Harrys Cadillac-Pontiac Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 3, 1949

81 N.L.R.B. 1 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter Of HARRYS CADILLAC-PONTIAC COMPANY, INCORPORATED
and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS
In the Matter of R. E . ORR, TRADING AND D/B/A ED ORR MOTORS and
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS
In the Matter Of PLESS MOTOR COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIA-
TION OF MACHINISTS
In the Matter of C. C. CURTISS, D/B/A CURTISS MOTOR COMPANY and
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS
In the Matter of F & G MOTORS , INCORPORATED and INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS
In the Matter of BROWN MOTOR COMPANY, INCORPORATED and INTER-
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS
In the Matter Of MATTHEWS MOTOR SALES, INC. and INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS
In the Matter of SAMS MOTOR SALES, INC. and INTERNATIONAL Asso-
CIATION OF MACHINISTS
Maces Nos. 34-RC-71, 34-RC-72, 34-RC-74, 34-RC-75, 34-RC-76,
34-RC-78, 34-RC-79, and 34-RC-82, respectively. Decided Janu-
ary 3, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon separate petitions duly filed,' a consolidated hearing was
held before a hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board 2
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
I The petitions and other formal papers in these consolidated proceedings were amended
ilt the hearing to show the correct names of certain Employers.
'After the Order of Consolidation issued, but before these several cases were transferred
from the Regional Office to the Board, the Petitioner , with the Regional Director 's approval,
withdrew its petitions filed in Matter of Sawyer Motor Company, Inc., Case No . 34-RC-77,
and in Matter of E. S. Street Company, Case No. 34-RC-81. These two cases are accord-
ingly hereby severed from these consolidated proceedings , we make no findings in the instant
decision with respect to the issues raised therein.
81 N. L. R. B., No. 1.
1
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 this case, the Board finds :
1. The business of the Employers :
The concerns named herein as Employers are engaged in the pur-
chase and sale of new and used automobiles, trucks, parts and acces-
sories, and operate automobile and truck maintenance and repair shops
in Asheville, North Carolina. During their respective fiscal years
for 1947, the Employers severally purchased and sold the following :
Harrys Cadillac-Pontiac Company, Incorporated, purchased out-
side the State new cars, and parts and accessories valued at approxi-
mately $350,000. It also purchased within the State used cars valued
at approximately $150,000. During the same period, the Employer
sold new cars and used cars valued at approximately $350,000 and
$225,000, respectively.
R. E. Orr, d/b/a Ed Orr Motors, purchased outside the State new
cars valued at $115,424.92. Fifty percent of its parts and accessories,
in all valued at $32,191.20, was purchased outside the State. It also
purchased within the State used cars valued at $60,760.22. During
the same period the Employer sold new cars, used cars, and parts and
accessories, valued at $163,189.48, $75,832.50, and $42,188.60,
respectively.
Pless Motor Company purchased new cars, used cars, parts and
accessories, valued in excess of $275,000, all but 5 percent of which were
purchased outside the State. The 5 percent represents the value of
used cars purchased within the State. During the same period, the
Employer's sales amounted to $375,000.
C. C. Curtiss, d/b/a Curtiss Motor Company, purchased outside the
State new trucks and parts and accessories, valued at approximately
$68,000 and $40,000, respectively. During the same period, the
Employer sold trucks and parts and accessories, valued at approxi-
mately $172,000 and $7,500, respectively.
F & G Motors, Incorporated, purchased outside the State new cars
valued in excess of $201,000. Seventy-five percent of its parts and
accessories, in all valued at approximately $20,000, was purchased
outside the State. It also purchased within the State used cars valued
in excess of $4,000. During the same period, the Employer sold new
cars, used cars, and parts and accessories valued at approximately
$259,000, $10,000, and $35,000, respectively.
*Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Gray.
HARRYS CADILLAC-PONTIAC COMPANY 3
Brown Motor Company, Incorporated, purchased outside the State
new cars valued at approximately $100,000. Fifty percent of its parts
and accessories, in all valued at approximately $11,000, was purchased
outside the State. It also purchased within the State used cars, valued
at approximately $5,000. During the same period the Employer sold
new cars, used cars, and parts and accessories, valued at approximately
$140,000, $10,000, and $12,000, respectively.
Matthews Motor Sales, Inc., purchased new cars and parts and
accessories valued at approximately $416,000 and $310,000, respec-
tively, the ultimate source of which was outside the State. It also
purchased within the State used cars valued at approximately $44,000.
The new cars and parts were purchased through the Ford Motor
Company's Charlotte office. During the same period, the Employer
sold new cars, used cars, and parts and accessories, valued at approxi-
mately $533,000, $65,000, and $477,000, respectively.
Sams Motor Sales, Inc., purchased outside the State new cars valued
at $289,618.30. The ultimate source of its parts and accessories, val-
ued at $80,000, was outside the State. It also purchased within the
State used cars valued at approximately $70,000. During the same
period, the Employer sold new cars, used cars, and parts and accesso-
ries valued at $375,000, $100,000, and $70,000, respectively.
All sales of all Employers were made within the State.
We find, contrary to the contention of the respective Employers,
that they are, and each of them is, engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the Act .3
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent em-
ployees of the Employers.
3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the representation
of employees of the several Employers within the meaning of Sec-
tion 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate units :
The parties agree that the mechanics, helpers, and apprentices (or
learners) engaged in repairing and servicing cars and trucks in the
service department of each Employer constitute a separate appropriate
bargaining unit. The Employers would include, and the Petitioner
exclude, parts men.
Parts men work in the parts departments of the various Employers,
which occupy separate or partioned enclosures, next to or in the service
shop, opening both into the show room and into the service shop.
Mechanics work in the service shop.
8 See Matter of Bell-Wyman Company, 79 N. L. R. B. 1424, and cases cited therein ; Mat-
ter of Liddon White Truck Company, Inc., 76 N. L. R. B. 1181.
829595-50-vol. 81-2
4 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Parts men and mechanics are under separate supervision. Parts
men are paid on a salary basis, and mechanics are paid on an hourly
basis . With the exception of parts men of Sams Motor Sales, Inc.,
the parts men of the Employers occasionally go into the shop to make
minor repairs and installations of such parts as lights and wind-shield
wipers . The mechanics and shop foremen, when the occasion neces-
sitates, go into the parts department to secure parts or to relieve the
parts men. It is not uncommon for a mechanic to become a parts man,
as "a good parts man is also a good mechanic." In the operations of
Brown Motor Company, the mechanics help the parts men take inven-
tory, and the parts men attend the mechanics' service meetings to keep
up with the latest mechanical developments. However, in the opera-
tions of Sams Motor Sales, Inc., the parts men are not mechanics and
do not work in the shop and the mechanics are,not allowed in the parts
department.
The parts men combine, with their other regular duties, the over-the-
counter sale of parts. However, the Employers are all franchised
dealers and handle only parts required for such autos or trucks. They
use approximately 90 percent of their parts for repairs in their own
service shop. They do not solicit retail business for their parts de-
partment; so the comparatively few over-the-counter sales made by
the parts men are for the convenience of other garages and the public.
The Board, in the past, has excluded parts men from a service de-
partment unit when it found that their interests were different from
those of the mechanics.4 The Board has included parts men in such
units when it found that their interests were closely related to those
of the mechanics.5 The interests of parts men of all the Employers
herein, except Sams Motor Sales, Inc., are closely tied with those of
mechanics. The parts men of Sams Motor Sales, Inc., have less work
contacts with its mechanics, but they function in a related department,
and with mechanics, helpers, and apprentices constitute their Em-
ployer's physical employees, as distinct from office and clerical em-
ployees and salesmen. We shall, therefore, include the parts men in
the mechanics' units in these cases.
We find that employees in the service and parts departments of
Harrys Cadillac-Pontiac Company, Incorporated, R. E. Orr, trading
and d/b/a Ed Orr Motors, Pless Motor Company, C. C. Curtiss, d/b/a
Curtiss Motor Company, F & G Motors, Incorporated, Brown Motor
Company, Incorporated, Matthews Motor Sales, Inc., and Sams Motor
Sales, Inc., respectively, including mechanics, helpers, apprentices (or
4 See Matter of Liddon White Truck Company, Inc., supra, wherein the stockroom em-
ployees were excluded from a unit of mechanics because of their larger activities and inter-
ests as salesmen , and Matter of Elm City Chevrolet , Inc., 77 N. L. R. B. 358.
5 See Matter of Valley Truck and Tractor Co , 80 N. L R. B. 444.
HARRYS CADILLAC-PONTIAC COMPANY 5
learners), and parts men, but excluding office and clerical employees,
salesmen , and supervisors , constitute separate units appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9
(b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Harrys Cadillac-Pontiac Com-
pany, Incorporated, R. E. Orr, trading and d/b/a Ed Orr Motors,
Pless Motor Company, C. C. Curtiss, d/b/a Curtiss Motor Company,
F & G Motors, Incorporated, Brown Motor Company, Incorporated,
Matthews Motor Sales, and Sams Motor Sales, Asheville, North Caro-
lina, respectively, separate elections by secret ballot shall be conducted
as early as possible, but not later than 90 days from the date of the
Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Direc-
tor for the Fifth 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 separate units found appro-
priate in paragraph 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, 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 elections, and
also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstate-
ment, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by In-
ternational Association of Machinists, for the purposes of collective
bargaining.