Selby Shoe Co.

,In The Matter of SELBY SHOE COMPANY, PORTSMOUTH , OHIO and PORTSMOUTH PRINTING 'PRi ssiu,N 'c''- a1SSISTANTS' UNION No. 296 OF THE I. P. P.SA.U.or N.A. In The Matter of SELBY SHOE CO., PORTSMOUTH , O. and UNITED SHOE WORKERS OF AMERICA-LOCAL 117 Cases Nos. R-1418 and R-1!19, respectively. Decided September 19, 19.39 Shoe lfanefactvring Industry-Iot.vestigatiou, of Representatives controversy .,concerning representation of employees: refusal of employer to recognize unions in the absence of certification by the Board-Units Appropriate for Collective Bargaining: (1) agreement by unions and company that production -employees excluding supervisory and office.eniployees, watchmen, nurses, press- men. .printers, typesetters, botAbiuders, and bindery workers constitute a :general unit: controversy between unions and company as to inclusion of floor !help, excluded as supervisory ; controversy between unions as to inclusion of ,certain individuals : maintenance employees and workers on component parts including pattern makers, matrons, and porters, included in light of history of bargaining relations : pressfeeder girls included in general unit because of lack of other representation; no controversy as to (2) pressmen; (3) printers and :typesetters, and (4) bookbinders and bindery workers-Elections Ordered Mrs. Mary Telker Ili ff, for the Board. .Mr. Arthur H. Bannon, of Portsmouth, Ohio, for the Company. _Mr. Joe A. Wilson, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for the Pressmen. Mr. Howard L. McNamara, of Portsmouth, Ohio, and Mr. Julius .Holzberq, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for the United. tl/r. Loren R. White, of Lucasville, Ohio, for the Typographers. Mr. John A. Brooker, and Mr. John B. yenning, of Cincinnati, (Ohio, for the Shoe Workers. Mr. Joseph O. Case, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for the Bookbinders. Mr. W. H. Whetro, of Ironton, Ohio, for the American Federation -of Labor. Mr. William T. Little, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS STATEMENT OF THE CASE On June 24, 1938, and April 27, 1939, respectively, Portsmouth Printing; Pressmen and Assistants' Union No. 296 of the Inter- 15 N. L. R. B., No. 53. 489 490 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD national Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America, herein called . the Pressmen, and United Shoe Workers Union of America-Local No. 117, herein called the United, filed with the Regional Director for the Ninth Region (Cincinnati, Ohio), a peti- tion alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen con- cerning the representation of employees of Selby Shoe Company, Portsmouth, Ohio, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act'. On June 1, 1939, 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 Rules and Regula- tions-Series 1, as amended; ordered an investigation in each case and authorized the Regional Director to conduct such investigations and to provide for appropriate hearings upon due notice. On June 7, 1939, the Board further ordered, pursuant to Article III, Section 10 (c) (2), of the above Rules and Regulations, that the two cases be consolidated for the purposes of the hearing. On June 9, 1939, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which, together with the consolidation order, were duly served upon the Company, the Pressmen, the United, Boot and Shoe Workers Union, herein called the Shoe Workers, Boot and Shoe Workers Union, Local No. 637, herein called Shoe Workers Local 637, Typographical Union, also known as Portsmouth Typograpilical Union, Local No. 637, and herein called the Typographers, and In- ternational Brotherhood of Bookbinders, herein called the Book- binders. Amended notices of hearing were duly served upon the same parties. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on June 29 and 30, 1939, at Portsmouth, Ohio, before Whitley P. McCoy, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. At the hearing, the Typographers, Bookbinders, Shoe Workers Local 637, and Boot and Shoe Workers Union Local 385, herein called Local 385,' moved to intervene. The Trial Examiner granted all these motions. The Board, Company, United, Pressmen, Typographers, Shoe Workers, and Bookbinders were represented by counsel or other represent- atives, and participated in the hearing. The American Federation of Labor, herein called the A. F. of L., appeared through its repre- sentative and participated 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. During the course of the hearing, the Trial Examiner made several rulings on 'Local 385 and Local 637 are hereinafter jointly referred to as the Shoe Workers Locals. SELBY SHOE COMPANY, PORTSMOUTH, OHIO 491 motions and, on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings, of the Trial, Examiner: and-. finds that. no, prejudicial errors were committed., They rulings are -hereby affirmed.. At the close of the hearing, the A. F. of L. moved that the Shoe Workers Locals' petition for intervention be amended by striking the word "maintenance" from the petitiou.2 The Trial Examiner reserved the ruling on the motion for the Board. The motion is hereby granted. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following.: FINDINGS or FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Selby Shoe Company, an Ohio corporation, having its principal. office and place of business in Portsmouth, Ohio, is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of women's shoes. The principal raw material used by the Company is leather. During the year preceding June 1, 1939, the Company purchased all the raw materials. used in its Portsmouth plant, valued at $3,000,000, outside Ohio_ During the same period, the total sales of the Company from its, Portsmouth plant amounted to $6,000,000, 99 per cent of which were- made to customers outside Ohio. It is stipulated by all parties that the Company is engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of the Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED The Pressmen, Typographers, Bookbinders, and Shoe Workersi Locals are labor organizations affiliated with the A. F. of L: The United, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Indus- trial Organizations, herein called the C. I. O. The Pressmen admit to membership the pressmen ; the Typog^ raphers, the printers and typesetters ; and the Bookbinders, the .bindery workers and bookbinders employed by the Company. The United admits all employees of the Company working in and around the factory engaged in the manufacture of boots, shoes, slippers, and. component parts. The Shoe Workers Locals are unions of the industrial type admitting to membership employees of the Company.. III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION It is stipulated by all the parties to the proceeding that the Com- pany refused and has continued to refuse to deal with, any of the 2 This would have the effect of excluding maintenance employees from the unit claimed appropriate In the Shoe 'Workers Locals' petition for intervention. 492 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL L A1LlOIL RELATIONS WAnl) labor organizations enumerated in Section II unless and until such organization is certified by the Board. We find that questions have arisen concerning the representation ,of employees of the Company. ffV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON COMMERCE We find that the questions concerning representation which have :arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company -described in Section 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. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS At the hearing the Bookbinders sought only to represent the book- binders and bindery workers, the Pressmen claimed only the, press- 'men, and the Typographers asked to represent only the typesetters .and printers. Neither the Company, the United, nor the Shoe- Workers . objected to these proposed units. Accordingly, such em- ployees shall be included in their respective units. In its petition, the United defined the unit it sought as including 'maintenance and production employees and workers on component parts exclusive of supervisory and clerical employees. The Shoe Workers Locals' petition also sought to exclude supervisory and clerical employees. At the hearing the United and the Shoe Workers agreed on the exclusion of office and print-shop employees and floor help. The United proposed the exclusion of the nurse and the watch- men. The Shoe Workers did not object. The Company objected only to the exclusion of the floor help. Its vice president and general manager described their duties as handing out . and dispatching work, running errands , and acting as assistant foremen, but having no right to hire and discharge or recommend such action . The floor help are sufficiently closely related to management to justify their exclusion at the instance of the linions.3 The Shoe Workers requests that maintenance employees, porters, and pattern makers be excluded from the appropriate unit; the United asks that they be included. From 1934 until late 1938, Shoe Workers Local 637 and the Com- pany have operated under collective bargaining agreements covering Matter of Keystone Manufacturing Company and United Toy and Novelty Workers Local, Industrial Union of the C. I. 0., 7 N. L. R. B. 172. SELBY SHOE COIPAN Y, PORTSMOUTH, OHIO 493: the Ironton plant of the Company. The contracts are not at all, clear as to what employees come within their terms. It was testified at the hearing, however, that the maintenance employees were not within the scope of these contracts. The contract entered into in the fall of 1936 between the Shoe Workers Locals and the Company also included employees of the.Portsmouth plant, but it is equally vague as to its scope. On June 12, 1937, the Company entered into a contract with the United on behalf of its members at the Portsmouth plant, and on! July 22,_ 1938, the Company entered into an exclusive bargaining: agreement with the United covering production and maintenance em- ployees and workers on component parts in the Portsmouth plant: excepting supervisory, and office employees, watchmen, etc., the unit it proposes in the present proceeding. About June 1, 1939, the Company closed its Ironton plant and at the time of the hearing was in the process of hiring an estimated.. 300 Ironton employees at its Portsmouth plant. The Ironton and Portsmouth workers were not consolidated into a new working force, but the Ironton employees had to reapply for positions with the Company and were hired as new employees with a consequent loss of seniority. The United has bargained for the maintenance workers, pattern makers, and porters; the employees have never objected, and some. belong to the United. A witness for the Shoe Workers testified that 'some of.the maintenance men were members of craft unions. affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, but did not state the number of men or the names of the crafts affected. The same witness testified that there was nothing objectionable to the Shoe Workers in including maintenance workers, but that the American Federation of Labor claimed jurisdiction. In short, the Shoe Workers 'asked that the Board disturb the unit established in the 1938 Portsmouth contract. They offer no reason other than the fact that they desire such a change, and the vague statement that some of the maintenance men belong to unions affiliated with the A. F. of L. Such evidence is insufficient to establish the propriety of the unit proposed by them. The main- tenance employees, porters, and pattern makers shall be included in the unit. The testimony shows that the matron is simply a female porter and she, too, is included in the unit. The United and Shoe Workers both asked that the print-shop' employees .be excluded from the unit. Strictly construed, this would exclude all employees in the print shop. There is some indication, ' Although the contract is not entirely clear as to the inclusion of maintenance. employees in the unit bargained for, the undisputed testimony at the hearing was that they were included. 494 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS. BOARD however, that the United, at least, only meant to exclude print-shop employees represented by the Bookbinders, Pressmen, and Typog- raphers. At all events, there are four pressfeeder girls and a porter, in the print shop whom the craft unions do not seek to represent. As to the porter, we can see no difference between him and other porters employed by the Company, and we shall accordingly include him in the unit. We would have been inclined to include the press- feeder girls in a unit with pressmen or bookbinders had either of the respective unions been willing to represent them, but impelled by the consideration that no one is likely to bargain for them if they are not placed in the larger unit, we shall include them in the unit with the production and maintenance employees and workers on component parts.5 We find that all persons employed by the Company as pressmen 'constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. We find that all persons employed by the Company as book- binders and bindery workers constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes- of collective bargaining. We find that all persons employed by the Company as printers and typesetters' constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes. of collective bargaining. We find that all production and maintenance employees and work- ,ers on component parts, including specifically, but not exclusively, porters, matrons, pattern makers, and pressfeeder girls, and exclud- ing supervisory and office employees, floor help, watchmen, nurses, pressmen, printers, typesetters, bookbinders, and bindery workers constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. We find that these units will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization and to collective bargaining and will otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act. VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES At the hearing, the Pressmen , - Typographers , and Bookbinders ,offered substantial evidence of majority representation within their respective units. However, in accordance with the policy announced in Matter of The Cudahy Packing Company and in Matter of Armour d Company we shall direct that elections by secret ballot be held among the employees in all the units found appropriate.' 5 Matter of Daily Mirror, Inc. and The Newspaper C-aild of New York, 5 N. L. R. B. 362. 'Matter of Armour & Company and United Packinghouse Workers Local Industrial Union No. 1,30, Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee, affiliated with the C. I. 0., 13 N. L. It. B. 5.67 ; Matter of The Cudahy Packing Company and United Pacltivghouse Workers of America, Local No. 21, affiliated with the C. I. 0., 13 N. L. It. B. 526. SELBY SHOE COMPANY, PORTSMOUTH, OHIO 495 The United requests that the pay roll at the Portsmouth plant at the time the 1938 contract expired, May 1, 1939, be used to deter- mine eligibility to participate in the election. The Shoe Workers asks that eligibility be determined on the basis of the combined pay rolls of the Portsmouth and Ironton plants as of February 1, or April 21, 1939, the last time the Ironton plant was in full operation. We do not agree with either contention. The Company stated it would have completed hiring former Ironton employees at Ports- mouth, at least to the extent of achieving a, stable pay roll, some- time during the first 2 weeks in August. It appears that the pay roll of the Company should now be stabilized, and we see no reason for not determining eligibility as of the pay-roll date immediately -preceding the date of this Direction of Elections. We find that those eligible to vote in the election shall be the employees in the respective appropriate units during the pa'-roll period next preceding the date of this Direction, including em- ployees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation and employees who were then or have since been temporarily laid off, but excluding those who have since quit or been discharged for cause. On the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. Questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning the repre-- sentation of employees of Selby Shoe Company, Portsmouth, Ohio, within. the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. (a) All persons employed by the Company as pressmen con- stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act.. . (b) All persons employed by the Company as bookbinders and bindery workers constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes, of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. (c) All persons employed by the Company as printers and type- setters constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. (d) All persons employed by the Company as production and maintenance employees and workers on component parts including specifically, but not exclusively, porters, matrons, pattern makers, 496 DECISIONS OF 1 ATIONAL LABOR RELATION -S BOARD and pressfeeder, girls and excluding supervisory and office employees, floor help, watchmen, nurses, pressmen, printers, typesetters, book- binders, and bindery workers constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS 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 2, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation ordered by the.. Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Selby Shoe Company, Portsmouth, Ohio, elections by secret-ballot shall be conducted within twenty (20) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Ninth 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 : (a) All persons who were employed by the Company as press- men during the pay-roll period. next preceding the date of this, Direction, including employees who did not work during such pay- roll period because they were ill or on vacation and employees who, were then or have since been temporarily laid off, but excluding- those who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Portsmouth Printing- Pressmen and Assistants'. Union No. 296 of the International Print- ing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America, affiliated with. the A. F. of L.; (b) All persons who were employed by the Company as book- binders and bindery workers during the pay-roll period next pre-- ceding the date of this 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 those who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be representec' by International Brotherhood of Bookbinders, affiliated with -the- American Federation of tabor; . (c) All persons employed by the Company as printers and type- setters during the pay-roll period next preceding the date of this- Direction, including employees who did not work during such pay- roll period because they were ill or on vacation and employees who, were then or have since been temporarily laid off, but excluding- SELBY SHOE COMPANY, PORTSMOUTH, OHIO 497 those who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Portsmouth Typo- graphical Union, Local No. 637, affiliated with the American Federa- tion of Labor; (d) All persons employed by the Company as production and maintenance employees and workers on component parts during the pay-roll period next preceding the date of this Direction, including specifically, but not exclusively, porters, matrons, pattern makers, and pressfeeder girls, and including also employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation, and employees who were then or have since been temporarily laid off, but excluding supervisory and office employees, floor help, watch- men, nurses, pressmen, printers, typesetters, bookbinders, and bindery workers and those who have since quit or been discharged for cause to determine whether they desire to be represented by United Shoe Workers of America-Local 117, affiliated with the Congress of In- dustrial Organizations, or by Boot and Shoe Workers Union, Local 385 and 637, for the purpose of collective bargaining, or by neither.