispute On the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, and upon the entire record in this case, the Board makes the following determination of dispute pursuant to Section 10 (k) of the amended Act: 1. The operation of special effect projectors at the Company's tele- vision station, WNBT, New York City, is included in the bargaining aunt presently represented by Theatrical Protective Union, Local 1, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Machine Operators of the United States and Canada, AFL, and not in the bargaining unit now represented by National Associa- tion of Broadcast Engineers and Technicians, CIO. 2. Within ten (10) days from the date of this Decision and Deter- mination of Dispute, National Broadcasting Company, Inc., National Association of Broadcast Engineers and Technicians, CIO, and The- atrical Protective Union, Local 1, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Machine Operators of the United States and Canada, AFL, shall each notify the Regional Di- rector for the Second Region, in writing, of the steps it has taken to comply with the terms of this Decision and Determination of Dispute. SEDALIA MARSHALL BOONVILLE STAGE LINES, INC. and TEAMSTERS UNION, LOCAL No. 90, AFFILIATED WITH INTERNATIONAL BROTHER- HOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, A. F. L., PETITIONER. Case No. 18-RC-1778. March 12, 1953 Decision and Order Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Erwin A. Peterson, hearing 103 NLRB No. 69. 490 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free front prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Murdock and Peterson]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain em- ployees of the Employer. 3. No 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, for the following reasons: Petitioner seeks a unit limited to the Employer's men who drive the highway post office buses. The Employer contends that the drivers of these vehicles constitute only a fragment of the appropriate unit, as it fails to include the drivers of the Employer's passenger buses. The Employer, a Missouri corporation with principal offices in Des Moines, is engaged as a common carrier in the transportation of bus passengers in Iowa, Missouri, and South Dakota. The Employer also operates, under a contract with the U. S. Post Office Department, a number of highway post office buses, commonly known as "hipos.'r Aside from a different interior' and only minor differences in the exterior,2 the hipos are similar in appearance to the passenger buses; in fact, several of the hipos are merely converted passenger buses. The, record discloses that the motors, steering gear, front and rear axle, transmission, and other moving mechanical parts are the same for hipos and passenger buses. Both types of vehicles are garaged in the same place and maintained and repaired by the same mechanics; furthermore, both must also comply with Federal and State safety regulations Because of the latter requirement, the qualifications of all the drivers of both types of vehicles are substantially the same. Insofar as the nature of the cargo is concerned, both carry mail, the hipos carrying mail and the post office personnel, the others, mail and passengers. There is no essential difference in the duties per- ' The passenger buses are equipped with seats for passengers and with racks for their baggage. The hipos have no seats except a stool for the post -office clerk , who rides in them and is in charge of the mail . Hipos are equipped with racks and tables for assorting the mail. There is generally no partition between the driver 's seat and the passengers in the passenger buses, whereas the hipos do have a partition behind the driver's seat. 2 The hipos have 2 center doors rather than 1 and the number of windows are not the same. a In addition , the hipos must also be constructed in compliance with the contract of the Post Office Department. WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INCORPORATED 491 formed by either the hipo operator or the passenger bus operator. Thus, the hipo operator drives over specified routes to designated post offices. Similarly, the passenger bus driver also drives over specified routes to designated passenger line terminals. For both hipos and passenger bus drivers, wage rates are substantially the same, and both groups are subject to the same general working conditions.- There is regular interchange between the two groups. There is no evidence in the record that either group has separate supervision apart from the other. We find that because the proposed unit would exclude the passenger bus drivers, whose duties, functions, and working conditions are vir- tually the same as the hipo drivers and because hipo and passenger bus drivers interchange regularly with one another and there does not appear to be any separate supervision, the proposed unit confined to the hipo drivers is too limited in scope and not sufficiently autonomous to be appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining; we shall, therefore, dismiss the petitions Order IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed herein be, and it hereby is, dismissed. Vacations, profit sharing, and facilities, such as lockers, showers, rooms, and notices, apply to all drivers. 5 See F. L. Roberts & Company, Inc., 81 NLRB 67; George F. Burnett Company, Inc., 90 NLRB 277. WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INCORPORATED and COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA, (C. W. A.) C. I. 0., PETITIONER. Case No. 18-RC-1744. March 12,1953 Decision and Direction of Elections Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Hjalmar Storlie, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial 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 Styles and Peterson]. 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 employees of the Employer. 103 NLRB No. 56.