J. L. Brandeis & Sons

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 6, 1949

82 N.L.R.B. 806 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of J. L. BRANDEIS & SONS, EMPLOYER and GENERAL
DRIVERS AND HELPERS UNION, LOCAL No. 554, AFFILIATED WITH
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WARE-
HOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, A. F. OF L., PETITIONER
Case No.17-RC-294.-Decided April 6,1919
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before hearing ofli-
-cers 1 of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officers'
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.*
Upon the entire record 2 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 organization named below claims to represent employ-
ees of the Employer.
3. No 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, for the following
seasons:
The Petitioner requests a unit of all warehousemen and drivers at
the Employer's warehouse at 10th and Douglas Streets, Omaha, Ne-
braska, excluding office personnel, retail sales force, and supervisors
as defined in the Act 3 The Employer contends that any unit involv-
ing its operations should be established on a store-wide basis.
1 The hearing was held at Omaha, Nebraska , on January 4, 1949, before Robert S . Fousek.
The case was continued and further bearing held on January 24 and 25, 1949 , before
William J . Scott . The change in hearing officers was due to the fact that Fousek was
.appearing in another Board proceeding.
*Reynolds , Murdock, and Gray.
2 The Employer 's request for oral argument is denied, as the record and briefs filed herein
. adequately present the issues and positions of the parties.
8 This is the proposed unit as amended at the hearing.
82 N. L. R. B, No. 93.
806
J. L. BRANDEIS & SONS 807
The Employer operates a single large department store in Omaha,
Nebraska, where it employs approximately 1,300 persons. The store
building consists of 10 floors and is located at 16th and Douglas Streets.
Its 3 upper floors are used as a warehouse (hereinafter referred to as
the store warehouse) for storing merchandise. The basement of the
store is connected by a subway to the Brandeis Theatre Building, lo-
cated at the southwest corner of 17th and Douglas Streets, the base-
ment of which building is used by employees and contains their locker
rooms. Another subway connects the store to the Courtney Building,
located at the northeast corner of 17th and Douglas Streets. This
subway and the basement of the Courtney Building contain the store's
cafeteria and the delivery department. In addition, the Employer
has a powerhouse and garage at 17th and Dodge Streets and a ware-
house in the M. E. Smith Building (hereinafter referred to as the
Smith warehouse) at 10th and Douglas Streets, approximately 2
and 6 blocks, respectively, from the store. The employees whom the
Petitioner seeks to represent are located at, or work out of, the Smith
warehouse.
All merchandise is displayed and sold in the store and either moves
from there directly to the customer or is prepared for delivery at
the Smith warehouse and shipped directly to the customer. As a
result, there is a regular interchange of merchandise between the
store and the Smith warehouse. A very considerable amount of mer-
chandise is kept in the store warehouse, but items delivered in carload
lots and bulky articles such as furniture, house furnishings, toys, and
appliances are stored at the Smith warehouse. The entire operation
is conducted under a unified management. All Smith warehouse
files, pay-roll records, and personnel and employment offices are main-
tained in the store building.
The truck drivers: Six drivers and their six helpers work out of the
Smith warehouse. They are classified as follows : (1) two furniture
drivers who deliver furniture from the warehouse to customers; (2)
two route drivers who deliver items such as rugs, lamps, and toys
from the warehouse to customers ; (3) one freight driver who delivers
merchandise and supplies from the warehouse to the main store and
returns merchandise that has been sold to the warehouse where it is
picked up by one of the other drivers; and, (4) one appliance driver
who delivers appliances such as refrigerators, stoves, washers, and
radios either to the store or directly to customers. In addition to the
foregoing categories of truck drivers in the Smith warehouse, all of
whom the Petitioner seeks to represent, the Employer has four pack-
age drivers who deliver small packages to customers from the delivery
room at the Courtney Building; a furniture repair driver who does
808 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
outside furniture repairing; a radio appliance driver who makes
outside radio and appliance repairs; and, a maintenance driver who
picks up materials for the maintenance crew and hauls fixtures and
other items between the Smith warehouse and the store.
Although the furniture repair driver, the radio appliance driver,
the maintenance driver, the Smith warehouse drivers, and the package
drivers are under different immediate supervision, the latter two have
the same over-all supervision. All the Employer's truck drivers re-
port to the garage in the morning to pick up their trucks. There is
apparently little difference between the type of work performed by
the furniture, route, appliance, freight, and package drivers, except
with respect to the size and bulkiness of the articles handled and the
fact that the package drivers operate lighter trucks. Their wages,
hours, general working conditions, and privileges are the same. The
Employer does not have any apprentice training program for the
drivers and no special licenses are required.
The warehouse employees: Among the warehouse employees sought
by the Petitioner at the Smith warehouse, totaling 36, are storekeepers,
warehousemen, markers, packers, finishers, appliance men, rug men,
requisition clerks, dockmen, and shipping clerks. Employees doing
similar work such as dockmen, packers, finishers, and stockmen are
also employed in the store building, either in the store warehouse or
the store proper where the Employer maintains smaller stock rooms
for display and immediate delivery purposes. All these employees
are subject to the same over-all labor policy and the same company
policy with respect to wages, hours, vacations, bonus benefits, sick
benefits, and other conditions of employment.
It is clear from the foregoing salient facts and from the record as
a whole that the Smith warehouse activities are closely integrated with
those of the store; that the Smith warehouse employees perform work
similar to that of the store warehouse employees and other store
employees; that the duties of the Smith warehouse drivers are similar
to those of the package drivers; and that the interests with respect to
wages, hours, and other conditions of employment of all these em-
ployees are closely related. We believe; therefore, that the proposed unit
is too limited in scope to constitute a separate appropriate Unit .4 The
only basis for its establishment is the extent of the Petitioner's organi-
zation among the drivers and warehouse employees herein involved.
However, the Act, as amended, precludes a finding on this basis alone s
Accordingly, we find that the unit requested by the Petitioner is
4 Matter o f Louis Pizitz Dry Goods Company, 80 N. L . R. B. No. 222; Matter of Mont-
gomery Ward & Co. Incorporated, 77 N. L. it. B. 1363. See also Matter of Namm's Inc.,
81 N. L. it. B., No 156
5 Matter of Mandell Brothers, Inc., 77 N. L. it. B 512.
J. L. BRANDEIS & SONS 809
inappropriate for collective bargaining purposes. We shall, therefore,
dismiss the petition.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the entire record in this proceeding, the National
Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the petition filed by Gen-
eral Drivers and Helpers Union, Local No. 554, affiliated with Inter-
national Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and
Helpers of America, A. F. of L., in the instant matter be, and it hereby
is, dismissed.