Brooklyn Piers, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 22, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 1364 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of BROOKLYN PIERS, INC., EMPLOYER and INDEPENDENT
WATCHMEN AND GUARDS ASSOCIATION, LOCAL 1015, AFFILIATED WITH
INDEPENDENT WATCHMEN'S ASSOCIATION, PETITIONER
Case No. 0-RC-1115.-Decided March 22, 1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon an amended petition duly filed, hearings were held before
Lloyd S. Greenidge, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings
made at the hearings 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 Reynolds].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organizations involved :
The Board found in the Willcox Construction Co. case 1 that, as of
August 22, 1949, the Petitioner was affiliated indirectly with the In-
ternational Longshoremen's Association, A. F. L., herein called the
I. L. A., a labor organization which admits to membership employees
other than guards. At that time, four officers of the I. L. A. and its
affiliate, the Port of New York District Council, were serving as presi-
dent and vice presidents of the Independent Watchmen's Association,
herein called the I. W. A., and were participating in the formulation
of I. W. A. policy. In December 1949, however, these individuals re-
signed or were dismissed from their offices in the I. W. A. and are no
longer connected with this organization. Although the I. W. A.
shares office space with several I. L. A. locals, the former pays its own
rent and other office expenses. The record reveals that, since the
hearing in the Willcox case, the I. W. A. and the Petitioner ,have
severed all connections with the I. L. A. Accordingly, we find that
I 1PiU1cow Construction Co., Inc., 87 NLRB 371.
88 NLRB No. 243.
1364
BROOKLYN PIERS, INC. 1365
the Petitioner is a labor organization which does not admit to mem-
bership, and is not affiliated directly or indirectly with an organization
which admits to membership, employees other than guards.
Marine Warehouse Local 976, International Longshoremen's
Association, A. F. L., herein called the Intervenor, is a labor organi-
zation claiming 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 appropriate unit:
We find, in agreement with the Petitioner and the Employer,2 that
all guards and watchmen employed by the Employer at its Brooklyn,
New York, piers, excluding office, clerical, and professional employees,
and supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the: meaning of Sec-
tion 9 (b) of the Act. '
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 3
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses 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 super-
vision 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 payroll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work
during said payroll 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 re-
instated 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 Independent Watchmen and Guards Association, Local
1015, affiliated with Independent Watchmen's Association.
2 The Intervenor appeared at the first hearing and contended that, in view of the com-
mnon ownership and control of the Employer, Seaboard Storage Corporation, and Brooklyn
Waterfront Terminal Corporation, the unit should include employees of all three com-
panies. The Intervenor's failure to appear at the reopened hearing, however, is tanta-
mount to an abandonment of its original unit position . Moreover , we note that the
Intervenor could not be certified by the Board as the representative of the employees
involved, as it admits to membership employees other than guards. (Section 9 (h) (3).
of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended.)
' As the Intervenor could not be certified as the representative of the employees involved,
we will not place its name on the ballot . See footnote 2, supra.