Alpena Garment Company, Inc.

In the Matter of ALPENA GARMENT COMPANY , INC. and INTERNA- TIONAL LADIES GARMENT WORKERS UNION - Case No. R-1366 CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES August, 19, 1939 On July 19, 1939, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, issued a Decision and Direction of Election 1 in the above-entitled proceeding. The Direction of Election provided that an election by secret ballot be conducted within fifteen (15) days from the date of the Direction among all the production employees, including shipping and truck department employees, of Alpena Gar- ment Company, Inc., herein called the Company , at its plants in Alpena, Rogers City, Onaway, and Cheboygan, Michigan, whose names appeared on the pay roll of the Company immediately pre- ceding the date of the Direction , including employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca- tion, and employees who were then or have since been temporarily laid off, but excluding office and sales employees , watchmen, and supervisory employees , and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desired to be represented by International Ladies Garment Workers Union for the purposes of collective bargaining. Pursuant to the Direction of Election , an election by secret ballot was conducted on August 1, 1939, under the direction and supervi- sion of the Regional Director for the Seventh Region. On August 4, 1939, the Regional Director, acting pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, issued and served upon the parties an Election Report.2 1 13 N. L. R. B. 720. 2 Designated by the Regional Director as an "Intermediate Report upon Secret Ballot." 14 N. L. R. B., No. 61. 826 ALPENA GARMENT COMPANY, INCORPORATED 827 As to the results of the secret ballot., the Regional Director reported as follows : Total number eligible------------------------------------- 889 Total number of votes cast------------------------------- 863 Total number of votes for International Ladies Garment Workers Union----------------------------------------- 483 Total number of votes against International Ladies Garment Workers Union----------------------------------------- 349 Total number of challenged ballots--- -------------------- 26 Total number of blank ballots----------------------------- 1 Total number of void, ballots ------------------------------ 4 On August 8, 1939, Alpena Garment Company, Inc., filed with the Regional Director Objections to the conduct of the ballot and the Election Report, and requested a hearing and an opportunity to ap- pear and argue before the Board in support of its objections. The Regional Director thereupon investigated the matters contained in the Objections and served upon the parties his Report on Objections based upon such investigation. As grounds for its Objections, the Company contended (1) that the Regional Director erred in selecting the pay roll of June 1, 1939, as a basis for ascertaining the employees entitled to vote who were not working during the pay-roll period of July 1 to July 15, 1939, be- cause of illness, vacations, or temporary lay-offs, for the reason that by selecting such pay roll of June 1 "the total number of eligible employees was reduced from approximately 1100 to 889"; (2) that the Election Examiner of the Board improperly ruled that two ob- servers for the Company, objected to by International Ladies Gar- ment Workers Union, herein called the Union, as ineligible to act in that capacity because of their supervisory positions with the Com- pany, should be replaced by two other observers for the Company; and (3) that the Union had, prior to the conduct of the election, cir- culated cards among the employees which were calculated to create the impression that representatives of the Board were favorable to the Union and were furnishing it with information concerning the attitude of the Company. Concerning the first objection stated by the Company, it appears that the Company has never at any time, either prior to or subse- quent to the conduct of the election, suggested or requested any pay roll other than the June 1, 1939, pay roll for ascertaining employees entitled to vote who were not working during the pay-roll period of July 1 to July 15, 1939, because of illness, vacations, or temporary lay-offs; that it never filed any formal objection to the use of such pay roll of June 1 prior to the conduct of the election; and that the Company, itself, during oral argument before the Board on June 1, 1939, contended that the pay-roll period determining eligibility of 828 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR, RELATIONS BOARD employees to vote should be "as of the time the plants are running full," that the Company "had fixed a date around the latter part of May or early part of June as the peak period," and that there were then, on June 1, about 1,100 employees working. It therefore appears that the Regional Director, in selecting the pay roll of June 1 for the .purposes above stated, was only adopting a pay roll in conformity with the contentions theretofore made by the Company itself. Con- cerning the Company's second objection, it appears that the Com- pany appointed and was represented during the conduct of the elec- tion by two observers which it named as substitutes for the two objected to by the Union, and that the Company was not in any manner prejudiced by the ruling of the Election Examiner, which we hereby sustain. Concerning the third objection, we have exam- ined a copy of the card in question and have reviewed the allegations concerning the cards, and we find no evidence of any improper con- duct affecting the election in this regard. We find that the Objections do not raise substantial and material issues with respect to the con- duct of the ballot or the Election Report. The Company's request for a hearing and an opportunity to appear and argue in support of its Objections is hereby denied. 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 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that International Ladies Garment Workers Union has been designated and selected by a majority of the produc- tion employees of Alpena Garment Company, Inc., including ship- ping and truck department employees, but excluding office and sales employees, watchmen, and supervisory employees, at its plants in Alpena, Rogers City, Onaway, and Cheboygan, Michigan, as their representative for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that, pursuant to the provisions of Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act, International Ladies Garment Workers Union is the exclusive representative of all such employees for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of em- ployment, and other conditions of employment. MR. EDWIN S . SMITH took no part in the consideration of the above Certification of Representatives.