Liebmann Breweries, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 30, 1951

92 N.L.R.B. 1740 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

In the Matter of LIEBMANN BREWERIES , INC., EMPLOYER and Oi is i
EMPLOYES INTERNATIONAL UNION, LOCAL 153, AFL, PETITIONER
Cabe No. 2-RC-2414.-Decided January 30, 1951
DECISION AND ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Oscar Geltman,, hear-
ing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudical error and 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.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent employees
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
reasons:
The Petitioner seeks a unit comprised of all bottle and draft beer
retail outlet salesmen of the Employer in New York City, in Nassau,
Suffolk, and Westchester Counties, New York State, and in Newark,
New Jersey, but excluding such salesmen in Bridgeport and Hartford,
Connecticut. In the alternative, the Petitioner desires two units of
these employees, one consisting of the salesmen attached to the Em-
ployer's Newark, New Jersey, depot, and the other of the salesmen
attached to all other offices and depots of the Employer except those in
Bridgeport and Hartford, Connecticut.
The Intervenor 1 took no unit position. The Employer contends
that only an employer-wide unit of its retail outlet salesmen, includ-
ing those in Connecticut, is appropriate.
The Employer is engaged in the manufacture, distribution, and sale
of beer and ale. It has its principal office and operates a brewery at
Brooklyn, New York, and also maintains a brewery and branch sales
office in the Bronx, New York. In addition, the Employer maintains
depots, each consisting of a branch sales office and warehouse, at Lyn-
1 Brewery Workers Joint Board Salesmen 's Organizing Committee, CIO.
92 NLRB No. 260.
1740
LIEBMANN BREWERIES, INC. 1741
brook and Riverhead, Long Island, New York, at White Plains, New
York, at Newark, New Jersey, and at Hartford and Bridgeport, Con-
necticut. The Employer's vice president in charge of sales, hereinafter
referred to as the sales manager, is in charge of all retail outlet sales
and salesmen. Under him are a city bottle supervisor and a depot
supervisor. The Employer's New York City sales area is divided into
administrative districts, each of which is in charge of a district man-
ager who supervises an average of six to nine salesmen. Customers in
the New York City area are supplied directly from the Bronx or
Brooklyn breweries. At its depots outside New York City, the Em-
ployer warehouses beer shipped, from its Bronx and Brooklyn
breweries. Each depot has a sales staff under a depot manager and
supplies the Employer's customers in the particular depot area.
Of the Employer's approximately 165 salesmen, 2 are attached to
the Riverhead, Long Island, depot, approximately 70 miles from the
main office in Brooklyn; 13 to the Lynbrook, Long Island,. depot,
approximately 18 miles from the main office; 12 to the White Plains,
New York, depot, approximately 25 miles from the main office; 23 to
the Newark, New Jersey, depot, approximately 20 miles from the main
office; 15 to the Bridgeport, Connecticut, depot, approximately 60 miles
from the main office; and 9 to the Hartford, Connecticut, depot,
approximately 110 miles from the main office; the remaining salesmen
work out of the Employer's Bronx and Brooklyn offices.
The working conditions of all salesmen, which are substantially
the same,2 are established by the main office. All salesmen work on a
base pay plus incentive bonus plan, and it is company policy to hire
all new salesmen at the same starting salary. Although there has been
variation from this policy, based on an employee's previous experience,
the record shows no established pattern of differences in starting
salary peculiar to any sales area. Salary checks for all salesmen are
prepared at the main office and are sent to the various depots for distri-
bution to the salesmen. District and depot managers may make
recommendations regarding hire or discharge, but final decision as
to these matters is made independently by the sales manager, who
does not always follow such recommendations. The sales manager
himself interviews and passes on applicants before they are actually
hired and rules on the infrequent applications for transfer from one
sales branch office to another. Company sales policy is formulated
at the main office by the sales manager in consultation with other
executives of the Employer. There is no bargaining history with
Bottle beer salesmen generally receive 2 weeks and keg beer salesmen 3 weeks of vaca-
tion a year. However, salesmen at Riverhead, Long Island, and salesmen of keg beer ih
Connecticut receive only a 2-week vacation.
1742 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
respect to the salesmen involved herein.3 We note also that although
the Petitioner would include the salesmen at the Riverhead, Long
Island, office, approximately 70 miles from the main office, it would
exclude the salesmen at Bridgeport, ConnecticuC, only about 60 miles
distant.
Under the foregoing circumstances, particularly the marked cen-
tralization of the Employer's sales organization, the virtual absence
of local autonomy in hiring and discharge, the central control ex-
ercised with respect to supervision, wages, working conditions, and
general policies, and on the basis of the entire record in the case, we
find that both the primary and alternative units sought by the Peti-
tioner are too narrow in scope and therefore inappropriate for collec-
tive bargaining purposes 4 Accordingly, as the showing of interest of
neither labor organization is sufficient to warrant the direction of an
election in a more comprehensive unit, we shall dismiss the petition
herein.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition herein be, and it hereby is,
dismissed.
I In Liebmann Breweries, Inc., 33 NLRB 387, the Board dismissed a petition for a unit
comprised of bottle beer salesmen only at some of the Employer ' s sales offices, on the
ground that the unit sought was inappropriate . The petitioner in that proceeding is not
involved herein.
4 John F. Trommer, Inc., 90 NLRB 1200.