Joseph Cory Warehouse, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 27, 1970

184 N.L.R.B. 627 (N.L.R.B. 1970)

JOSEPH CORY WAREHOUSE 627
Joseph Cory Warehouse, Inc., Employer-Petitioner
and Furniture , Flour, Grocery, Teamsters &
Chauffeurs, Local Union No . 138, New York, New
York, affiliated with International Brotherhood of
Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Hel-
pers of America ' and Van Drivers , Packers &
Furniture Handlers, Warehousemen and Ap-
pliance Home Delivery Union , Local 814, Interna-
tional Brotherhood of Teamsters , Chauffeurs,
Warehousemen and Helpers of America.2 Case
22-UC-22
July 27, 1970
DECISION AND ORDER CLARIFYING UNIT
BY MEMBERS FANNING, MCCULLOCH, AND JENKINS
Upon a petition for clarification duly filed under
Section 9(b) of the National Labor Relations Act,
as amended, the Regional Director for Region 22
caused an investigation to be made and thereafter
issued his Decision and Order dismissing the Em-
ployer's petition. Thereafter, the National Labor
Relations Board granted the Employer's Request
for Review and ordered that the case be remanded
for a hearing before a Hearing Officer of the Board.
A hearing was held before Hearing Officer
Robert A. Goodman on April 28 and May 5 and
13, 1970. Following the hearing and pursuant to
Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended,
the Regional Director for Region 22 issued an
order transferring the case to the Board for deci-
sion. Thereafter, the Employer and Local 814 time-
ly filed briefs, which have been considered.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connec-
tion with this case to a three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's
rulings made at the hearing and finds that they are
free from prejudicial error. The rulings are hereby
affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board
finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the Act, and it will effectuate the
purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
2. The labor organization involved claims to
represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. The Employer is engaged in the warehousing
and delivery of furniture in the Metropolitan New
York area. It currently operates warehouses in Jer-
sey City and Elizabeth, New Jersey, with the latter
only being involved herein. Local 138 represents 40
drivers and helpers and 60 inside warehouse em-
ployees at the Elizabeth location and all the Jersey
City employees. Local 814 represents nine drivers
and helpers at Elizabeth, all of whom only deliver
furniture made by the Detroit Furniture Company,
one of the Employer's major customers. Neither
local has received a Board certification, but the
Employer has had collective-bargaining agreements
with both for more than a decade.'
The Employer's petition requests that the unit be
clarified so that all the chauffeurs, helpers, inside
men, warehousemen, and extra help employed at its
Elizabeth warehouse be represented solely by Local
138. Local 138 supports the Employer's position,
but Local 814 opposes, contending that it has
historically represented the employees who service
the Detroit Furniture account, that their best in-
terests would be served by such continued
representation, and that Teamsters Joint Council
16 has ruled that it should continue to represent the
nine employees at issue herein. We grant the Em-
ployer's request for the following reasons.
In 1959, after several corporate mergers, the Em-
ployer consolidated its operations in Brooklyn, New
York. The same parties involved in the instant
proceeding then submitted a dispute among them
to the Teamsters Joint Council, which ruled that
Local 138 would represent all inside employees
(warehousemen) and Local 814 all outside em-
ployees (drivers and helpers). The Employer also
opened its Jersey City warehouse at that time and
staffed it with Local 138 members, as no deliveries
were then being made from Jersey City. However,
when the Employer began to make deliveries
directly from the Jersey City warehouse, the drivers
and helpers became members of Local 138.
In 1964, the Employer closed its Brooklyn opera-
tion and all employees who relocated to Jersey City
joined Local 138; 10 Local 814 members remained
in a Brooklyn garage to continue servicing the
Detroit Furniture account. In 1967, the Elizabeth
warehouse involved herein was opened and all em-
ployees there became members of Local 138.
Finally, in March 1969, the Employer lost the
Detroit Furniture account, and the 10 Local 814
members transferred to Elizabeth, apparently with
the understanding that they too would join Local
138. For a number of reasons, particularly the
lower Local 138 wage scale and the fear of losing
seniority and pension benefits, the 10 Local 814
members refused to join Local 138 despite as-
Herein called Local 138
2 Herein called Local 814
Whether a unit has been formally certified by the Board or exists solely
184 NLRB No. 73
by virtue of contract negotiations, it is subject to a motion for clarification
See Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen , 145 NLRB 1521
427-835 0 - 74 - 41
628 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
surances by the Employer that their rights would be
protected.
Several attempts to resolve the dispute amicably
among the parties proved fruitless , and they agreed
to submit it to Teamsters Joint Council 16. The
Employer , believing that the Joint Council would
rule in its favor , signed a new collective -bargaining
contract with Local 138 for the period ending June
30, 1972.
In July 1969 the Employer regained the Detroit
Furniture account . The Joint Council on September
11, 1969, ruled that Local 814 's members would
continue to service that account exclusively.
The Joint Council ruling placed the Employer in
a difficult position . While all the Elizabeth
warehouse employees work side by side and do the
identical type of work ( loading furniture onto
trucks and delivering it to customers of the various
manufacturers whom the Employer services), the
Employer cannot integrate its operations because
the Local 814 drivers and helpers will only handle
Detroit Furniture Company goods . This has meant
that on a few occasions a fully loaded Local 138
manned truck containing non-Detroit furniture has
made a delivery only to be followed by a Local 814
manned truck containing separate Detroit furniture
for the same customer . In such circumstances, the
Employer contends , it cannot operate efficiently
unless it can place all the furniture , regardless of
manufacturer , on one truck. Local 814 apparently
will not permit this and has threatened to strike if
the Employer integrates the Elizabeth operations.
In Humble Oil & Refining Company, 153 NLRB
1361, the Board dealt with a situation not unlike
that present in the instant proceeding . There Rum-
ble's New York State employees , including its
truckdrivers and mechanics , were represented by
one union . When Humble purchased the assets of a
fuel oil company whose truckdrivers and mechanics
were represented by a different union , it integrated
the two company 's operations so that the
truckdrivers and mechanics of the purchased firm
worked alongside Humble 's employees . The in-
tegrated operation 's employees worked from the
same locations , serviced the same accounts, had the
same supervision , were subject to the same labor
relations policies , and had the same interests in
wages and working conditions . We held that the
purchased company 's employees who were merged
into Humble's operations could not be considered a
separate appropriate unit, and we included them in
the larger unit of Humble 's New York employees.
Here, the record clearly indicates that the Local
814 members do the same work as the Local 138
members (who comprise the vast bulk of the
Elizabeth work force ), work out of the same loca-
tion, often deliver furniture manufactured by
Detroit Furniture Company to customers on the
same day that Local 138 members deliver other ac-
counts furniture to the same customers , are paid
from the same office and , but for their currently
different working hours , would have the same su-
pervision . As noted above, only the threat of a
strike by Local 814 has prevented the Employer
from intergrating its operations in the same fashion
as did Humble.
In short , except for the fact that Local 814 mem-
bers have historically handled Detroit Furniture
goods, there is no rational basis for maintaining
such a separate unit. Accordingly , we find that a
separate unit of Local 814 members to service only
the Detroit Furniture account cannot now be con-
sidered appropriate , and we will clarify the unit so
that all chauffeurs , helpers, inside men,
warehousemen , and extra help employed at the
Employer's Elisabeth , New Jersey , warehouse, shall
be represented solely by Local 138.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the unit of chauffeurs,
helpers, insidemen, warehousemen , and extra help
employed at Joseph Cory Warehouse , Inc.'s
Elizabeth , New Jersey , warehouse currently
represented by Furniture , Flour , Grocery, Team-
sters & Chauffeurs , Local Union No. 138, New
York, New York , affiliated with International
Brotherhood of Teamsters , Chauffeurs,
Warehousemen and Helpers of America, be
clarified to include those chauffeurs and helpers
represented by Van Drivers, Packers & Furniture
Handlers, Warehousemen and Appliance Home
Delivery Union , Local 814 , International Brother-
hood of Teamsters , Chauffeurs , Warehousemen
and Helpers of America, who presently only deliver
furniture made by Detroit Furniture Company.