The May Department Stores Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 19, 1946

71 N.L.R.B. 1214 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of THE MAY DEPARTMENT STORES COMPANY, EMPLOYER
.and GENERAL WAREHOUSEMEN'S LOCAL 598, INTERNATIONAL BROTH-
ERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS'
OF AMERICA, A. F. L., PETITIONER
Case No. 21-R-3416.-Decided December 19, 1946
Lawler, Felix & Hall, by Mr. John M. Hall, of Los Angeles, Calif.,
for the Employer.
Messrs. John E. McGee, A. L. Bradley, and John C. Stevenson, all
of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Petitioner.
Miss Irene R. Shriber, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Los
Angeles, California, on July 16 and August 14, 1946, before 'David
Aaron, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hear-
ing 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
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
The May Department Stores Company, a New York corporation,
operates seven retail department stores in various States, including
two such stores in Los Angeles, California. The larger of the Los
Angeles stores, herein called the Downtown store, is located on Eighth
and Broadway, and the other, herein called the Wilshire store, on Wil-
shire Boulevard. This proceeding is concerned with the Employer's
Downtown store.
During the year 1945, the Employer purchased for its two Los
Angeles stores merchandise valued in excess of $33,500,000, of which
approximately 74 percent was obtained from points outside the State
of California. During the same period, the combined sales of the two
71 N. L. R. B, No. 190.
1214
THE MAY DEPARTMENT STORES COMPANY 1215
Los Angeles stores exceeded $55,000,000, of which approximately one
percent was shipped to out-of-State purchasers.
We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. TILE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
a
III. THE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner seeks a unit comprised of the following employees
in the Employer's Downtown store : receiving platform employees
and merchandise handlers and stockpeople working on the sixth
floor, excluding merchandise handlers and stockpeople not regularly
employed on the sixth floor, all other employees and supervisors.
The Employer contends that this unit is not appropriate and urges
a unit embracing all employees in the Employer's two Los Angeles
stores and its warehouse, or alternatively, a unit of all employees in
the two Los Angeles stores and the warehouse who perform functions
similar to those of the employees in the unit claimed by the Petitioner
to be appropriate.
The Employer's Downtown store has 9 floors, a basement and a
sub-basement. Involved in this proceeding are about 300 merchandise
handlers and stockpeople who work on the sixth floor and about 10
or 15 receiving platform employees who work in and about the re-
ceiving platform which is located on the ground floor.
Incoming merchandise is delivered to the receiving platform where
employees receive and load the goods onto freight elevators and then
deliver them to receiving rooms located on various floors. The prin-
cipal receiving room is on the sixth floor; smaller specialized receiving
rooms exist on the ninth floor for candy, on the fifth floor mezzanine
for women's and children's apparel and in the basement for groceries.
After the merchandise has been delivered to the receiving room, mer-
chandise handlers, a classification which includes freight distributors,
checkers, markers and truckers, unpack, sort, check, tag and move
the merchandise usually to the individual stockrooms of the selling
departments located on the same floor as the receiving room. Within
these stockrooms as well as in the receiving rooms are stockpeople
who move merchandise about as required, store and arrange it on
shelves and keep stock records.
As previously indicated, the Petitioner seeks to include in the
unit merchandise handlers and stockpeople regularly employed on
the sixth floor but to exclude merchandise handlers and stockpeople
717734-47-vol. 71-78
1216 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
regularly employed on other floors, although the duties and working
conditions of the latter are Identical with those of the former. In
our view this proposed grouping is inappropriate. We can find no
justification for including merchandise handlers and stockpeople on
one floor and excluding those on other floors. Wherever they work
throughout the store, these employees have the same interests deriving
from identical work and working conditions. The fact that the place
of their employment within the store may be different does not justify
segregating them in establishing a unit for collective-bargaining pur-
poses. Accordingly, we find the unit sought by Petitioner is inappro-
priate and we shall dismiss the petition herein.1
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition for investigation aild certifica-
tion of representatives of employees of The May Department Stores
Company, Eighth and Broadway, Los Angeles, California, filed by
General Warehousemen's Local 598, International Brotherhood of
Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America,
A. F. of L., be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
MR. JOHN M. HOUSTON, concurring:
If the unit sought comprised all employees with identical duties I
would direct an election for the reasons stated in my dissenting opin-
ion in the Matter of George B. Peck, Inc., 71 N. L. R. B. 1211.
' See Matter of George B. Peck, Inc, 71 N L . R. B 1211. In view of our determi-
nation that the grouping within the Downtown store is inappropriate we find it unnecessary
to pass on the Employer's contention that only a multi-store unit is appropriate.