Eastern Gas and Fuel Associates

In the Matter of KOPPERS STORES, A DIVISION OF EASTERN GAS AND FUEL ASSOCIATES, EMPLOYER and UNITED CONSTRUCTION WORKERS, AFFILIATED WITH UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, PETITIONER Case No. 9-R-.435.--Decided April 23, 1947 Mr. Charles E. Mahan, of Fayetteville, W. Va., for the Employer. Mr. Sidney C. Box, of Beckley, W. Va., and Mr. Hobert C. Callo- way, of Welch, W. Va., for the Petitioner. Mr. Lloyd S. Greenidge, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Beckley, West Virginia, on February 18, 1947, before Allen Sinsheimer, Jr., hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial 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 TFIE EMPLOYER Koppers Stores, a Division of Eastern Gas and Fuel Associates, operates 45 retail stores in the States of Kentucky , West Virginia, and Pennsylvania and does a gross annual business in excess of $12,000,000. All stores are department stores handling meat and.groceries, as well as hardware, furniture, and clothing . The stores are organized into 5 districts with headquarters in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The Koppers' store at Wharton , West Virginia, the only store involved herein, is part of the Montgomery district which has a total of 11 stores. Approximately 64 percent of all materials purchased for sale in the stores is obtained from sources outside the State of West Vir- ginia. All retail sales of stores located in Nest Virginia are made therein. For a 6-month period ending September 31, 1946, sales of all stores in this district amounted to $1,400,000, of which approximately $173,000 or 12.24 percent were made by the Wharton store. 73 N. L. R. B, No 102. 504 KOPPERS STORES 505 The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the United Mine Workers of America, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. IN. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the Pe- titioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. 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. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Petitioner seeks a unit of all employees at the Employer's Wharton store, including department heads, sales persons, cashiers, receiving and mailing clerks, fountain attendants, and delivery men, but excluding junior and senior office clerks, the store manager, and the assistant store manager. The Employer contends that a unit limited to the employees of the Wharton store is inappropriate, that an appro- priate unit should include the employees of all its 45 stores or, at least, the employees in all the stores within the district o f which the Wharton store is a part. There is no dispute as to inclusions and exclusions. As previously stated, the Employer has 45 stores in the States of Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. These Stores are grouped for administrative purposes into 5 districts each of which is in charge of a district manager. The Wharton store is part of the Montgomery district which contains 11 stores. Control over all the stores is centered in the home office at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in the buying office at Huntington, West Virginia. The General Man- ager maintains his office in Pittsburgh. The Merchandise and Person- nel Managers maintain offices in Huntington; the former directs the merchandising operations of all stores and warehouses and the latter supervises the personnel. General policies and rules of procedure originate in Pittsburgh or Huntington. Advertising, auditing, mer- chandising, pricing, and personnel practices are standardized through- out all districts. The district manager coordinates all merchandising and personnel policies within his district. The Employer prints a uniform price list which is used by store managers to requisition all supplies from the district warehouse subject to approval by the dis- 506 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR, RELATIONS BOARD trict manager. All promotions, transfers, discharges, or other changes in the status of employees must be approved by the district manager with a few exceptions noted hereinafter. The Wharton store is 59 miles from the nearest other store of the Employer in the -Montgomery district, 83 miles from the farthest store in the district and 68 miles from the district headquarters at Kimberly. There is no town of any size within 18 miles of Wharton. The Wharton store has annual sales of approximately $173,000 and employs about 25 persons. The operations are in the charge of a store manager. The store manager may discharge any employee for theft or for insubordination. He has authority to hire such personnel as delivery men, cashiers, and clerical employees. He can recommend to the district manager the promotion or transfer of any subordinate. However, transfers in and out of the Wharton store appear to be infre- quent. The store pay roll is prepared in the local mine office. Wages are distributed in cash by the store manager. There is no history of collective bargaining with respect to Koppers Stores' employees generally except for the employees of three stores recently purchased from another company.' In view of the absence of any history of collective bargaining relative to the employees involved herein and the isolation of the Wharton store and the com- munity which it serves from areas where other stores of the Employer are located, we are of the opinion that a unit limited to the employees of the Wharton store is appropriate at the present time.' The parties agree that probationers and part-time workers who are employed 40 hours or more per month should be included within the unit. We shall include them.' We find that all employees of the Employer at its Wharton store in West Virginia, including department heads ,4 probationers and part- time workers,5 sales persons, cashiers, receiving and mailing clerks, fountain attendants, and delivery men, but excluding junior and senior office clerks, the store manager, the assistant store manager, and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, dis- charge, discipline, 'or otherwise effect changes in the status of em- ployees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean- ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act. ' On December 1, 1946, the Employer acquired three stores in the Fairmont district from Collieries Corporation At the time of their acquisition, the employees in these. stores were covered by bargaining agreements with an affiliate of the United Mine Workers of America. The Employer has recognized and observed the conditions of these agreements which expire December 1, 1947 2 See Matter of Smoky Mountain Stages, Incorporated, 72 N L R B 1323. S This includes Glenna Mahone , Betty McCoy, Millard McDavid, and Clara Smith. 4 All parties agree that the employees having this title are not supervisors within the Board's customary definition. 6 See footnote 3 KOPPERS STORES DIRECTION OF ELECTION 507 As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with, Koppers Stores, a Division of Eastern Gas and Fuel Associates, Wharton, West Virginia, 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 Director for the Ninth 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 em- ployees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed duriiig 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 vacation 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 discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by United Construction Workers, affiliated with United Mine Workers of America, for the purposes of collective bargaining. CHAIRMAN HEEzoG took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election.