McCarty Manufacturing Co.

In the Matter Of JUSTIN S. MCCARTY , JR., NOLAN MCGOUGH , AND GER- TRUDE REED, D/B/A MCCARTY MANUFACTURING COMPANY and DAL- LAS JOINT BOARD, INTERNATIONAL LADIES GARMENT WORKERS UNION, AFL Case No. 16-R-1053 SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION April 7, 1945 STATEMENT OF THE CASE On December 26, 1944, the National Labor Relations Board herein called the Board, issued a Decision and Order in the above-entitled proceeding,' finding that certain production employees of Justin S. McCarty, Jr., Nolan McGough, and Gertrude Reed, doing business as McCarty Manufacturing Company, Dallas, Texas, did not consti- tute an appropriate unit for the purposes of collective bargaining, and ordering that the petition filed therein by Dallas Joint Board, Inter- national Ladies Garment Workers Union, AFL, herein called the Union, be dismissed. On January 12, 1945, the Union filed a motion for rehearing, alleg- ing that the existence of material evidence which should have been adduced into the record. On January 25, 1945, the Board, having duly considered the matter, ordered that the record be reopened,2 and pro- vided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Lewis Moore, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Dallas, Texas, on February 12, 1945. The Company and the Union appeared and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, to introduce evidence bearing on the issues, and to file briefs with the Board. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. The Company's request that opportunity be afforded for the presen- tation of oral argument is hereby denied. 15.9 N L R. B. 1244. 2 A motion by the Company for reconsideration of the Order aforesaid was denied by the Board on February 9, 1945. 61 N. L. R. B., No. 57. 443 444 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : SUPPLEMENTAL FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On or about August 31, 1944, the Union, claiming to represent the Company's employees, sent a letter to the Company requesting a con- ference for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Company re- plied that it questioned the appropriateness of the unit claimed by the Union aad declined to bargain with the Union unless and until certi- fied by the Board. A statement by a Field Examiner for the Board, introduced in evi- dence at the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of employees in'the unit hereinafter found appropriate 8 In our Decision and Order herein, we found that no question con- cerning representation of employees of the Company had arisen since the bargaining unit sought to be established by the petition herein was not appropriate. For reasons appearing hereinafter in Section II, we have reconsidered that finding and now find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of em- ployees of the Company, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. II. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT In the Decision and Order herein, the Board found that a unit con- fined to Plant No. 3, as sought by the Union, was inappropriate, par- ticularly in view of the inchoate state of organization in Plant No. 2. In support of its finding, the Board pointed to the fact that there was no evidence that the employees in Plant No. 2, not claimed by the Union, had definitely indicated a lack of interest in collective bargain- ing. In addition thereto, it appeared from the testimony of a union representative that the Union had made substantial progress in or- ganizing the employees of Plant No. 2 and would shortly be in a posi- tion to seek an election and certification of bargaining representatives. The evidence now discloses, however, that at least 50 percent of the employees in this plant have no present interest in collective bar- gaining and that the Union has but very few members and has made no progress since an unsuccessful attempt to organize the employees therein in May of 1944.4 'The Field Examiner reported that the Union had submitted designations in the form of a petition dated August 28, 1944, and bearing the names of 25 employees from among a total of 49 employees in the claimed appropriate unit 4 A witness for the Union testified that no additional members had been secured from the plant aside from 11 employees who signed during the May 1944 campaign. The witness further stated that of these 11 employees, only 5 were now employed by the Company, which has since increased the personnel at this plant from 80 to approximately 100 employees. McCARTY MANUFACTURING COMPANY 445 We are of the opinion that these facts not shown to be in existence at the time of our Decision and Order herein, constitute a material change in the circumstances underlying the Decision and Order and compel the conclusion that organization of the employees at the Com- pany's Plant No. 2 in the city of Dallas is not feasible within a reason- able time. Accordingly, while the similarity of working conditions, the integration of the Company's operations and a certain amount of temporary interchange of employees between plants, indicate the de- sirability of an over-all company-wide unit, in view of the fact that Plant No. 3 is engaged in an independent manufacturing operation as a semi-autonomous department in the organization of the Company, we perceive no valid reason to deny the employees of this plant their rights to collective bargaining until organization in the optimum ap- propriate unit is effected. Accordingly, we shall find to be appropri- ate a bargaining unit composed of employees of Plant No. 3.5 We do not thereby preclude future reconsideration of the appropriateness of a larger unit, should organization of the Company's employees be extended. We find that all single needle operators, finishers, pressers, cutters and lining cutters, spreaders, special machine operators, inspectors, sample markers, and bundle girls in Plant No. 3 only, excluding office and maintenance employees,6 shipping room employees, designers, stock boy (stock and spreader) floor ladies,? and all supervisory em- ployees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively rec- ommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for collective bar- gaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. III. 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- ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay- roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec- tion herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. The Union requests that its name appear on the ballot as "Dallas Joint Board, International Ladies Garment Workers Union, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor." The request is hereby granted. G See Matter of Hudson Knitting Mills, Inc., 56 N. L. R. B. 1250; Matter of Newnan Cotton Mills, 58 N. L. R. B. 637; Matter of Norfolk Southern Bus Corporation, 60 N. L. R. B. 630. e Excluded as office and maintenance employees are employees in the classification of pay-roll clerk, general clerk and bookkeeper , porter, and maid. 'Excluded under this description is Margaret LiCausi sometimes referred to by the title of distributor and inspector. 639678-45-vol. 61-30 446 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD DIRECTION OF ELECTION 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 3, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purpose of collective bargaining with Justin S. McCarty, Jr., Nolan McGough, and Gertrude Reed, doing business as McCarty Manufacturing Company, Dallas, Texas, 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 supervi- sion of the Regional Director for the Sixteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section II, 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 any who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the elec- tion, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Dallas Joint Board, International Ladies Garment Workers Union, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining.