The Mensh Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 10, 1966

159 N.L.R.B. 156 (N.L.R.B. 1966)

156 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS- BOARD
showing, and the instant petition filed subsequent to a court order
directing arbitration to construe the terms of that very agreement 14
Furthermore, the residual unit found herein by the majority does not
include all persons employed by Association members within the
identical categories, and will result in the division of front office
employees between the. basic multiemployer unit and the residual
unit.18 Accordingly, I would find that all front desk employees are
included in the overall unit and that the present petition is untimely
as to them.
17 See Dubo Manufacturing Corporation , 142 NLRB 431, 432. Cf . Raley's, Inc., 143
NLRB 256. '
11 Cf. The Rose Exterminator Company of Northern California , 143 NLRB 59 ; Westing-
house Electric Corporation ( Elevator Division ), 112 NLRB 590; Westinghouse Electric
Corporation , 110 NLRB 387; The Daily Press, Incorporated, 110 NLRB 573.
The Mensh Corporation and Building Service Employees Interna-
tional Union, Local 82, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case 5-RC-5502.
June 10, 1966
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, as amended , a hearing was held before Hear-
ing Officer William I. Shooer . The Hearing Officer's rulings are
free from prejudicial error and pare hereby affirmed . Thereafter, the
Employer filed a brief.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the National
Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three -member panel [Members Fanning, Jenkins, and
Zagoria].
Upon the entire record in this case , the Board finds:
1. The Employer is a Delaware Corporation with its principal
office and place of business in the District of Columbia where it is
engaged in the ownership and management of real property. We find
that it will effectuate the policies of the Act to assert jurisdiction
herein.l
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Sections
9(c) (1) and 2 ( 6) and ( 7) of the Act.
4. The Employer operates two apartment buildings , one an 8-story
structure containing approximately 270 units, most of which are
1 The Westchester Corporation, 124 NLRB 194.
159 NLRB No. 11.
THE MENSH CORPORATION 157
-unfurnished, and the other a 4-story structure containing 76 units,
most of which are furnished. The two buildings are physically
connected, are managed by the same resident manager, and, for'all
purposes, are-treated and operated as'a single entity. Apartments in
the "smaller building are leased to transient tenants on a monthly basis.
The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit of all building service
employees, including porters, maids,2 doormen, and building mainte-
nance help, but excluding the desk clerks and rental agents. It
would exclude these employees on the" grounds that they are office
clerical employees, confidential, and Petitioner has never sought to
represent them. Further, the Petitioner would exclude the recrea-
tional maintenance employees unless they worked 20 or more hours
per week. The Employer contends that only a unit of all employees
at the Park Plaza Apartments is appropriate because there is a high
degree of functional integration and mutuality of interest among-all
the employees which warrants their presence in a common unit.
The Employer contends that the recreational maintenance employees
are regular part-time employees and must, therefore, be included
in the unit.
There are seven full-time desk clerks who rotate 8-hour shifts to
cover the desk on a 24-hour basis, 7 days a week. The desk clerks
work near the main, entrance in the lobby and their function is to
greet the people and to receive requests for service and,complaints.
In, taking complaints ,and requests for service, they fill out a form
which they then hand to one of the maintenance employees.. When
requested by a tenant, desk clerks accompany maintenance employees
to the .tenant's apartment and remain with them until 'the job is
,completed.,-, Desk clerks operate a small switchboard 'located near
their desk, which is used to take messages for or from the * tenants.
,If a desk clerk has to leave for any period of time,- the doorman
usually fills in for him. At times rental agents fill in for desk clerks.
The Employer employs three rental agents who show prospective
tenants the apartments and services of the buildings and assist them
in filling out the 'rental application forms which are forwarded to
the'Employer's downtown office. The rental agents do not work'in
a separate office, but use the desk room. They also receive com-'
plaints from tenants and fill out' the complaint forms which they
may' leave on the front desk or hand directly' to the maintenance
employees. If it is a minor complaint, the "rental agent may remedy
,it himself. On occasion, it rental agent, fills ' in for a desk clerk,
when the desk clerk on duty must leave the desk. It -is estimated
that the rental agents spend 50 percent of their time on duties
related to renting, apartments and the: remaining-time,-on the other
above-described tasks.-'
2 The record shows that there are no' maids employed at the operations involved herein.
158 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
On the basis of the above description of the duties of desk clerks
and rental agents, we find, contrary to the Petitioner's contention,
that these employees, are not office clerical employees.3
The three recreational maintenance employees perform the general
cleaning and maintenance work in the suana bath and sun bathing
areas which are only open for a limited time each day. These
employees have been trained by the Employer in the use and main-
tenance of these facilities in,order to afford tenants the maximum
use and benefit of these facilities. The recreational maintenance
employees are paid bi-weekly and the three pay periods before the
hearing indicate that they had worked respectively 18, 6, and 18
hours; 171/2, 121/2, and 12 -hours; and 41/2, 473/4, and 141/2 hours
during those periods. They report on 'a regular basis at predeter-
mined hours, and have no choice as to the hours or days worked.
They, are under the same supervision and receive the same fringe
benefits as all other employees. We find that the recreational main-
tenance employees are regular part-time. employees,4 rather than
casual ' employees as contended by Petitioner.
The remaining classifications of employees employed by' 'the
Employer compose the unit sought by Petitioner. They consist of
maintenance, construction, porter, and doorman:
The function of the three maintenance employees -is to ensure the
upkeep of the buildings. They perform normal maintenance duties,
including the repair of malfunctioning utilities, replacement of light
bulbs, and routine maintenance work on the boilers and air
conditioners.
There are seven construction employees who attend to the major
repairs of the building. Their work, consists of painting, carpentry,
replacement and repair of. floors, walls, and carpeting, and heavy
cleaning whenever there has been damage.caused by fire, flood, or
negligence on the part of a tenant.
There are five porters whose primary duty is to keep the public
areas of the buildings clean. When necessary, they are used as
doormen and desk clerks. If the. workload in maintenance and coli-
struction becomes heavy, the porters will help in performing those
duties.
There are three doormen who perform tasks normally associated
with that designation. They, are also responsible for maintaining
the foyer and the grounds in front of the building. As indicated
above, the doormen will fill in for the desk clerk when he is away
from the desk. I
We further find that desk clerks and rental agents do not aid or assist in the formulat-
ing, determining, or effectuating of management policies in the field of labor relations and
they are not, as contended by Petitioner, confidential employees . i The B. F. Goodrich
Company, 115 NLRB 772.
A Lancaster Welded Products , Inc., 130 NLRB 1478.
THE STANDARD PRODUCTS COMPANY 159
All the foregoing employees work under a single supervisor, the
resident manager, and all are paid on an hourly basis and have the
same fringe benefits. There is no bargaining history for the
employees involved in this proceeding, nor is there evidence of any
area bargaining practice for units limited to employees in the
classifications sought by Petitioner.
On the basis of the foregoing, we find all the employees described
above have such a high degree of functional integration and mutu-
ality of interests that they should be included in a common unit
for collective-bargaining purposes. Accordingly, in the absence of
evidence that the employees sought by Petitioner have employment
interests sufficiently distinct from those of other employees to com-
pel their establishment in a separate bargaining unit, we find that
the following employees constitute -a unit appropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b)
of the Act :
All building service employees employed by the Employer at the
Park Plaza Apartments, including maintenance. and construction
employees, porters, doormen, desk clerks, rental agents, and recrea-
tional maintenance employees, but excluding office clerical employees,
guards, and supervisors as defined by the Act.'
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.] 6
5 The -unit found appropriate herein is larger than that sought by Petitioner. In the
event the Petitioner does not wish to proceed to an election for such a unit, we shall
permit it to withdraw its petition upon notice to the Regional Director within 10 days
from the date of issuance of this Decision and shall thereupon vacate the Direction of
Election.
6 Au election eligibility list , containing the names and addresses of all eligibile voters,
must be filed by the employer with the Regional Director for Region 5 within 7 days after
the date of this Decision and Direction of Election . The Regional Director shall make
each such list available to all parties to the election. No extension of time to file this list
shall be granted by the Regional Director except in extraordinary circumstances . Failure
to comply with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside the election whenever
proper objections are filed. Excelsior Underwear Inc., 156 NLRB 1236.
The Standard Products Company and International Union,
United Automobile , Aerospace and Agricultural Implement
Workers of America, UAW-AFL-CIO. Cases 9-CA-3585 and
9-RC-6V9. June 10, 1966
DECISION, ORDER, AND DIRECTION OF
SECOND ELECTION
On February 18, 1966, Trial Examiner Fannie M. Boyls issued
her Decision in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that Respond-
ent had engaged in and 'was engaging in certain unfair labor prac-
159 NLRB No. 2.