W. R. Shadoff

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsSep 3, 1965

154 N.L.R.B. 992 (N.L.R.B. 1965)

992 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD APPENDIX NOTICE TO ALL OUR MEMBERS, DELEGATES , OFFICERS AND AGENTS, TO THE FOLLOW- ING PERSONS AND THEIR EMPLOYEES : ADAMS DEVELOPMENT Co., THE PROPRIETORS OF AIRWOOD MANOR, HOEFFKEN BROS., INC., BRIGHTON SERVICE COMPANY As Recommended by a Trial Examiner of the National Labor Relations Board and in order to conduct the business of the Council and Local 553 as required by the National Labor Relations Act, we notify you that: WE WILL NOT induce or encourage any individual employed in an industry affecting commerce to refuse , in the course of his employment , to perform any service with the object of forcing or requiring any person to cease doing business with Storeyland Homes, Inc. WE WILL NOT threaten , coerce, or restrain Adams Development Co., the Proprietors of Airwood Manor, Hoeffken Bros ., Inc., or any other person engaged in an industry affecting commerce , with the object of forcing or requir- ing any such person to cease doing business with Broadway Development Co. or any member of Alton District Independent Contractors and Associates. LOCAL 553, UNITED ASSOCIATION OF JOURNEYMEN AND APPRENTICES OF THE PLUMBING AND PIPE FITTING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA, AFL-CIO, Labor Organization. Dated------------------- By------------------------------------------- (Representative ) ( Title) ALTON-WOOD RIVER BUILDING CONSTRUCTION TRADES COUNCIL , AFL-CIO, Labor Organization. Dated------------------- By------------------------------------------- (Representative ) ( Title) FRANK HARRELSON, AGENT OF THE COUNCIL AND LOCAL 553 Dated------------------- By------------------------------------------- FRANK HARRELSON This notice must remain posted for 60 consecutive days from the date of posting, and must not be altered , defaced , or covered by any material. If anyone has any question about this notice or whether Local 553, the Council, or Agent Harrelson , is complying with its provisions , he may communicate with the Board 's Regional Office, 4459 Federal Building , 1520 Market Street, St . Louis, Missouri , Telephone No. Main 2-4142. W. R. Shadoff and International Association of Machinists, AFL- CIO, Petitioner . Case No. 21-RC-9500. September 3, 1965 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing was held before Hearing Officer Jerome H. Somers. The Hearing Officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Briefs were filed by the Employer and the Petitioner.' Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with 'The parties ' requests for oral argument are hereby denied because the record and the briefs adequately present the issues and the positions of the parties. 154 NLRB No. 77. W. R. SHADOFF 993 this case to a three-member panel [Members Brown, Jenkins, and Zagoria]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Sections 9(c)(1) and2(6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Employer operates a new-and-used car sales and service agency at Pomona, California, employing 25 to 30 employees in its service department. There are a number of subdepartments based on functional differentiation or on whether the car being sold is new or used. Among the job titles, which are largely self-explanatory, are service writers, line mechanics, new car get-ready and new car detail mechanics, used-car mechanics, body-and-fender men, painters and helpers, parts department men, and lubrication, pickup, and delivery men. The Petitioner contends that automotive mechanics generally pos- sess the skill and training which would qualify them for separate rep- resentation as craftsmen, and that among the employees in the service department the following classifications should be entitled to represen- tation on that ground: the line mechanics, including a front-end and alignment man and an air-conditioning mechanic; used-car mechanics; new car detail, and new car get-ready mechanics. The Employer con- tends that the only appropriate unit should include all nonsupervisory employees in its service department. There is no past history of bar- gaining for any of the employees involved. The line mechanics are experienced and skilled men capable of per- forming all types of repair and service on cars. Some of them are spe- cialists in certain types of installation or service, such as automobile air-conditioning systems or alignment and body framework. The lat- ter specialist frequently works in close association with bodyshop men, who are not sought to be included in the Petitioner's requested unit. The used-car mechanics recondition used cars to be offered for sale, performing generally work of the same order of skill as the line mechanics. On the other hand, much less mechanical skill is expected of the new car get-ready mechanics who prepare cars received from the manufacturer for delivery to the customer by installing nonme- chanical parts and accessories and checking their operation, and of the new car detail mechanics who make necessary adjustments and repairs during the warranty period. Thus, not all the mechanics whom the 206-446-66-vol. 154-64 994 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Petitioner would include in the unit are engaged in servicing and repairing automotive engines, while some of those whom it -would include require less experience and skill than the bodyshop employ- ees who, in repairing and replacing body parts, may be required to remove and reinstall gas lines, steering shafts, springs, and supports. The Employer has no apprenticeship program in his shop for train- ing mechanics. Vacancies for line mechanics are filled by hiring experienced mechanics from outside the shop. Nor is there any pro- gram for progression from the less skilled to the more skilled classifi- cations within the unit sought by the Petitioner. There have been occasional transfers between the line mechanics and the used-car mechanics, since these classifications require comparable skill and experience. Most of the employees in the service department do man- ual work, and many of them are expected to show mechanical pro- ficiency and to be able to work with hand tools. The work of the service writers, line mechanics, parts department employees, body-and-paint shop employees, and lubrication mechanics are all related to the common function of servicing and repairing cus- tomers' automobiles. The new car get-ready mechanics, the new car detail mechanics, the used-car mechanics, the parts employees, and the body-and-paint shop mechanics are likewise engaged in the common function of preparing cars for sale to the public. All service depart- ment employees have similar working conditions and benefits 2 Based on the foregoing, and on our review of the entire record, we are of the opinion that there is no clear line of demarcation between the classifications sought to be included by Petitioner and those it would exclude, and that even within that unit it seeks there are employees with varying degrees of skill which overlap with the skills of excluded employees. There is, in fact, no distinct or homogeneous group, short of the service department itself, which could constitute an appropriate unit here.3 We find, therefore, that the following employees constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean- ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act : All employees in the service department of the Employer's automo- bile sales and service agency in Pomona, California, excluding all other employees, office clerical employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.] 2 The line mechanics , the body-and -fender men , and the service writers work on com- mission. Other service department classifications are paid on a straight salary basis. B Austin Ford, Inc., 136 NLRB 1398, and cases cited in footnote 2 thereof.