P. Lorillard Co., Inc.

In the Matter of P. LORILLARD COMPANY, INC. and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS LODGE No. 10, CIGARMAKERS' INTER- NATIONAL UNION OF AMERICA Cases Nos. R-189 and R-190.-Decided September 1, 1937 Tobacco Industry-Investigation of Representatives : controversy concerning representation of employees : refusal by employer to recognize unions as exclu- sive representatives of employees in appropriate units-Units Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : ( 1) craft; ( 2) production employees on hourly and piece rate bases-Representatives : proof of choice : petition authorizing union to bargain collectively on behalf of signatories-Certification of Representatives: upon proof of majority representation-Election Ordered. Mr. Reeves R. Hilton for the Board. Mr. Todd Wool, of New York City, for the Company. Mr. John Hirschberg and Mr. W. F. Robinson, of Richmond, Va., for the I. A. M. Mr. Charles Duke, of Richmond, Va., for the Cigarmakers' Inter- national. Mr. Howard Lichtenstein, of counsel to the Board. DECISION DIRECTION OF ELECTION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES STATEMENT OF THE CASE On June 1, 1937, and June 21, 1937, respectively, International Association of Machinists Lodge No. 10 and Cigarmakers' Inter- national Union of America each filed with the Regional Director for the Fifth Region (Baltimore, Maryland), a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa- tion of certain specified maintenance employees and the representa- tion of production employees, respectively, employed at the Rich- mond plant, Richmond, Virginia, of P. Lorillard Company, Inc., New York, New York, herein called the Company, and requesting the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, to conduct an investigation pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On June 'International Association of Machinists Lodge No. 10 and Cigarmakers' Interna- tional Union of America are referred to herein respectively as the I. A. M. and the Cigarmakers' International. 529 530 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 25, 1937, the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Sections 3 and 10 (c) (2) of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, con- solidated the cases for the purposes of hearing and authorized the Regional Director to conduct an investigation and to provide for an appropriate hearing. On June 29, 1937, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing to be held at Richmond, Virginia, on July 15, 1937, copies of which were duly served upon, the Company, upon the I. A. M., and upon the Cigarmakers' International.2 Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held at Richmond, Virginia, on July 15, 1937, before Samuel V. Gusack, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. All parties appeared by counsel and full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was' afforded them. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner on motions ,and objections made during the hearing, and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE COMPANY AND ITS BUSINESS P. Lorillard Company, Inc. was incorporated in New Jersey in 1911 and maintains its executive offices in New York, New York. The Company is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigars, cigarettes, plug and scrap chewing tobacco, and smoking tobaccos. It is one of the four largest manufacturers of these products in the United States, and its stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The Com- pany and its subsidiaries, P. Lorillard Company of Delaware, Alston Tobacco Company, Incorporated, and Federal Tin Company, Inc. maintain factories in New Jersey, Kentucky, Virginia, Ohio, Penn- sylvania, and Maryland. Warehouses are maintained in Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin; New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connec- ticut. The Company purchases tobacco from practically. all of the tobacco producing' States, and sells its products throughout the United States. The Company engages in extensive national advertising through newspapers,' magazines and other periodicals of national circulation. The Richmond, Virginia, plant of the Company, to which the issues herein are directed, is devoted to the manufacture of cigars and little cigars, exclusively. Cigar tobacco is not raised in Virginia but is shipped to the plant from other Southern States, Wisconsin, Con- 2 The notice of hearing addressed to the, I. A. M. Incorrectly designated the Coni- pany as "P. Lorrilard Tobacco Co." DECISIONS AND ORDERS 531 necticut, Puerto: Rico, and Cuba. Its products are shipped to all points in the United States by truck, rail, and water. The plant employs approximately 2,300 employees of whom 2,000 are hourly and piece-work production employees and maintenance employees, exclusive of 75 machinists, specialists, machinists' appren- tices, and machinists' helpers engaged in maintaining the machinery in the plant. , IT. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED International Association of Machinists Lodge No. 10 is a labor organization admitting to its membership machinists of many classi- fications,3 including the machinists, specialists, machinists' apprentices, and machinists' helpers, employed by the Company at its Richmond plant. Lodge No. 10 received its charter in 1888 from the Interna- tional, which is affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.' Cigarmakers' International Union of America is a labor organiza- tion affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership all persons engaged in the cigar industry. Locals 163 and 178 of Richmond were chartered by the Cigarmakers' International in August 1936, and October 1936, respectively. Local 163 accepts for membership all white employees of the Company at its Richmond plant who are engaged in production at hourly and piece rate wages, and all maintenance employees except those eligible for membership in the I. A. M. Local 178 admits all colored employees of the same designation. III. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS The Company employs approximately 2,300 employees at its Rich- mond plant, of which approximately 2,000 are production workers employed on an hourly and piece rate basis and maintenance employees exclusive of machinists, specialists, machinists' apprentices, and ma- chinists' helpers. The Cigarmakers' International claims that the bargaining unit should include all such employees, and no objection was raised at the hearing to this contention.4 The I. A. M. claims that 53 maintenance employees designated as machinists, specialists, machinists' apprentices, and machinists' help- ers, in the Richmond plant constitute a bargaining unit. Neither the Company nor the Cigarmakers' International controverted this contention. We therefore find-that, in order to insure to the employees of the Richmond plant of the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization and collective bargaining, and otherwise to effectu- 8 See Constitution of the Grand Lodge, District and Local Lodges, International Asso- ciation of Machinists , I. A. M. Exhibit No. 1. 4 Under its Constitution , the Cigarmakers' International accepts foremen as members. 532 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ate the policies of the Act, the machinists, specialists, machinists' apprentices, and machinists' helpers employed by the Company at its Richmond plant constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, and the production employees of the Rich- mond plant, employed on an hourly and piece rate basis, together with maintenance employees, exclusive of machinists, specialists, machinists' apprentices and machinists' helpers, also constitute a unit appropriate for such purposes. IV. QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION Both the I. A. M. and the Cigarmakers' International claim to rep- resent a majority of the Company's employees in the respective units designated above under Section III, and the Company has indicated its willingness to bargain collectively with the unions as sole bar- gaining agents, if the Board certifies that each has been designated as the representative of the majority of employees in the respective unit. The Company's present refusal to recognize these unions will tend to create resentment and dissatisfaction among the employees who are members of the unions, and we find that questions concern- ing the representation of the employees of the Company have arisen. V. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTIONS OF REPRESENTATION ON COMMERCE We find that the questions of representation which have thus arisen, in connection with the operations of the Company described in Sec- tion I above, have a close, intimate, and substantial relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States, and tend to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow of commerce. VI. REPRESENTATION BY UNIONS OF MAJORITY OF EMPLOYEES IN EACH UNIT The I. A. M. contends that only 53 employees in the Richmond plant are eligible for membership . It introduced a petition dated May 20, 1937, signed by 46 employees within this appropriate unit, authorizing the I . A. M. to bargain collectively with the Company as their representative.' The validity of the signatures contained in' the petition was established by competent testimony , and even accepting the Company 's contention that there are 75 employees in this unit, it'is clear , and we so find, that a majority of them have designated the I. A. M. as their representative for the purposes of collective bargaining . We further find that by virtue of Section 9 (a) of the Act, the I. A. M. is the exclusive representative for the 5 One of the employees who signed the petition had left the employ of the Company prior to the hearing. DECISIONS AND ORDERS 533 purposes of collective bargaining of all the machinists, specialists, machinists' apprentices and machinists' helpers in the Richmond plant of the Company, and we will so certify it. The Cigarmakers' International offered for examination at the hearing 1704 union application cards representing 1260 paid up members in Local 163 , and 444 in Local 178 . All of such members were alleged to be employees of the Company, in the appropriate unit designated above, and were alleged to constitute a majority of the 2,000 employees in such unit. However, the authenticity of these cards was not established at the hearing . We conclude that a question has arisen concerning the representation of the production employees paid on an hourly and piece rate basis, and the mainte- nance employees, exclusive of machinists, specialists, machinists' ap- prentices , and machinists' helpers, which can best be resolved by the holding of an election by secret ballot to determine whether they desire to be represented by the Cigarmakers ' International. CONCLUSIONS oiE, LAW On the basis of the above findings of fact, the Board makes the following conclusions of law : 1. Questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning the repre- sentation of the employees of the Richmond , Virginia, plant of P. Lorillard Company, Inc., within the meaning of Section 9 (c), and Section 2, subdivisions ( 6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All of the machinists , specialists, machinists' apprentices, and machinists' helpers of the Richmond, Virginia, plant of P. Lorillard Company, Inc., constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. 3. All of the production employees of the Richmond, Virginia, plant of P. Lorillard Company, Inc., paid on an hourly and piece rate basis , and all maintenance employees , exclusive of machinists, specialists, machinists' apprentices, and machinists' helpers, con- stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. 4. International Association of Machinists Lodge No. 10, having been designated by a majority of the machinists, specialists, ma- chinists' apprentices , and machinists' helpers employed in the Rich- mond, Virginia, plant of P. Lorillard Company, Inc., as their repre- sentative for the purposes of collective bargaining , is, by virtue of Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act, the exclusive representative of all such employees for the purposes of collective 49446-38-vol I11-35 534 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment. DIRECTION OF ELECTION By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela- tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as a part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for collective bargaining with the Richmond, Virginia, plant of P. Lorillard Company, Inc., an election by secret ballot shall be conducted within 15 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Fifth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9 of said Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, among all the production employees paid on an hourly and piece rate basis, and all maintenance employees, exclusive of machinists, specialists, machinists' apprentices, and machinists' helpers, who were employed in the Richmond, Virginia, plant of P. Lorillard Company, Inc., on June 21, 1937, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Cigarmakers' International Union of America, for the purposes of collective bargaining. CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National- Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that International Association of Machin- ists Lodge No. 10 has been designated and selected by a majority of machinists, specialists, machinists' apprentices, and machinists' helpers employed by P. Lorillard Company, Inc., in its Richmond, Virginia, plant, as their representative for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that, pursuant to the provisions of Section 9 (a) of the Act, International Association of Machinists Lodge No. 10 is the exclusive representative of all such employees for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment. MR. EDWIN S. SMITH took no part in the consideration of the above Decision, Direction of Election, and Certification of Representatives.