NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

196 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of their respective employees. The quotation from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
case above shows that in the absence of such a factor,
employees of competing companies will not ordinarily be joined in a
single unit. However, in Matter of Shipowners' Association of the
Pacific Coast , 7's that factor was clearly shown to be present. The
arguments in favor of a single unit for the longshoremen employed
by companies throughout the Pacific Coast who were members of
employer associations, and the reasons why it was proper to treat
them as a single unit are set forth in the language of the Board in
that case as follows:
The numerous factors which have been pointed to as indicating that the
coast unit is the one which will best insure to the longshoremen the full
benefit of their right to self-organization and to collective bargaining, are all
reflections of the organization of the employers. The history of bargaining
and of the longshoremen's organizations is a vivid portrayal of the experiences
of the longshoremen as they learned that, since their employers were acting
together on a coast basis, they, too, would have to build a coast organization
which would parallel the organization of the employers. The desires of the
men for a coast unit are the result of their failures when they acted on a
port basis, and their success when they acted with their fellow longshoremen
on the coast. The imperative need of the longshoremen for the coast unit
and the dangers of smaller units arise because the companies on the Pacific
coast which use their labor are organized on a coast basis.
We have set out in some detail the history of the organization of these
companies and we have considered the present set-up of the four regional
associations, Shipowners Association of the Pacific Coast, and Waterfront
Employers Association of the Pacific Coast. The organization of the employers
Is another important factor which militates toward the conclusion that the
coast unit is the one most appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining.
It is contended that the Board has no jurisdiction to go beyond the individual
company in deciding upon an appropriate unit of employees. The Board,
however, is expressly given the authority to decide that the "employer" unit
is the unit most appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining. The Act
includes within the term employer "any person acting in the interest of an
employer, directly or indirectly," and the term person "includes one or more
* * * associations * * *."
* * * The regional associations clearly act in the interest of these various
companies. We have also shown the close articulation between the regional
associations, effected by Waterfront Employers Association of the Pacific Coast,
and the fact that, in actual practice, the existence of the Coast Association
resulted in the regional associations' acting through the Coast Association as
an integrated unit. What has been stated as applicable to the various regional
associations is substantially true of Shipowners Association of the Pacific
Coast.
The considerations stated above with regard to separate companies
are applicable generally to the employees of subcontractors. In
Matter of Union Lumber C Y ompany, 74 the parties had agreed on a unit
which included the employees of a private contractor, on the ground
that the company involved determined the working conditions of the
contractor's employees. The Board rejected the agreement, insofar
as it included such employees, saying:
There is no showing in the record that the company exercises any control
whatsoever over the hiring or discharge of such persons ; nor is there any
showing as to the extent or nature of the alleged dictation relative to wages,
hours, and working conditions. On the basis of the facts presented we are of
78 Matter of Shipowners' Association of the Pacific Coast, Waterfront Employers Association
of the Pacific Coast, The Waterfront Employers of Seattle. The Waterfront E mploy -ers of Portland, The Waterfront Employers Association of San Francisco, The Waterfront
Employers Association of Southern California. and International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's
Union, District No. 1, 7 N. L. R. B. 1002,
74 Matter of Union Lumber Company and Lumber tE Sawmill Workers Union Local 28E6,
7 N. L. R. B. 1094.