Allstate Insurance Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 26, 1957

118 N.L.R.B. 855 (N.L.R.B. 1957)

ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY 855
The Union excepted to the Regional Director's recommendation that
the ballots of John Luongo, Ernest Pisiello, and Walter Maciejewski
be opened and counted, on the ground that these men are recognized
as foremen and that they have authority to assign and lay off em-
ployees. We find there is insufficient evidence either in the Regional
Director's report or in the Union's exceptions upon which we can
make a finding as to the supervisory status of the foregoing employees.
[The Board dismissed the objections.]
[The Board sustained the challenged ballots of Mildred Buttiglieri,
Leonard Greenbaum, and Samuel Rodman and overruled the chal-
lenged ballots of Frank Gentile, Edward Liggiero, and Mary Nearing.]
[The Board directed that the Regional Director for the First
Region shall, within ten (10) days from the date of this Direction,
open and count the ballots of Frank Gentile, Edward Liggiero, and
Mary Nearing, and serve upon the parties a revised tally of ballots.]
[The Board ordered that, if the ballots do not determine the results
of the election, a hearing be held before a Trial Examiner, to deter-
mine the eligibility of Ernest Pisiello, Walter Maciejewski, and John
Luongo to vote.]
[The Board further ordered that, in the event a hearing is held,
the Trial Examiner serve upon the parties a report containing resolu-
tions of the credibility of witnesses, findings of fact, and recommenda-
tions to the Board as to the disposition of said challenges. Within
ten (10) days from the date of issuance of the report, any party may
file with the Board in Washingon, D. C., an original and six copies of
exceptions, serve a copy upon each of the other parties,. and file a
copy with the Regional Director. If no exceptions are, filed the
Board will adopt the Trial Examiner's recommendations.],
[The Board ordered the above-entitled matter referred to the
Regional Director for disposition.]
Allstate Insurance Company and Insurance Agents International
Union, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case No. 8-RC-2923. July 26,
1957
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Carroll L. Martin, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.'
' The Employer moved the dismissal of the petition at the hearing on the following
grounds : . ( 1) Petitioner has not made a sufficient showing of representative interest,; (2)
both the unit originally requested by Petitioner and the unit as later amended by,Peti-
118 NLRB No. 103.
856 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member
panel [Members Murdock, Rodgers, and Bean].
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 Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Employer is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears, Roebuck:
Company engaged in the sale of insurance in the United States and
Canada. The Petitioner seeks a unit of insurance agents employed by
the Employer in its Ohio branch, which unit is, in substance, identical
to the unit the Board found appropriate for agents in the Employer's
Detroit branch in a prior proceeding?
However, the Employer contends that the unit should also include
underwriters and claim examiners and adjusters by reason of certain
conditions of employment common to the latter employees and the
agents and the integration of work functions between employees in
the three classifications.'
The Employer's Ohio branch, with headquarters in Cleveland,
covers the State of Ohio and is under the direction of the branch
resident manager. Responsible to him are seven department managers
which include the sales manager, the underwriting manager, and the
claim manager . The sales manager, working through his subordi-
nates , the sales development manager, and seven district sales man-
agers , directs the work of the insurance sales personnel employed in the
Ohio branch. The underwriting manager and claim manager simi-
larly supervise the activities of the underwriters and the claim
examiners and adjusters respectively.
While the principal duties of the agents , the underwriters , and the
claims examiners and adjusters are those suggested by their job classi-
fication titles, there is necessarily a certain amount of integration
tioner are inappropriate and are based upon the extent of Petitioner 's organization ; and
(3) Petitioner refused to state unequivocally that it is willing to represent employees
of the Employer other than insurance agents and related classifications . Having been
referred to the Board for ruling , these motions are hereby denied for the following
reasons: (1) Showing of interest is subject only to administrative determination and is
not litigable by parties to a representation proceeding. Moreover, we are administratively
satisfied that Petitioner has made an adequate showing of interest in the unit hereinafter
found appropriate ; ( 2) the amended unit sought by Petitioner has hereinafter been found
to be appropriate for reasons entirely apart from the extent of Petitioner's organization ;
(3) Petitioner 's willingness to represent employees other than those in the unit herein
found appropriate is irrelevant to this proceeding.
2 Allstate Insurance Company. 109 NLRB 578.
3 The Employer took this position for the purpose of this proceeding only and reserved
the right to demonstrate in future proceedings that all employees in a branch, except those
whose exclusion is required by the Act , constitute the optimum appropriate unit.
ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY 857
between the work of employees in these classifications. Agents submit
all policy applications they secure to underwriters for evaluation and
rate determination. To minimize the rejection of applications and
to advise their customers and prospective clients, agents must be con-
versant with the Employer's underwriting policies. They also fre-
quently assist the insured in the preparation and submission of claim
reports and participate in the investigation and settlement of certain
claims. In evaluating risks, when applications, inspection and claim
reports, and requests for policy changes or renewals are received,
underwriters rely to a substantial degree upon information received
from, and personal contacts with, the agents servicing the accounts
in question. In general, the agents act as liaison between claimants and
policy applicants and holders and the Employer's underwriters and
claim adjusters. The induction training program for employees in
these classifications reflects the interdependence of their work func-
tions, new employees in each classification being instructed to some
extent in the functions of the other classifications. The Employer
also emphasizes the fact that sales, underwriting, and claim employees
enjoy the same fringe benefits; that personal administration for all
these classifications is centrally handled by the branch personnel de-
partment; and that they are all carried on the same payroll.
The foregoing, however, does not dimish the fact that the interests
and employment conditions of the agents differ substantially from
those of the underwriting and claims personnel. The primary func-
tion of the agents, not performed by any of the Employer's other
employees, is to sell insurance through personal contact with pro-
spective policyholders. They are separately supervised. They are
the only employees required by the State of Ohio to be licensed and
few other employees in the Employer's service hold such licenses.
Agents are, with insignificant exceptions, the only employees who are
employed on the basis of individual contracts and are paid on the
basis of commissions. S2,les trainees receive a minimum guaranteed
salary with a small percentage of commission based upon business
written; full-time and regular part-time agents are compensated
entirely on the basis of commissions; underwriters and claim em-
ployees receive salaries.
In sum, the method of compensation, functions, supervision, and
licensing requirements for the Employer's insurance agents clearly
distinguish them from the Employer's other employees in much the
same manner that such agents are usually distinguishable from other
employees. The Employer has not demonstrated that these distinc-
tions are, to any significant degree, less substantial for the agents here
in question than they are for insurance agents for whom the Board
has in the past consistently found separate units to be appropriate.
For these reasons, and in accordance with the Board's long-established
858 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
policy, we find that the following employees in the Employer's Ohio
branch constitute an appropriate unit for purposes of collective bar-
gaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act: All insurance
agents, including sales trainees, regular part-time agents and sales
office supervisors, but excluding production clerical employees, office
employees, underwriters, claim examiners and adjusters, professional
employees, the sales department manager, sales development manager
and district sales managers, and all other supervisors as defined in
the Act.'
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
4 Except for the unit placement of the underwriting and claim personnel , the parties
agreed that this unit is appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining. The parties
stipulated that the sales office supervisors exercise no supervisory authority and have the
same duties as booth managers in the Employer's Detroit branch, a classification the Board
included in the unit in Allstate Insurance Company, 109 NLRB 578. Accordingly, we find
the sales office supervisors not to be supervisors within the meaning of the Act and we in-
clude them in the unit.
Ames, Harris, and Neville and Bob. J. White and Local No. 382,
International Printing Pressmen & Assistants Union of North
America, AFL-CIO. Case No. 20-RD-162. July 26, 1957
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before L. D. Mathews, Jr., 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 this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The Petitioner, an employee of the Employer, asserts that the
Union, currently recognized by the Employer as the exclusive bar-
gaining representative of the Employer's employees, is no longer
such representative, as defined in Section 9 (a) of the Act.
The petition herein was filed on March 28, 1957. The Union and
the Employer urge as a bar thereto their contract executed on May 1,
1955, for a term of 3 years. Under Board policy a contract for more
than 2 years may not operate as a bar beyond the first 2 years of its
term unless a substantial part of the industry involved is covered by
such contracts,' and the burden of establishing such coverage is upon
the party.asserting a contract for more than 2 years as a bar.'
The record indicates that the Employer manufactures textile, as
well as paper, bags, and so may be classified as being either in the
1 Thompson Wire Co., 116 NLRB 1933.
2 See Joseph Aronauer, Incorporated, 106 NLRB 1382.
118 NLRB No. 105.