Bonafide Mills, Inc.

In the Matter of BONAFIDE MILLS, INC. and INTERNATIONAL BRoTIIER- HOOD OF PULP; SULPHITE & PAPER MILL WORKERS, (A. F. L.) Case No. R-3800.-Decided May 29,194f Jurisdiction : linoleum manufacturing industry Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : dis- ° pute as to unit, election necessary. Unit kppropriate for Collective Bargaining : all production and maintenance employees at one of Company's plants, including Boiler Room employees, but excluding supervisory and office :Yid clerical workers; in view of the extent of employee self-organization and other circumstances, plant-wide unit found appropriate rather than Company-wide unit Mr. Robert E. Greene, for the Board. Mr. Robert J. Stewart, of Winthrop, Maine, and Mr. I. Arnold Himber, of New York City, for the Company. Mr. Fred TV. Morris, of Madison, Maine, for the A. F. L. Mr. Robert E. Tillman, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite & Paper Mill Workers, (A. F. L.), herein called the A. F. L., alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning - the representation of employees of Bonafide Mills, Inc., Lisbon, Maine, ;herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board pro- vided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice, before Charles E. Persons, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Lisbon Falls, Maine, on May 4, 1942. The Company and the A. F. L. appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bear- ing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings, made at the hearing, are free from prejudicial errors and are hereby affirmed. 41 N. 1, R B, No 98 491 492 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Bonafide Mills, Inc., a Maine corporation with its principal execu- tive offices located in New York City, is engaged, in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of linoleum. It owns and operates two plants, one located at Winthrop, Maine, herein called Winthrop, and the other at Lisbon, Maine, herein called Lisbon. The Company maintains storage warehouses in Brooklyn, New York; Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- vania; Detroit, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; and at other points. The principal raw materials used at the plants are burlap, asphalt saturated felt, linseed oil, resin, soy-bean oil, cork, wood flour, color, and fillers, 95 percent of which is shipped to the plants from foreign countries and States other than Maine. The value of such materials purchased annually is in excess of $500,000. The value of the finished products manufactured at the Company's two plants annually is in excess of $1,000,000, of which approximately 95 percent is sold and delivered to points outside the State of Maine.' The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce, within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite & Paper Mill Workers, (A. F. L.), is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION After a series of meetings between the Company and the A. F. L., the Company refused to enter into a collective bargaining contract with the A. F. L. upon the basis of a unit confined to the Lisbon plant. A statement of the Regional Director introduced in evidence at the hearing indicates that the A. F. L. represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2 i The above findings are based upon the Board 's decision in Matter of Bonafide Mills, Inc. and International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers (A F. L.), 38 N L. R. B. 661 , pursuant to a stipulation of the parties entered into at the heating z The Regional Director stated that the A. F. L. had submitted 103 cards of recent specified dates to him ; and that all the cards bore apparently genuine original signatures. Evidence at the hearing indicates that these cards are confined to employees of the Lisbon plant, ' which on March 28, 1'042, had approximately 148 production and maintenance employees. BONAFIDE MILLS, INC. 493 We find, that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT c The A. F. L. requested a unit of all production and maintenance employees at the Lisbon plant, excluding supervisory, office and cleri- cal workers, and watchmen. The Company'contended that employees of its two plants should be in a single unit. In support of its con- tention, the Company pointed out the identity of management of the two plants and further stated that all materials used at the Lisbon plant are first processed, prepared, and the base made at the Winthrop plant, and that if the latter plant ceases operation, the former would, of necessity, be compelled to do likewise. The A. F. L.'s position is that its parent organization follows a_ policy ' of establishing a local in each town where a mill is located and does not set up locals having jurisdiction over two or more towns. The A. F. L. also contended that while similar problems might exist at the two plants, still it would be inconvenient for the members of a local to meet if membership were divided between two towns. Witnesses for the A. F. L. gave uncontradicted testimony that no attempt had been made to organize the Winthrop plant. In a decision issued January 29, 1942,3 the Board dismissed a complaint against the Company (issued on charges filed by the A. F. L ), on the ground that the Company had reasonably and in good faith refused to bargain with the A. F. L. because of a disagreement over whether the unit should be plant-wide (Lisbon plant), or Company- wide. The A. F. L. began organizing at the' Lisbon plant in May 1940. There have been no transfers of production workers 'between the plants. Certain mechanics did go from Winthrop to perform main- tenance work at the Lisbon plant, such as installing pipes and erecting machinery, but when that work was completed, they returned to Winthrop. In view of the extent of employee self-organization and the other circumstances presented herein, we are of the opinion that at this time an appropriate unit should comprise only the Lisbon plant.4 The A. F. L. would exclude supervisory employees; the Company took no position as to them. The Lisbon plant has three superintend- See footnote 1, supra. 'It should be noted that in the earlier decision (see footnote 1, supra) the Board did not hold that the unit proposed was inappropriate, but merely that the Company's disagreement as to unit was bona fide. 494 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ents. Below them is a category of 11 General Foremen, all of whom supervise the men under them and have power to recommend hiring and discharging. We shall exclude the superintendents and General Foremen from the unit as being supervisory employees. The A.,F. L. would exclude watchmen; the Company again took no position. The manager of the Company stated that watchmen are listed on the pay roll under Boiler Room; and that the employees so listed perform both the functions of tending the boilers and cir- culating about the plant. Because these employees spend a substan- tial part of their time in maintenance work, we shall include them in the unit. We find that all production and maintenance employees at the Lisbon plant, including Boiler Room employees, but excluding super- visory and office and clerical workers, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by means of an election by secret ballot, among the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of our Direction of Election, subject to the limitations and additions set forth therein. 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, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation ordered by the Board to ascertain representatives, for the purposes of collective bargaining with Bonafide Mills, Inc., Lisbon, Maine, 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 of Election, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the First 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, among all employees of the Company in the unit found appropriate in Sec- tion IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period imme- diately preceding the date 'of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they BONAFIDE MILLS, INC. 495 were ill or on vacation or in the active military service or training of the United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have, since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Interna- tional Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite & Paper Mill Workers, (A. F. L.), for the purposes of collective bargaining. In the Matter of BONAFIDE MILLS, INC. and INTERNATIONAL BROTHER- 'HOOD OF PULP, SULPHITE & PAPER MILL WORKERS , (A. F. L.) Case No. R-3800 ORDER GRANTING MOTION June W11942 The Board having, on May 29, 1942, issued a Decision and Direc- tion of Election 1 in the above-entitled case, and, thereafter, Inter- national Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite L Paper Mill Workers (A. F. L ), having filed a "Motion to Withdraw Petition," and the Board hav-mg duly considered the matter, IT Is HEREBY ORDERED t hat the aforesaid motion be, and it hereby is, granted, and that the case be, and it hereby is, closed., 1 41 N I. R A 491. 41 N L It. B., No. 98a. 496