Marshall Field & Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 8, 1947

73 N.L.R.B. 900 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter Of MARSHALL FIELD & COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
LOCAL 18, UPHOLSTERERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION OF N. A., AFL,
PEZmoNER
Case No. 13-R-4090.-Decided May 8, 1947
Messrs. Ralph E . Bowers and Lloyd H. Richmond , of Chicago, Ill.,
for the Employer.
Messrs. Maurice Weitzman, Alfred Rota , and Joseph M. Jacobs, by
Jacob N. Gross, of Chicago, Ill., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Stanley Segal, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
Upon a petition duly filed, the National Labor Relations Board on
December 20, 1946, conducted a prehearing election among employees
of the Employer in the alleged appropriate unit, to determine whether
or not they desired to be represented by the Petitioner for the purposes
of collective bargaining.
At the close of the election a Tally of Ballots was furnished the par-
ties. The Tally shows that there were approximately 83 eligible
voters, of whom 48 voted for the Petitioner and 22 against.
Thereafter, a hearing was held at Chicago, Illinois, on January 16
and March 19, 1947,1 before Joseph L. Hektoen, hearing officer. The
hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial
error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Marshall Field & Company, an Illinois corporation having its prin-
cipal office and place of business in Chicago, Illinois, operates textile
mills in North Carolina and Virginia, and department stores in Illi-
On March 3, 1947, the Board ordered the record reopened for the taking of additional
testimony as to the appropriateness of the unit.
73 N. L. R. B., No. 174,
900
MARSHALL FIELD & COMPANY 901
nois and Washington. This proceeding is concerned only with the
Employer's State Street, Chicago, department store. During 1945,
the Employer purchased for resale in the State Street store, merchan-
dise valued in excess of $30,000,000, of which approximately 80 per-
cent was obtained outside the State of Illinois. During the same year,
the Employer's total sales of merchandise from this store exceeded
$40,000,000, of which approximately 12 percent was shipped out of the
State.
We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner seeks a unit of all production and maintenance
employees in the drapery workroom, including slip cover and uphol-
sterer and located at 120 West Lake Street, Chicago, Illinois, but
excluding office and clerical and supervisory employees. The Em-
ployer urges the establishment of (1) a store-wide unit, or (2) a unit
composed of all non-selling employees in its various workrooms.
There is no issue as to the categories of employees to be included and
excluded.
The drapery workroom occupies 2 floors of a building located about
3 street blocks from the Employer's State Street department store.
It has about 83 employees, all of whom are under the supervision of a
manager, who in turn, is responsible to the manager of the retail
operating division. The employees in the drapery workroom are
engaged in the repair and upholstery of furniture and the production
and installation of slip covers and draperies. The principal category
of employees working in the drapery workroom are : slip-cover cutters,
drapery installers, furniture upholsterers, cabinet makers, rod cutters,
various kinds of sewers and apprentices. There is much interchange
902 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of work among the employees in the department. Thus, drapery cut-
ters may do the work of drapery installers and vice versa. There is
no interchange, however, between employees in the drapery workroom
and employees in other departments. The employees in the drapery
workroom comprise a number of related craft groups which work
together under common supervision 2 Their training, skills and
interests differ from those of other store employees. In view of the
foregoing, we are of the opinion that a unit limited to the employees
in the drapery workroom is appropriate.3
Accordingly, we find that all production and maintenance employees
in the Employer's drapery workroom, including slip cover and uphol-
stery shop, located at West Lake Street, Chicago, Illinois, but exclud-
ing all office and clerical employees and all supervisory employees
with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise
effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend
such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The results of the election held before the hearing show that the
Petitioner has secured a majority of the valid votes cast. Accord-
ingly, we shall certify it as the collective bargaining representative of
the employees in the appropriate unit.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Local 18, Upholsterers' International
Union of N. A., AFL, has been designated and selected by a majority
of the employees in the unit described in Section IV, above, as their
representative for the purposes of collective bargaining and that, pur-
suant to Section 9 (a) of the Act, the said organization is the exclusive
representative of all such employees for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and
other conditions of employment.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Certification of Representatives.
' Indicative of the related nature of the craft groups is the fact that during their
training period, apprentices learn furniture upholstery, slip cover cutting, and drapery
installation , so that at the end of their training period they are qualified to perform all
these operations
3 See Matter of The J L. Hudson Company, 59 N L R B 229