Southland Building and Annex

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 7, 1951

94 N.L.R.B. 1150 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

1150 DECISIONS OF -NATIONAL, LABOR . RELATIONS BOARD
.CORMQX, INC., D/B/A ,SOUTHLAND BUILDING AND ANNEX and BUILDING
SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION, LOCAL 292, AFL. Case
No. 16-CA-35. June 7, 1951 .
Decision and Order Remanding Case
At the hearing in:this case on March 14,1951, after the introduction
of evidence relating to the. Respondent's operations and before-ally
evidence was introduced on the merits, Trial Examiner John H. Eade,
without making any findings of fact, orally granted the Respondent's
motion to dismiss the case on jurisdictiolfal grounds.
Thereafter, the General Counsel filed, a petition for review of the
Trial Examiner's ruling, a.nd the Respondent filed a brief in opposition
to the petition.
- The Board has reviewed the 'rulings made by the Trial Examiner
at the hearing and finds that, except for the ruling dismissing the
case, no prejudicial error was committed. Such rulings are hereby
affirmed. The Board has considered the General Counsel's petition,
the Respondent's. brief, and the entire record in the case, and hereby
makes the following findings of fact :
The Business of the Respondent 1
The Respondent , a Texas corporation , on December 31, 1947 , bought
two contiguous office buildings , known as the Southland Building and
Annex in downtown Dallas, from Southland Life Insurance Company.
Since then the Respondent has operated the buildings with about 35
employees ( elevator operators , janitors, charwomen , etc.). It buys
its supplies locally and receives practically no shipments from outside
the State . No goods are produced or handled in the building.
The principal tenant is the vendor , Southland Life Insurance Coin-
pany, which rents about half of the office space for its home head;
quarters , paying more than $150,000 rental per year. This company
is licensed to do business (writing life insurance policies and making
loans ) in seven States and the District of Columbia in addition to
Texas. , In 1950, it had slightly less than $330,000,000 insurance in
-force in Texas and slightly more than that amount elsewhere.
On these facts we find that the Respondent is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the Act, and also that it will effectuate the
purposes of- the Act to exercise the Board 's jurisdiction .2 Accord-
1 The findings of fact are based on undisputed and " credible testimony.
2 Hollow Tree Lumber Company, 91 NLRB 635 . To the extent that the standards there
laid down may have affected the Board ' s prior policy on office buildings (for example.
Corrigan Properties , Inc., 87 NLRB 252; Central Tower, Inc ., 84 NLRB 357; Midland
94 NLRB No. 173.
WILLIAM R. WHITTAKER CO., LTD. 1151
ingly, we shall reverse the Trial Examiner's ruling dismissing the
case on jurisdictional grounds, and shall remand the case to the Trial
Examining Division for appropriate further proceedings.
Order
IT Is ORDERED that the Trial Examiner's ruling dismissing the case
be, and it hereby is, reversed.
IT Is FURTHER ORDERED that the case be, and it hereby is, remanded
to the Trial Examining Division for appropriate further proceedings.
Building Company, 78 NLRB 1243), that policy was thereby overruled. See also Tri-State
Casualty Insurance Company, 83 NLRB 828, enforced 188 F. 2d 50 (C. A. 10, March 21,
1951 ) ; Intertown Corporation, 90 NLRB 1145. Cf. Hotel Association of St. Louis, 92
NLRB 1664, where the Board declined jurisdiction over hotels because of announced
congressiona l approval of a long-standing policy to that effect.
WILLIAM R. WIHITTAKER Co., LTD. and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED
AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT & AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF
AMERICA, CIO (ITAW-CIO), PETITIONER. Case No. 21-RC-1592.
June 7, 1951
Decision and Order Setting Aside Election
Pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election,' dated February
28, 1951, an election by secret ballot was conducted in this case on
March 23, 1951, under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the Twenty-first Region among the employees in the
Whittaker Division plant of the Employer, the unit found appropriate
in said Decision. At the conclusion of the balloting, the Board agent
in charge of the election decided that under the circumstances, the
counting and tabulating of the votes could not be accomplished in an
orderly manner, and thereupon announced that he would impound
the ballots, send the ballot box to the office of the Twenty-first Region,
and count the votes at a later date. For reasons set forth below, the
Regional Director has continued the impounding of the ballots.
On March 23, 1951, before the polls opened, the Employer filed
his objections to the conduct and validity of the election and exceptions
to the same; also his challenge to the ballot of every employee par-
ticipating in the election.2 On March 27, 1951, the Union filed its
"Objections to Conduct of Election and Request That Ballots Remain
Impounded Pending Final Report on Objections." Thereafter, on
193 NLRB 520.
2 The Regional Director states that the Employer has failed to furnish proof of service
of these objections to the Union. We find this failure is not material as the Employer's
objections were fully considered in the Regional Director ' s report, of which the Union
had notice . Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co., 81 NLRB 557.
94 NLRB No. 171.