Meier & Frank Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 28, 1944

55 N.L.R.B. 101 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter Of MEIER & FRANK COMPANY, INC. and BUILDING SERv-
ICE EMPLOYEES UNION, LOCAL No. 49, A. F. L.
Case No. 19-R-1230-Decided February 28,1944
Mr. Abe Eugene Rosenberg, of Portland, Oreg., for the Company.
Mr. Herbert B. Galton, of Portland, Oreg., for the Union.
Miss Frances Lopinsky, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Building Service Employees Union,
Local No. 49, A. F. L. herein called the Union, alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation, of em-
ployees of Meier & Frank Company, Inc., Portland, Oregon, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for
an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Joseph D. Holmes, Trial
Examiner. Said bearing was held at Portland, Oregon, on Decem-
ber 22, 1943. The Company and the Union appeared and partici-
pated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to ex-
amine 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.
Upon the entire record ,in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Meier & Frank Company, Inc., an Oregon. corporation, operates a
large department store and a warehouse in Portland, Oregon. At the
retail store practically all types of merchandise are sold. The Com-
pany obtains about 50 percent of the merchandise it buys for resale,
from points outside the State of Oregon. Its annual sales amount to
55 N. L. R. B., No. 18.
101
102 DECISONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
$25,000,000, 1 percent of which represents mail order sales to points
outside the State of Oregon. In addition to the mail order business,
the Company maintains a regular delivery service within the City of
Vancouver, Washington.
Th Company denies the Board's jurisdiction generally, and specif-
ically as concerns its elevator operators. Both phases of its objection
have been the subject of judicial review wherein the Board's jurisdic-
tion was affirmed.' We find, therefore, that the Company is engaged
in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations
Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Building Service Employees Union, Local No. 49, affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor, is -a labor organization admitting
to membership employees of the -Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of its elevator operators unless
the Board finds that elevator operators constitute an appropriate unit
and certifies the Union in the unit. -
A statement of. a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the. Union represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2
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
On March 5, 1943, the Company, by stipulation signed in settlement
of a charge filed by the Union against it, r cognized the Union as
bargaining representative for the janitors, janitresses, and watchmen,
excluding maids and elevator operators, in its retail store. The Union
now requests a separate unit of passenger elevator operators. The
Company insists that elevator operators should be represented in a
unit composed of all maintenance employees at the store.
There are 20 passenger elevators and- 8 freight elevators in the
store. The passenger elevators are divided into banks of 5 each. The
I See N. L. R. B . v. J. L. Hudson Co., 135 F. (2d) 380. See also N. L. If. B . v. Virginid
Electric Power Company, 115 F. ( 2d) 414, aff 'd. in this point , 314 U. S. 469 ; Butler Bros.
v. N. L. R. B., 134 F . ( 2d) 981.
'The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 31 authorization cards all of
which bore apparently genuine original signatures ; that the names of 28 persons . appearing
on the cards were listed on the Company 's pay roll of November 8, 1943, which contained
the names of approximately 50 employees in the appropriate unit ; and that the cards
were dated in September , October , and November 1943.
MEIER , & FRANK COMPANY, INC. 103
operation of each bank is controlled by a dispatcher.. The, operators
of the passenger elevators must have a general knowledge' of every
department in, the store. They, are often transferred to the sales
force if, they so desire., For these reasons the qualifications of persons
chosen for positions as elevator, operators, and. the training given them
differ greatly from, the characteristics and training necessary to
qualify one for other; maintenance jobs, in the store. These factors,
together with the specialized character of their work . mark , elevator
operators, including freight, elevator operators,3,as a distinct occupa-
tional group separable, from other maintenance employees, appropriate
for purposes of collective bargaining. • - , , . ,
We find that all elevator operators in the Company's retail store
including dispatchers' but excluding all supervisory employees with
authority to hire, promote, discharge,' discipline ; or ,otherwise effect
changes in the status of employees or effectively recommend such
action 5 constitute a unit ap'pr'opriate' 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 3, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Meier & Frank
Company, Inc., Portland, Oregon, 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 Nineteenth 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,
a We do not subscribe to the Union's attempted distinction between freight and passenger
'elevator operatois
4 All parties agreed that dispatchers are not supervisory employees
6 Miss Ball, supervisor of elevator operators , falls within this description an l is, thei e-
fore, excluded.
104 DECISONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 the 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 employees who have since quit or
been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated
prior to the date of the election, to determine whether or not they
desire to be represented by Building Service Employees Union, Local
No. 49, A. F. L., for the purposes of collective bargaining.
CHAIRMAN MILLIS took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
[See infra, 55 N. L. R. B. 1148 for Supplemental Decision and Cer-
tification of Representatives.]