Denver Athletic Club

DENVER ATHLETIC CLUB 677 Denver Athletic Club and Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union , AFL-CIO, Local No. 14. Case 27-RC-3107 May 16, 1967 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS BROWN AND JENKINS Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing was held before Hearing Officer Allison E. Nutt. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Briefs were filed by the Petitioner and the Employer.' 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. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board finds: 1. The Employer, a nonprofit Colorado corporation, operates a private membership club in Denver, Colorado. It furnishes health and recreational facilities in the form of a gymnasium, exercise room, sauna rooms, swimming pool, handball and squash courts, bowling alley, and a billiard room for its members and their guests. It also provides coaches for athletic teams made up of members and nonmembers. In addition to the recreational facilities, the Employer operates a kitchen, dining rooms, tavern, bar, and a grill to sell food and beverages to members and guests. Some of the above facilities are also available for banquets and social functions of various outside groups when sponsored by a member. The club also provides hotel facilities for permanent members and transient guests. The Employer has a membership of 2,300 persons. During the fiscal year ending January 31, 1966, the Employer derived revenue in excess of $800,000 from its various economic activities exclusive of dues and initiation fees. Of these receipts more than $670,000 represented the sale of food and beverages of members and guests. The Employer concedes that during the same period its direct and indirect purchases of goods in interstate commerce exceeded $50,000. We reject the Employer's contention that its operations are local in character and that they do not have a substantial impact on interstate commerce. We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of Section 2(7) of the Act and that it will effectuate the policies of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.2 2. The Petitioner is a labor organization which claims to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit of employees usually found in a hotel and restaurant type operation. The parties agree that employees engaged in the preparation, handling, and serving of food and beverages, and in the performance of public housekeeping duties at the Employer's Athletic Club facilities should be in the unit. However, the Employer, contrary to the Petitioner, contends that the following employees should also be included in the unit: employees in the athletic department, health department, gymnasium, swimming pool, bowling alley, billiard room, and barbershop, and carpenters, painters, stationary engineers, room clerks, and office clerical employees. There is no history of collective bargaining. Although the Employer's various facilities form a single enterprise for jurisdictional purposes and an overall unit could be appropriate, such a unit is not the only appropriate unit. In other words, the factors which are relevant for asserting jurisdiction are not necessarily determinative of the scope of an appropriate unit. In determining the scope of an appropriate unit, the Board looks to such factors as the community of interest among employees sought to be included in the unit; whether they are a distinct, identifiable, and homogeneous group; whether there is a history of bargaining; the scope of common supervision; and the extent of employee interchange. The record in this case indicates that a substantial part of the Employer's operation is identical with a commercial restaurant and hotel facility. The Petitioner requests a unit of employees who are primarily engaged in operating these facilities. The Board has found appropriate units of such restaurant and hotel employees.3 It is apparent that the hotel and restaurant facilities operate independently of the health, athletic, and/or recreational facilities within the club. The restaurant and hotel employees are separately supervised, and the employees assigned to each facility carry out their duties within their ' The Employer has requested oral argument This request is hereby denied because the record, the exceptions, and the briefs adequately present the issues and the positions of the parties 2 University Club, 151 NLRB 23. Creenacres, Inc , d/b/a Woodland Hills Country Club, 146 NLRB 330. Walnut Hills Country Club, 145 NLRB 81 ' LaRonde Bar & Restaurant , Inc , 145 NLRB 270, Management Directors , d/b/a Columbus Plaza Motor Hotel, 148 NLRB 1053 164 NLRB No. 90 678 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL assigned area with little or no contact with other employees in the club. In our opinion , the functions of all facilities are not so integrated as to preclude a finding that the restaurant, the bar, and the housekeeping employees may constitute an appropriate unit for purposes of collective bargaining.' We find that the employees who handle food and beverages and those who perform the housekeeping functions are a homogeneous and identifiable group sufficiently independent and having different interests from those of employees who work in the health, athletic, and recreational areas of the club to warrant their establishment as a separate unit. Accordingly, we find that the following employees constitute a unit appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act. a See John Hammonds, d/b/a Holiday Inn Restaurant, 160 NLRB 927 ' An election eligibility list, containing the names and addresses of all the eligible voters, must be filed by the Employer with the Regional Director for Region 27 within 7 days after the date of this Decision and Direction of Election The Regional LABOR RELATIONS BOARD All maids, waiters, waitresses, busboys, bar employees, kitchen employees, butchers, butcher helpers, food checkers, pantry employees, bakers, baker helpers, yardmen, assistant storekeeper, hatcheck girls, elevator operators, bellhops, porters, and cleanup employees at the Employer's Denver, Colorado, operation, excluding stationary engineers, carpenters, painters, gymnasium employees, swimming pool employees, athletic department employees, billiard room employees, bowling alley employees, health department employees, barbershop employees, room clerks, office clerical employees, secretary to the catering manager, membership secretary, secretary to the general manager, watchmen, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. [Text of Direction of Election5 omitted from publication.] Director shall make the list available to all parties to the election No extension of time to rile 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