Dry Cleaners & Laundry Workers Local Union No. 304 v. Sunnyside Cleaners & Shirt Laundry

360 P.2d 446, 146 Colo. 31, 1961 Colo. LEXIS 567
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedMarch 20, 1961
DocketNo. 19,535
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 360 P.2d 446 (Dry Cleaners & Laundry Workers Local Union No. 304 v. Sunnyside Cleaners & Shirt Laundry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dry Cleaners & Laundry Workers Local Union No. 304 v. Sunnyside Cleaners & Shirt Laundry, 360 P.2d 446, 146 Colo. 31, 1961 Colo. LEXIS 567 (Colo. 1961).

Opinion

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Doyle.

Before us for review in this case is a judgmént' of’the district court of the City and County of Denver which vacated an award of the Industrial Commission confirming an election held to determine whether the Dry .Cleaning and Laundry Workers’ Local Union No. 304. should be the bargaining agent for certain employees of the Sunnyside Cleaners and Shirt Laundry. The parties will be referred to respectively as “Union,”. “Commission” and “Employer.”

- The Union commenced this proceeding by filing a petition for election in which it sought to be named as bargaining agent in accordance with C.R.S. ’53, 80-5-4. The petition stated that the employees sought to be represented were “ * * * All production and miscellaneous workers in the Dry Cleaning and Laundry operation.” In addition, the petition, a mimeographed form furnished by the Commission, contained this language:

“The bargaining unit for which the petition for election is filed claims to represent all employees in this state-or- only those employed in certain plants or divisions. The address of each plant or division and the [33]*33number of employees in each eligible for membership in the bargaining unit are 1420 West 46th Avenue, Denver, Colorado — number eligible —13;. 5145 West Alameda Avenue; 7414 Grandview; 1262 South Sheridan Blvd. and 5840 West 38th Avenue — 0.”

It also included the following entry:

“The classes of employees not eligible to participate in the bargaining unit election are ‘drivers.’ ”

Attached to the petition on a form also provided by the Commission on which eligible voters were to be listed were the names of thirteen employees. The petition showed that the employer operated his business in five locations, the main plant being at 1420 West 46th Avenue, and four collecting stations located in various parts of the city at each of which two women were employed as “countergirls” to receive and deliver the cleaning and laundry work. One woman worked as a counter-girl at the main office, and the remaining employees at the principal plant were engaged in the cleaning and laundering operations.

A list of twenty-two employees submitted by the employer included the names of the eight countergirls attached to the branch offices. The Commission then compiled a tentative polling list and on it listed fourteen names from which were excluded all of the counter-girls at the branches with the exception of one Orcelia Goodfellow. This tentative polling list and a notice of election was submitted to the employer and the Union, together with a letter from the secretary of the Commission. The letter explained that after a conference with a representative of the Union his (the secretary’s) understanding of the Union’s position was that workers employed in the branch offices did not constitute “production and miscellaneous workers”; that the general custom of the industry was not to include branch employees in this category and that therefore the names of such employees had not been included on the tentative polling list. The employer objected to the tentative polling list [34]*34and to the omission of the countergirls, and pointed out that Orcelia Goodfellow was a countergirl at one of the branch offices. Since, the employer contended that all the countergirls should be allowed to vote as employees, it did not object to including the name of Miss Good-fellow on the polling list, but sought to have the names of the other seven listed also. This objection was filed with the Commission on September 10, 1958, and on September 16, 1958, the Commission ordered that the tentative polling list be approved and adopted as a final polling list. On September 18, 1958, an election was held with a total of twelve votes being cast. Two additional ballots were challenged and not voted. The result of the election was seven in favor of the Union and five against. One of the challenges was made by the Union to the ballot of Orcelia Goodfellow on the ground that she was a countergirl and not within the group of employees sought to be represented.

The employer then petitioned the Commission for review of its order of September 16, denying the seven countergirls the right to vote and contended that the election based thereon was invalid. The matter was reviewed by the Commission and the order of September 16 was adhered to.

The employer then filed a complaint in the district court seeking review of the order of the Commission and alleging error in excluding the names of the seven countergirls from the list. It argued that this action violated C.R.S. ’53, 80-5-2 (3), and prayed that the countergirls be included in any subsequent election. On July 1, 1959, the trial court remanded the matter back to the Commission for the purpose of holding a hearing on the issues raised by the complaint. At a hearing on August 13, 1959, the Commission brought out that the Union’s position was that it had sought an election among the operational employees (in the main plant only) and that such employees constituted a separate “class, division, department or plant” within the [35]*35meaning of the statute. The Commission’s record was returned to the court on October 1, 1959, and on April 15, 1960, the matter was heard and the award of the Commission vacated. The trial court stated as the basis for its decision:

“This Court feels that all of the employees of the Sunnyside Cleaners and Shirt Laundry should be entitled to vote. The mere fact that they were placed in various parts of the city, none doing different work, but all working on behalf of the Sunnyside Laundry, I feel that they should also have been entitled to vote.
“It is the Order of this Court that this matter be referred back to the Industrial Commission and that the election — I think I’m saying it right — should be declared null and void, and a further hearing had.”

This judgment is before us for review on writ of error. The Union and the Commission maintain that the employees who sought to be represented were those in the main plant only and that they at all times constituted a proper electoral body under the terms of the Labor Peace Act. The employer, on the other hand, urges the following points in support of the judgment:

1. That the Commission erroneously construed the employees at the main plant as constituting a “craft, division, department or plant” under the statute.

2. That the Union petitioned for an election among all the eligible employees and is thereby bound.

3. That the Commission failed to make sufficient findings of fact following the hearing on August 13, 1959.

4. That the Commission erred in allowing challenges to votes at the time of the election and that this error invalidates the election.

I. The propriety of determining the employees at the main office and plant to be a voting body for the selection of a collective bargaining unit.

The Colorado Labor Peace Act provides that a collective bargaining representative, referred to in the statute as a “collective bargaining unit,” may be selected by a [36]*36majority of the employees engaged in “a single craft, division, department or plant.” C.R.S. ’53, 80-5-2 (6). It further provides in 80-5-5 (2) that:

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Related

Schultz v. Industrial Commission
523 P.2d 164 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 1974)

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Bluebook (online)
360 P.2d 446, 146 Colo. 31, 1961 Colo. LEXIS 567, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dry-cleaners-laundry-workers-local-union-no-304-v-sunnyside-cleaners-colo-1961.