Bishop, McCormick & Bishop

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 23, 1951

92 N.L.R.B. 1512 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

In the Matter of BISHOP , MCCORMICK & BISHOP AND AUTOMOBILE
TRADE SERVICES, INC., A DIVISION OF BISHOP, MCCORMICK & BISHOP,'
EMPLOYERS and AMALGAMATED LOCAL UNION 259, UNITED AUTO-
MOBILE, AIRCRAFT, AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA,
CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 2-RC-2470.-Decided January 23,1951
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Jerome A.
Reiner, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hear-
ing 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 [Members Houston, Reynolds, and
Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case the Board finds : 2
1. Bishop, McCormick & Bishop is engaged in the business of buy-
ing and selling new and used automobiles and trucks, parts, and ac-
cessories. It maintains a separate wholesale parts division and some
13 branches or. divisions throughout New York City and its environs
for the sale of new and used motor vehicles and accessories, and for the
servicing and repair of such vehicles. The wholesale parts division
is operated by American. Trade Services, Inc., a wholly, owned sub-
sidiary of Bishop, McCormick & Bishop.
During the first 6 months of 1950, the Employers purchased motor
vehicles and accessories valued in excess of $2,000,000, of which ap-
proximately 95 percent was shipped to them from points outside the
State. During the same period the Employers sold through the
various retail sales divisions, automobiles and accessories valued in
excess of $2,000,000, of which less than 1 percent was sold and shipped
,to points outside the State: The Employers hold a franchise from
the Chrysler Corporation to sell Dodge and Plymouth automobiles
and trucks. The wholesale parts division obtains parts directly from
the Chrysler Corporation and accessories from other suppliers and
I The names of the Employers appear as amended at the hearing.
2 The Employer ' s request for oral argument is hereby denied , as the record and briefs, in
our opinion , sufficiently set forth the issues and the positions of the parties.
92 NLRB No. 213.
1512
BISHOP, McCORMICK & BISHOP, ET AL. 1513
sells them at wholesale to individuals or independent dealers. All
of the Employers' other branches are supplied with parts through
the wholesale parts division.
The Employers concede for the purpose of this proceeding, that,
from the point of view of the over-all operations, they are engaged in
interstate commerce. They contend,. however, that considered as a
separate entity, none of their branches or divisions, such as the whole-
sale parts division .herein involved, is engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the Act. We find, contrary to the Employers' conten-
tion, that as a division of an integrated enterprise, the Employers'
wholesale parts operation is engaged in commerce within the meaning
of the Act. We further find that it will effectuate the policies.of the
Act to assert jurisdiction over this operation.3
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent
employees of the Employers.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of.employees of the Employers within the meaning of Section 9
(c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of 'the Act..
4. The Petitioner seeks to establish a unit of the Employers'
wholesale parts division employees, including receiving room, store-
room, and shipping room employees, inside parts men or countermen,
telephone order clerks, and drivers and porters, but excluding office
clerical employees, automobile and truck salesmen, and outside parts
salesmen. The Employers agree generally that the categories re-
quested by the Petitioner may appropriately be included in the unit.
They contend, however, that only a unit which also includes the em-
ployees of all the service stations and retail sales divisions located
within the metropolitan territory of New York City is appropriate.
There is also disagreement as to the five heads of the receiving, store
or reserve, shipping, counter, and telephone order departments. The
Petitioner would include the heads of these departments, but the
Employers would exclude them as supervisors.
The wholesale division and the retail sales divisions and service
stations are operated as a single enterprise, the general over-all super-
vision being centered in an officer who is the president of both Em-
ployers ; there is a uniform personnel policy for all employees directed
by a personnel officer in charge. The wholesale division is practically
the total supplier of parts and accessories to all the retail sales divi-
sions and service stations operated by the principal Employer.
Nevertheless, there is also substantial separation between the various
divisions, and especially between the retail sales divisions and service
'Federal Dairy Co., Inc., 91 NLRB 638; Baxter Bros., 91 NLRB 1480.
929979-51-vol. 92-97
1514 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
stations on the one hand and the wholesale division on the other.
Thus, the latter is located in a separate building, 11/2 miles distant from
the nearest service station or operation of the retail division. The
wholesale division gets the greater portion of its business from in-
dependent retail dealers.4 Every one of the various divisions and
service stations is under immediate separate supervision. The man-
ager of the wholesale parts division hires and discharges the
employees of this division subject only to clearance through the
Employer's main office. There is no substantial interchange of em-
ployees between the wholesale parts division and the other divisions
and service stations .5
In these circumstances, and in view of the fact that there is no
collective bargaining history involving any of the employees herein,e
we find that the unit requested by the Petitioner herein is appropriate.7
There remains for consideration the disposition of the five depart-
ment heads, whom the Petitioner would include and the Employers
would exclude.
These individuals work with from one to four other employees,s
alongside them in their particular departments. None of them has
any power to hire, discharge, or discipline any of the employees with
whom they work or effectively to recommend such action. They have
never been told that they have any of these powers, nor have they
ever exercised them .9 The record indicates that insofar as they are
required to assign work or issue directions to the employees with whom
they work, such directions are of a routine nature and do not involve
substantial responsibility or exercise of discretion. We find that the
five heads of the departments are not supervisors within the meaning
of the Act, and we shall include them in the unit.
We find that all the employees employed at the Employers' New
York City wholesale parts division, including receiving room, store-
4 The Petitioner offered uncontradicted testimony that 60 percent of the Employers'
wholesale sales were made to independent dealers and only 40 percent to their own
divisions.
The record indicates that over a period of 13 years there have- been approximately
eight transfers involving positions within the unit sought by the Petitioner.
6 In 1943, the New York State Labor Relations Board issued an order disestablishing
a company union of the Employers , and ordered an election for all the Employers ' employees
in which the Petitioner herein was the only union participating. The Petitioner lost the
election.
7 See Montgomery Ward 4 Co., Incorporated, 89 NLRB 528. See also Stow and Davie
Furniture Co., 92 NLRB 80.
8 Thus the receiving clerk works with one other employee, receiving and checking parts
shipments . The store or reserve room head works with one other full -time employee and
one part-time employee, filling out orders for large automotive parts. The shipping room
head works with one other clerk and five drivers . He routes and assists in loading the
parts orders for the drivers . The counter department head and the telephone order room
head each works with four other employees.
6 Whenever any of the employees with whom these department heads work wanted time
off, they were sent to their immediate supervisor under whom they all work.
- BISHOP, MCCORMICK & BISHOP, ET AL. 1515
room, and shipping room employees, inside parts men or countermen,
telephone order clerks, the five heads of departments, and drivers and
porters, -but excluding office clerical employees, automobile and truck
salesmen, outside parts salesmen, executives, and all other supervisors
as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
Act.
. [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]