Stonewall Cotton Mills, Inc.

In the Matter of STONEWALL COTTON MILLS, INCORPORATED and TEx- TILE WORKERS' FEDERAL LABOR UNION, LOCAL 21723, A. F. L. Case No. R-1546.Decided October 06, 1939 Cotton Cloth Manufacturing Industry-Investigation of Representatives: con- troversy concerning representation of employees: company refused to recognize union as representative of employees in absence of certification by Board-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining: production and maintenance employees, including mill carpenters and office porter, but excluding company store, super- visory, and clerical employees, overseers, and second hands-Election Ordered: eligibility to vote determined by pay roll last preceding date of Direction of Election despite Union's desire for earlier date. Mr. C. Paul Barker, for the Board. Mr. Gabe Jacobson, of Meridian, Miss., for the Company. Mr. Elmer Estes, of Atlanta, Ga., for the Union. Mr. Joseph Forer, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On July 10, 1939, Textile Workers' Federal Labor Union, Local 21723, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the Fifteenth Region (New Orleans, Louisiana), a petition alleging that a question affect- ing commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Stonewall Cotton Mills,' Stonewall, Mississippi, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of rep- resentatives pursuant to, Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela- tions Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On July 24, 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 the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. 1Incorrectly designated in the notice of hearing as "Stonewall Cotton Mills, Incor- porated." 16 N. L. R. B., No. 51. 483 484 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD On July 25, 1939, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing and on July 27, September 1, and September 27, 1939, notices of post- ponement of the hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the Union. Pursuant to the notices, a hearing was held on September 29, 1939, at New Orleans, Louisiana, before Guy Van Schaick, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board and the Company were represented by counsel, and the Union by its representative; all participated in the hearing. Full oppor- tunity 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 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. The rulings are hereby affirmed. On October 12, 1939, the Company filed a brief, which the Board has considered. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY 2 'Stonewall Cotton Mills is a Mississippi corporation, having its office at Stonewall, Mississippi, and operating a plant at Stonewall for the manufacture of various kinds of cotton cloth, more specifically, denim, khaki, hickory stripe, covert, cottonade, suitings, and whipcord. Its principal raw materials are cotton, dyes, coal, and salt. During 1938,, :a year of usual operations, the Company used approximately 12,000 bales of raw cotton, of which approximately 95 per cent were pur- ,chased within Mississippi. Approximately one carload of salt per month, shipped from Louisiana, and three carloads of coal per month, shipped from Alabama, were used at the plant. A substantial quan- tity of the dyes used by the Company in 1938. were purchased in North Carolina from the National Analine Chemical Co. and shipped to the plant from and through States other than Mississippi. The Company acknowledges that a substantial portion of the raw ma- terials used by it in 1938 were shipped to its plant at Stonewall, Mississippi, from and through' States other than Mississippi. During 1938, over 90 per cent of the Company's finished products were shipped from Stonewall, Mississippi, to and through approxi- mately 24 States other than Mississippi. A substantial portion of the Company's total business in 1938 was accounted for by four The facts set forth in this section were stipulated to by the Company. and counsel for the Board. STONEWALL COTTON MILLS, INCORPORATED 485 government-contracts with a combined yardage in excess of 2,000,000 and a total value in excess of $250,000. At the time of the hearing :the Company employed approximately 630 persons. H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Textile Workers' Federal Labor Union, Local 21723, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to its membership all employees of the Company with the exception .of supervisory and clerical employees and those employed in the Company's stores. For the purpose of membership eligibility it regards overseers and second hands as supervisory employees. . III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On April 26, 1939, and June 29, 1939, representatives of the Union met with' company officials to discuss recognition of the Union as the representative of a majority of the employees in an appropriate unit. The Company refused to recognize the Union as such repre- sentative for the purpose of collective bargaining and declined to bargain with the Union in the absence of certification by the Board. 'At the hearing, W. A. Taylor, president of the Union, testified that the Union has represented a majority of the Company's employees since November 1938, whereas Benjamin F. Burman,' company treasurer, 'testified that he had heard that the Union did not repre- sent a majority, or even a substantial number, of company 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 The Union claims that an appropriate unit comprises all produc- tion and maintenance employees of the Company, exclusive of super- 3 The name is so spelled in the transcript of the hearing , but Is spelled "Berman" in the stipulation of the Company and counsel for the Board. 486 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD visory and clerical employees, the office porter, and persons employed in the company store. It contends that overseers and second hands should be excluded as supervisors and that the office porter and the mill carpenter should likewise be excluded. The Company contends for the inclusion of the overseers, second hands, mill carpenter, and the clerical and office employees including the office porter. In accordance with our usual practice we shall exclude clerical em- ployees from the unit. We shall include the office porter as no reason appears for not classifying him with maintenance employees. The various plant departments of the Company are classified as Card Room, Spinning Department, Beaming and Slashing, Weaving, Dye House, Cloth Room, and Maintenance and Repair. Each de- partment is headed by an overseer who may have from 200 (Spin- ning Department) to 16 (Dye House) employees under his charge. The primary function of the overseers is admittedly supervisory. They also have a voice in the selection of new employees and may discharge men in their departments, although in the latter case the consent of the plant superintendent, is ordinarily obtained before- hand. Employees within a department are directly responsible to their overseer. Although the overseer may from time, to time.ac- tually handle the materials and machines, as by making adjustments on the machines, instructing employees, and making tests on the size, of the yarn and weight of the cotton, it is clear that, overseers should be excluded from the unit as being supervisors, and we so hold. The overseers are assisted by the second hands, of whom there are four each in the Card Room, Spinning Department, and .Weaving Department, and two each in the Cloth Room and the Maintenance and Repair Department. The second hand is assigned to an entire room and not to a particular machine. He takes orders from the overseer and sees that they are executed by the men in his room. At least at times he assigns men to the machines. He may instruct idle sweepers where to sweep, and in some cases tells new men when to re- port to .work. He checks the color, size, and quality of the work.. The second hand is- customarily experienced on all machines and may help. out on, a machine or in handling the material if there is a. shortage of men for the particular operation. If a . man is not operating his machine properly, the second hand may correct him or- report him to the overseer. The second hand keeps the men's time and production records and receives more pay than the average of the skilled men. It is apparent from the foregoing that the second ' hands are primarily supervisory employees with functions and interests differ- ing in considerable degree from those of the ordinary hands. We shall therefore exclude the, second hands from the init. , STONEWALL COTTON MELLS, INCORPORATED 487 No evidence was submitted justifying the Union's contention that the mill carpenter, A. C. Land, should be excluded from the unit, and no reason is seen for differentiating him from the other maintenance men, including the village carpenters. We shall therefore include him in the unit. ' We find that the production and maintenance employees of the Com- pany, including the mill carpenter and the office porter, but excluding clerical. and supervisory employees, overseers, second hands, and per- sons employed in the company stores, 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 The Union claims to represent a majority of the employees in the appropriate unit. While it introduced some testimony at the hearing in support of its claim, it adduced no substantiating documentary evi- dence. We therefore find that an election by secret ballot is necessary to resolve the-question concerning representation. The Union desires that those employees within the appropriate unit whose names appear on the April 29, 1939, pay roll shall be eligible to vote at the election, because the plant was in full operation at that date and a number of employees have since been laid off and not put back to work. The testimony shows that on April 22, 720 employees were on the pay roll. On April 29, 696 were on the pay roll, and thereafter the number of employees decreased to 544 on July 8, after which it rose to 630 on September 16. At the time of the hearing the Company was still increasing the number of its employees. At capacity it may employ from about 700 to as high as 800, depending on the nature of operations. In the absence of any showing that the present operation of the plant is in any way abnormal, we shall direct that eligibility to vote shall be determined with reference to the pay-roll period last preceding the date of our Direction of Election. Upon 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. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Stonewall Cotton Mills, Stonewall, Missis- sippi, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 247383-40-vol. 16-32 488 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 2. The production and maintenance employees of the Company, in- cluding the mill carpenter and the office porter, but excluding clerical and supervisory employees, overseers, second hands, and persons em- ployed in the company stores, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 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, 49 Stat. 449, 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 authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Stonewall Cotton Mills, Stonewall, Mississippi, 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 Fifteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regula- tions, among the production and maintenance employees of Stonewall Cotton Mills who were employed by the Company during the pay-roll period last preceding the date of this Direction, including the mill car- penter, the office porter, employees who did not work during, such pay- roll period becaus,e they were ill or on vacation, and employees who were then or have since been temporarily laid off, but excluding clerical and supervisory employees, overseers, second hands, persons employed in the company stores, and any employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Textile Workers' Federal Labor Union, Local 21723, for the purposes of collective bargaining.