Polish National Alliance

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 26, 1947

72 N.L.R.B. 1382 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of POLISH NATIONAL ALLIANCE, EMPLOYER and POLISH
NATIONAL ALLIANCE OFFICE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION (AN INDE-
PENDENT AND UNAFFILIATED UNION ) , PETITIONER
Case No. 13-R-1968.-Decided March 26, 1947
[llr. Otto A. Jaburek, of Chicago, Ill., for the Employer.
Messrs. Thaddeus C. Jasiorkowski, Eugenie E. Wnorowski, and
Anthony E. Paluszewski, all of Chicago, Ill., for the Petitioner.
Miss Sarah E. Keenan, of Chicago, Ill., for the Intervenor.
Mr. Irving D. Rosenman, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Chicago,
Illinois, on January 30, 1947, before Max Rotenberg, hearing officer.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju-
dicial 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 TIIE EMPLOYER
Polish National Alliance is a fraternal benefit society incorporated
in Illinois and maintaining its principal office in Chicago, Illinois. It
is organized into 1,817 lodges in 27 States of the United States, the
District of Columbia, and Manitoba, Canada. It provides death,
disability and accident benefits to its members and their beneficiaries.
During 1941, its total income was $5,717,344. During the same period,
benefits paid totaled $1,845,126. On December 31, 1941, the Employer
had in force 272,897 insurance benefit certificates with a total face
value of $159,683,583.
The Employer pays commissions to "organizers "1 in 26 States.
It advertises outside Illinois, and sells an official almanac throughout
x Their duties are to a large extent similar to those of insurance agents.
72 N. L. R. B., No 249.
1382
•
POLISH NATIONAL ALLIANCE 1383
the United' States. It wholly owns a printing concern which pub-
lishes a weekly and daily official publication. The weekly is mailed
to each member; approximately 6,800,000 copies are published in a
normal 12-month period, about 80 percent of which are mailed to
persons residing outside Illinois. The daily appears for sale on
newsstands hi Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. The paper for these
publications during the 12-month period is received from points out-
side Illinois and is valued at approximately $59,000.2
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is an unaflilialed labor organization admitting to
membership employees of the Employer:
Office Employees International Union, Local 28, herein called the
Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Fed-
eration of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On September 25, 1946, the Petitioner requested recognition of the
Employer as the exclusive bargaining representative of its office em-
ployees. On September 27, 1946, the Employer replied that it would
not recognize the Petitioner in the absence of a Board certification,
whereupon the Petitioner filed its petition on September 30, 1946.
The Employer and the Intervenor entered into a collective bargain-
ing agreement, concerning the employees sought herein, on October
15, 1945. This agreement provided for an initial period of 1 year, end-
ing October 15, 1946, and for its automatic renewal for annual periods
thereafter in the absence of written notice given by either party to the
other at least thirty (30) days before the anniversary date. On
September 12, 1946, the Intervenor, by letter, notified the Employer
of its desire to modify the contract. The Intervenor and the Employer
met on September 27th, and again on October 9th or 10th, but negotia-
tions were not entered into due to the absence of the Employer's presi-
dent. As of the time of the hearing, no further contract had been
negotiated between the Intervenor and the Employer.
Although the Intervenor contends, and the Employer denies, that
the parties orally agreed to extend the 1945 contract pending the nego-
The facts detailed above are derived from our findings of fact in Matter of Polish
National Alliance of the United States of North America, 42 N L R B 1375, enforced in
322 U S 643, affirming 136 F (2d) 175 (C. C A 7)
The Employer stipulated that the company involved in that case is the same as the
Employer herein. despite the slight dive, sity in its name, and that the findings in that
case are substantially tiue and correct, may be incorporated as part of the record in the
instant case, and may be relied upon for the purposes of this case
1384 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tiation for, and execution of, a new contract,' no contractual bar is
urged to this proceeding. In any event, it is clear from all the fore-
going that, under well-established principles of the Board, neither
the October 15, 1945 contract, whose automatic renewal was effectively
forestalled by the Intervenor's notice of September 12, 1946, nor the
alleged oral extension thereof can preclude an election at this tinge'
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. TILE APPROPRLIIE UNIT
The Petitioner seeks a unit comprised generally of office employees
of the Employer. Except for the requested inclusion of the chief
clerk of the auditing department and the librarian, the unit sought is
identical with the one found appropriate by the Board in a previous
case to which the Employer and the Intervenor were partles.5 The
Intervenor opposes any deviation from the unit as delineated by the
Board, and as covered by the 1945 contract between the Employer
and the Intervenor. The Employer takes,no position.
The Chief Clerk in the Auditing Department: J. Foszcz, who has
been employed by the Employer for 20 years, holds this position. He
is in charge of the auditing department, and distributes monthly
reports received from the local lodges to 12 to 15 subordinates in his
department for auditing. These subordinates are all accountable to
him, and his work is primarily supervisory. Foszcz held the same
position at the time of the aforesaid decision, and his duties are sub-
stantially the same. The Board found then, as we do now, that "in
view of the nature of his duties, ' [lie] is more closely allied
to management than with the employees within the unit." We shall,
therefore, exclude him from the appropriate unit.
The Librarian: At the time of the hearing in the earlier case, the
-librarian devoted all his time to the usual functions of this classifica-
tion and had no routine contact with the employees in the proposed
unit. However, the instant record reveals that the librarian now
spends about 50 percent of his working time as a clerk in the office of the
general secretary of the Employer, performing substantially similar
duties to those of the clerks in that office. As noted above, in the prior
case, the Board excluded this classification from the uit. However,
we are of the opinion, in view of the material changes in the duties
now performed by the employee in this classification, that his interests
3 The Eniplover s position is that the parties orally- agreed that, if and when a contract
was negotiated, it would he made retioactn-e to the teraunalion date of the 1945 contract
'llfatter of Thomas Tsach cC Caster Company, 72 N I. It B 847, Matter of Holly-
wood Brands. Inc, 70 N L It B 706 • Matter of Eacoi, Inc, 46 N L It B 1035
'Matter of Polish National Alliance of United States of North Amelaca, 42 N L R B.
1372, 1383
POLISH NATIONAL ALLIANCE 1385
are closely allied with those of the office and clerical employees. We
shall, therefore, on the basis of the record now before us, include hum
within the unit. °
We find that all office employees of the Employer's Chicago, Illi-
nois, office, including the librarian, but excluding janitors, attorneys,
elected officers, the chief clerk of the auditing department, the man-
ager of the real estate department, the inspector of the rent collection
department, rent collectors, the chief organizer of the organization
department, the personal secretary to the president, the personal sec-
retary to the general secretary, the confidential secretary to the censor
(employed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin), the assistant secretary (admin-
istrative) to the general secretary, the assistant secretary (adminis-
trative) to the treasurer, 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, consti-
tute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with Polish National Alliance, Chicago,
Illinois, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as
possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this
Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Direc-
tor for the 13th Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National
Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations=Series 4,
among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV,
above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately
preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did
not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca-
tion or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed
forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the
polls, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been dis-
charged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to
the date of the election, to determine whether they desire to be repre-
sented by Polish National Alliance Employees Association (An inde-
pendent and unaffiliated union), or by Office Employees International
Union, Local 28, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by
neither.
CHAIRMAN HERZ OG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
6 Any participant in the election herein, may, upon its prompt request to, and appioval
thereof by, the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot