Carson Pirie Scott & Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 24, 1968

173 N.L.R.B. 308 (N.L.R.B. 1968)

308 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Carson Pirie Scott & Company and Teamsters &
Chauffeurs Union Local No. 627 , Affiliated with
International Brotherhood of Teamsters , Chauf-
feurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America Pe-
titioner . Case 38-RC-485
October 24, 1968
DECISION ON REVIEW AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS
FANNING AND BROWN
On May 21, 1968, the Regional Director for
Region 13 issued his Decision and Order in the
above-entitled proceeding, in which he found inap-
propriate a requested unit of custodial employees at
the Employer's Peoria, Illinois department store, and
accordingly dismissed the petition. Thereafter, in
accordance with National Labor Relations Board
Rules and Regulations, the Petitioner filed a timely
request for review, contending inter alia , that the
Regional Director departed from Board precedent in
failing to find appropriate the requested unit. By
telegraphic order dated June 25, 1968, the National
Labor Relations Board granted the request for review.
The Employer filed a brief on review.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case
to a three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the entire record in this
case, with respect to the issue under review, and
makes the following findings.
The Petitioner seeks to represent all employees in
Department 35-01, Physical and Mechanical Main-
tenance, at the Employer's Peoria, Illinois department
store, including janitors, porters, maintenance and
cleanup personnel.' The Employer contends that the
smallest appropriate unit must comprise all the
employees in the Operating Division, of which De-
partment 35 - 01 is a part, and certain employees in
the Store Planning department as well.
The Employer's operations at the Peoria store are
administratively divided into divisions and thereafter
into departments. Department 35 - 01, sought by
Petitioner, is headed by department supervisor Black-
man,2 and is composed of 18 janitorial and minor
maintenance employees who work only at the Peoria
store. The bulk of these employees perform custodial
work between the hours of 5 a.m. and 9 a.m., when
the store is not open for business. Two employees,
the day porter and the day maid, perform similar
functions during regular store hours. Three of the
employees in the requested unit handle minor main-
tenance assignments, such as changing lightbulbs,
greasing and oiling machinery, and changing filters on
air conditioning equipment.' No other employees at
the Peoria Store perform these custodial functions.
There is little interchange or transfer between the
custodial employees and others, and the custodial
employees who work during the early morning
obviously have little work contact with other em-
ployees. There is no bargaining history for any of the
employees in Department 35-01.
The Employer, as noted above, seeks to include
various other employees of the Operating Division, of
which Department 35-01 is a part. The Operating
Division, under manager Wade, employs about 110
nonselling employees, exclusive of those in Depart-
ment 35-01. These 110 employees, however, per-
form a variety of noncustodial functions at various
locations in the store building. They include some 45
Food Service employees, who work under the direc-
tion of the food service manager, 8 or 9 Wrapping,
Packing, and Giftwrap department employees, who
have their own manager, 30 employees in the Re-
ceiving and Marking and Delivery departments, who
work under a single supervisor,4 10 stockhandlers,
who report directly to the operating manager and
move merchandise throughout the store, and 15
Alterations department employees and 4 Drapery
Workroom employees, who also have their own
separate supervision. In addition, several departments
of the Operating Division are composed of clerical
employees and guards, whose exclusion the parties
stipulated.
As noted above, the Employer would likewise
include certain employees in the Store Planning
department. These employees, however, are located in
a different building from the store in which the
custodial employees work, and they perform various
functions including light construction work, not only
for the Peoria store, but for all the Employer's central
I The Petitioner made several alternative unit requests, which our
determination herein makes it unnecessary to consider.
2 The Petitioner contends that Blackman is a supervisor within the
meaning of the Act, while the Employer takes no position . The record
indicates that Blackman reports directly to operating manager Wade.
Blackman arrives at work at 5 a.m. with the crew, and it does not
appear that there are any other supervisors on the premises at that time.
As the Regional Director found, Blackman supervises the custodial
employees and gives them instructions and assignments. In addition, the
record indicates that Blackman interviews employees before hire, is
consulted with respect to possible discharges, and has authority to
propose other disciplinary actions. In view of the foregoing, and the
record as a whole, we find that Blackman responsibly directs the
employees of the custodial force and is a supervisor within the meaning
of the Act. See Lyon, Incorporated, 145 NLRB 54, 55, in. 2, 72-74.
3 One of these three employees works at least part of his time during
regular store hours. Virtually all maintenance work, other than the
minor tasks handled by these three employees, is performed by
employees of independent contractors.
4 The Petitioner represents the four truckdrivers in the Delivery
department.
173 NLRB No. 48
CARSON PIRIE
Illinois stores. The Store Planning department at
Peoria reports directly to the Employer's Chicago
corporate headquarters. The employees of this depart-
ment whom the Employer would include are carpen-
ters, painters, and laborers. They make partitions,
fixtures, and display backgrounds, and repair coun-
ters There is also evidence of a bargaining history for
these employees. Thus, the Employer has a collec-
tive-bargaining agreement with the Carpenters Union
covering the carpenters, and informal arrangements
with the Painters and Laborers Unions under which
they notify the Employer of their current wage scales
and the Employer abides by them.
Upon these facts the Regional Director found the
requested unit of custodial employees inappropriate.
We disagree. It is clear that the custodial employees
perform a distinctive function under separate depart-
mental supervision. And it further appears that the
custodial employees do not appreciably interchange
with, nor do they have regular contacts with, other
store employees as the bulk of the custodial force
works during hours when the store is not open for
business. There is no bargaining history for the
custodial employees, and no labor organization seeks
5 See White Front Sacramento , Inc., 166 NLRB No. 29 , The J L.
Hudson Company, 155 NLRB 1345, Allied Stores of New York, Inc,
d/b/a Sterns, Paramus , 150 NLRB 799 , 803, The Bailey Department
Stores Company , 85 NLRB 312 , Thalheimer Brothers , Incorporated, 83
NLRB 664.
6 Fourteen of the custodial employees are considered "temporary"
by the Employer for 2 reasons - ( 1) because they are part-time
employees and the Employer classifies a portion of its part-time
employees as "temporary " and (2 ) because the Employer considers its
present method of performing custodial work with a largely part-time
force to be a "temporary" expedient . As to the hours of the part-time
employees , the record indicates that they regularly work 17'/2 to 24
hours a week pursuant to a prearranged schedule. As to the tenure of
these employees , the record shows that the Employer , since August
1967 , has sought but failed to employ a crew of competent full-time
custodial employees , and, due to this failure , has had to continue its
SCOTT & CO 309
their inclusion in a broader unit. Under these circum-
stances we find that the custodial employees are an
identifiable and distinct group with a community of
interest separate from that of other employees, and
that they comprise a unit which the Board normally
finds appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining.'
Accordingly, we find that a question affecting
commerce exists concerning the representation of
certain employees of the Employer within the mean-
mg of Section 9(c)(1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the
Act, and that the following employees of the Em-
ployer constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9(b) of the Act:
All full-time and regular part-time6 employees7
employed in the Physical and Mechanical Mainten-
ance Department (Department 35-01) of the Em-
ployer's store located at 124 Southwest Adams
Street, Peoria, Illinois, but excluding office clerical
employees, professional employees, all other em-
ployees, watchmen, guards, and supervisors as defined
in the Act.
[Direction of Election8 omitted from publication.]
present arrangement indefinitely . We find, accordingly , as did the
Regional Director, that these custodial workers are regular part-time
employees with a sufficient expectation of future employment to
entitle them to representation.
7 The parties agreed upon the inclusion of four part -time employees
who are Social Security annuitants They are accordingly included.
8 An election eligibility list, containing the names and addresses of
all the eligible voters, must be filed by the Employer with the Regional
Director for Region 13 within 7 days after the date of this Decision on
Review and Direction of Election . The Regional Director shall make the
list available to all parties to the election. No extension of time to file
this list shall be granted by the Regional Director except in extra-
ordinary circumstances. Failure to comply with this requirement shall
be grounds for setting aside the election whenever proper objections are
filed. Excelsior Underwear Inc., 156 NLRB 1236.