Salant & Salant, Inc.

In the Matter of SALANT & SALANT, INC., EMPLOYER and AMALGAMATED CLOTHING WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER Case No. 15-R-1871.-Decided November 1,9, 1946 Illr. Joseph Martin, of Nashville, Tenn., for the Employer. Messrs. Edward A. Blair, Roy McCullough, and Harold S. Martenke, all of Nashville, Tenn., for the Petitioner. Mrs. Ida Lee Merchant, of Union City, Tenn., for the Intervenor. Mr. Warren H. Leland, of counsel to the Board. - DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES STATEMENT OF TIIE CASE Upon a petition duly filed, the National Labor Relations Board on September 17, 1946, conducted a prehearing election among employees of the Employer in the alleged appropriate unit, to determine whether they desired to be represented by the Petitioner or the Intervenor for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. At the close of the election a Tally of Ballots was furnished the parties. The Tally shows that there were approximately 208 eligible voters, of whom 107 cast votes for the Petitioner; 89 cast votes for the Intervenor; and 7 cast votes for neither. Thereafter, hearing in the case was held at Lexington, Kentucky, before T. Lowry Whittaker, hearing officer. At the hearing and in its brief the Employer moved to vacate the election, asserting : (1) that prehearing elections, generally, are improper and illegal, and by implication, in contravention of the Administrative Procedures Act; (2) that, in any event, prehearing elections with two unions on the ballot are repugnant to the Board's Rules and Regulations because the presence of two unions, per se, involves a "substantial issue"; (3) that the substitution on September 11, 1946, of Series 4 of the Board's Rules and Regulations for Series 3 has, in effect, deprived the Employer of procedural due process; and (4) that the unions should have been required to file a waiver, disclaim- ing their right to protest the results of the election predicated upon the subject matter of a pending unfair labor practice charge which the Petitioner filed against the Employer on September 25, 1946, in Case No. 15-C-1227. 71 \ L. It B, No. 103 661 662 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD We reject the Employer's first contention. It is clear, for the reasons stated in the Squibb case,' that prehearing elections are neither improper nor illegal. Insofar as the Administrative Proce- dures Act is concerned, not only are representation proceedings in large measure exempt from its provisions, but there are no applicable portions thereof which prohibit, either specifically or by implica- tion, the conduct of prehearing elections by the Board. We find, also, that the Employer's second contention lacks merit. For the Board's Rules and Regulations in no way preclude the holding of prehearing elections where more than one union is involved. We find, too, that the Employer's third contention is without merit. The Employer has failed to show wherein it has been prejudiced by the substitution of Series 4 of the Board's Rules and Regulations for Series.3. Moreover, we are satisfied that no possible prejudice could have resulted from this fact. And we are also of the opinion that the Employer's last contention lacks substance. The unfair labor practice charge in Case No. 15-0-1227 was filed on September 25, 1946, and this could have not been waived before the election, which was held 8 days earlier. Accordingly, the Employer's motion to vacate the election is hereby denied. The hearing officer'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 Salant & Salant, Inc., a New York corporation engaged in the manufacture and sale of work shirts and pants, operates plants in various cities and towns in the State of Tennessee. We are concerned in this proceeding only with the Employer's plant located at Lexing- ton, Tennessee. During each year, raw materials valued in excess of $100,000 are shipped to the Lexington plant from points outside the State of Tennessee. Also during each year finished products of the Lexington plant, valued in excess of $100,000, are shipped to points outside the State of Tennessee. The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. i See Matter of E. R. Squibb € Sons, 67 N. L. R. B. 557. SALANT & SALANT, INC. 663 United Garment Workers of America, herein called the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. 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 mean- ing of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT In accordance with the agreement of the parties, we find that all production and maintenance employees of the Employer's Lexington, Tennessee, plant, excluding clerical employees, and all supervisory employees 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 the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION Or REPRESENTATIVES The results of the election held prior to the hearing show that the Petitioner received a majority of the votes cast. We shall, therefore, certify the Petitioner as the collective bargaining representative of the employees in the appropriate unit. CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, CIO, has been designated and selected by a majority of all production and maintenance employees of Salant & Salant, Inc., at its Lexington, Tennessee, plant, excluding all clerical employees, and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline,>or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, as their representative for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that pursuant to Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act, Amalgamated Clothing Work- ers of America, CIO, is the exclusive representative of all such em- ployees for the purposes of collective bargaining with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment.