Johns Brothers, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 14, 1949

84 N.L.R.B. 294 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter Of JOHNS BROTHERS, INC., HOLZBAUGH MOTOR SALES, INC.,
JEFFERSON LINCOLN-MERCURY, INC., Russ DAWSON, INC., BOB FORD,
INC., HETTCIHE MOTOR SALES COMPANY, A. W. REISTER, INC., MOW-
BRAY-FINCH, INC., PARK MOTOR SALES COMPANY, W. B. DEYO CO.,
GILBERT -MOTOR SALES, INC., SOUTHWESTERN MOTOR SALES, INC.,
FLOYD RICE COLLISION, INC., BACKUS-LETTS, INC., CLARENCE BELL,
INC., ALFRED F. STEINER, Co., MILLENBACH MOTOR SALES, AL LONG,
INC., Louis I. COTE, INC., DAVE KENNEDY COMPANY, COOGAN-SHU-
MERSKI, INC., MARK CONRAD, INC., EMPLOYERS and INTERNATIONAL
UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLE-
MENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, UAW-CIO, PETITIONER
Case Nos. 7-RC-143 through 7-RC-1.19; 7-RC-151 through 7-RC-
155; 7-RC-273; 7- C-306 through 7-RC-312; 7-RC-373, and
7-RC-412.-Decided June 14,1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon separate petitions duly filed,' a consolidated hearing was held
before Cecil Pearl, 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.3
I The petitions and other formal papers in these consolidated proceedings were amended
at the hearing to show the correct names of certain Employers
2 After the Order Consolidating Cases issued , but before these several cases were trans-
ferred from the Regional Office to the Board, the Petitioner, with the Regional Director's
approval, withdrew its petition filed in Matter of Floyd Rice Collision, Inc, Case No.
7-RC-273 This case is accordingly hereby severed from these consolidated proceedings,
and we make no findings in the instant decision with respect to the issues raised therein.
'The hearing officer properly granted Machinists' Lodge No 698, International Asso-
ciation of Machinists, herein called the Intervenor, motion to intervene as to the follow-
ing Employers : Holzbaugh Motor Sales , Inc, herein called Holzbaugh ; Jefferson Lincoln-
Mercury , Inc, herein called Jefferson , Russ Dawson, Inc ., herein called Dawson ; Hettche
Motor Sales Company, herein called Hettche, W. B. Deyo Co, herein called Deyo ; Backus-
Letts, Inc, herein called Backus-Letts , Millenbach Motor Sales, herein called Millenbach ;
Louis I Cote, Inc., herein called Cote ; Dave Kennedy Company, herein called Kennedy ;
and properly denied intervention as to : Mowbray -Finch, Inc., herein called Mowbray-
Finch , Gilbert Motor Sales, Inc, herein called Gilbert , Clarence Bell , Inc , herein called
Bell ; Alfred F. Steiner Co., herein called Steiner ; and Coogan - Shumerski, Inc, herein
called Coogan - Shumerski
The hearing officer erred in denying the Intervenor ' s motions to intervene with respect
to the following Employers : John Brothers , Inc., herein called Johns ; Bob Ford, Inc.,
84 N. L. R. B., No. 33.
294
JOHNS BROTHERS, INC., ET AL. 295
Upon the entire record in these cases,4 the Board finds:'
1. The Employers herein are Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury dealers,
maintaining and operating authorized sales and service businesses in
the Detroit, Michigan, metropolitan area . The Ford Motor Company
plants from whom the Employers purchase products for resale are
situated in Dearborn, Michigan, and Detroit, Michigan. The Em-
ployers contend that, because they are engaged in business solely
within the -State of Michigan and no substantial quantity of the
products bought or sold by them flow directly across State lines, they%
are not engaged in operations affecting interstate commerce within
the meaning of the Act and the Board is without jurisdiction in these
proceedings.
2. We find the above contentions of the Employers to be without
merit. Our dissenting colleague bases his argument on the fact that the
Employers herein are local dealers who themselves are not directly
engaged in commerce to a significant degree. We, however, arrive at
our decision because of the following facts : The vehicles and parts
sold by the Employers before us are manufactured by a large industrial
organization , the Ford Motor Company, which is engaged extensively
in interstate commerce. The sale of its products by local agents
directly affect Ford's operations. A breakdown in any portion of
its industrial complex would have an inevitable effect on interstate
commerce . We do not believe that the geographical location of these
dealers in the same State where the finished products which they sell
are manufactured or assembled is significant. As in the Kaljian case 6
the Ford operations in Michigan consist to a large degree of assembling
finished products from many parts manufactured without the State
of Michigan and the sale of these final products by the franchised
dealers is only the terminus of the long route these articles have
traveled in interstate commerce. Contrary to the Employers' con-
herein called Bob Ford ; A . W. Reister , Inc., herein called Reister ; Park Motor Sales
'Company, herein called Park ; Southwestern Motor Sales, Inc , herein called Southwestern ;
Al Long, Inc , herein called Long, and Mark Conra(l, Inc, herein called Mark Conrad.
Matter of Triangle Hosiery Company, Inc, 65 N L. R. B. 69. Accordingly the ruling of
the hearing officer denying the motion to intervene with respect to these Employers
is hereby overruled , and the motions are granted.
Subsequent to the hearing , the Intervenor herein submitted a showing of Interest with
respect to certain Employers ( Mowbray-Finch, Gilbert, Steiner , and Coogan -Shumerski)
in whose cases its intervention was previously denied at the hearing. As all such show-
ings were acquired subsequent to the hearing, the request of the Intervenor to participate
in elections other than those in which we have ordered it placed on the ballot is denied.
See Matter of LaClede Gas Light Company, 81 N. L. R B 462 ; Matter of Gullett Gin
Co., 72 N. L. R. B. 1101.
Chairman Herzog took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction
of Elections.
9 Matter of Kal)ian Chevrolet Company, 82 N. L. it. B. 978 ; and also see Matter
of M. L. Townsend, 81 N. L. R. B. 739.
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296 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tentions, we are of the opinion that the individual Employers' opera-
tions affect commerce within the meaning of the Act. -
3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the representa-
tion of certain employees of the Employers, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. We find,7 that all employees of each Employer, individually and
separately, including Russ Dawson, Inc., 16231 Woodward Avenue,
504 Earle at Woodward Avenue, and 2435 Park Avenue, Detroit,-
Michigan; Al Long, Inc., 14550 Gratiot Avenue and 14606 Gratiot
Avenue, Detroit; Holzbaugh Motor Sales, Inc., 10900 Charlevoix
and 3575 Fairview Avenue, Detroit, excluding office and clerical em-
ployees, new and used car salesmen, administrative and professional
employees, watchmen, superintendents, service managers, shop fore-
men, and all supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute separate ap-
propriate units for the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act."
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS a
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Holzbaugh, Jefferson, Dawson,
Hettche, Deyo, Backus-Letts, Millenbach, Cote, Kennedy, Johns, Bob
Ford, Reister, Mowbray-Finch, Park, Gilbert, Southwestern, Bell,
Steiner, Long, Coogan-Shumerski, and Mark Conrad, metropolitan
area of Detroit, Michigan, respectively, separate elections by secret
ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than 30
days from the date of the Direction, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Seventh 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 appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above,
who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding
the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work dur-
ing said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tempo-
rarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since quit or
been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated
7 At the hearing, the Intervenor contended that all of the Employers herein are an Asso-
ciation, and on that basis, the only appropriate unit is a single multi-employer unit How-
ever, the Intervenor offered no evidence to sustain its contention and while previous labor
relations with the Petitioner on behalf of several of the Employers, were individually con-
ducted through an industrial relations firm, the Employers did not indicate a desire for
joint or collective action
6 The unit, as described, insofar as Millenbach is concerned, applies only to its employees-
working at the 2105 Russell Street address
9 Either participant in the separate elections directed herein may, upon its prompt
request to, and approval thereof by, the Regional Director, have its name removed from,
the ballot.
0
JOHNS BROTHERS , INC., ET AL. 297
prior to the date of the elections, and also excluding employees on
strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether they
desire to be represented by International Union, United Automobile
Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of, America, UAW-
CIO, or by, Machinists' Lodge No. 698, International Association of
Machinists,10 or by neither.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
MEMBER MURDOCK, dissenting :
I can find no warrant in the record to support the finding of the
majority that "the individual Employers' operations affect commerce
within the meaning of the Act."
This proceeding involves 21 retail Ford or Lincoln-Mercury dealers
in the Detroit area, each of whom is found by the majority to con-
stitute a separate appropriate unit. Each dealer involved obtains his
motor vehicles, parts and accessories, and other products from the
Ford Motor Company located in the Detroit area. Practically all of
the sales of each dealer are made in the Detroit area. Some of the
dealers make no out-of-State purchases or sales whatever. In the
case of those who do, the dollar volume of such out-of-State purchases
or sales represents, in most instances, only tiny fractions of 1 percent
of the total purchases and sales. Accordingly, except for these incon-
sequential fractions of a percent, we are dealing with Michigan em-
ployers who purchase automobiles manufactured in Michigan and
resell them in Michigan.
The majority says that the dealers' operations affect commerce de-
spite the fact that the cars they sell are manufactured within the State
of Michigan, because the Ford Motor Company purchases some of the
parts used in the manufacture of its cars from out-of-State concerns.
The theory presumably is, if a dealer is shut-down and doesn't pur-
chase his quota of cars from Ford, Ford will of necessity make fewer
cars and therefore will purchase fewer parts from out-of-State con-
cerns, thus decreasing the interstate flow of parts. Apart from the
fact that such an effect of the dealers' operations on commerce would
be remote rather than direct, I question whether a work stoppage at
the place of business of any one of the dealers involved herein would
have any effect-direct or indirect-on interstate commerce.
"Machinists Lodge No. 698 , International Association of Machinists , name will not
appear in the elections involving employees of Mowbray -Finch, Gilbert , Bell , Steiner, and
Coogan-Shumerski , as it was not permitted to intervene in those proceedings. Footnote 3,
supra.