B. B. Burns Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 30, 1949

85 N.L.R.B. 1025 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of B. B. BURNS CO., INC., EMPLOYER and LODGE No. 493,
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, P YPITIONER
Case No. 13-RC-738.-Decided August 30,1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before George L.
Powell , 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 [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Murdock].
Upon the entire record in this case , the Board finds :
1. The Employer , an Illinois corporation , is an automobile dealer
engaged in buying and selling used and new automobiles and trucks
at its sole place of business in Decatur , Illinois. In connection with
this business the Employer also operates a garage and an automobile
parts and accessory store. The Employer has an exclusive franchise
for the sale of Dodge automobiles and trucks in its territory and is also
an authorized and franchised dealer for Plymouth automobiles. At
the hearing the Employer stated that its purchases of parts and vehicles
during the past year amounted to at least $75 ,000, of which 50 percent
represents purchases from outside the State of Illinois . During the
same period , sales, all of which were made within the State, totaled
$100,000.1 The terms of the franchise agreement between the Chrysler
Corporation and the Employer provide that the latter must maintain
its showroom in an approved condition and make certain advertising
disbursements for each automobile which it purchases for resale. In-
structors from the Chrysler Corporation make periodic visits to the
Employer 's establishment and demonstrate approved methods of serv-
icing Chrysler products . Where an automobile dealer's operations
have been for the most part local, we have, nevertheless , asserted juris-
I As the Employer subsequently stated that during the past year it sold about 200
new automobiles and trucks, it is evident that the above figures represent a conservative
estimate.
85 N. L. R. B., No. 178.
1025
1026 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
diction when they were integrated by a franchise agreement into a
national system for the sale and service of motor vehicles? We find,
contrary to the contention of the Employer, that the Employer is
engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act.
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent
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 Net.
4. The Petitioner originally requested a unit of "all automobile
mechanics, body andfender mechanics, painters, grease-rack mechan-
ics, stock and part department employees and apprentices, excluding
building and : maintenance employees, wash-rack employees, errand
boys, office, clerical, and professional employees, guards and super-
visors." At the hearing, the petition was amended to include building
and maintenance employees, wash-rack employees, and errand boys.
The Employer contended at the hearing that the stock and parts
department employees, as well as the employees added by the amend-
ment, should be excluded from the unit.3
The service department is composed of nine mechanics who repair
automobiles, two employees who do body and fender work, two
employees who lubricate automobiles, one employee who washes auto-
mobiles and one errand boy who picks up and delivers customers' auto-
mobiles for service. The service department shares with the automo-.
bile sales department one of the three adjoining buildings which house
the Employer's entire operation. Separate monthly statements of
profit and loss are kept for this department and it bears an allocated
portion of administrative expenses. The degree of skill and the wages
of the errand boy and of the employees who work on the grease-rack
and the wash-rack are lower than those of the mechanics and the body
and fender men, but all these employees are directly connected with the
servicing of autmobiles and taken together they represent all the pro-
ductive physical employees of the Employer. Accordingly, we find
these employees constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining.4 Mention was also made at the hearing of three
"write-up men" who take orders from the customers and tell the me-
2 Matter of Harry's Cadillac -Pontiac Co ., Inc., Si N . L. R. B. 1 : Matter of Earl Mcilillian
Co.. 81 N . L. R. B. 639.
3 The Employer also advanced this contention , along with arguments touching on juris-
diction , in a brief . The Employer 's brief, however , has not been accepted as it is not in
conformity with Section 203.60 of the Board's Rules and Re ulations which requires the
printing or mimeographing of all briefs.
A shop foreman works with the two employees in the body shop, but, as the only evi-
dence presented indicates that he is a supervisor, lie will lie excluded from the unit.
B. B. BURNS Co., INC. 1027
chanics what work the customers want accomplished. Although the
record contains no other facts about these employees, it would appear
that they are part of the service department and occupy a position
similar to that of plant clericals. In the absence of any cogent reasons,
for excluding them, we will include them in the unit.
The stock and parts department is located in a building adjacent to
that housing the service department. Its employees wear white shirts
in contrast to the grey uniform worn by service department employees;
they are essentially salesmen, who sell at retail to the general public
and at wholesale to other garages. ' Orders from the service depart-
ment are filled by these employees but they make no installation of
parts. Items sold include not only parts needed for repairs but also
radios, seat covers, mirrors, and similar accessories. Bonuses are paid
to employees who exceed their sales quota.. Separate profit and loss
statements are kept for this department, it has its own advertising
budget, and bears an allocated portion of administrative expenses..
Their supervision is separate from that of the service department.
In the past the Board has excluded parts men from a service depart-
ment unit where their interests appeared different '5 and has included
them where interests appeared similar 6 As the salesmen in the other
departments are not sought to be represented and as the employees of
the parts department herein appear to have significantly different in-
terests from the employees of the service department they will be ex-
cluded from the unit.
The bucildinq maintenance emnplo?/ees are utility men who take care
of the Employer's buildings and equipment and do carpentry and
electrical work. They report directly to the same supervisor to whom
the managers of the service and parts departments report. The
wages of these employees are charged to administrative expenses, to
which the automobile sales department, the service department, and
the parts department contribute. As these employees may work any-
where in the Employer's three buildings, are separately supervised
and perform no service to automobiles, they will be excluded from
the unit.
We find that the employees of the service department including
mechanics, body and fender men, grease-rack men, the wash-rack
man, the errand boy, and the write-up men constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
'Natter of ann/on White Track Company , Inc., 76 N. L. R. B. 1181 : Matter of Elm C,.;;
Chevrolet. Inc., 77 N. L. R. B. 358.
6 Matter of Horry's Cadillac-Pontiac Co., Inc., supra.
857829--r50-vol. 85-66
1028 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
supervision 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 Lodge No. 493, International Association of Machinists.