The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 10, 1947

75 N.L.R.B. 465 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of THE GREAT ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC TEA COMPANY,
EMPLOYER and AMALGAMATED MEAT CUTTERS & BUTCHER WORKMEN
OF NORTH AMERICA, A. F. OF L., PETITIONER
Case No. 1-R-3759.-Decided December 10, 1947
Mr. B. A. Brickley, of Boston , Mass., for the Employer.
Mr. Philip J. Guest, of Boston , Mass., Mr. Michael J. Mahon, of
Manchester , N. H., and Mr. John M. Sulliv an, of Somerville , Mass.,
for the Petitioner.
Mr. Robert W. Reardon, of Salem, Mass., for the Intervenor.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Boston,
Massachusetts, on August 1, 1947, before Thomas H. Ramsey, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF TILE EMPLOYER
The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, a New Jersey corpo-
ration, operates retail food stores throughout the United States. For
administrative purposes, the stores are grouped in 7 divisions. The
divisions are subdivided into units and the units in turn are broken
down into areas. This proceeding is concerned with some of the stores
in the Shawsheen area of the Boston unit of the New England division.
There are approximately 38 stores in the Shawsheen area, which in-
cludes stores in 16 towns and cities of New England. The Employer's
sales in the Shawsheen area annually amount to approximately
$4,000,000. Of this sum, approximately 90 percent represents mer-
chandise which originates outside the Commonwealth of Massa-
chusetts.
75 N.L.R 13, No 57
465
466 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Employer admits, and we find , that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
Associated Food Distributors of New England, Local 138, herein
called the Intervenor, is an unaffiliated labor organization, claiming
to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION; THE ALLEGED
APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of the employees in the three
stores operated by the Employer in the city of Manchester, New Hamp-
shire, which is included in the Shawsheen area. All parties agree as
to the categories of employees to be included in, and excluded from,
the proposed unit. However, the Intervenor and the Employer con-
tend that the unit requested is too limited in scope and that an appro-
priate unit should include-the employees in all the stores in the area.
In 1937, the Intervenor, then known as Managers and Clerks Inde-
pendent Union of Shawsheen and New Hampshire Division, and the
Employer executed the first bargaining contract for employees in all
the stores in the Shawsheen area. Similar contracts were made annu-
ally thereafter, the last being dated July 6, 1946. Thus, there has
been a 10-year collective bargaining history on a Shawsheen area
unit basis. The record reveals no persuasive reason for separating
the employees in the three Manchester stores from the unit in which
they have been included under past bargaining contracts. Under
these circumstances, we find that the unit requested by the Petitioner
is inappropriate.'
Inasmuch as we have held that the bargaining unit sought by the
Petitioner is inappropriate for collective bargaining purposes, we
find that no question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6)_ and (7) of the National Labor
Relations Act. We shall, therefore, dismiss the petition.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, and upon the
entire record in these proceedings, the National Labor Relations Board
In Matter of Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, 53 N. L R. B. 360, the Board,,in
accordance with a stipulation of the parties , found appropriate a unit of employees of all
the Employer 's stores in its Lynn North Shore Area of the Boston Unit of the New England
Division."
THE GREAT ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC TEA COMPANY 467
hereby orders that the petition for investigation and certification of
representatives of employees of The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea
Company, Boston , Massachusetts , filed herein by Amalgamated Meat
Cutters R Butcher Workmen of North America , A. F. of L., be, and
it hereby is, dismissed.
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