Peoria Wholesale Liquor Distributors Association, et al.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 18, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 208 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of PEORIA WHOLESALE LIQUOR DISTRIBUTORS ASSOCIATION,
ET AL.,1 EMPLOYERS and AI,coHIOLIC BEVERAGE SALESMEN'S UNION OF
PEORIA, ILLINOIS, PETITIONER
Case No. 13-R-4274.-Decided June 18, 1947
Mr. Clarence W. Heyl, of Peoria, Ill., for the Employer.
Mr. E. V. Champion, of Peoria, Ill., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Sol G. Lippman, 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 Peoria,
Illinois, on March 31st and April 1st, 1947, before Max Rotenberg,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.2
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYERS
Peoria Wholesale Liquor Distributors Association is an informal,
voluntary organization comprised of eight wholesale liquor distribu-
tors, each having its principal office and place of business in Peoria,
Illinois. In the course of its business during 1946, each Employer
made substantial purchases outside the State of Illinois which were
shipped to its respective place of business within the State of Illinois.3
The Employers admit, and we find, that they are engaged in com-
merce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
1 Title as amended at the hearing.
2 By letter to the Board dated April 17, f947 , the Intervenor moved that the instant
proceeding be consolidated with Matter of Casteel Distributing Co., et at ., Case No. 13-R-
4361. The motion is hereby denied.
Footnote 3 on page 209.
74 N. L. R. B., No. 42.
208
PEORIA WHOLESALE LIQUOR DISTRIBUTORS ASSOCIATION, ET AL. 209
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization, claiming to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
Distillery and Miscellaneous Liquor Workers' Union, Local #103,
herein called the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of
the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On or about February 17, 1947, the Petitioner requested the Em-
ployers to recognize it as the exclusive bargaining representative for
all salesmen of alcoholic beverages employed by them. By letter
dated February 18, 1947, the Employers, through the Association,
refused to accord the Petitioner such recognition, stating that most of
the Employers who were members of the Peoria Wholesale Liquor
Distributors' Association had executed identical interim agreements
with Liquor and Wine Salesmen's Union, Local #62, a unit of the
Distillery Rectifying & Wine Workers International Union, A. F. of L.,
recognizing that organization as the bargaining agent for their
salesmen.'
In September, 1945, all the Employers herein, except Mid West
Sales Co. and Consolidated Beverage Co., individually signed agree-
ments with Liquor and Wine Salesmen's Union, Local #62. Each
of the agreements, which contained no expiration date, provided for
recognition of the union as the sole bargaining agent for all salesmen
of the Employer, the employ only of salesmen who were members in
good standing of the union and for the check-off of union initiation
Name of employer
Amount of
purchases in
1946
Percentage
coming from
outside Illinois
Amount of
sales in 1946
BermontDistributors , Inc-------------------------- $850, 000 80 $900,000
Brewers Distributing Co , Inc---------------------- 1 , 303,548 85 1,371,514
Dennison Bottle and Liquor Co____________________ 275, 000 1 300, 000
Consolidated Beverage Co__________________________ 289,798 75 350,075
G & L Distributors , Inc____________________________ 1,037 , 755 49 1,176,512
Mid West Sales Co --------------------------------- 79,151 43 90,450
Peoria Wholesale Liquors________ ___________________ 697,413 94 803,923
Wertz & Flynn , Inc-------------------------------- 120 , 000 10 109,000
8
(From November 1946, through February 1947)
During the periods indicated, none of the Employers listed, except Wertz & Flynn, Inc , made any
sales outside the State of Illinois Approximately 10 percent of the sales of Wertz & Flynn, Inc. were
shipped to places outside the State of Illinois.
4 Counsel for Intervenor, also representing Local #62, which was served with notice of
the hearing herein, stated on the record that Local #62 had no interest in the instant
proceeding. See footnote 6, infra.
210 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
fees and dues. However, the agreements made no provision for wages,
hours, or other conditions of employment, leaving such matters to
future negotiation. , On August 30, 1946, the Consolidated Beverage
Co. signed an almost identical agreement with the Intervenor. So
far as the record shows, Mid West Sales Co. signed no agreement. The
Intervenor contends that the recognition agreements constitute a bar
to a present determination of representatives. However, apart from
other considerations, inasmuch as the agreements fail to embody sub-
stantive terms concerning conditions of employment, they do not
constitute a bar 3 to a present determination of representatives.'
We find that a question. affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employers, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IF. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner and the Employers agree that a multiple- employer
unit consisting of all salesmen of the Employers herein, members of
Peoria Wholesale Liquor Distributors Association, doing business in
the Peoria, Illinois, area, excluding supervisory employees, comprise
an appropriate unit.' The Intervenor agrees as to the category of
employees to be included in the unit, but contends that the unit should
embrace salesmen of all wholesale liquor distributors in the State of
Illinois, except those located in Cook County, Illinois.
The Association is an unincorporated organization composed of
all the wholesale liquor distributors in Peoria, Illinois. It was or-
ganized in September, 1945, for the mutual benefit and interest of its
members. The desire of the Employers herein to deal as a group with
the labor relations problems which culminated in this proceeding was
one of the principal factors in the formation of the Association, which
has authority to engage in collective bargaining for its members. The
members have a common Association spokesman and have conducted
their labor relations on a joint basis. The sales territory and prin-
cipal place of business of each member is in the same geographical
area. Furthermore, the mode of payment and the duties of all sales-
men of all the Employers are the same. The record does not reveal
any persuasive reasons for the creation of the State-wide unit urged
by the Intervenor 8
5 Matter of Lafollette Skirt Company, 65 N L R B 952
In view of our finding that the recognition agreements are not a bar to a present deter-
mination of representatives, we deem it unnecessary to consider the allegations of the
Employers that their agreements with Local #62 were obtained by fraud, misrepresentation,
and duress, and that the renouncement by Local #62 of its representative status, insofar as
the employees herein aie concerned, in favor of the Inter\enor, dui not establish a con-
tiactual relationship betsseen the Employers and the Intervenor
7 There are approximately 33 employees in the alleged appropriate unit
" The record contains no evidence that the Employers in the proposed slate-wide unit
have conducted their labor relations on a joint basis or that they desire to do so
PEORIA WHOLESALE LIQUOR DISTRIBUTORS ASSOCIATION, ET AL. 211
On the basis of the foregoing facts, we are of the opinion that the
Employers herein constitute a single employer within the meaning
of Section 2 (2) of the Act, and that a unit embracing the salesmen
of all the Employers is appropriate.
We find that all salesmen of the Employers herein, members of
Peoria Wholesale Liquor Distributors Association, Peoria, Illinois,
but excluding all supervisory employees with authority to hire, pro-
mote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status
of employees, or effectively recommend such action, together consti-
tute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.9
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 10
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Bermont Distributors, Inc.,
Brewers Distributing Co., Inc., Dennison Bottle and Liquor Co., Con-
solidated Beverage Co., G & L Distributors, Inc., Mid West Sales Co.,
Peoria Wholesale Liquors, and Wertz & Flynn, Inc., all of Peoria,
Illinois, members of Peoria Wholesale Liquor Distributors Associa-
tion, Peoria, 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
Director 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
Regulations-Series 4, among the employees in the unit found appro-
priate 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 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 Alcoholic Beverage Salesmen's Union
of Peoria, Illinois, or by Distillery and Miscellaneous Liquor Workers'
Union, Local #103, A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining, or by neither.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
9Matter of Brewery Proprietors of Milicauhee, Wisconsin, 62 N T, R B 163
10 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