Co-operative Knitting Mills, Inc.

In the Matter of CO-OPERATIVE KNITTING MILLS, INC., and BEVERLY KNITTING MILL and INTERNATIONAL LADIES' GARMENT WORKERS UNION Case No. R-1174.-Decided March 6, 1939 Knitted Outerwear Manufacturing Industry-Investigation of Representa- tives: controversy concerning representation of employees : refusal by employer to recognize union as exclusive representative ; petition for, dismissed as to employer having no employees involved in this proceeding -Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production employees, excluding executives and super- visory and clerical employees ; no controversy as to-Election Ordered Mr. Frank A. Mouritsen, for the Board. Gibson, Dunn di Crutcher, by Mr. J. Stuart Neary and Mr. Henry Ely, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Company. Mr. William Busick, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Union. Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board. DECISION DIRECTION OF ELECTION AND ORDER STATEMENT OF THE CASE On October 7, 1938, International Ladies' Garment Workers Union, herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the Twenty-first Region (Los Angeles, California) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Co-operative Knitting Mills, Inc.,' Los An- geles, California, herein called the Company, and requesting an in- vestigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On November 1, 1938, an amended petition was filed by the Union joining Beverly Knitting Mill, herein called the Beverly, with the Company. On December 13, 1938, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board 1 Incorrectly designated "Co-operative Knitting Mills" in the petition and order direct- ing investigation and hearing. This was corrected by motion at the hearing. 11 N. L. R. B., No. 79 958 CO-OPERATIVE KNITTING MILLS, INC., ET AL. 959 Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, ordered an investiga- tion and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to pro- vide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On December 30, 1938, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, upon the Union, upon the Beverly, upon the Los Angeles Industrial Union Council, and upon the Los Angeles Central Labor Council. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on January 9, 1939, at Los Angeles, California, before Gustaf B. Erickson, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board and the Company were repre- sented by counsel, and the Union by its representative, and all par- ticipated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. At the close of the Board's case, the Com- pany moved to dismiss the amended petition on the ground that the Board lacked jurisdiction and that no question concerning representa- tion had arisen. The motion was denied. During the course of the hearing, the Trial Examiner made several rulings on other motions and on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board has re- viewed all the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no preju- dicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed, except in so far as the Trial Examiner denied the motion to dismiss with respect to the Beverly. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY The Company is a California corporation engaged in the business of manufacturing men's and ladies' knitted outerwear. Its business is confined exclusively to processing for the Beverly, which fur- nishes and owns all the yarn used by the Company in its operations. The yarn is shipped to the Company's plant in Los Angeles from the Beverly's plant in the same city. All the products processed by the Company are shipped to the Los Angeles plant of the Beverly. The latter pays to the Company an annual processing fee averaging $53,000. The Beverly is a California corporation engaged exclusively in the sale and distribution of knitwear which it obtains from the Company and other processors. , All the yarns furnished by the Beverly to the Company are purchased within the State of California, although most such yarns originate outside the State. Twenty-five per cent of the products processed by the Company for the Beverly are shipped by the latter to destinations outside the State of California. The 960 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD record shows that the Company and the Beverly are separate and dis- tinct corporations, having no common officers, directors, or stock- holders. Since the Beverly has no employees involved in this proceed- ing, we shall dismiss the petition in so far as the Beverly is joined as an employer herein. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED International Ladies' Garment Workers Union, Local 236, is an unaffiliated labor organization admitting to its membership all pro- duction and maintenance employees of the Company, excluding execu- tives and supervisory and clerical employees. III. TI3E QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION Early in September 1938, prior to the expiration of a closed-shop agreement between the Company and the Union, the parties met for the purpose of negotiating a new agreement. Following the considera- tion of proposals and counterproposals, the parties agreed to submit their differences directly to a vote of the employees, the Union agreeing to "step out of the picture" if the Company's proposals were accepted. On October 4, 1938, the Company notified the Union that it would not proceed with the conduct of the balloting since it had received a petition signed by a majority of its employees in which they revoked their designation of the Union as their collective bargaining repre- sentative. Thereafter, the Company refused to negotiate further with the Union, claiming that it no longer represented a majority of the employees. We find that a question has arisen concerning representation of employees of the Company. IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON COMMERCE We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States, and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT At the hearing, the Union and the Company agreed that all produc- tion employees of the Company, excluding executives and supervisory and clerical employees, constituted an appropriate unit. We see no reason to deviate from the desires of the parties. CO-OPERATIVE KNITTING MILLS, INC., ET AL. 961 We find that all production employees of the Company, excluding executives and supervisory and clerical employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining and that said unit will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act. VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES There was introduced in evidence at the hearing the Company's pay roll for the week ending September 28, 1938, bearing the names of 36 employees in the appropriate unit. In support of the claim to repre- sentation, the Union produced at the hearing membership cards signed by 30 of these employees. All the cards were signed in 1937 and early in 1938. The Company contended that the cards do not reflect the present desires of the employees, and it introduced in evidence the petition above referred to, dated October 4, 1938, in which a majority of the employees revoked their designation of the Union as their collective bargaining representative. The Union, on the other hand, urged that since several of the signatures on the petition were ob- tained on company property during working hours, the petition is entitled to little consideration in determining the desires of the employees. We find that an election by secret ballot is necessary to resolve the question concerning representation. The Union requests that in the event an election is directed, the pay roll of September 28, 1938, be used to determine eligibility to par- ticipate therein. The pay roll for the period next preceding January 9, 1939, the date of the hearing, is a more accurately representative pay roll and we shall adopt it for the purposes of the election. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the proceeding, the Board makes the following : CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Co-operative Knitting Mills, Inc., Los Angeles, California, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Sec- tion 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All the employees of the Company, excluding executives and supervisory and clerical employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. 3. No question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Beverly Knitting Mill, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 962 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 Re- lations 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 part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Co-operative Knitting Mills, Inc., Los Angeles, California, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted within fifteen (15) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Twenty-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 the production employees of the Company who were employed during the pay-roll period next preceding January 9, 1939, excluding execu- tives, supervisory and clerical employees, and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by International Ladies' Garment Work- ers Union, Local 236, for the purposes of collective bargaining. And it is ORDERED that the petition, in so far as it refers to Beverly Knitting Mill, Los Angeles, California, be, and it hereby is, dismissed. [SAME TITLE] AMENDMENT TO DECISION DIRECTION OF ELECTION AND ORDER March 18,1939 On March 6, 1939, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, issued a Decision, Direction of Election, and Order in the above-entitled proceeding directing the Regional Director for the Twenty-first Region to conduct an election within fifteen (15) days from the date of the Decision among certain employees of Co- operative Knitting Mills, Inc., herein called the Company, and or- dered the petition dismissed in so far as it referred to Beverly Knit- CO-OPERATIVE KNITTING MILLS, INC., ET AL. 963 ting Mill. Thereafter all the interested parties stipulated and agreed as follows : 1. The National Labor Relations Board may find as a matter of fact that on or about the 10th day of March, 1939, Coopera- tive Knitting Mills, Inc., one of the parties in the above matter, changed its name to "Warwick Knitting Mills, Inc." 2. In all notices, directions, orders and findings of the Na- tional Labor Relations Board issued in the above matter after the date of this stipulation, the name of the corporation formerly known as the Cooperative Knitting Mills, Inc. shall be set out as "Warwick Knitting Mills, Inc." The Board hereby approves said stipulation. The Board hereby amends its Decision, Direction of Election, and Order by striking the words "Co-operative Knitting Mills, Inc.," wherever they appear in the above-entitled proceedings and substitut- ing therefor the words "Warwick Knitting Mills, Inc." The Board, having been advised by the Regional Director for the Twenty-first Region that a longer period within which to hold the election is necessary, hereby amends the Direction of Election by striking therefrom the words "within fifteen (15) days from the date of this Direction" and substituting therefor the words "within twenty (20) days from the date of this Direction." 11 N. L. R. B., No. 79a.