Lane Bryant, Inc.

In the Matter of LANE BRYANT, INC and DEPARTMENT STORE EM- PLOYEES' UNION, LOCAL 291, UNITED RETAIL, WHOLESALE, AND DEPARTMENT STORE EMPLOYEES OF AMERICA (CIO). Case No R-3827 -Decided July 9, 1942 Jurisdiction : department store industry Practice and Procedure : petition dismissed where there was no appioptiate unit within its scope, proposed unit comprising pact of Company's employees held inappropriate where it did not meet any functional or other logical test, union admitted to membership all employees of the Company, was engaged in an organizing campaign covering all employees, and admitted that the whole stoie constituted the most appropriate unit Mr. Robert E Dickman, for the Board Mr Charles W Stie f el, Jr , of Chicago, 111, for the Company Mr Francis Heisler and Mr Stanley F. Evans, of Chicago, Ill , for the Union Mr Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board DECISION AND ORDER STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by Department Store Employees' Union, Local 291 , United Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Employ- ees of Amei ica (CIO ), herein called the Union , alleging that a ques- tion affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Lane Bryant, Inc, Chicago , Illinois , herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Boaid provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Gustaf B. Erickson, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Chicago , Illinois, on May 12 and 13, 1942 The Company and the Union appeared , partici- pated, and were afforded full 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 On May 27, 1942 , the Company filed a brief which the Board has considered. 42NLRB,No49 218 LANE BRYANT, INC 219 Upon the entire iecoid in the case, the Board snakes the following FINDINGS OF FACT I THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Lane Bryant, Inc is an Illinois corporation with its piincipal place of business at Chicago, Illinois, where it is engaged in the sale of women's clothes. During the 6-month period ending Decem- ber 31, 1941, the Company purchased goods for resale valued at about $960,000 00, approximately 90 percent of which was shipped to it from outside Illinois During the same period, the Company sold goods valued at $1,535,000 00, approximately 5 8 pei cent of which was shipped out of Illinois. II THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Department Stoie Employees ' Union, Local 291, United Retail, Wholesale, and Depaitment Stoie Employees of America, is a labor organization affiliated -,,, ith the Congress of Industiial Organizations, admitting to membership employees of the Company III THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Union urges that all employees of the Company engaged in ieceivrng merchandise, marking goods, carrying goods to and from the stockroom, markers, ieceiving clerks, room clerks, floor stock clerks, graders, packers, alteration-room stock clerks, wrappers, por- ters, and night watchmen-porters, constitute an appropiiate unit The Company contends that all its employees constitute an appro- priate unit There are approximately 53 employees in the unit urged by the Union to be appropriate and approximately 300 employees in the unit urged by the Company , The Union contends that the em- ployees claimed by it should be set up as a sepal ate unit because they do not deal directly with the public, because such employees feel they are a group by themselves, and on the ground that the other employees of the Company are not yet organized All non-supervisory_ em- ployees of the Company are eligible to membership in the Union, and the Union is at present attempting to organize all such eui- ployees A representative of the Union testified that eventually the Union desires to have a store-wide unit. It appears that, despite the distinction attributed to the proposed unit by the Union, such unit would exclude 9 classes of employees who do not deal with the public and would include some employees who deal directly with the public, such as stock help who assist salesladies and actually make sales and receive commissions- therefor. The employees in the alleged unit 220 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD work throughout the various departments of the Company and are under various supervisory heads The Company has a manager for each of its departments who is in sole charge of all employees therein, those in the claimed unit as well as those not claimed by the Union The record indicates that there is an inteichange of duties and posi- tions between the employees sought by the Union and those excluded by it In view of the fact that the Union admits to membership all em- ployees of the Company, that such oiganization is at present engaged in an organizing campaign covering all the employees and admits that the whole store constitutes the most appropriate unit, and that the division proposed by the Union does not meet any functional or other logical test, we find that the unit sought to be established by the Union is not appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining We shall, therefore, dismiss the petition IV THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION Since, as pointed out in Section III above, the bargaining unit sought to be established by the petition is inappropriate for the pur- poses of collective bargaining, we find that no question has arisen con- cerning the representation of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit ORDER IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition for an investigation and cer- tification of representatives of employees of Lane Bryant, Inc, Chi- cago, Illinois, filed by Department Store Employees' Union, Local 291, United Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Employees of America (CIO), be, and it hereby is, dismissed