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Kovalcik (Grocers Baking Company)15.21

Section 29(8)

LABOR DISPUTE, Bakery workers, Driver salesperson, Lockout, Regional warehouse, Same establishment, Separate union contract

CITE AS: Kovalcik (Grocers Baking Co.), 1980 BR 61434 (B77 16121).

Appeal pending: No

Claimant: Joseph J. Kovalcik

Employer: Grocers Baking Co.

Docket No: B77 16121 61434

BOARD OF REVIEW HOLDING: A wholesale driver salesperson, operating from a regional baked goods warehouse and working under a separate union contract, is not employed in the same establishment as inside workers at the central bakery.

FACTS: A wholesale driver salesperson for a baking company, working from a regional warehouse, was laid off after the employer locked out a group of workers at its central bakery. The labor dispute did not involve the claimant, whose union contract was separate.

DECISION: The claimant is not disqualified for benefits because of a labor dispute.

RATIONALE: "In the case of Graham v Fred Sanders Company, 11 Mich App 361 (1968), the Court of Appeals found that all of the employees in the retail outlets maintained by Sanders were not employed in the same establishment even though there was functional integrality and overall executive supervision; the court held that there was no relationship between the striking bakery employees and the nonstriking employees. One of the factors which the Court looked at in making its decision that the retail employees were not employed in the same establishment was the difference in job skills and working conditions. In the case at hand, the board finds the factual situation to be very similar to Graham v Sanders, supra. This claimant was employed as a wholesale driver salesman who operated out of the regional warehouse which was controlled by the regional manager. The terms and conditions of this claimant's employment were different than those of the bakers who were involved in negotiations which resulted in a lockout. This claimant's employment relationship with the employer was governed by a completely different contract."

11/90

3, 14:NA

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