Menasha Wooden Ware Corp.

In 'the Matter Of MENASHA WOODEN WARE CORPORATION and 'UNITED FURNITURE WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 707 (CIO) Case No. R-4957.-Decided March 20, 1943 Jurisdiction : wooden products manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : con- flicting claims of rival representatives ; closed-shop contract purporting to cover all the employees of the company, held not applicable to new plant acquired subsequent to the execution of the contract and following destruc- tion by fire of one of the plants covered by the contract, when hardly any of the employees at the new plant had ever been covered by the contract or were contemplated as future, employees of the company at the time the contract was executed ; further, petitioner gave notice of its claim of representation prior to the date the contract would have been automatically renewed ; election necessary. . Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees of the'company at the plant involved, excluding office and clerical employees, shipping clerks, time- study men, executives, foremen, and foreladies ; stipulation as to. Mr. John McAndrew, of Rockford, Ill-., for the Company. Mr. Joe Kennedy, of Rockford, Ill., for the CIO. Mr. Joseph M. Jacobs, of Chicago, Ill., for the AFL. ''Mr: David V. Easton, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND ,DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by United Furniture Workers of America, Local- 707 (CIO), herein called the CIO, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em- ployees of Menasha Wooden Ware Corporation, Rockford, Illinois, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board pro- vided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before'Lester Asher, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Rockford, Illinois, on' March 3, 1943.: The Company, the CIO, and Furniture -& Wood- workers Union, Local 330, Upholsterers' International Union of North America, A. F. L., herein called the AFL, -appeared, partici- pated, and were -afforded • full' opportunity , to be heard, to. examine 48 N. L. R. B., No. 46. 345 346 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. As part of its motion to intervene the AFL made a motion to dismiss the petition; which the Trial Examiner referred to the Board. For reasons appearing below this motion is denied. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at, the hearing are free .from prejudi- cial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Menasha Wooden Ware Corporation is a Wisconsin corporation engaged in the manufacture and sale of wooden pails, tubs, barrels, furniture specialties, wood turnings, and corrugated and solid fibre containers. The Company operates 7 plants throughout the United States. We are concerned herein with the operations of the Company at its Rockford, Illinois, plant. The Rockford plant commenced oper- ations in August 1942. From the commencement of operations to December 31, 1942, the plant used raw materials valued at approximately $90,000, of which about 80 percent was shipped to it from points outside the State of Illinois. During the same period, the sale of the finished products of this plant amounted to approximately $106,000, about 80 percent of which was shipped to points outside the State of Illinois. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning-of the National Labor ,Relations Act. H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED United Furniture Workers of America, Local 707; is a labor organ- ization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, ad- mitting to membership employees of the Company. Furniture & Woodworkers Union,'Local 330, Upholsterers' Interna- tional Union of North America, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership em- ployees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On January 1, 1942, the Company signed a 1-year "closed shop" con- tract with the AFL which provided that it was renewable from year to year unless notice was given by either party in writing at least 30 days prior to the termination date. This contract, purportedly cover- ing all employees of the,Company, was'signed on behalf of the Com- pany by the manager of its Ladysmith, Wisconsin, plant, and on be; r MENASHA' WOODEN WARE CORPORATION' 347 half of the Upholsterer's Union, by its agent, Local 330, of Ladysmith, Wisconsin. On July 9, 1942, the Ladysmith plant was destroyed by fire. A short time thereafter the Company took over the plant and machinery of the Onli-Way Fixture Company at Rockford, Illinois, and commenced operations there about August 1942. These opera-' 'tions were commenced with- approximately 65 employees, most of whom were former employees of the Onli-Way Company and,had been -covered by a collective bargaining agreement between the Onli-Way Company and the CIO. The manager of the Ladysmith plant became ,the manager of the new Rockford plant. When operations began -at Rockford, the Company gave the employees who had been working in the Ladysmith plant an opportunity to transfer to Rockford. However, only a few of these responded,' and as the Company en- larged its operations, it called upon the CIO, in addition to using other 'methods of recruitment, to assist it in obtaining additional experienced personnel. On or about September 4, 1942, the general counsel for the AFL wrote to the Company, calling upon it to carry out the terms of the contract of January d, 1942. By latter_ dated September 24, 1942, the attorney for the Company notified the AFL that he had advised the Company that it had no obligation under the contract. On October 27, ' 1942, the business agent of the CIO orally notified the manager of the Rockford plant of its claims of representation, and left with him a copy of a proposed contract. During November and December, the CIO on several occasions, through its business agent, urged upon the manager of the Rockford plant either the signing of the proposed contract or the execution of a consent election ,agreement. On or about December 28, 1942, the AFL advised -the Company that it considered the contract of January 1, 1942, as having been automatically renewed in the absence of any notice of termina- tion. On January 2, 1943, the CIO made a formal written request for recognition, and on January 18, filed the petition herein. The Company has repeatedly refused to commit itself to either the AFL or the CIO, taking the position that it would "wait and see what` was the right thing to do . . . that the employees should decide." The contract of January 1, 1942, has never been enforced at Rockford. The CIO contends that the contract of January 1 does not consti- . lute a bar to present determination of representatives.' The -AFL contends that the contract was written to cover all employees of the ,Company and that it was automatically renewed on December 1, 1942, when no notice of termination was received from the Company. We do ;not agree with the latter contention. , The contract was never en- At the time of, the hearing the record discloses that only 6 of a group in excess of 150 employees at Rockford were former employees of the Company at Ladysmith. 348 DECISIONS.'OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD forced at Rockford, nor did the AFL act on behalf of the Rockford employees with regard to grievances, or collect dues from them. The contract was signed by the Ladysmith plant manager and by a Lady- smith local of the AFL. Furthermore, and of equal importance, hardly any of the employees at the Rockford plant had ever been cov- ered by this contract or were contemplated as future employees of the Company at the time the contract was executed. In view of this, we are of the opinion that the contract of January 1, 1942, was inappli- cable to the Rockford plant.' We also note that the CIO gave oral notice of its claim for recognition on several occasions prior to the date upon which the contract would have been automatically renewed. We find, therefore, that the contract does not constitute a bar to a present determination of representatives. A statement of the Regional Director, introduced into evidence at the hearing, and a statement of the Trial Examiner, indicate that the CIO and the AFL each represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.' 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 In accordance with a stipulation of the parties, we find that all em- ployees of the Company at its Rockford, -Illinois, plant, excluding office and clerical employees, shipping clerks, time-study men, execu- tives, foremen, and foreladies,4 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 We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em- See Matter of General Motors Corporation, Eastern Aircraft (Linden Division) and Pattern Makers League of North America, A. F. of L., 44 N. L. R. B. 513; Matter of Sardik Food Products Corporation and United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing and Allied Workers, 46 N. L. R. B. 894. 3 The Regional Director reported that the CIO submitted 150 designation cards bearing apparently genuine original signatures , of which 101 contained names appearing on the Company's pay roll of January 23 , 1943, which contained 191 names. The Trial Examiner reported that the AFL submitted at the hearing 79 authorization cards bearing apparently genuine original signatures of which 51 contain names appearing on the Company's pay roll of January 23, 1943. Thirty-three names appear on cards sub- mitted by both the AFL and the CIO. 4 The parties are in agreement , and we find , that the following employees are foremen or foreladies : Jesse Bing, Joe Steckbauer, Perry Galssie, Irvin Strothman, Ole Toven, Carl Strom, Wilma Sterling, Henning Nelson , and Walter Drum. The unit is substan- tially the same as that designated in the contract of January 1, 1942, between the Com- pany and the AFL. MENASHA WOODEN WARE CORPORATION 349 ployees in the appropriate unit were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of our Direction of Election, subject to the limitations and additions set forth therein." DIRECTION OF ELECTION By virtue of andfpursuant 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 Rela- tions 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 Menasha Wooden Ware Corporation, Rockford, Illinois, 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 super- vision 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 any such 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 any who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Local "707, United Furniture Workers of America, affiliated with the Con- gress of Industrial Organizations, or by Furniture & Woodworkers Union, Local 330, Upholsterers' International Union of North Amer- ica, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. MR. JoHN M. HousTON took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election.