Ideal Chevrolet, Inc.

280 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Ideal Chevrolet, Inc. and Local 918, a/w International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Ware- housemen and Helpers of America, Petitioner. Case 29-RC- 1814 July 18, 1972 DECISION AND ORDER BY MEMBERS FANNING, KENNEDY, AND PENELLO Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing was held before Hearing Officer Sidney Rosen. Thereafter, pursuant to Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula- tions and Statements of Procedure , Series 8, as amended, and by direction of the Regional Director for Region 29, this case was transferred to the National Labor Relations Board for decision . There- after, the Employer, the Petitioner , and the Interve- nor' filed briefs. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's rulings made at the hearing and finds that they are free from prejudicial error. They are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in this case the Board finds: 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act and it will effectuate the purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein. 2. The Petitioner and Intervenor are labor organi- zations within the meaning of the Act. 3. The Petitioner filed a petition on September 17, 1971, seeking an election in a unit of all service and parts department employees employed by the Em- ployer but excluding office clericals , salesmen, guards, watchmen, and supervisors as defined in the Act. The Employer and the Intervenor contend that an existing collective-bargaining agreement is a bar to such an election. About November 25, 1968 , Local 355 and Brune Motors, an Oldsmobile and Chevrolet dealership, entered a collective-bargaining agreement effective until November 21, 1971. On April 15, 1970, Ideal I Local 355, Amalgamated Labor Union Chevrolet, Inc., purchased the business of Brune Motors. However, Ideal Chevrolet received only a Chevrolet franchise from General Motors and does not sell or service Oldsmobiles. Ideal did acquire the physical facility and the new and demonstrator Chevrolets from Brune Motors. Ideal also main- tained most of the personnel of Brune Motors. Viola Henson, who had been the secretary-treasurer of Brune Motors, Inc., remained as secretary-treasurer of Ideal Chevrolet, Inc. Ideal Chevrolet did not purchase used cars or assume debts and accounts receivable from Brune Motors. However, the em- ploying industry remaining essentially the same, we find that Ideal Chevrolet is the successor of Brune Motors. After some negotiation, Ideal Chevrolet, Inc. and Local 355 signed a new collective-bargaining agree- ment on June 5, 1970. The contract, which to some extent altered the terms and conditions of employ- ment of the employees, was to be effective from June 5, 1970, to June 26, 1973. The Employer and Intervenor contend that this agreement bars the petition of the Petitioner. Under the holding of the Supreme Court in N. L. R. B. v. Burns International Security Services, Inc., 404 U.S. 822, the successor employer and the Intervenor were not bound to the contract of the predecessor employer. However, under Burns, the successor employer, absent a good-faith doubt that the union represented a majority of the employees in the unit, was obligated to bargain with the union. In this case, the successor Employer did bargain with the Union, and the parties entered a new 3-year collective-bargaining agreement. Petitioner has not challenged the bona fides of the new contract. Were we to find that this new contract is not a bar to the petition herein, we would be discouraging the successor Employer and incumbent Union from creating a new and stable bargaining relationship. Accordingly, as the petition is not timely with respect to the new collective-bargaining agreement, we shall dismiss the petition. ORDER It is hereby ordered that the petition filed herein be, and it hereby is, dismissed. 198 NLRB No. 55