Midland Building Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 20, 1948

78 N.L.R.B. 1243 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter Of MIDLAND BUILDING COMPANY, EMPLOYER and WARREN
MOFFIT, ET AL., PETITIONER and BUILDING SERVICE EMPLOYEES
UNION, LOCAL 96, A. F. OF L., UNION
Case No. 17-RD-4.-Decided August 20, 1948
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a- petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. 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
THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
The Employer , a Missouri corporation , operates an office building
containing 93,960 square feet of rentable space in Kansas City, Mis-
souri; 19,926 square feet or 21.21 percent of this space is occupied
by 15 different railroad companies . Other tenants include Western
Union Telegraph Company, Acme Fast Freight Company, and sev-
eral construction and manufacturing firms. The activities of these
concerns , insofar as the Employer 's building is concerned , are pre-
dominantly clerical.
The Employer purchases its maintenance supplies from local sup-
pliers in Kansas City , Missouri , and engages a local company to pro-
vide parts and service for its elevators.
The Employer's operation of a general office building is essentially
local in character ." While many of the Employer 's tenants are clearly
1 Cf. 10 East 40th Street Building, Inc . V. Callus, 325 U. S. 578. Although our jurisdic-
tion is broader than that under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and this decision is not
decisive as to our legal jurisdiction in this situation , the characterization of such an
enterprise by the Supreme Court as essentially local is of persuasive significance in a policy
determination in connection with the assertion of jurisdiction.
78 N. L. R. B., No. 171.
1243
1244 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
engaged in interstate commerce, the activities of these tenants, insofar
as the Employer's building is concerned, are predominantly clerical
and constitute a relatively small and unimportant part of their inter-
state operations. The services rendered by the Employer's building
maintenance employees are still more remote from the tenants' inter-
state operations. It seems unlikely that a stoppage or curtailment of
the Employer's services and facilities would.have more than a negligi-
ble effect on interstate commerce. Therefore, we are of the opinion that
it would not effectuate the policies of the Act to assert jurisdiction in
this case. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition for investigation and decerti-
fication of representatives filed herein be, and it-hereby is, dismissed.
MEMBER HousToN took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Order.