Marshall Field & Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 5, 1950

92 N.L.R.B. 527 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of MARSHALL FIELD & CO., EMPLOYER AND.UPHOLSTERERS
& FURNITURE WORKERS UNION LOCAL No. 18, A. F. L., PETITIONER
Case No. 13-RC-1345.-Decided December 5, 1950
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Karl W. Filter, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.'
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member
panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Reynolds].
: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 organization involved claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
3. A 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.
4. The appropriate unit; the determination of representatives :
The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit composed of all cabinet-
makers, finishers, upholsterers, outside servicemen, assemblers, furni-
ture inspectors, helpers and apprentices employed in the Employer's
Arthington Street warehouse at Chicago, Illinois.2 The Employer
contends that the proposed unit is inappropriate, asserting that the
craft functions of some of these employees are so integrated with its
over-all retail department store operations as to preclude the estab-
lishment of this group as a separate unit.3 The Employer further
I The Employer ' s motion to dismiss the petition on the ground that the unit sought is
inappropriate is denied for the reasons stated hereinafter.
'2 In Marshall Field 4 Company, 73 NLRB 900 , the Board found to be appropriate a
unit composed of all the Employer 's drapery workroom employees . That unit also
includes certain employees. classified as upholsterers and cabinetmakers , who appear,
however, to be performing work that is not identical with that performed by the employees
in this proceeding . On May 8, 1947, the Petitioner was certified by the Board as the
bargaining representative of the employees in that unit and currently represents them.
'3 The Employer also asserts that the unit sought is inappropriate on the ground that
it does not include the outside servicemen and the finishers in the radio and piano
workrooms . Although the Petitioner , at the hearing , did not make it clear that it seeks
to represent these categories , we deem it to be clear from the Petitioner 's brief that it
desires to include them.
92 NLRB No. 81. 527
528 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
contends that the requested unit does not conform to the bargaining
pattern established at its Chicago retail operations and in the industry
in that area. I
In December 1941, following an election conducted pursuant to a
Decision and Direction of Election, the Board certified Local 291,
Department Store Employees Union,. C. I. 0., as the bargaining rep-
resentative of all employees in, the Employer's four Chicago ware-
houses, including the employees sought herein.' During March 1942,
the first contract embracing the employees in that unit was executed
by the parties. Thereafter, yearly agreements were executed until
1945. In that year, Local 291 became affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor and, in June 1946, following another Board-
directed election,5 was certified as the bargaining representative in
virtually the same unit as that covered by the 1941 certification.
Further annual contracts were executed from 1946 until 1948, the most
recent agreement expiring in November 1949. Thereafter, it appears
that Local 291 relinquished to Local 743, International Brotherhood
of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America,
A. F. L., its jurisdictional right to represent these employees. At the
time of the hearing, the employees formerly represented by Local, 291,
including the employees involved herein, were not represented by any
labor organization.
The employees involved in this proceeding are quartered in a build-
ing located at 2653 W. Arthington Street that houses a portion of the
warehousing and workroom operations of the Employer's large Chi-
cago department store. All work is under the ultimate supervision of
the manager of warehouse service. The cabinetmakers, upholsterers,
finishers, and assemblers are directly supervised by three subforemen
who, in turn, report to the manager of the furniture finishing shops.
The outside servicemen are responsible to the manager of warehouse
customer service. The inspectors are directly supervised by the in
spection and exchange manager who is responsible to the manager of
receiving, crating, and shipping.
The approximately eight cabinet craftsmen and four cabinet repair-
men work in a furniture make-ready and assembly shop on the first
floor and a major furniture repair shop on the second floor of the
Arthington Street building. These employees condition and repair
damaged stock furniture before its delivery to purchasers. They also
repair merchandise sent in by customers. In carrying out their duties,
they use shapers, band saws, circle saws, jig saws, joiner-planers, lathes,
and other customary tools of the cabinetmaker trade. Some substitute
4 35 NLRB 1200 ; 37 NLRB 469.
5 67 NLRB 1367.
MARSHALL FIELD & CO. 529
for the outside servicemen during the latter's vacation periods. They.
likewise spend about 10 percent. of their working time in assembling
furniture. Most of the cabinet craftsmen, whose work is somewhat
more difficult and whose skills are somewhat greater than those of the
cabinet repairmen, were initially hired by the Employer as experienced
craftsmen. About four in the cabinet craftsmen classification have
served a 3-year apprenticeship training period.
The two upholsterer craftsmen have their headquarters in the second
floor furniture repair shop. They perform all kinds of furniture up-
holstery repair work, including retieing springs, and fabric, plastic,
and leather work. The record shows that one of these employees has
completed a 4-year apprenticeship training program and both perform
the customary work of journeymen in their trade.
Sixteen finisher craftsmen and five finisher repairmen are also quar-
tered in the first and second floor furniture shops. Several other
finishers work in the radio and piano workrooms on the second floor.
The finishers on the second floor are engaged in major furniture finish-
ing and repair work and are more highly skilled than those located on
the first floor, who merely do furniture conditioning and minor repair
work. Some of the finishers spend from 5 to 10 percent of their work-
ing time in furniture assembly work. A few also substitute for out-
side servicemen. Although the finishers generally undergo a shorter
apprenticeship training period than cabinetmakers or upholsterers, it
is clear that the Employer requires that its finisher craftsmen "must be
able to completely finish a piece of furniture from the raw finish
on up."
The five outside servicemen have their headquarters in the third floor
assembly area. They are engaged in furniture repair work in the
homes or offices of customers. Their work is similar to that of the
cabinet, upholsterer, and finisher craftsmen, except that it is of a minor
character and is done outside the shops.
The four furniture assemblers are located in the first floor make-
ready and assembly shop where they remove "knocked-down" furni-
ture from shipping cartons or crates and assemble it for the finisher's
operation.
The approximately four furniture inspectors have their headquar-
ters on the first floor where they examine new and repaired furniture
to ascertain whether each article conforms to the salescheck description
and the workmanship meets the, Employer's quality standards.
It is clear from the record that the cabinet, upholsterer, and finisher
craftsmen, outside servicemen, and related classifications sought to
be represented by the Petitioner are skilled craftsmen who either have
served an apprenticeship, or have attained competency in their work
530 DECISIONS OF • NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
as a result of a number of years experience. As all these employees
are engaged in craft work of a distinctive and related character, we
find that they may be represented in a separate bargaining unit, not-
withstanding-a history of bargaining on a more inclusive basis.e Nor
does it appear that their work is so integrated with the Employer's
merchandising operations as to preclude their establishment as a
separate bargaining unit.' Nor does the pattern of bargaining in the
industry in the Chicago area preclude the establishment of the re-
quested unit. On the contrary, the Petitioner also currently repre-
sents, in separate units, similar employees at several Chicago depart-
ment stores and mail order houses whose operations are comparable
to those of the Employer."
Although their skills are not equivalent to those of the more highly
skilled categories, we shall include all furniture assemblers in the
voting group because of their closely allied interests with the others
in the unit sought by the Petitioner. We shall, however, exclude the
furniture inspectors from the voting group because they do not pos-
sess skills comparable to those of the afore-mentioned employees, or
have a close community of interest with them.
Accordingly, we shall direct an election in the following voting
group :
All cabinetmakers, finishers,9 upholsterers, outside servicemen, as-
semblers, helpers and apprentices employed in the Employer's Arth-
ington Street warehouse at Chicago, Illinois, but excluding all
furniture inspectors, office and clerical employees, guards, profes-
sional employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
However, we shall make no final unit determination at this time,'
but shall first ascertain the desires of the employees as expressed in
the .election hereinafter directed. If a majority vote for the Peti-
tioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute
a separate appropriate unit.
- [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
6 See Marshall Field & Company , 73 NLRB 900; Montgomery Ward & Company, Inc.,, 73
NLRB 416 ; The J . L. Hudson Company , 59 NLRB 229 ; ibid ., 49 NLRB 273 . Cf. The
Halle Bros . Company, 87 NLRB 369. Cf ., also , Marshall Field & Company, 90 NLRB 1,
where the Board recently refused to grant separate units composed either of ( 1) all the
warehousing and stockhandling employees at three of the Employer 's Chicago warehouses,
or (2) all similar employees at two of the same warehouses , because of the functional
integration of those empoyees with the Employer 's over-all store operations and their
interchange with other employees . That case is distinguishable from the present one
because here the Petitioner is seeking to represent a craft rather than a departmental
unit. -
7 See Bloomingdale Brothers , Inc., 81 NLRB 1252.
8 Goldblatt Brothers ; Inc. ; John M . Smith Company ; Straus & Schram , Division of
Siegel, Inc. ; and L. Fish and Company.
9 Included within this category are the radio and piano finishers.