Bemis Bro. Bag Co.

In the Matter of BEMIS BRO. BAG Co., E3iPLoYirn and TEXTILE WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER Case No. 1-R-3334.Decided March 31, 1947 Mr. Arnold N. Weeks, of East Pepperell, Mass., for the Employer. Mr. David Jaffe, of New York City, for the Petitioner. Messrs. George W. Brooks and Raymond Leon, both of Boston, Mass., for the AFL. Mr. Warren Lelanad, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Lowell, Massachusetts, on October 18, 1946, before Thomas Ramsey, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. At the hearing the Employer and the AFL moved to dismiss the proceeding. For reasons stated hereinafter, the motion is hereby denied. Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Bemis Bro. Bag Co. is a Missouri corporation with its principal offices in Boston, Massachusetts, and St. Louis, Missouri. The Em- ployer operates approximately 25 plants in various States in the United States. This proceeding is concerned only with the Employ- er's plants in East Pepperell and Lowell, Massachusetts. During the past year, the Employer purchased for use at these plants raw ma- terials valued in excess of $100,000, more than 50 percent of which was purchased outside the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Dur- ing the same period the Employer's production at these plants was valued in excess of $150,000, more than 50 percent of which was shipped outside the Commonwealth. The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 73N.L R B,No.6. 32 BEMIS BRO . BAG CO. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED 33 The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite & Paper Mill Workers, herein called the AFL, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION In a consent election held on July 16, 1946, the production and maintenance employees at the Employer's East Pepperell plant selected the AFL as their bargaining agent. After the election and shortly before August 1, 1946, the Employer opened a new plant at Lowell, Massachusetts, approximately 15 miles distant from the East Pepperell plant. Thereafter, on September 24, 1946, the Employer and the AFL executed a 1-year collective bargaining agreement cover- ing, generally, all production and maintenance employees employed by "divisions of Bemis Bro. Bag Co., administered from Chapel Hill, East Pepperell, Massachusetts." Shortly before September 5, 1946, the Petitioner apprised the Employer that it represented a majority of the employees at the Lowell plant and requested recognition as their bargaining representative. On September 5, 1946, the Petitioner filed its petition in the instant case. The Employer and the AFL assert that their contract applies to the Lowell operations as well as to the East Pepperell plant; they contend, therefore,°that this contract is a bar to the present proceeding. We do not agree. The Lowell plant was not in existence at the time of the consent election and the employees employed there had no opportunity to participate in the selection of a bargaining representa- tive. There is no basis in the prior election, therefore, for extending coverage of the contract to the Lowell operations. Inasmuch as the contract was executed after the petition was filed, we find that it is not a bar to a current determination of representatives at the Lowell plant., IV. TIIE APPROPRIATE UNIT; THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES The Petitioner seeks a unit comprised of employees at the Employ- er's Lowell plant. The Employer and the AFL, on the other hand, contend that the employees at the East Pepperell and Lowell plants together constitute a single appropriate unit. Whether the unit be on 1 See Matter of Radio Corporation of America, RCA Victor Division, 66 N L R B 162. 34 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD a single-plant or a two-plant basis, the parties agree, however, that the appropriate unit should include all production and maintenance em- ployees except for office and clerical employees and all supervisory personnel.2 There are approximately 200 employees at the Employer's East Pepperell plant, and approximately 60 employees at the Lowell plant. These plants are functionally integrated, the Lowell plant being en- gaged in finishing the products of the East Pepperell plant. The rec- ord also shows a similarity of skills of the employees of both plants, and that the Employer applies a uniform personnel policy to both groups. This operational and personnel relationship between the 2 plants would warrant establishing a unit comprised of the personnel of both plants. On the other hand, the plants are 15 miles apart and, so far as the record shows, there is practically no personnel interchange between them. Under these circumstances, a unit confined to the employees of the Lowell plant would also be feasible. In view of the foregoing, we believe that the determination of the proper unit should depend, in part, upon the desires of the employees themselves. We shall, therefore, make no final determination of the appropriate unit at this time, but shall direct that an election be held among the aforesaid employees in the Lowell plant to determine their desires- respecting this matter. If a majority of these employees select the Petitioner as their bargaining representative, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate appropriate unit. If, however, they select the AFL, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute, together with the East Peplerell employees, a two-plant bargaining unit. We shall direct that an election be conducted by secret ballot among employees in the following voting group who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction : all production and maintenance employees 3 at the Employer's Lowell, Massachusetts, plant, excluding office and clerical employees, the foremen, and all other supervisory employees with au- thority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action. ' There is a dispute as to the status of John Marconi, whom the Petitioner would exclude as a supervisory employee Marconi instructs employees in machine operations and assigns work to them , he also sets up and fixes machines So far as the record shows, Marconi is not enipon'ered to change or recommend changes in the status of employees . nor does he pos- sess any of the indicia of authority within the customary definition of supervisory per- sonnel Accordingly , we find that Maiconi is not a supervisory employee and we shall, therefore , include him in the voting group herein established. 3 Including John Marconi BEMIS BRO. BAG CO. DIRECTION OF ELECTION 4 35 As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Bemis Bro. Bag Co., Lowell, Massachusetts, 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 supervision of the Regional Di- rector for the First Region, acting in this matter as agent for the Na- tional Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations- Series 4, among the employees in the voting unit described in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immedi- ately 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 otf, 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 dis- charged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Textile Workers Union of America, CIO, or by International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite & Paper Mill Workers, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. CIIAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election. 4 Any participant in the election herein may , upon its prompt request to, and approval thereof by, the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot.