Frederick, Loeser & Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 20, 1949

85 N.L.R.B. 281 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of FREDERICK LOESER & COMPANY, INC., EMPLOYER and
DISPLAY UNION, LOCAL 144, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 2-RC-975.-Decided July 20,1919
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Jack Davis,
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
Reynolds and Gray].
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 claim to represent employees
of the Employer.'
3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the represen-
tation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act, for the following rea-
sons:)
The Petitioner seeks to sever from an existing unit which consists of
all nonselling employees, a unit of employees in the interior and
window display departments. The Employer and the Intervenor op-
pose the severance.
The Employer operates a department store located in Brooklyn,
New York, where it employs about 800 nonselling and 1,500 selling
employees . The Petitioner seeks to represent the 17 employees who
are in the interior and window display departments. The 2 depart-
ments occupy floor space in the Employer's warehouse, which is
3 The AFL Organization Council, herein called the Intervenor , was properly permitted
to intervene in this proceeding on the basis of its current contract with the Employer
covering all nonselling employees.
2 The Intervenor contends that its contract with the Employer bars this proceeding.
Although the contract was not introduced in evidence , the record indicates that it was
executed after the filing of, and by its terms without prejudice to the processing of, the
Petitioner 's claim. Under these circumstances , it is no bar.
. 85 N. L. R. B., No. 52.
.281
282 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
located directly across the street from the department store. The
window display department employees trim.the Employer's display
windows that overlook the sidewalks abutting the Employer's store.
The interior display department employees arrange specialty displays
on landings, ledges, and other locations throughout the store.
In the window display department there are seven decorators, two
assistant decorators, a painter, two porters, and one clerical employee.
In the interior display department there are one decorator and three
assistant decorators. A manager is in charge of each department;
it is his function to coordinate the various displays and instruct the
decorators in their arrangement.
The decorators select the merchandise to be displayed from the
various departments in the store, and with the appropriate fixtures
and accessories, create an appropriate display. The assistant deco-
rators are, in fact, the decorators' helpers and have little to do with
the creation of a display. They aid the decorators in collecting the
merchandise and getting it to the windows or display locations.
During the actual arrangement of the display, they hand the deco-
rators the various garments, fixtures, and other materials as called
for. The painter in the window display department is an artist, who
creates and paints backgrounds and pictures required for window
displays. The porters are laborers who carry the heavier materials
used in the displays. The clerk in the window display department
keeps records of the merchandise taken from the departments of the
store for display purposes and is responsible for its return when the
displays are dismantled.
An apprenticeship or other technical training is not a prerequi-
site to becoming a decorator or assistant decorator. Assistant deco-
rators in particular are recruited from various other departments
in the store. There is no interchange of employees between the two
display departments. Working conditions and company benefits are
the same for the employees of the display departments as for all other
employees at the store. Furthermore, the record indicates that em-
ployees in the Employer's fashion departments also do display work
for their particular departments, under the direction and supervi-
sion of the interior display department manager. Moreover, the
employees in the display departments have been represented by the
Intervenor as part of a unit of nonselling employees since 1946.3
' From 1941 to 1946, the employees in the display departments were represented by
the Intervenor as a separate unit. The record discloses, however, that during this period
they were covered by a contract which, with minor exceptions, was identical to the master
contract covering the nonselling employees. The reason for the concurrent existence of
the two contracts was a difference in anniversary dates. In September 1946, this difference'
was resolved by negotiations and the employees in the display departments were thereafter
included in the coverage of the master contract.
FREDERICK LOESER & COMPANY, INC. 283
Under all of these circumstances, and as the interior and window
display employees neither constitute a traditional bargaining group
nor appear to be sufficiently skilled to constitute a craft group, we
find that the unit sought by the Petitioner is inappropriate. Accord-
ingly, we shall dismiss the petition.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed by Display Union,
Local 144, CIO, be, and it hereby is, dismissed.