Burroughs Adding Machine Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 8, 1949

81 N.L.R.B. 1239 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of BURROUGHS ADDING MACHINE COMPANY, EMPLOYER
and MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA,
INDEPENDENT, PETITIONER
Case No. 2-RC-754.-Decided March 8,1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. 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-man panel consisting of the undersigned
Board Members.*
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations 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 Act.
4. The appropriate unit :
The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all employees engaged in
the service, repair, and maintenance of the Employer's business ma-
chines, who work in or out of the Employer's New York service sta-
tion ,l excluding clerical help, plant guards, and supervisors as defined
in the Act. The Employer contends that the unit sought is inappro-
'Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Murdock.
1 One hundred and eleven servicemen are employed at the New York service station. Ten
of these employees spend full time in the station 's shop performing major repairs on cus-
tomers' machines and adjusting new machines received from the factory ; the remainder
are so-called "outside" servicemen who repair or adjust machines on the customers' own
premises. The New York service station has jurisdiction over the five counties of New
York City , Nassau and Suffolk Counties in Long Island , and Westchester County, New York.
&1 N. L. R. B., No. 193.
1239
1240 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
priate and that the only appropriate unit would be a Nation-wide unit
of all its service employees, numbering approximately 1950. There
has been no history of bargaining by the Employer with any labor
organization concerning any of its service employees.
The Employer is a Michigan corporation engaged in the manufac-
ture, sale, and servicing of business machines and equipment with
principal plants and offices located in the State of Michigan. The
Employer's service department is under the general supervision of the
vice president in charge of marketing with headquarters in Detroit.
Under him, in line of authority, is the general service manager with
offices in Detroit. From a service standpoint, the Nation is divided
into 15 divisions. Under the divisional headquarters, there are numer-
ous service branch offices responsible for the actual servicing of the
business machines sold by the Employer.2 The New York service
branch, because of its size, has been divided into 2 service stations.
The one involved in this proceeding is located in New York City; the
other in Newark, New Jersey. The New York and Newark service
stations perform functions identical to those performed by the service
branches in other areas.3 Direct supervision over the New York serv-
ice station's operations and personnel is vested in the station manager.
Assisting him are an assistant station manager, a shop supervisor
directing the work of the "inside" servicemen, and a field supervisor
in charge of the "outside" service employees.
The Employer's service department and its component branches
and stations are apparently operated as an integrated enterprise.
Thus, the Employer's officials in the headquarters Detroit office deter-
mine the management and labor relations policies for all service em-
ployees; the same wage, vacation, bonus, hospitalization, group
insurance, and training plans are applicable to all servicemen; all
service station pay rolls and customer billing 4 are handled by District
Accounting Offices operating under the supervision of the Employer's
comptroller located in the Detroit office; and there are centrally super-
vised parts distribution centers supplying needed parts to service
station employees.
Although these factors militate in favor of a Nation-wide unit, in
our view they are not so compelling as to require our holding that
only a Nation-wide unit is appropriate. The record reveals other
factors which justify a unit confined to the service employees of the
New York service station apart from the Employer's other service
2 The Employer guarantees to keep each machine sold in working condition for a 1-year
period.
3 The Employer maintains 124 service stations or branches throughout the United States.
* There is evidence in the record that some customer billing is at times performed by
the service station employees.
BURROUGHS ADDING MACHINE COMPANY 1241
employees. While over-all production policies for all service em-
ployees may be centrally formulated in the Detroit main office, the
record establishes that some degree of decentralization of management
exists insofar as the operations of service stations and service em-
ployees are concerned. The New York service station appears to be a
functional entity with separate managerial and administrative or-
ganization. Thus, there is no regular interchange or detailing of serv-
ice employees between the Employer's New York service station and
its Newark or other service stations. During the past year, only one
serviceman has been involved in a transfer to or from the New York
service station, and that transfer was arranged at the employee's own
request. The record shows that the New York service station, with
few exceptions, recruits its service personnel from among residents in
the New York City area. The New York service station manager ini-
tiates requests for enlarging his service staff and almost uniformly
interviews, and makes initial recommendations regarding the hiring
of, service applicants. The New York service station employees, after
completion of their training, have little or no contact with any of
the Employer's other service employees; and they perform their work
in a separate geographical area under the immediate and separate
supervision of their supervisor or station manager. Finally, we note
that collective bargaining units confined to the New York City area
have been established for the employees of a number of other business
machine companies who conduct national service operations with
substantially similar centralized management and personnel policies 5
In view of the foregoing, we are persuaded that a unit confined to
the service employees of the Employer's New York service station is
appropriate.
We find that all employees engaged in the service, repair, and main-
tenance of the Employer's machines, who work in or out of the Em-
ployer's New York service station, excluding clerical help, plant
guards, the station manager and his assistant, the field and shop super-
visors,, 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.
5 Matter of Dictaphone Corporation, 78 N. L. R. B. 866 ; Matter of Remington Rand, Inc.,
?8 N. L. R B. 181 ; Matter of Underwood Corp., Case No. 2-RC-283; Matter of Royal
Typewriter Company , Case No. 2-RC-185; Matter of A. B . Dick Company, Case No. 2-RC-
157. The Employer contends that these decisions are without significance inasmuch as
the cases were submitted to the Board without contest by any of the parties as to the
appropriateness of the unit sought. However, the fact that the Board agreed that the unit
as stipulated by the parties was appropriate does not detract from the fact that these cases
establish a pattern of collective bargaining for the industry in question in the area involved
herein . That pattern is worthy of consideration in determining the appropriateness of the
unit sought herein.
i Inasmuch as the record indicates that the field and shop supervisors responsibly direct
the service station employees in their work , they have been excluded from the unit.
1242 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 super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Second Region, and subject to
Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules
and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, 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 reinstated
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 the purposes of collective bargaining,
by Mechanical and Electrical Workers Union of America, Inde-
pendent.