Humiston-Keeling & Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 11, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 52 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of HUMISTON-KEELING & Co., EMPLOYER and LOCAL 208,
WAREHOUSE AND DISTRIBUTION `WORKERS UNION (ILIVU-CIO),
PETITIONER
Case No. 13-R-1j354.-Decided June 11, 1947
Bippus , Rose, Burt d Pierce. by Mr. G. D. Rose, of Chicago , Ill., for
the Employer.
Meyer, Meyer d Rothstein , by Mr. David B. Rothstein , of Chicago,
Ill., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Daniel D. Carmell, by Messrs. Joseph E. Gubbins and John N.
Thibeau, of Chicago, Ill., for the Intervenor.
Mr. Bernard L. Balicer , of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Chicago,
Illinois, on April 25, 1947, before Gustav B. Erickson, hearing officer.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju-
dicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS Or FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
The Employer is an Illinois corporation engaged in the warehousing
and wholesale distribution of drugs, and pharmaceuticals. Its pur-
chases are annually in excess of $100,000, of which 75 percent is
shipped to its Chicago, Illinois, plant, from points outside the State
of Illinois. The annual sales of the Employer exceed $100,000 in value,
of which 25 percent is made and shipped outside the State of Illinois.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
74 N. L. R. B., No. 14.
52
HUMISTON-KEELING & Co.
11. TBE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
53
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations , claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
Ice Cream Drivers and Inside Workers Union, Local 717 of the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters , herein called the Intervenor,
is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, claming to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
eThe Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the Pe-
titioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section `2 ((;) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner desires a unit of all warehouse employees, including
shipping and receiving department employees and porters, but ex-
cluding office clerical employees, truck drivers, and supervisory em-
ployees.1 The Intervenor agrees generally to the unit sought by the
Petitioner, but contends that the shipping and receiving employees
constitute a separate appropriate unit. The Employer takes no posi-
tion regarding the appropriate unit.
The Employer's warehouse is organized on a production-line basis.
Upon receipt, merchandise is generally stored in the warehouse de-
partment. Orders are then assembled, checked, and packed for ship-
ment. The record is clear that the various activities at the Employ-
er's warehouse constitute parts of a closely integrated operation and
that the skills required of the shipping and receiving employees in
the performance of their duties do not differ to any substantial degree
from those of the other wareliou.je employees. While the Board has,
on occasion, found units limited to shipping and similar employees
appropriate where no union was seeking to represent them in a plant-
wide unit,2 in view of the integrated character of the Employer's oper-
ations, the lack of distinguishing skills on the part of the employees
involved and the fact that the Petitioner is seeking to represent the
employees on a plant-wide basis, we are of the opinion that it would be,
' There are approximately 90 employees in the unit sought by Petitioner.
2 Matter of Wells Aircraft Parts Company , 61 N. L. R. B. 1331 ; Matter of F J Kress
Box Company , 64 N. L R. B 124
54 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
inappropriate to establish a unit confined to employees in the ship-
ping and receiving department. Accordingly, we shall include the
shipping and receiving employees in the over-all warehouse unit
hereinafter found appropriate.3
We find that all warehouse employees, including shipping and re-
ceiving department employees and porters, but excluding office cleri-
cal employees, truck drivers, and supervisory employees with author-
ity to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes
in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 4
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with Humiston-Keeling & Co., Chicago,
Illinois, 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 Di-
rector for the Thirteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for
the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55
and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula-
tions-Series 4, 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 em-
ployees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they
were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including em-
ployees in the armed forces of the. United States who present them-
selves 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 they
desire to be represented by Local 208, Warehouse lid Distribution
Workers Union (ILWU-CIO), or by Ice Cream Drivers and Inside
Workers Union, Local 717, of the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters, A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or
by neither. °
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
a K-D Lamp Division, Noma Electric Corporation of'Maryland, 71 N L R B 704.
4 Any participant in the election herein may, upon its prompt request to, and approval
thereof by , the Regional Director , have its name removed from the ballot.