Schieffelin & Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 13, 1945

63 N.L.R.B. 871 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of SCHIEFFELIN & COMPANY and DRUG TRADE SALESMEN'S
UNION, CIO
Case No. 2-R-5446.-Decided September 13, 1945
Messrs. N. William Welling and S. S. Wilson, both of New York
City, for the Company.
Messrs. Mae Mattis and Leonard H. Wacker, both of New York City,
for the C. I. O.
Mr. Abraham I. Simon, of New York City, and Mr. Charles R.
Turner, of Brooklyn, N. Y., for the Federation.
Mr. David, V. Easton, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a first amended petition duly filed by Drug Trade Salesmen's
Union, CIO, herein called the C. I. 0., alleging that a question affect-
ing commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees
of Schieffelin & Company, New York City, herein called the Company,
the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice before Robert A. Levett, Trial Examiner.
Said hearing was held at New York City on June 6 and 8, 1945. The
Company, the C. I. 0., and 16-26 Cooper Sq. Federation of Drug
Employees, herein called the Federation, appeared and participated.
All parties were afforded fill opportunity to be heard, to examine
and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the
issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were
afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Schieffelin & Company, a New York corporation with its sole plant
and offices located in New York City, is engaged in manufacturing and
63 N. L. R. B., No. 133.
871
872 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
wholesaling drugs, chemicals , and pharmaceuticals . During the fiscal
year ending March 1945 , the Company , in the course and conduct of
its business , purchased drugs , chemicals, and packaging- ni'aterials
exceeding $1,000,000 in value, approximately 33 percent of which was
shipped into the State of New York from outside points. The Com-
pany's sales during the same period exceeded $1,000,000 in value,
approximately 25 percent of which involved shipments to points out-
side the State of New York.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Drug Trade Salesmen 's Union, affiliated with the Congress of In-
dustrial Organizations , and 16-26 Cooper Sq . Federation of Drug
Employees , unaffiliated, are labor organizations admitting to mem-
bership employees of the Company.
III. THE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE UNIT
The C. I. O. seeks a unit comprised solely of the Company' s whole-
sale salesmen . The Federation contends , inter alia , that these em-
ployees have been part of the collective bargaining unit which it has
represented continuously since 1937, and should not be separated
therefrom. At the hearing the Company took no formal position with
respect to this issue, but in its brief , urged dismissal of the petition
herein on the ground , among others , that the wholesale salesmen
should not be separated from the more comprehensive unit of which
they are currently a part.
The record indicates that the Federation has been recognized by
the Company for a long period of time as the bargaining representa-
tive of all its employees , except employees in its warehouse depart-
ment, and supervisors . This relationship is evidenced by a series of
yearly agreements or renewals of agreements , commencing August 3,
1937. It is undisputed that wholesale salesmen have been included
within the scope of these agreements and, until shortly before the
filing of the petition herein, had not sought separate recognition.
Wholesale salesmen have been on the bargaining committees of the
Federation which have negotiated the various collective bargaining
agreements with the Company, and the president of the Federation,
at the time of the hearing herein, was a wholesale salesman. It is
also apparent that, contrary to the assertion of the C. 1. 0., the Federa-
tion has bargained collectively with the Company on behalf of the
SCHIEFFELIN & COMPANY 873
wholesale salesmen, as well as the other classifications of employees
in the unit.'
While evidence was adducAd at the hearing to the effect that dif-
ferences exist between wholesale salesmen and other employees in the
unit, these dissimilarities are not substantial enough, considering the
fact that the unit is predominantly "white collar," 2 to outweigh the
long history of collective bargaining. Under these circumstances,
and in the absence of evidence indicating that the wholesale sales-
men did not acquiesce in their representation by the Federation, we
conclude that the unit sought by the C. I. O. is inappropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining.s
IV. THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Since, as indicated in Section III, supra, the bargaining unit sought
by the C. I. O. is inappropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing, we find that no question affecting commerce has arisen concern-
ing the representation of employees, of the Company in an appro-
priate unit. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact, the National Labor
Relations Board hereby orders that the petition for investigation and
certification of representatives of employees of Schieffelin & Com-
pany, New York City, filed by Drug Trade Salesmen's Union, CIO,
be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Order.
' In 1943, the Company and the Federation joined in an application to the National War
Labor Board for approval of a general wage increase for the Company ' s employees , and for
car allo'nances and a larger commission for the wholesale salesmen
2 The record indicates that, as of the date of the hearing, the unit represented by the
Federation was composed of 26 junior clericals , 22 senior clericals , 13 telephone order
takers , 15 typists , 15 stenographers , 4 scanners , 7 pricers , 25 wholesale salesmen , 9 phar-
macists , chemists and compounders , 12 skilled technicians , 38 finishers , 15 machine oper-
ators, and 16 porters and helpers
8 Matter of American Can Company , 13 N. L. R. B. 1252 ; Matter of Roots-Connersville
Blower Corp , 63 N. L. R. B. 70 . But cf. Matter of General Electric Company ( Lynn River
Works and Edward Plant ), 58 N. L. R. B. 57.