Midtown Motors

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 31, 1948

80 N.L.R.B. 1679 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of LAWRENCE HOLBROOK, DONALD HOLBROOK AND WAL-
TER HOLBROOK , CO-PARTNERS , D/B/A MIDTOWN MOTORS , L. E. SERVICE,
D/B/A GENERAL MOTCR TRUCK SALES, POTTER-BARNETT SALES AND
SERVICE, INC., BERT CANTRELL , S. W. ZENTNER , D/B/A S. W. ZENT-
NER MOTOR COMPANY, JOHN ZENTNER MOTORS, ALFRED MATTHEWS,
BASIL J. GILBERT AND WILLIAM L. SEIBEL , CO-PARTNERS , D/B/A GIL-
BERT & SEIBEL MOTORS, EMPLOYERS and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF MACHINISTS , DISTRICT LODGE No. DV, PETITIONER
Case Nos . 20-RC-141, 20RC 148, 20-RC-149, 20RC 151, 20-RC-
1.52, 20-RC-153, 20-RC-187, and 20-RC-188.-Decided December
31,1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing was held before
a hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hear-
ing 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 National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
Upon the entire record in these cases, the Board finds :
1. The Employers involved, located in the State of California, are
engaged in the retail sale and servicing of new and used automobiles,
automobile parts, and accessories. The Employers make their sales
within the State of California. They do not repair vehicles used in
interstate commerce, but some of them occasionally make repairs on
out-of-State cars. More specific information concerning the opera-
tions of the individual Employers is set forth below :
Midtown Motors, a partnership doing business in Modesto, Califor-
nia, is engaged in the sale and service of Kaiser-Frazer automobiles
and parts. During 1947 the company made purchases amounting to
approximately $303,226 and made sales amounting to approximately
•Houston , Reynolds , and Murdock.
80 N. L. R. B., No. 247.
1679
1680 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
$304,134. All of the products purchased by the company were manu-
factured in Willow Run, Michigan. The company made its pur-
chases through Henry J. Kaiser, Emeryville, California. Some of
the products purchased were shipped from Emeryville and some di-
rectly from Willow Run.
General Motor Truck Sales, an individual proprietorship doing
business in Modesto, California, is engaged in the sale and service
of General Motors trucks and parts. During 1947 the company made
purchases amounting to over $250,000 and made sales amounting to
approximately $325,370. The company purchased its products from
General Motors Truck Corporation, Truck & Coach Division, Oak-
land, California. Almost all the products purchased were manufac-
tured outside the State of California. It also purchased within the
State of California some trucks from the surplus property adminis-
tration of the United States Government.
Potter-Barnett Sales and Service, Inc., a partnership doing busi-
ness in Merced, California, is engaged in the sale and servicing of Kai-
ser-Frazer automobiles and parts. During the first half of 1948 the
company made purchases amounting to approximately $120,000. It
made its purchases from Henry J. Kaiser Motors, Emeryville, Cali-
fornia. The products purchased were manufactured in Willow Run,
Michigan.
Bert Cantrell, an individual proprietorship doing business in Mo-
desto, California, is engaged in the sale and servicing of products of
Willy s Motor Company. During 1947 the company made purchases
amounting to approximately $290,000 and made sales amounting to
approximately $305,613. It made its purchases from a California
distributor of Willys products. The products purchased were manu-
factured outside the State of California.
S. W. Zentner Motor Company, an individual proprietorship doing
business in Merced, California, is engaged in the sale and servicing
of Chrysler and Plymouth automobiles and parts. During 1947 the
company made purchases amounting to approximately $188,934. It
made its purchases of new automobiles from Chrysler Motors Cali-
fornia, Los Angeles Plant, Chrysler Corporation, which in turn re-
ceived 45 percent by value, of its raw materials consisting of manu-
factured automobile parts, from outside the State of California.
John Zentner Motors, an individual proprietorship doing business
in Merced, California, is engaged in the sale and servicing of Nash
automobles and parts. During 1947 the company made purchases
amounting to approximately $90,523. It purchased its new automo-
biles through the San Francisco Zone of the Nash Company, but the
MIDTOWN MOTORS 1681
automobiles were shipped from Kenosha , Wisconsin. It also re-
ceived from San Francisco automobile parts , at least some of which
were manufactured outside the State of California.
Alfred Matthews , an individual proprietorship doing business in
Modesto, California , is engaged in the sale and servicing of Oldsmo-
bile and Cadillac automobiles . In 1947 the company made purchases
amounting to approximately $371,976. It purchased from the Oak-
land Zone of General Motors new Oldsmobile automobiles , which are
assembled in Los Angeles from parts most of which are manufactured
outside the State of California . It purchased new Cadillac auto-
mobiles from a California distributor , which in turn obtained the
automobiles from Cadillac Motor Car Division , Detroit, Michigan,
which shipped the automobiles from Detroit or from its Oakland,
California , warehouse.
Gilbert & Seibel, a partnership doing business in Merced , California,
is engaged in the sale and servicing of Lincoln and Mercury auto-
mobiles and parts . In 1947 the company made purchases amounting
to approximately $248,376 and made sales amounting to approximately
$367,955. It purchased Lincoln and Mercury automobiles and parts
from Ford Motor Company, Richmond , California , where the prod-
ucts were assembled from parts , most of which were manufactured
outside the State of California.
We find, contrary to the contentions of the Employers , that they
are engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor
Relations Act.'
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization which claims to represent
certain employees of the Employers.
3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the representa-
tion of certain employees of the Employers within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and ( 7) of the Act.
4. The following employees of the Employers constitute separate
units appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9 ( b) of the Act:
(a) All automotive repairmen , lubrication men, and parts men,
excluding supervisors , employed by Lawrence Holbrook , Donald Hol-
brook, and Walter Holbrook, co -partners d/b/a Midtown Motors;
(b) All shop and parts department employees , excluding super-
visors, of L. E. Service , d/b/a General Motor Truck Sales;
(c) All mechanics , body and fender men, and parts men, excluding
supervisors , employed by Potter-Barnett Sales and Service, Inc.;
I See Liddon White Ti tick Co., Inc, 76 N. L. R R 1181 ; Herboth Tractor Co., 79 N. L,
R B 431.
1682 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
(d) All mechanics, mechanics helpers, lubrication men, and parts
men, excluding the shop foreman and other supervisors, employed by
Bert Cantrell;
(e) All mechanics, body and fender men, painters, parts men, and
their apprentices, excluding the shop foreman and other supervisors,
employed by S. W. Zentner, d/b/a S. W. Zentner Motor Company;
(f) All mechanics and parts men, including the working foreman
but excluding supervisors, employed by John Zentner Motors;
(g) All automotive repairmen, mechanics, metal men, lubrication
men, and parts men, excluding supervisors, employed by Alfred
Matthews ;
(h) All automotive repairmen, mechanics, paint shop employees,
body shop employees, and parts men, excluding supervisors, employed
by Basil J. Gilbert and William L. Seibel, d/b/a Gilbert & Seibel
Motors.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employers, separate elec-
tions by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not
later than 30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction
and supervision of the Regional Director for the Region in which
these cases were heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5,
as amended, among the employees in the units found appropriate in
paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Elections,
including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period
because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, but ex-
cluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged for
cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the
elections, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled
to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be repre-
sented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by International Asso-
ciation of Machinists, District Lodge No. 41.