Selwyn Shoe Manufacturing Corp.

In the Matter of SELWYN SHOE MANUFACTURING CORPORATION and BOOT AND SHOE WORKERS UNION, A. F. OF L. Case No. 17-R-1168.Decided January 21, 1946 Mr. A. B. Frey, of St. Louis, Mo., for the Company. Messrs. Ben Berk and George L. Blake, of St. Louis, Mo., for the Union. Mr. Samuel G. Hamilton, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by Boot and Shoe Workers Union, A. F. of L., herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting com- merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Selwyn Shoe Manufacturing Corporation, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Elmer L. Hunt, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Boonville, Missouri, on October 12, 1945. The Company and the A. F. of L. appeared and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Selwyn Shoe Manufacturing Corporation, an Illinois corporation, having its-principal operating office at Boonville, Missouri, is engaged in the business of manufacturing shoes. During the year 1944 the Company purchased raw materials in an amount in excess of $1,000,000, of which 90 percent was shipped from points outside the State of Missouri. During the same period the Company's manufactured prod- 65 N. L. R B., No. 92 557 558 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ucts, valued at approximately $1,400,000, were sold and shipped to the Tober-Saifer Shoe Company, a Missouri corporation doing business at St. Louis, Missouri. More than 20 percent of all shoes sold by Tober-Saifer Shoe Company is sold and shipped to points outside the State. ,We find, contrary to the Company's contention, that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.' II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Boot and Shoe Workers Union is a labor organization, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the exclusive bargaining representative of the Company's employees at its Boonville, Missouri, plant until the Union has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2 1 See N I, R B v Richter's Bakery, 140 F (2c1) 870, 871 (C C A 5), cert denied, 322 U S 754, N L R B. v Newport News Shipbuilding it Dry Dock Co , 101 F (2d) 841, 843 (C C A 4), affirmed in this respect 308 U S 241 , N L R B v Fainblatt, 306 U S 601, 607, N L R B. v T IV. Phillips Gas it Oil Company, 141 F (2c1) 304, 305 (C C A 3) ; Matter of L L Stone, et at, trailing as Wire it Metal Manufacturing Company, 64 N L R B 1139, Matter of Rogers Manufacturing Company, 58 N L R B 1339 2 The Field Examiner reported that the,Union submitted 181 cards, bearing the names of 126 employ ees listed on the Companv's pay roll of July 3, 1945, and that the cards are dated February 1945 to and including September 1945, with 8 cards undated. There are approximately 426 employees in the appropi late unit. At the hearing the Company argued that the Field Examiner 's report was incompetent to prove that the Union actually represents any of the employees affected by this proceed- ing, and that it was an ex parte statement not subject to cross-examination It contended, accordingly , that the Union had failed to prove the essential allegations of its . petition. In its brief filed with the Board subsequent to the hearing the Company again questioned the substantiality of the Union 's showing by further attacks upon the Field Examiner's report We find that the Company's contentions are without merit As we have fre- quently stated , the submission of cards is an administrative expedient adopted by the Board to determine for itself whether or not a question concerning representation has arisen. As we have pointed out many times, a union is not required to prove at the hearing in a proceeding under Section 9 (c) of the Act the precise number of employees it represents , but need only exhibit to the Board' s administrative agents, who duly report thereon to the Board , a prima facie showing in support of its representation claims suf- ficient to warrant further investigation by means of a hearing and an election See Matter of Wadesboro Full-Fashioned hosiery Mills, Inc, 64 N. L R B 245, Matter of Phillips Petroleum Company , 64 N. L R. B 658 ; Matter of Buffalo Arms Corporation, 57 N L R B 1560 ; Matter of Amos-Thompson Corporation, 49 N. L. R B. 423 , Matter of Bakelite Corporation, 60 N. L . R. B. 318. In its brief the Company intimates that inasmuch as the Field Examiner 's report Is dated September 26, 1945 , this indicates that be purported to have made a check of the cards against a pay roll current on that date. It also states that a Board agent visited the plant earlier than September 26, 1945, and implies that the Field Examiner 's report is consequently false . Inasmuch as the report clearly states that the pay roll used for check- ing was dated July 3, 1945, the intimation is without factual basis. SELWYN SHOE MANUFACTURING CORPORATION 559 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 We find, in substantial accordance with a stipulation of the parties, that all employees of the Company at its Boonville , Missouri , plant, excluding bonded watchmen, the engineer, professional employees, factory and office clericals , salesmen, and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees , or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collec- tive 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 an election by secret ballot among employees in the appropriate unit 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. 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 Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Selwyn Shoe Manu- facturing Corporation , Boonville, Missouri, an election by secret bal- lot shall be conducted as early as possible , but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction , under the direction and super- vision of the Regional Director for the Seventeenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regula- tions, among 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 vaca- tion or temporarily laid off, 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 or not they desire to be represented by Boot and Shoe Workers Union, A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining. 673100-46-vol 65-37