Opinion ID: 2974119
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Interaction and Interchange

Text: In approving the requested single-location units, the regional director also found that the degree of employee interaction and interchange among the branches was minimal. In rebuttal, Guardian cites the two regular routes between each of the branches, occasional instances where an armored car will begin the day at one branch and end up at another, interaction with employees from the other branches at two “consolidation centers” operated by bank customers, and weekly dispatch of personnel from one branch by dispatchers at different branches. The record also contains some evidence of permanent and temporary transfers from one branch to another, and of the companywide posting of job openings. Guardian claims that the employees from the branches also interact with one another at orientation and at company-wide awards ceremonies and social events. Purolator Courier and American Courier, in which the NLRB found that the degree of employee interchange and interaction overcame the presumption of a single-location bargaining unit, are distinguishable. In Purolator Courier, the NLRB found that about 50 percent of the workforce interacted on a daily basis with guards from other branches because the deliveries were completed relay-style; 25 percent stayed overnight at another branch location; and 15 percent performed routes only between branch locations. 265 NLRB at 661-62. In American Courier, the couriers often met each other at different locations and passed off materials in relay fashion. 184 NLRB at 603. Nothing even remotely approaching these levels is present here. The NLRB has in the past also refused to find the presumption in favor of single-location bargaining units overcome where the degree of interchange and interaction was greater than it is in this case. See Dunbar Armored, 186 F.3d at 849; Courier Dispatch, 311 NLRB at 728, 730. And though there is also evidence that 11 employees were permanently voluntarily transferred – out of 14 roughly 350 guards – during the two years preceding this case, the NLRB has previously found 21 transfers among 172-182 employees over 3-4 years insubstantial. See J & L Plate, 310 NLRB at 430. The NLRB’s finding that the degree of employee interaction and interchange was “minimal” is supported by the record.