General Shoe Corp.

In the Matter of SOUTHERN SOLE COMPANY, AN OPERATING DIVISION OF GENERAL SHOE CORPORATION,1 EMPLOYER and BOOT AND SHOE WORKERS UNION, A . F. L., PETITIONER Case No. 10-RC-411.-Decided February 20,1948 Messrs. Cecil Sims and J. P. Saunders, of Nashville, Tenn., for the Employer. Mr. Ben Berk, of St. Louis, Mo., for the Petitioner. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing in this case was held at Nash- ville, Tennessee, on December 12, 1947, before Frank H. Stout, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-man panel consisting of Members Houston, Murdock, and Gray. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Southern Sole Company is an operating division of General Shoe Corporation, a corporation of Tennessee, and is engaged in the manu- facture of shoe soles at its plant in Nashville, Tennessee. In the 12 months preceding the hearing, the Employer purchased raw materials, principally sole leather and rubber soling, having a. value in excess of $1,000,000. Approximately 90 percent of the purchases came from points outside the State of Tennessee. During this same period the sales of the finished products, shoe soles, exceeded $1,000,000, about 15 percent of which 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. ' The name of the Employer appears in the caption as amended at the hearing. 76 N. L. R. B., No. 41. 303 304 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Em- ployer. 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 exists concerning the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT In accordance with agreement of the parties, we find that all pro- duction and maintenance employees of the Employer, excluding office and clerical employees, and all supervisors, as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain- ing within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Southern Sole Company, an operating division of General Shoe Corporation, Nashville, Tennessee, 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 Director for the Tenth Region, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, 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 tempo- rarily laid off, 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, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Boot and Shoe Workers Union, A. F. L., for the purpose of collective bargaining. MEMBER GRAY took no part in the consideration of the above De- cision and Direction of Election.