L. Bamberger & Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 9, 1944

58 N.L.R.B. 144 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of L. BAMBERGER & Co. and AMALGAMATED CLOTHING
WORKERS OF AMERICA , JOURNEYMEN TAILORS UNION, LOCAL 195
Case No. 3-R-.4397.Decided September 9, 1944
Lauterstein, Spiller, Bergerman & Dannett, by Mr. Emanuel Dan-
nett, of New York City, for the Company.
Mr. David M. Schlossberg, of New York City, for the Amalgamated.
Mr. Abraham G. Lew, of Newark, N. J., for the AFL.
Miss Frances Lopinsky, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Amalgamated Clothing Workers of
America, Journeymen Tailors Union, Local 195, herein called the
Amalgamated, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen
concerning the representation of employees of L. Bamberger & Co.,
Newark, New Jersey, herein called the Company, the National Labor
Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before Leon Novak, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at New-
ark, New Jersey, on August 2, 1944. At the hearing, A. F. of L. De-
partment Store Council of New Jersey, herein called the Council, and
Retail Clerks International Protective Association, affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, herein called the RCIPA, both or-
ganizations collectively called the AFL, requested and were granted
leave to intervene in the proceedings. The Company, the Amalga-
mated, and the AFL appeared, participated, and were afforded full
opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and
to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an opportunity to file
briefs with the Board.
58 N. L. R. B., No. 27.
144
L. BAMBERGER & CO. 145
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
L. Bamberger & Co. is a New Jersey corporation with offices and
principal place of business located at Market and Halsey Streets, New-
ark, New Jersey, where it is engaged in business as a department
store. The Company is a subsidiary of R. H. Macy & Co., Inc., a cor-
poration engaged in business as a department store in the State of
New York. In addition to its building at Market and Halsey Streets,
the Company operates six warehouses at various locations in the city
of Newark, and one warehouse in the city of Hackensack, New Jersey.
This proceeding concerns only employees in the department store.
Purchases made by the Company, for resale at its department store,
during the year preceding the hearing, amounted in value to approxi-
mately $24,000,000, 75 percent of which was shipped to the Newark
store from points outside the State of New Jersey. During the same
period, the Company's sales totaled approximately $38,000,000, less
than 1 percent of which was made to customers in States other than the
State of New Jersey. -
Contrary to the contentions of the Company, we find that the opera-
tions of the Company affect commerce within the meaning of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act.'
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, Journeymen Tailors
Union, Local 195, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organiza-
tions, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of
the company.
A. F. of L. Department Store Council of New Jersey, and Retail
Clerks International Protective Association, both affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, are labor organizations admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION; THE ALLEGED
APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Amalgamated seeks a unit consisting of approximately 64
alteration department employees, among whom are included tailors,
, See Matter of The J. L. Hudson Company, 42 N. L. R. B. 536; N. L. R. B. v. Kudile,
130 F. (2d) 615.
609591-45-vol. 58-11
146 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
fitters, dressmakers, and finishers, who perform necessary alterations
on men's and women's suits and dresses sold in the department store.
The alteration department is part of the non-sales division of the Com-
pany, %hich, together with the sales division, consists of 150 depart-
ments.
On December 4, 1941, the Company and the AFL entered into a
contract, defining wages, hours, and working conditions for all
"regular" employees in the department store, in both divisions, on a
store-wide basis. The term "regular," as defined in the contract, does
not include supervisory, clerical, confidential, or temporary employees,
certain specialists, or employees whom the Company recognizes as
craftsmen,2 and who are represented in separate units by unions other
than the RCIPA, which are members of the Council. The Council
signed the 1941 contract not only as the parent body of the RCIPA,
but also for the purpose of binding all of its constituent members to
the no-work-stoppage pledge contained in the said contract. Since
1941, bargaining has continued between the Company and the AFL
on the basis outlined in the 1941 contract.'
The Amalgamated supports its request to separate the alteration
department from the larger unit by pointing to the physical separa-
tion of that department from other departments, its control under
separate supervision, and the special skills possessed by the employees
therein. The Company and the AFL oppose the setting up of a sep-
arate unit, basing their position on the claim that (1) the alteration
department employees possess no special skills which are different
from those of employees in other departments; (2) the alteration de-
partment does not constitute a clearly definable group since there
have been instances of interchange of employees between the alteration
department and other departments; and (3) the history of collective
bargaining in the Company's store and in the industry generally has
been on a store-wide basis. There is little merit in the first two con-
tentions of the Company and the AFL. The record clearly estab-
lishes that although the least skilled of the alteration, employees, the
finishers, can be trained within a short period, others in the altera-
tion department require 4 to 7 years' experience to qualify for the
positions they hold. Interchange of employees between the depart-
ment and other departments of the store is so slight as to have no
significance. However, despite the separation of the alteration de-
partment from other departments of the store, and the skills exercised
by the employees therein, the department is an integral part of the
operations of the store, and has since 1941 been treated as such for the
2 Furniture finishers , furniture sendmen, electricians , elevator repairmen, mechanics and
helpers, carpenters, painters, heat, light, and power employees, drivers, and warehouse
engineers.
L. BAMBERGER '& CO. 147
purposes of collective bargaining . Moreover, except in instances where
organization has progressed only partially , employees in the industry,
other than certain craftsmen, for the most part engaged in maintenance
work, are generally represented on a store-wide basis .3 In the light
of these facts , we find the unit requested by the Amalgamated inap-
propriate . We further find that no question concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of the Company in an appropriate bargaining
unit has arisen within the meaning of Section 9 ( c) of the Act. We
shall , therefore , dismiss the petition.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and the entire
record in the case, the National Labor Relations^Board hereby orders
that the petition for investigation and certification of representatives
of employees of L. Bamberger & Co., Newark, New Jersey, filed by
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, Journeymen Tailors
Union, Local 19.5, be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
Cni.11RMAN MILLIS took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Order.
8 The contracts between an affiliate of the Amalgamated and R. H. Macy & Co, and
between an affiliate of Vie AFL and department stores on the west coast, offered in evi-
dence, are based upon store-wide units. Cf. Matter of J. L. Hudson & Co, 49 N. L. R. B.
273.