Holiday Inn

SERVICO, INC. Servico, Inc., d/b/a Holiday Inn, Pittsburgh, Parkway West, Carnegie and Hotel and Restaurant Employ- ees and Bartenders International Union , Locals 237-188, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case 6-RC-6725 November 5, 1974 DECISION ON REVIEW AND ORDER BY MEMBERS JENKINS, KENNEDY, AND PENELLO On June 19, 1974, the Regional Director for Re- gion 6 issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-entitled proceeding, in which he found ap- propriate a unit including "all full-time and regular part-time maids, porters, and the houseman-mainte- nanceman," employed by the Employer at its Carne- gie, Pennsylvania, motel and restaurant facility, ex- cluding all other employees. In accordance with Sec- tion 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended, the Employer filed a timely request for review of the Re- gional Director's decision on the grounds, inter aha, that the unit found constitutes a departure from offi- cially reported Board precedent. The Board, by telegraphic order dated August 5, 1974, granted the request for review and stayed the election pending decision on review.' Thereafter the Employer filed a brief on review. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na- tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au- thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. The Board has considered the entire record in this proceeding, including the Employer's brief on re- view, with respect to the issues under review and makes the following findings: The Petitioner sought to represent a unit of ap- proximately 20 full-time and part-time maids at the Employer's Carnegie, Pennsylvania, facility.' The Regional Director broadened the requested unit of maids to include five porters, a houseman-mainte- nanceman, and an inspectress on the grounds that those employees perform work which is similar or substantially related to the housekeeping function engaged in by the maids. The Employer contends that the employees in the unit found appropriate lack a sufficient distinct community of interest apart from other employees to warrant a separate unit and that i A timely request for review of the Regional Director's decision was also filed by the Petitioner contending that the Regional Director erroneously included the porters in the unit found appropriate Said request for review was denied by telegraphic order dated August 5, 1974 2 Petitioner also expressed a willingness to proceed to an election in alter- native units of less than an overall unit of the employees herein 651 the only appropriate unit consists of all the employ- ees at the Employer's facility. For the reasons stated herein, we agree. The Employer operates a motel and restaurant lo- cated at Carnegie, Pennsylvania, which is comprised of two buildings connected by partially covered walkways. One of the buildings contains the 159 mo- tel guestrooms, two small banquet rooms, a mainte- nance shop, and a basement laundry room. The other contains the lobby, the motel and restaurant offices, the front desk, additional banquet rooms, a dining room, a kitchen, and a bar. The approximate 80 employees at the Carnegie lo- cation are under the overall supervision of Innkeeper William Jones. Reporting to Jones are Housekeeper Joanne Wilson, who directly supervises the maids and the houseman-maintenanceman, and Assistant Innkeeper Al Pugliano, who assists Jones in supervis- ing all other employees, including the porters. The Regional Director in reaching his unit deter- mination found that the excluded employees per- formed functions and possessed interests apart from those of the housekeeping employees. However, our review of the record reveals that there exists a degree of overlap among the duties and functions of the em- ployees included in the unit and certain of those ex- cluded and that other factors exist which militate against the finding of a separate unit of housekeeping employees. Thus, the porters, included in the unit, spend the majority of their time driving the Employer's van to and from the airport and the mo- tel. At times, they also work behind the front desk and partially check in guests,' and they regularly de- liver room service to the guestrooms.4 Desk clerks, excluded from the unit, also drive the Employer's van to and from the airport on occasion and, like the porters and busboys, are utilized to deliver room ser- vice to the guestrooms. A desk clerk may also be called upon to clean a guestroom if the maids are off duty and a porter is unavailable.' The record further reveals that the cleaning duties of housekeeping employees are not limited solely to the cleaning and preparation of motel guestrooms but extend to other areas of the facility. Porters are utilized to clean the kitchen, dining room, lobby, and restrooms. Three of the maids, referred to as "main- tenance girls," clean the banquet rooms, the lobby, and other areas in the commercial building. Two of The record discloses that one employee regularly functions both as a desk clerk on certain days and as a porter on others 4 The porters share this function equally with busboys and both of these groups may also deliver or change items such as mattresses, bedboards, and cribs 5 Although the record is silent as to the frequency of these occurrences, testimony of the Employer's innkeeper reveals that it is not unusual for a desk clerk to clean a guestroom and that this duty is performed on a volun- tary basis 214 NLRB No. 92 652 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the maids, referred to as laundry employees, clean the restaurant as well as the room linen. In addition, a restaurant night "cleanup man," excluded from the unit, cleans the dining room daily and does "heavy" work in the commercial building once or twice a week. Furthermore, the houseman-maintenanceman assists the maintenanceman, who was excluded, when the latter performs major repairs. Wage rates for motel and restaurant employees are substantially similar,' as are the training periods re- quired for employees in various job classifications.' Pursuant to the Employer's policy to promote from within, numerous transfers and promotions have oc- curred among employees.' The record also discloses that there is one payroll and bookkeeping system and a common payday. Time records for all employees 6 Wage rates for the employees herein are as follows maids $1 85-2 20, porters $1 90 , night cleanup man $2 , dishwashers $ 1 75, dining room cash- ier $2 25, desk clerks $2 25-2 35 Waitresses earn $1 07 plus tips, and the maintenanceman $600 per month 7 Training periods for the various job classifications are as follows por- ters and the houseman-maintenanceman 1-2 weeks , maids and waitresses 2 weeks, busboys I week, hostess cashier 3 weeks, and the desk clerks 3-4 weeks 8 The record shows that these transfers and promotions involve inter- change between job categories included in the unit and excluded from the unit by the Regional Director Thus, busboys have become desk clerks, maids have become desk clerks and waitresses , and dishwashers have be- come desk clerks are submitted on the same timesheet and fringe bene- fits including group insurance plans, vacations, holi- days, sick leave, and other benefits are virtually the same for all employees .9 In view of the foregoing, particularly the function- al relationship of employees included in the unit with those excluded, the common working conditions, and frequent contact inherent in such a facility, it does not appear that the housekeeping employees enjoy a community of interest sufficiently separate and dis- tinct from the other employees herein to warrant their being represented separately. Rather, we find, in the circumstances herein, that only an overall unit of employees at the Employer's Carnegie, Pennsylva- nia, facility is appropriate.10 Accordingly, and as the Petitioner apparently does not seek an election in an overall unit, we shall dismiss the petition herein. ORDER It is hereby ordered that the petition filed herein be, and it hereby is, dismissed. e As found by the Regional Director, maids, unlike other employees, who receive free uniforms and meals , must pay for a portion of their meals and uniforms 10 Days Inn of America, Inc, 210 NLRB 1035 (1974), West, Inc, d/b/a Holiday Inn Southwest, 202 NLRB 781 (1973)