El San Juan Hotel

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 6, 1969

179 N.L.R.B. 516 (N.L.R.B. 1969)

516 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
El San Juan Hotel Corporation , d/b/a El San Juan
Hotel and Union de Tronquistas de Puerto Rico,
Local 901, International Brotherhood of
Teamsters , Chauffeurs , Warehousemen and
Helpers of America, Petitioner . Case 24-RC-3625
November 6, 1969
DECISION ON REVIEW and DIRECTION
OF ELECTION
BY MEMBERS FANNING, BROWN, AND ZAGORIA
On March 14, 1969, the Regional Director for
Region 24 issued his Decision and Order in the
above-entitled proceeding, in which he dismissed the
petition on the ground that the unit requests were
inappropriate.' Thereafter, in accordance with
Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations, the Petitioner filed a
timely request for review of the Regional Director's
Decision, contending, inter alia , that in failing to
find its primary or alternative unit requests
appropriate, he departed from established Board
policy.
On May 13, 1969, the National Labor Relations
Board by telegraphic Order granted the request for
review. The Employer and Petitioner filed briefs on
review and the Petitioner requested oral argument.
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
case2 with respect to the issues under review,
including the briefs of the parties, and makes the
following findings:
The Petitioner's primary request is for a separate
unit of 10 casino cashiers or in the alternative that
the casino cashiers be given a self-determination
election to determine whether they wish to be
included in the same unit with the 72 croupiers
represented by the Petitioner.
In rejecting the Petitioner's unit requests, the
Regional Director concluded that casino cashiers do
not constitute such a homogeneous and functionally
coherent group with skills so highly specialized as to
warrant their separate representation and that their
work function makes their interests dissimilar to
those of the croupiers, taking administrative notice
of the asserted general custom and practice in
Puerto Rico to exclude casino cashiers from
gambling casino units.
'Union de Trabajadores de la Industna Gastronomica de Puerto Rico,
Local 610, Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International
Union, AFL-CIO was allowed to intervene in this proceeding on the basis
of its existing multiemployer contract covering the Employer's hotel service
and maintenance employees
As the record, and the briefs of the parties, adequately present the
issues and the positions of the parties, the request for oral argument is
hereby denied
On review, the Petitioner contends that casino
cashiers are employees of the gambling casino
department and have common interests in working
conditions with the croupiers it already represents;
that the casino is, administratively, a separate and
independent department and while they prepare and
submit financial reports to the accounting
department, they are otherwise under the supervision
of the casino manager. The Petitioner requests that
if the casino cashiers in this case do not constitute a
separate appropriate unit, they should be given an
opportunity to decide whether they wish to be added
to the existing croupiers unit. We find merit in the
Petitioner's latter request.
The Employer operates a hotel at Isla Verde, San
Juan, Puerto Rico, in which there is a gambling
casino. In addition to the croupiers represented by
the Petitioner, the Intervenor is bargaining
representative for the Employer's hotel service and
maintenance employees as part of a multiemployer
unit. Casino cashiers employed by member hotels
are not included in the multiemployer bargaining
unit.3 The timekeepers, life guards, night auditors,
draftsmen, stagemen, electrical technicians,
messengers, and guards are the only other
unrepresented employees in the hotel.
This casino is arranged so that the gaming tables
are located all around the room. There are 72
croupiers or dealers, represented by the Petitioner,
who work at these tables. The center area of the
room is reserved for working personnel such as
kitchen help, waiters, bus boys and 10 casino
cashiers, sought herein, who have a desk set up in
this area. A casino manager is responsible for the
operation of the casino and exercises control over
the croupiers, as well as the casino cashiers and
other employees' whose work is performed in the
casino. The casino cashiers primarily perform all
their work on the casino floor. They interview
patrons and guests who apply for credit and assist in
the preparation of the credit application which is
submitted to the casino manager for approval; they
receive and account for the "bank", consisting of at
least $25,000 in cash, as required by law, which they
disburse to patrons and serve as "runners",
physically taking both documents and money to and
from the pits where the cashier is stationed, to the
patrons or guests and back. The croupiers and
casino cashiers are the only employees in the hotel
who must be licensed by the government. The casino
cashiers are selected from employees who have had
considerable experience in other cashiering
departments such as night auditing, front office
cashiering or food and beverage cashiering. When
additional casino cashiers are requested by the
casino manager and head casino cashier, the latter
being the immediate supervisor of the casino
'The Regional Director found no merit in the Intervenor's request to add
the Employer's casino cashiers involved herein, to its multiemployer unit as
it is not coextensive with the multiemployer unit and represents only a
segment of the residual group
'Waiters, housemen, and dishwashers represented by Intervenor in
179 NLRB No. 45
EL SAN JUAN HOTEL
cashiers, the accounting department head who has
the ultimate staffing authority, selects employees
having the requisite qualifications to obtain a license
from the Department of Tourism.' Those employees
who meet the requirements and are selected make
application for a license and, upon receipt, are
assigned to the casino department.
The casino cashiers, like front office and food and
beverage cashiers6 are part of and under the ultimate
supervision of the accounting department. However,
this supervision and control appears to be limited to
the functional ramifications of the accounting
operations. With respect to the day to day
supervision, all cashiers are supervised by the
supervisor in the departments to which they are
assigned and are so charged for cost accounting
purposes. Specifically, the head casino cashier, gives
day to day instructions to the casino cashiers,
determines which cashiers are to work overtime,
authorizes and calls cashiers to come in and work
on the sixth day or seventh day, reprimands and
disciplines, schedules work shifts and vacations.
Salaries and promotions of cashiers, and grievances
with respect thereto, are determined apparently by
head casino cashier on the basis of rules and criteria
previously established by the head of the accounting
department.
The record facts set forth above demonstrate to
our satisfaction that the gambling casino is
administratively a separate and independent
department in the Employer's hotel. While the
cashiers prepare and submit financial reports to the
accounting department, and like all cashiers in the
hotel are under the ultimate control of the
accounting department with respect to their
technical accounting responsibilities, they are
otherwise under the supervision of the head casino
cashier and/or the casino manager. They work
exclusively in the casino area, do not interchange
with other hotel employees, and must have special
qualifications. Furthermore, it is quite clear from
the record in this case, that while as found by the
Regional Director the work of the cashiers differs
from that of the croupiers, neither can perform their
function in the operation of the casino without the
517
other. On the record as a whole, we find the casino
cashiers, apart from the unrepresented employees,
share a substantial community of interest with the
croupiers. Under all the circumstances, we do not
give controlling weight to the asserted area practice
in Puerto Rico relied upon by the Regional
Director. Therefore, since the Petitioner represents
the Employer's croupiers, we shall direct, in
accordance with the Petitioner's alternate
contention, an election to determine whether the
casino cashiers desire to be represented by the
Petitioner, together with the presently represented
croupiers.
Accordingly, we find the following voting group
appropriate for purposes of a self-determination
election:
All casino cashiers employed in the Employer's
hotel gambling casino at Isla Verde, San Juan,
Puerto Rico, excluding all other employees.
If a majority of the employees in the voting group
vote for the Petitioner, they will be taken to have
indicated their desire to be included in the existing
unit of croupiers currently represented by Petitioner
and the Regional Director will issue a certification
to that effect.
[Direction of Election? omitted from publication.]
multiemployer service and maintenance unit, and unrepresented guards
'In order to be eligible for a license, applicants must be U S citizens,
over 25 years of age with a high school diploma, 10 years residency in
Puerto Rico and have no felony record
'These cashiers are represented by the Intervenor as part of the
multiemployer service and maintenance unit
'In order to assure that all eligible voters may have the opportunity to
be informed of the issues in the exercise of their statutory right to vote, all
parties to the election should have access to a list of voters and their
addresses which may be used to communicate with them Excelsior
Underwear Inc. 156 NLRB 1236, N L R B v Wyman -Gordon Company,
394 U S 759 Accordingly, it is hereby directed that 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 24 within 7
days of 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 extraordinary circumstances Failure to
comply with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside the election
whenever proper objections are filed