Reliance Manufacturing Co.

In the Matter of RELIANCE MANUFACTURING COMPANY and UNITED GARMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL No. 215 , Case No. R-4792.-Decided February 5,1943 Jurisdiction : garment manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re- fusal to accord recognition without certification ; intervenor's objections to usual eligibility date held without merit ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all production and maintenance employees at one plant, including shipping clerks, but excluding supervisory and clerical employees, janitor-watchmen, and irregular employees. Mr. Paul Y. Davis, of Indianapolis, Ind., for the Company. Mr. Joseph A. Padway, by Mr. Robert A. Wilson, of Washington, D. C., and Miss Madge King, of Galesburg, Ill., for'the United. Messrs. Leon M. Despres and -Harold Freed, of Chicago, Ill., and Miss Mildred Stout, of Michigan City, Ind., for the Amalgamated. _Mr. Robert Silagi, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE ' Upon a petition duly filed by United Garment Workers of America, Local No. 215, A. F. of L., herein called the United, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employee§ of Reliance Manufacturing Company, Michigan City, Indiana, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Lester Asher, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Michigan City, Indiana, on January 25, 1943. The Company, the United, and Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, C. I. 0., herein called the Amalgamated, appeared, participated, and were afforded full op- portunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rul- ings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. On February 1 and 5, 1943, the Amalgamated and the United, respectively, filed briefs which the Board has, considered. 47 N. L. R. B., No. 64. 451 452 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Reliance Manufacturing Company, an Illinois corporation with its principal office in Chicago, operates 16 plants for the manufacture of clothing. These include a,plant at Michigan City, Indiana, herein called the Michigan City plant, which is the only plant involved in this proceeding. The Michigan City plant is primarily, engaged in the manufacturer of underwear for men. During the year 1942, all' of the materials used by the Company at this plant were purchased out- side the State of Indiana and shipped from points outside the State to the Michigan City plant. During the same period, over 85 percent of the goods manufactured at the Michigan City plant, valued in excess of $1,700,000, was shipped therefrom to, points outside the State of Indiana. A large percentage of the production of the Michigan City- plant is devoted to the manufacture of clothing for war use. ' . The, Company admits that it is engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED United Garment Workers of America, Local No. 215,' affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization, admitting to membership employees of the Company. Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization, ad- mitting to membership employees of the Company. . III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On July 18; •1941, ,the Company entered into a members-only con- tract with the United. The contract provided that it should remain in effect for 1 year, and was subsequently extended by supplementary agreement to July 18, 1943.- In May 1942, the United requested the Company to recognize it as the exclusive bargaining representative of the,production and maintenance employees at the Michigan City plant. The Company refused to recognize the United without certification by the Board. A statement' of the Regional Director, introduced into' evidence 'at the hearing, indicates that the United represents a Substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.' 'The Regional Director reported that the United had submitted 358 authorization cards, all oP which bore apparently genuine original signatures ; that 267 of these cards RELIANCE MANUFACTURING COMPANY 453 We'find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of'the Company, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 ( 6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The United seeks a unit composed of all production and maintenance employees at the Michigan City plant, including shipping clerks, but excluding office clerks, office help, supervisory employees, and janitor- watchmen. There is agreement among the parties oh all classifications except maintenance employees and certain irregular employees. The United seeks to include and the Amalgamated to exclude the maintenance men from the unit. The Amalgamated contends that these employees, of which there are seven, should not be included in the unit for the reason that they are too closely allied to the management. Although the Amalgamated states that the maintenance employees are not eligible to membership in that organization, similar maintenance employees are covered by a contract between the Amalgamated and another concern. The United accepts the maintenance men to mem- bership. Of these seven maintenance employees, one is a piece-goods man who takes care of all piece goods, checks in returns, and is re- sponsible for the assortment of patterns; another is a maintenance man who takes care of building repairs, painting, and electrical work; two are belt boys who replace belts on sewing machines and do repair work on the transmitters; one is a marker in the cutting room and marks patterns in connection with piece goods; and two are sewing machine mechanics who repair and maintain the sewing machines. The record shows that none of these employees has any supervisory authority, nor is there any evidence that their interests are so,close to the manage- ment as to warrant their exclusion. ' Accordingly, we shall include them in the unit. The Company's pay roll lists four irregular employees? These em- ployees are not steadily employed for reasons of poor health or because their family d ties do not allow them sufficient time to work on a full- time basis. Tie United and the Amalgamated seek their exclusion on the ground of the sporadic nature of their work. While the Com- pany does not agree to their exclusion, it states that it has no objection thereto. The record shows that Kudynowski worked a total of 324 bore the names of persons listed on the Company 's pay roll of December 26, 1942, which contained the names of 389 persons within the alleged appropriate - unit; and that the cards Ni ere dated as follows : 1 in the year 1940, 152 in the year 1941, 57 In the year 1942, and 57 undated The Amalgamated declined to submit to either the Regional Director or to the Trial Examiner any evidence of membership . The United and the Company , however, do not object to the Amalgamated 's appearance on the ballot. Julia Kudynowski , Clara Brown , Gladys Pomranke (also referred to as Gladys Tompomranke ), and Clara Jarnutowski., 454 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL- LABOR RELATIONS- BOARD clock hours during 1942, earned $137.08, and last worked on July 27, 1942. Brown worked a total of 287 clock hours during 1942, earned $122.40, and last worked'on December 12, 1942. Pomranke worked a total of 960 clock hours during 1942, earned $532.92, and last worked on July 11, 1942. Jarnutowski worked a total of 842 clock hours dur- ing 1942, earned $458.13, and last worked on October 17, 1942. In view of the intermittent nature of their work, we shall exclude the irregular employees from the unit. There is also disagreement as to whether or not another employee, Violet Schaeffer, should be included in the unit. This employee was on leave of absence at the time of the hearing. She last worked on December 12, 1942, and has been off since that time because she is unable to find anyone to take care of her children. She lives on a rural route, 9 miles from Michigan City. She intends to return to work in the near future. She worked 1,811 clock hours during 1942 and earned $901.41. The Amalgamated contends that Schaeffer should not be eligible to vote, for the reason that she has no expectation of returning to work. The 'Company and the United would include Schaeffer as an eligible employee. Since she was a regular employee during the year 1942 and expects soon to return to work we shall include her in the appropriate unit. We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Com- pany, including shipping clerks, but excluding supervisory and clerical employees, janitor-watchmen, and irregular employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF' REPRESENTATIVES The Amalgamated desires that the eligibility date be governed by the pay roll current at the time of the hearing, on the ground that the Company may hire many new employees prior to the date of the elec- tion and attempt to influence them to vote for the United. While the record indicates that the Company may make some further increases in its staff in the near future, there is nothing in the record to lead us to find that the Company will attempt unlawfully to influence their choice of representatives in the election. Accordingly, we shall not depart from our usual practice with respect to the eligibility date. We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em- ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the. Direction of Election herein, subject-to the limitations and additions set forth in the Di- rection. - RELIANCE MANUFACTURING COMPANY DIRECTION OF ELECTION 455 By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Reliance Manu- facturing Company, Michigan City, Indiana, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under the' direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Thirteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 10, of said Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by United Garment Workers of America, Local No. 215, affiliated with the American Fed- eration of Labor, or by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of Amer- ica, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.