Wilson & Co., Inc.

In the Matter Of WILSON & COMPANY, INC., Box FACTORY, NATCIIEZ, MISSISSIPPI, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL WOOD WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL S-440, CIO, PETITIONER Case No.15-R-1664.Decided September 5,1946 Mr. Milton W. Meyers, of Chicago, Ill., for the Employer. Mr. Doyle Dorsey, of Natchez, Miss., for the Petitioner. Mrs. Catherine W. Goldman, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was'held at Natchez, Mississippi, on July 18, 1946, before Fred J. Cassibry, Trial Examiner. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju- dicial error and are hereby affirmed. The Trial Examiner reserved for the Board's determination the Employer's motion to dismiss this proceeding on the ground that the hearing was unfair because no evidence of employee interest was shown. In support of its motion the Employer cites Section 7 (c) of the Administrative Procedure Act.' The showing of interest required of a petitioner by the Board serves only an administrative purpose. To avoid confusion and misunderstanding, the Board now _excludes such evidence from the record. The rights of none of the parties are adversely affected by the new procedure.' The question of whether Section 7 (c) of the Administrative Procedure Act requires a change in this practice need not be considered at the present time inasmuch as no part of that statute has yet become effective.' Ac- cordingly, the Employer's motion to dismiss is hereby denied. Public Law 404, 79th Congress , 2nd Session. 2 See Matter of 0. D Jennings & Company, 68 N. L. R. B. 516. 3 Administrative Procedure Act, Section 12. For the same reason we do not consider the question of the applicability of Section 5 (a) of the Administrative Procedure Act to the Regional Director's denial of the Employer's request to postpone the hearing. Apart from the application of the Procedure Act, we find no abuse of discretion in the Regional Directoi 's action 70 N. L. R B. No 100, . 1176 - 1 WILSON & COMPANY, INC: 1177 Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. TILE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Wilson'& Company, Inc., a Delaware corporation, having its prin- cipal office in Chicago, Illinois, is engaged at Concord Station, Natchez, Mississippi, in the fabrication of veneer wire bound boxes and crates for exclusive use of its packing plants, poultry, and branch houses. The principal raw materials purchased by the Employer for use at the Natchez box factory are veneer, pleat lumber, wire, zinc, lath, and yarn. During 1945, it purchased for use of the Natchez plant raw materials amounting in value to over $250,000, of which approximately 33 percent was shipped to Natchez from points outside the State of Mississippi. During the same period it sold finished products from this plant amounting in value to over $500,000, of which approximately 90 percent was shipped to points outside the State. The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION 4 4 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 We find, substantially in accordance with a stipulation of the parties, that all production and maintenance employees of the Employer at its Concord Station Plant, Natchez, Mississippi, excluding watchmen, wood crews, transportation crews, clerical employees, manager, super- intendent, day and night master mechanics, day and night saw fore- 1178 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS, BOARD men, day and night wire bound machine operations foremen, assistant foremen machine maintenance, shipping and receiving clerk, and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the.status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur- poses of collective bargaining with Wilson & Company, Inc., Box Factory, Natchez, Mississippi, an election by secret ballot shall be con- ,ducted 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 Fifteenth 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 in- cluding employees in the armed forces of the United States who pre- sent 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 Wood Workers of America, Local S-440, CIO, for the purposes of collective bargaining. MR. JAMES J. REYNOLDS, JR., took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election.