Bahan Textile Machinery Co., Inc.

In the Matter of BAHAN TEXTILE MACHINERY COMPANY, INC., EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL MOLDERS AND FOUNDRY WORKERS OF NORTH AMERICA, A. F. of L., PETITIONER Case No. 10-R-1894.-Decided August 96, 1946 Leatherwood and Walker, by Mr. D. B. Leatherwood, of Greenville, S. C., for the Employer. Mr. F. Ed. Long, of East Point, Ga., for the Petitioner. Mr. Jerome J. Dick, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Green- ville, South Carolina, on June 19, 1946, before M. A. Prowell, Trial, Examiner. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Bahan Textile Machinery Company, Inc., a South Carolina corpora- tion with its office and plant in Greenville, South Carolina, is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of textile machinery parts. During the year 1945, it used raw materials exceeding $10,000 in value, all of which was received from points outside the State of South Caro- lina. During the same period, it manufactured finished products valued at approximately $500,000, 50 percent of which was shipped to points outside the State of South Carolina. The Employee admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. TILE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. 70 N. L. R. B., No. 61. 839 840 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all the Employer's Foundry Department employees, including all employees in the core room, but excluding painters, carpenters, pattern makers, clerical employees, timekeepers, superintendent, foreman of the pattern shop and core room, assistant superintendent, cleaning and painting foreman, shake- out foreman, and all other supervisory employees. Although the Em- ployer is in substantial agreement, contrary to the Petitioner's posi- tion it would include painters, carpenters, and pattern makers. There are 2 painters, 2 carpenters, and 3 pattern makers in the Foundry Department. The painters clean and paint castings, while the carpenters make jackets for flash and bottom boards and also make patterns. The pattern makers, besides making patterns, pour molds; in addition, there is considerable interchange between them and the core makers. It also appears that there is a single foreman for the pattern shop and core room, and that this individual is a former core maker. It is clear from the foregoing facts that the functions and interests of the painters, carpenters, and pattern makers are related to those of the other workers in the Foundry Department. Accord- ingly, we shall include the painters, carpenters, and pattern m,Lkers. We find that all of the Foundry Department employees of the Em- ployer, including all employees in the core room, painters, carpenters, and pattern makers, but excluding clerical employees, timekeepers, superintendent, foreman of the pattern shop and core room, assistant superintendent, cleaning and painting foreman, shake-out foreman, and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em- ployees, or effectively recommend such action. constitute a unit appro- priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. TILE DETERMINATION OF REPREwEN F TIVEE:s We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot, subject, to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. BAHAN TEXTILE MACHINERY COMPANY, INC. 841 At the hearing the Petitioner requested that certain individuals 1 be permitted to vote on the ground that they were temporarily laid off by the Employer. The Employer, however, insisted that these persons had been permanently discharged. The Company temporarily laid off some of these individuals on May 3, 1946, and the remainder on May 10, 1946, because of a shortage of pig iron and coke. But thereafter the Employer began making alterations to modernize its plant, and found that it would no longer require the services of any of these persons. Accordingly, by letter dated May 28, 1946, it noti- fied them they were permanently discharged. It thus seems clear that these persons are no longer employees of the Employer, having been permanently parted from employment.2 The Petitioner's request is denied. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purpose of collective bargaining with Bahan Textile Machinery Company, Inc., Greenville, South Carolina, 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 Tenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, 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 and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by International Molders and Foundry Workers of North America, A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining. 'They are Charles E. Phillips , Benjamin F. Kennedy, Homer C Smith , Eugene Mitchell, Jessie H. Rainey , Jr, Earnest Brooks, Mathew Gates, Russell Church, Therome Marlow, John F. Byars, Silas N. Epps , Bruce A. Long, Edgar B. Painter, Richard S. Epps, James Brewster, J. D. Smith, and Jessie Wilks. 2 Although the Petitioner implied at the hearing that several of these individuals had been discriminatorily discharged in violation of the Act , no unfair labor practice charge has been filed against the Employer, which denied the implication.