Marion Manufacturing Co.

256 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD MARION MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LEBANON MANUFACTURING COM- PANY, SPORTLEIGH HALL, INC., GLASGOW MANUFACTURING COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF FIREMEN AND OILERS, LOCAL #320, AFL,1 PETITIONER LEBANON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, MARION MANUFACTURING COM- PANY, GLASGOW MANUFACTURING COMPANY, SPORTLEIGH HALL, INC.,2 and LOCALS 472, 481, AND 526, INTERNATIONAL LADIES' GARMENT WORKERS' UNION, AFL,a PETITIONER. Cases Nos. 9-RC-1535, 9- RC-1536, 9-RC-1565, 9-RC-1594, and 9-RC-1654. November 7, 1952 Decision and Direction of Election Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing 4 was held before Bernard Marcus, 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 these cases to a three- Hereinafter referred to as Local 320. The petition and other formula papers in Case No. 9-RC -1654 are hereby amended to show the correct name of Employer Lebanon Manufacturing Company. 8 Hereinafter referred to as the ILGWU. * The petitions as consolidated for hearing did not include the ILGWU's petition in Case No. 9-RC-1654 which was not filed until after the hearing on Local 320's petitions. After filing its petition , the ILGWU moved to intervene with respect to Local 320's peti- tions and , Joined in by the Employers , further moved to consolidate its petition with the other petitions herein . Local 320, by way of opposition to these motions , moved to dismiss the ILGWU 's petition on the grounds, among others, that ( 1) to consider such petition and to grant further consolidation would unduly delay the processing of its petitions, and (2) the ILGWU has waived its interest in the employees herein by its failure , although served with notice thereof , to intervene at the hearing involving these employees. We find no merit to contention ( 1) for the reason that subsequent to the above motions, all parties herein waived a hearing in Case No. 9-RC-1654 and stipulated that the transcript of the proceedings in Cases Nos 9-RC-1535, 1536, 1565, and 1594 should constitute part of the record in Case No 9-RC-1654. In view of the foregoing stipulation, this proceed- ing will not be protracted by a further consolidation of petitions. Contention ( 2) lacks merit because the record discloses that although the claims of both Petitioners overlap, the ILGWU seeks to represent a substantially different group of employees from those sought by Local 320. Accordingly , it was proper for the ILGWU to file a petition on its own behalf rather than merely to intervene in the pending proceedings . See Associated Shoe Industries of Southeastern Mass., Inc, 81 NLRB 224. Moreover , the fact that the ILGWU did not intervene at the hearing cannot be considered a waiver of its interest in the employees herein as the Board has frequently permitted a labor organization to intervene after the close of a hearing where , as here, its showing of interest was acquired before the hearing. See Fedders-Quigan Corporation, 88 NLRB 512; Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, 80 NLRB 116 . Accordingly, the motion to dismiss is hereby denied and as the Petitioners' claims overlap and similar unit issues are involved in all these petitions, Case No. 9-RC-1654, for the purposes of decision , is hereby consolidated with Cases Nos . 9-RC-1535, 1536 , 1565, and 1594 and each Petitioner herein shall be regarded as an Intervenor with respect to the other's petition or petitions . Carbide t Carbon Chemicals Corporation, 88 NLRB 437. 101 NLRB No. 76. MARION MANUFACTURING COMPANY 257 member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Murdock and Peterson]. Upon the entire record in these cases, the Board finds : 1. The Employers are engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em- ployees of the Employers. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tion of employees of the Employers within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. Local 320, in its petitions as amended at the hearing, seeks a multiemployer unit consisting of all sewing machine mechanics, maintenance employees, and firemen at the Employers' plants in Leba- non, Harrodsburg, and Glasgow, Kentucky, excluding sweepers, shipping and receiving department employees, truck drivers, office clericals, watchmen, time-study employees or engineers, supervisors as defined in the Act, and those employees now represented by the ILGWU. However, should the Board find its primary unit request inappropriate, it will accept a unit including the sweepers and ship- ping and receiving department employees or the unit deemed appro- priate by the Board. The ILGWU, in its petition, seeks to add to its existing multi- employer unit of production employees 5 all sewing machine mechanics, maintenance employees, sweepers, and shipping and receiving depart- ment employees, excluding firemen, truck drivers, office clericals, watchmen, time-study employees or engineers, and supervisors as de- fined in the Act. The Employers agree with the voting group con- tention of the ILGWU except insofar as it excludes the firemen whom the Employers would include. The ILGWU, in the alternative, would, in agreeniQnt with the Employers, include the firemen. There is nothing in the record to support Local 320's initial unit contention limited to the Employers' sewing machine mechanics, maintenance employees, and firemen. None of the employees in the unit thus sought are craftsmen, nor do such employees otherwise con- stitute by themselves a distinct and homogeneous group with interests different from those of other employees such as the Board has recog- nized may be separately represented. Rather, the record shows that the Employers' sewing machine mechanics, firemen, maintenance em- ployees, sweepers, and shipping and receiving department employees all have interests and conditions of employment similar to those em- ployees now represented by the ILGWU. As such, they may appro- 5 The ILGWU currently represents a multiemployer unit of the Employers' production employees who constitute about 85 percent to 90 percent of the Employers ' total comple- ment of employees. 258 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD priately be added to the ILGWU's existing unit. Accordingly, we shall reject the ILGWU's initial request to exclude the firemen, but shall include them in the voting unit as requested by the Employers and the ILGWU, in the alternative. On the other hand, pursuant to Local 320's alternative request, we find that these employees constitute a residual group of employees a whom the Board has, under similar circumstances, previously allowed to be separately represented, if they so desired.' Accordingly, we shall direct an election among all sewing machine mechanics, firemen," maintenance employees,9 sweepers,10 and shipping and receiving de- partment employees at the Employers' plants in Lebanon, Harrods- burg, and Glasgow, Kentucky, excluding truck drivers, office cleri- cals,'1 watchmen, time-study employees or engineers, supervisors 12 as defined in the Act, and those employees now represented by the ILGWU.18 If a majority vote for the ILGWU they will be taken to have indi- cated their desire to be included in the unit now represented by the ILGWU, and the Regional Director conducting the election directed herein is instructed to issue a certification of results of election to such effect. In the event a majority vote for Local 320, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate appropriate unit and the Regional Director is instructed to issue a certification of representatives to Local 320 for such units. [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this volume.] See Jacobs Manufacturing Company, 99 NLRB 482; The Wilson H. Lee Company, 97 NLRB 1023. 7 See Houston Lighting & Power Company, 100 NLRB 76 ; see also, Central Mercedita, Inc., 100 NLRB 1168, and cases cited therein. 0 8 Included in this category are employees who are also variously referred to as boilermen or oilers. 9In accord with the stipulation of the parties, we shall exclude Pedigo, a high school student who works 6 hours on Saturdays. 10 Included in this category are employees who are also variously referred to as janitors or maids. 11 Included in this category are those clerical employees who, although they occasionally go into the production areas for information, work predominantly in the Employers' offices. u Excluded under this classification is Peda, the head sewing machine mechanic at Glasgow. The head sewing machine mechanics at the Employers' other plants are included in the unit on the basis of the parties' stipulation that they are not supervisors within the meaning of the Act. 18 The excluded classifications are described in accordance with the agreement of the parties.