Cohn-Hall-Marx Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 23, 1949

86 N.L.R.B. 101 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter Of COHN-HALL-MARY COMPANY, EMPLOYER and GAR-
MENT SHIPPING & RECEIVING CLERKS, WAREHOUSEMEN, DRIVERS &
HELPERS LOCAL 994, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS,.
CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, PETITIONER
Case No. 21-RC-847.-Decided September 23, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Eugene M.
Purver, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the
hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.'
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Members Houston, Reynolds, and
Murdock].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c)
(1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
1 The Employer made a motion to dismiss the hearing on the grounds that a consent
election had been held and that the results of that election were determinative. The
hearing officer denied this motion. The Employer further moved that the Board process
the challenges which were made in the consent election and then dismiss the petition
if the results warrant it . On June 29 , 1949, the election referred to by the Employer
was set aside by the Regional Director in a Report on Challenges and Order Setting Aside
Election on the grounds that there had been a fundamental "failure of meeting of minds"
in regard to the unit as set forth in the consent election stipulation made by Employer
and Petitioner . In that election 9 votes were cast for the Petitioner , with 13 votes
challenged by the Petitioner on the ground that these employees were not to be included
in the unit. The Employer agrees that there was a failure of meeting of minds as to the
consent agreement, but disagrees with the Regional Director ' s reasons for making such
finding . It is plain that the Regional Director , in accordance with Section 203.54 (a) of
the Rules and Regulations of the National Labor Relations Board , acted within his author-
ity. The hearing officer ' s denial of the motion to dismiss the hearing is affirmed. We
deny the Employer ' s motion to dismiss the petition.
86 N. L. R. B., No. 21.
867351-50-vol. 86-8 101
102 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
4. The Petitioner seeks a unit of all shipping and receiving clerks,
warehousemen, packers, wrappers, order fillers, and drivers, excluding
all office and clerical employees, professional employees, guards, and
all supervisors as defined in the Act. The Employer agrees as to the
inclusion of these employees in the proposed unit, but contends that
floorboys, checker-calculators, checker-comparers, billers, and fanfold
operators should also be included.
The Employer is engaged in the distribution of textiles-on a Nation-
wide basis. It operates in Los Angeles a warehouse and an office
located about 20 blocks from each other. Textiles and other materials
are received at the warehouse and stored for eventual shipment to
customers. Employed at the office are office and record-keeping em-
ployees and a sales force. The employees whom the Employer con-
tends should be included in the unit are mainly engaged in the duties
of stock record keeping at the office.
Checker-calculators check the actual papers coming from the ware-
house for the purpose of calculating the shipping costs and charges.
These calculations are used within the billing department itself.
These employees are presently located at the Office.2
Floorboys act as runners between the stockrooms and offices and han-
dle samples and sample cuts. They spend a portion of their time
in the warehouse every day either cutting off samples or bringing
back sample cuts to the office for distribution. They deliver these
samples to the customers and write many of the orders eventually used
for shipping and filling at the warehouse. There was testimony that
these floorboys are salesmen trainees, with an eventual, normal ex-
pectancy of becoming salesmen.
Billers and fanfold operators perform work that is interchangeable.
They do the billing of the merchandise shipped from the Los Angeles
warehouse to the Employer. This is wholly paper work.
The checker-comparers also do paper work and apparently work
in close association with the other employees in the disputed group.
All of the categories of employees contended by the Employer to
constitute an appropriate unit have the same working hours, same
holidays and vacations, and work under the same health, bonus, and
pension plan. Rates of pay of all the employees are approximately
the same with any differences based on longevity of service.
On the other hand, although there is some transfer among and be-
tween the various jobs at the warehouse and certain of the clerical
2 There was testimony that because of crowded conditions in Los Angeles, the Employer
has been obliged to depart from its usual practice of having the warehouse and the record-
keeping employees in one building . Arrangements are now being made to move the
checker-calculators to the warehouse building. This move is being delayed pending arrival
of calculating machines.
COHN-HALL-MARX COMPANY 103
record-keeping jobs, transfers are limited by the technical knowledge
required for certain of the clerical jobs, such as the ability to operate
the bookkeeping machines. The west coast divisional manager of
the Employer testified that the change of status of the employees is
basically progression and advancement rather than a true inter-
change between departments, although some interchange does occur.
It appears moreover, that, at least from a supervisory standpoint,
-there is a clear division between the office employees and the ware-
house employees. The Employer's supervisory hierarchy consists of
the divisional manager, a general office manager in charge of all em-
ployment, located in the main office, and under him, a. warehouse fore-
man located in the warehouse. The divisional manager testified
that "All of our instructions really emanate from . . . the general
office manager, but if it has to do with physical work that is being
done at the warehouse itself, those orders are given by [the warehouse
foreman] . . . ."
Further, it is clear from the record that the greater part of the
work performed at the warehouse is physical work and that the
greater part of the work done at the main office is paper work. Most
of the Employer's billers and all of the calculators, with one excep-
tion, are women: These women employees do not regularly perform
physical warehouse work, although on occasion they perform some.
The Employer maintains a perpetual inventory and when there is a
stock record variance, main office employees may go over to the ware-
house for the purpose of rechecking the inventory. Normally, how-
ever, the actual physical inventory would be taken by the men within
the warehouse themselves.
On the basis of those facts and on the entire record in the case,
including the separate location and supervision of warehouse em-
ployees, their lack of interests in common with those of the general
office, sales, and record-keeping employees, and the absence of any
bargaining history, we find 3 that the following employees constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within
the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act:
All shipping and receiving clerks, warehousemen, packers, wrap-
pers, order fillers, and drivers at the Employer's Los Angeles, Califor-
nia, warehouse, excluding all office and clerical employees, floorboys,
checker-calculators, checker-comparers, billers, fanfold operators,
professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
3 Matter of Mayflower Sales Company, 78 N. L. R. B. 69. Cf. Matter of Thalhimer
Brothers, Inc., 77 N. L. R. B. 1249; Matter of Milllron's, 72 N. L. R. B. 69.
104 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and su-
pervision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case
was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees
in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who
were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the
date of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not
work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation
or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bar-
gaining, by Garment Shipping & Receiving Clerks, Warehousemen,
Drivers & Helpers Local 994, International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America.