Swift Cleaners, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 26, 1971

188 N.L.R.B. 752 (N.L.R.B. 1971)

752 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Swift Cleaners, Inc., B. Gross, and B . Gross Men's
Wear, Inc. and Laundry , Dry Cleaning & Dye House
Workers International Union , Local 10. Case AO-
128
February 26, 1971
ADVISORY OPINION
This is a petition filed on January 18, 1971, by Swift
Cleaners, Inc., B. Gross, and B. Gross Men's Wear,
Inc., herein referred to individually by their respective
names and collectively referred to as the Employer,
for an Advisory Opinion in confirmity with Sections
102.98 and 102.99 of the National Labor Relations
Board's Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended,
to determine whether the Board would assert jurisdic-
tion over the Employer. On January 27, 1971, Laun-
dry, Dry Cleaning & Dye House Workers
International Union, Local 10, herein called the Un-
ion, filed its Response to the Petition for Advisory
Opinion.
In pertinent part, the petition alleges as follows:
1. There is presently pending before the Pennsylva-
nia Labor Relations Board a petition for investigation
and certification of representatives, Case R-34654-E,
filed by the Union, and seeking an election among
employees employed by Swift Cleaners, Inc., at its
laundry and dry cleaning establishments located at
Village Green, Crum Lynne, and Chester, Pennsylva-
nia.
2. By its petition, the Employer asserts that Swift
Cleaners, Inc., B. Gross, and B. Gross Men's Wear,
Inc., are retail enterprises engaging in the operation of
laundry and dry cleaning establishments and the op-
eration of a men's wear and clothing store. The Em-
ployer alleges that the three concerns are commonly
owned, operated, and controlled by the immediate
members of the Gross family and, accordingly, consti-
tute a single-integrated enterprise for the purpose of
the Board's exercise of jurisdiction. Further, the Em-
ployer asserts that the combined annual gross volume
of business of Swift Cleaners, Inc., B. Gross, and B.
Gross Men's Wear, Inc., exceeds the Board's current
standard for the assertion of jurisdiction over retail
enterprises.
On the basis of the above, the Board is of the opin-
ion that:
1. The Employer consists of three separate business
ventures which are retail enterprises.
2. The Board's current standard for the assertion of
jurisdiction over retail concerns which fall within its
statutory jurisdiction is a minimum gross annual vol-
ume of business of $500,000. Carolina Supplies and
Cement Co., 122 NLRB 88, 89. However, it is not
enough to show, as the Employer does here, that it is
engaged in the retail industry and has a gross annual
volume of business sufficient to satisfy the Board's
standard. Some proof must be made of legal or stat-
utory jurisdiction, that is, that the Employer involved
is engaged in commerce within the meaning of Sec-
tion 2(6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations
Act.'
3. No evidence has been received that the
Employer's business operations are subject to the
Board's legal or statutory jurisdiction. The allegations
of the petition are limited to the nature of the
Employer's business ventures and the extent of its
gross annual volume of business, and they fail to show
the extent, if any, of direct or indirect inflow or out-
flow of goods or services.
Accordingly, the parties are advised that, pursuant
to Section 102.103 of the Board's Rules and Regula-
tions, Series 8, as amended:
1. The Board would not assert jurisdiction over the
Employer on the facts alleged in the petition because
they fail to show the extent of direct or indirect inflow
or outflow of goods or services, and, accordingly,
there is no basis upon which to establish the Board's
legal or statutory jurisdiction.
2. This opinion is limited to the facts presented to
the Baord, and in view of our disposition herein, we
do not reach the Employer's contentions relating to
the alleged integrated nature of its operations, or the
contentions advanced by the Union in its Response to
Petition for Advisory Opinion.
1 James D Jackson d/b/a Jackson's Party Service, 126 NLRB 875.