[1985] OLRB Rep. September 1417
1461-84-R Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Applicant, v. Sears Canada Inc., Respondent, v. Group of Employees, Objectors
BEFORE: Harry Freedman, Vice-Chairman, and Board Members J. A. Ronson and L. C. Collins.
APPEARANCES: Frank Reilly and Hugh Buchanan for the applicant; N. A. Eber, A. E. Patry and K. M. Eady for the respondent; no one for the objectors.
DECISION OF THE BOARD; September 18, 1985
1By decision dated March 1, 1985, the Board, differently constituted, noted that the parties disagreed over whether persons classified as Parts Clerical, Delivery Clerical, Receiving Clerical and Service Clerical should be included in or excluded from the bargaining unit found appropriate by the Board and appointed a Labour Relations Officer ".. to inquire into and report back to the Board on the duties and responsibilities of the above named individuals, including their community of interest with the other employees in the bargaining unit or with the office and clerical staff." That bargaining unit description contained an "office and clerical staff" exclusion. The Labour Relations Officer's report was issued on May 17, 1985, and counsel for the respondent filed written submissions and requested a hearing by letter filed with the Board May 24, 1985. The hearing was convened before this panel of the Board on September 9, 1985.
2The respondent submitted that the persons in dispute ought to be excluded from the bargaining unit as coming within the office and clerical staff exclusion contained in the description of the bargaining unit that was earlier found appropriate for collective bargaining by the Board. The applicant submitted that the employees in dispute were an integral part of the respondent's service centre and that they shared a community of interest with the other employees in the bargaining unit.
3The applicant sought certification for the employees employed in the respondent's service centre in Kingston, Ontario. The respondent submitted that the bargaining unit should be comprised of all employees of both its retail store and service centre in Kingston. The Board, differently constituted, by decision dated January 17, 1985, determined that the employees in the service centre location would constitute an appropriate bargaining unit on their own~ and thereupon described two bargaining units of employees at the service centre~ a full-time unit and a part-time and student unit. In that earlier decision, the Board also determined that office and clerical employees be excluded from the bargaining unit which the respondent submitted was appropriate.
4The report of the Labour Relations Officer indicates that all of the employees in dispute work in different offices at the respondent's service centre. The Parts Clerical employees, besides performing clerical functions such as maintaining inventory and processing and preparing orders, deal with customers who come to the parts counter in the parts department. Access to the parts department, where the Parts Clerical employees work, is restricted to only those people who work in the department. The only employees in the parts department are Parts Clerical employees and supervision. The Parts Clerical employees also actually handle the parts, stocking shelves and providing parts to service technicians and customers. Their work does not require them to go into the other parts of the service centre which contains repair shops and a warehouse where merchandise is stored and from where deliveries to customers originate.
5The Service Clerical employees work in the service office. They perform clerical work such as filing, filling out order forms, and preparing service orders. They also deal with customers who come to the service counter to either drop off appliances for repairs or to pickup their repaired appliances. Both the Parts Clerical and Service Clerical employees also perform telephone work with customers and with the Customer Convenience Centre in the respondent's retail store.
6The respondent submitted that the Parts Clerical and Service Clerical employees perform many functions similar to the duties of the employees in the Customer Convenience Centre in the respondent's retail store. Indeed, a customer may order parts or leave merchandise for repair at the Customer Convenience Centre. The respondent submitted that the Parts Clerical and Service Clerical employees should be viewed as an extension of the Customer Convenience Centre. Further, the inventory control function of the Parts Clerical employees is similar to the function of the Merchandise Control Office located in the respondent's retail store.
7The Receiving Clerical employee works in an office and performs clerical work exclusively. The Receiving Clerical employee works closely with the Merchandise Control Office in maintaining accurate inventory information and is in contact with the accounting office of the respondent two or three times a week.
8The Delivery Clerical employees work in an office doing clerical work related to the delivery of merchandise to customers and handle the drivers' paperwork. They also deal with customers by phone.
9There have been no transfers between employees that the parties agreed are in the bargaining unit and the classifications in dispute except for three markers who were transferred to the Delivery Clerical position. The respondent has classified the four positions in dispute as clerical. There are no other jobs in the service centre that are in the respondent's clerical classification. The respondent's classification of the positions in dispute is the same as its classification of the positions in the Customer Convenience Centre and the Merchandise Control Office.
10In the Board's decision in this matter dated January 17, 1985, the Board described the work functions of the Merchandise Control Office and the Customer Convenience Centre in the following way:
"The merchandise control office (mco) is responsible for the unit control of inventory, monitors inventory (and, not unexpectedly, works with department managers and sales staff in this regard) and orders product, as needed, through various mechanisms. The mco is located on the second floor at Princess, down the hall from the customer convenience centre, and shares space with the accounting office.
The customer convenience centre (ccc) handles customer complaints and problems at the counter or by telephone. Staff takes payments on accounts, issues credits to accounts, gives cash refunds, opens customer accounts and cashes cheques for customers. Merchandise to be exchanged may be taken to the relevant merchandise department but is generally returned to the ccc. The ccc also charges for gift wrap service and sells lottery tickets. Customers can order parts through the ccc which maintains a parts catalogue on microfiche."
As noted earlier, the Board determined at paragraph 29 of that decision that the Customer Convenience Centre and Merchandise Control Office employees would have been excluded from the municipal wide bargaining unit that the respondent sought on the basis of the office and clerical exclusion in the unit's description.
11The Board is of the view that the employees who occupy the positions in dispute are office and clerical staff that are employed in the respondent's service centre. Those employees' work functions are similar, if not identical, to many of the work functions carried out by the Merchandise Control Office and the Customer Convenience Centre. While the employees in question work in the service centre and are an integral part of the service centre's operations, the normal practice of the Board to exclude office and clerical employees from a production bargaining unit is applicable here. (See H. Gray Limited, 55 CLLC 18,011, Wragge Shoes Limited, [1969] OLRB Rep. Nov. 961; Bush Gamble Company Ltd., [19721 OLRB Rep. June 644.) We do not accept the proposition that these clerical employees have a community of interest with the employees that the parties agree come within the bargaining unit.
12Therefore, having regard to the Board's determination of March 1, 1985, a final certificate will issue in respect of bargaining unit #2. In view of the the Board's resolution of the dispute between the parties, the Board notes that for purposes of clarity, the term office and clerical staff includes persons classified by the respondent as Parts Clerical, Service Clerical, Receiving Clerical, or Delivery Clerical.