General Motors Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 15, 1950

89 N.L.R.B. 1334 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of DELCO-REMY DIVISION, GENERAL MOTORS CORPORA-
TION OR DELCO-REMY WELFARE ASSOCIATION, EMPLOYER and
INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT AND
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 35-IBC-305.Decided May 15,1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before William A.
McGowan, 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 Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. Delco-Remy Division,. General Motors Corporation, herein called
the Division, a subsidiary of the General Motors Corporation, is
engaged in the manufacture of generators, starting motors, ignition
systems, locks, and parts thereof, and other electrical equipment for
automobiles at its plant in Anderson, Indiana. The Division is en-
gaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act.'
Delco-Remy Welfare Association, herein called the Association,
.operates cafeterias and canteens in several locations in the Division's
plant at Anderson, Indiana. The cafeterias and canteens are operated
pursuant to the terms of a 1-year contract dated August 1, 1948, be-
tween the Division and the Association. This contract is automati-
cally renewable from year to year. However, either party may
terminate the contract by giving 30 days' notice in writing to the
other party of its intention to do so.
'General Motors Corporation, Delco-Remy Division, 27 NLRB 159; 25 NLRB 258 and
24 NLRB 150.
89 NLRB No. 164.
1334
DELCO-REMY DIVISION, GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 1335
The Petitioner seeks to represent all cafeteria and canteen em-
ployees with specified exclusions. The Petitioner contends that the
Division is a joint Employer with the Association of these employees;
whereas, the Association contends that it alone is the Employer of the
cafeteria and canteen employees.'
The Association is a separate, nonprofit Indiana corporation, or-
ganized for the purpose of dealing in confections, merchandise, and
other items of personal property, among and for the benefit of, em-
ployees of the Division.
The Association makes noninterest loans and gifts to Division
employees and sponsors recreational and athletic activities for them.
The Association has three directors, who are also its president, vice
president and secretary-treasurer. The men who fill these positions
are, respectively, the personnel director, factory manager, and comp-
troller of the Division. The top management of the Association, con-
sisting of its manager, kitchen manager, home economist, three cafe-
teria supervisors, office manager and canteen supervisors, and its two
office clericals, are salaried employees of, and are paid by, the Division,
which is reimbursed by the Association. They are "on loan" to the
Association, and retain retirement and insurance benefits of the
Division not available to Association employees.. The Association's
cashiers are Division accounting office clericals who work about 1
hour per day for the Association. The Division alone pays their
wages, but is reimbursed by the Association.
On the basis of the above, the Petitioner argues that the Association
is a corporate fiction, and that the Division is acting for itself through
this separate organization. We do not agree. Although the officers
and employees of the Division who occupy key positions in the Asso-
ciation hold their positions solely because of, and only as long as they
are, Division employees, the record discloses. that the Association
hires, promotes, transfers, and discharges its employees without
Division approval, and subject only to a Division medical examina-
tion. Association and Division funds and records are separately kept,
and the Association payroll is separate, though prepared by the
Division. Moreover, the Association and Division are treated as sep-
arate employers under laws relating to workmen's compensation,
social security, and withholding tax payments. The Association and
Division also maintain separate systems of seniority, personnel policy
control, and separate facilities for purchasing and receiving supplies,
2 The Division was notified of the hearing but made no appearance. Although the Divi-
sion did not appear at the hearing , it informed the Regional Director , in the course of the
investigation herein, that its position in this regard is the same as that of the Association.
1336 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
separate time clock systems, grievance procedures, and vacation
policies.
Upon the basis of the foregoing, and upon the entire record in this
proceeding, we do not believe that the Division has the right to exer-
cise, or exercises, that degree of control over the cafeteria and can-
teen employees required to establish an employer-employee relation-
ship between the Division and such employees.3 Therefore, in ac-
cordance with the contention of the Association, we find that the
employees in the unit here sought are the employees of the Association
and are not employees of the Division. Accordingly, we shall dis-
-miss the petition insofar as it alleges that the Division is an employer
of the employees involved herein.
At the hearing, the Association moved to dismiss the petition on
the ground' (1) that' it is not engaged in interstate commerce or in
activities affecting commerce, and (2) that it would not effectuate the
policies of the Act for the Board to assert jurisdiction in this case.
During the past year the Association purchased approximately $450,-
000 worth of food and beverages for its cafeterias .and canteens. Ap-
proximately 20 percent of this amount was purchased from points out-
side'the State of Indiana. During the same period, the Association
made sales amounting to approximately $800,000 at the Division's An-
derson, Indiana, plant. The cafeterias and canteens are patronized ex-
clusively by the 13,000 employees of the Division. Before the cafeterias
were established, 25 percent of the Division employees left the plant
at lunch time. At the present time 23 percent do so. Of the remain-
ing 77 percent, about 40 percent regularly eat in the cafeterias, and the
balance bring their lunches and may eat them in the cafeterias. Before
the cafeterias opened, there were about 22 commercial restaurants in
the vicinity. Presently there are about 15 with a 'capacity of 700,
within 1 block of the Division's property. Since the cafeterias were
established, the lunch period has been reduced from 1 hour to 1/2 hour
for Division employees. Because hourly paid employees are allowed
only 30 minutes for lunch it is impractical for them to leave the plant
for meals. Thus, the cafeterias presently provide the only practical
eating facilities for a substantial number of Division employees. In
consequence, uninterrupted cafeteria service is advantageous to the
Division's own operations, which clearly affect commerce. Under
these circumstances, we find, contrary to the contention of the Asso-
ciation, that it is engaged in operations affecting commerce within
the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act, and further that,
a Lee E. Stine .d/b/a Fairchild Cafeteria and Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation,
S7 NLRB 667; Swanson Brothers Logging Company , 71 NLRB 614.
DELCO-REMY DIVISION, GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION :1337
`because of the relationship of the Association's operations to those of
'the Division, it would effectuate the policies of the Act for this Board
to assert jurisdiction.4 Accordingly, we hereby deny the Associa-
tion's motion to dismiss the petition.
' 2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain em-
•ployees of the Employer.
3. A question, affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of certain employees of the Employer within the meaning of Sec-
tion 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
11 4. The parties are in general agreement with respect to the. com-
position of the appropriate unit. The Petitioner,, however, would
include, and the Association exclude, cafeteria and canteen leaders
-from the unit. The cafeteria leader in each cafeteria is in charge of
the cafeteria under the supervision of a cafeteria supervisor, who, is
seldom present. The leader trains employees, assigns duties, recom-
mends transfers and discharges, helps grade employees, issues rep-
rimands where necessary, and is paid 40 percent more than the em-
ployees under her jurisdiction. While the canteen leader spends a
substantial part. of her time in work similar to that of four or five
part-time employees under her, she also, trains, assigns, and directs
the work of these employees, recommends transfers, and is charged
with the management of the canteens, under the. canteen supervisor,
who is seldom present. Each canteen leader makes purchases for
her canteen of approximately $30,000 a year and receives 20 percent
more in salary than the employees under her. We find, therefore, that
the cafeteria and canteen leaders are supervisors within the meaning
of the Act, and shall exclude them from the unit.
We find that the following employees constitute a unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Sec-
tion 9 (b) of the Act : all employees of the Delco-Remy Welfare Asso-
ciation in its cafeterias and canteens at Anderson, Indiana, excluding
office and clerical employees, confidential employees, guards, profes-
sional employees, cafeteria leaders, canteen leaders, and other su-
pervisors. ,
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
Air Terminal Services, Inc., 67 NLRB 702; Lee E. Stine d/b/a Fairchild Cafeteria and
Fairchild Engine and Airplane corporation, supra.
1338 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 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 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 bargain-
ing, by International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agri-
cultural Implement Workers of America, CIO.