World Bestos Corp.

In the Matter of WORLD BESTOS CORP. and TEXTILE WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA Case No. R-1616-.-Decided December 15, 1939 Brake Lining Manufacturing Industry-Investigation of Representativ es: con- troversy concerning representation of employees: company withholds exclusive recognition until certification; stipulated-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bar- gaining: all employees except executives, superintendents, foremen, salesmen, time- study men, timekeepers, and office help; stipulated-Representatives: proof of choice : membership cards ; authenticity of signatures and majority conceded by company-Certification of Representatives: upon proof of majority representation. Mr. Richard J. Hickey and Mr. D. R. Dimiclc, for the Board. Evans, Smith d Evanss, by Mr. John F. Evans, of Paterson, N. J., for the Company. Mr. Alfred Udoff, of New York City, for the Union. Mr. Milton E. Harris, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES STATEMENT OF THE CASE On August 19, 1939, Textile Workers Union of America, herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the Second Region (New York City) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of World Bestos Corp., Paterson, New Jersey, herein called the Com- pany,l and requesting an investigation and certification of represent- atives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On' November 3, 1939, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pur- suant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, or- dered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to con- duct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. 1 The Company was designated as world Bestos Corporation in the petition and other formal papers herein, but this designation was corrected by amendment at the bearing. 1S N. L. R. B., No. 51. 333 334 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD On November 7, 1939, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear- ing, which was duly served upon the Company and upon the Union. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on November 13, 1939, at New York City, before Herbert Wenzel, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board, the Company, and the Union were represented by counsel 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 to all parties. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF TILE COMPANY World Bestos Corp., a New Jersey corporation having its principal office and a factory located at Paterson, New Jersey, and warehouses located at San Francisco, California; Portland, Oregon;' Seattle, Washington; New York City; Boston, Massachusetts; and Detroit, Michigan; is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of brake lining. During the 6 months preceding November 13, 1939,2 approximately 55 per cent of the 990,000 pounds of raw material purchased by the Company were shipped to its factory from points outside the State of New Jersey. During the same period, approximately 96 per cent of the $185,000 worth of finished products manufactured by its factory were shipped to points outside the State of New Jersey. The total number of employees normally employed by the Company is 155. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED' Textile Workers Union of America is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and admits to mem- bership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On August 12, 1939, the Company and the Union made a contract providing in part that the "Union shall be the exclusive collective bargaining agent on wages, hours and other working conditions for all employees covered by this agreement upon the certification of the 2 The date of a stipulation between the Company and the Board , upon which the findings in this section are based. 8 The findings in this section and the following sections are largely based on a stipula- tion between the Company and the Union. W0RLD BEST'OS CORPORATION. 335 Union as such collective bargaining agent by the National Labor Relations Board." 4 Thereafter, the Union filed the petition herein. The Company and the Union stipulated at the hearing that the question concerning representation arises by reason of the fact that the company and the union entered into a contract marked Board's Exhibit No. 4, wherein the company recognizes the union as the bargaining representative of the employes within their agreed appropriate unit and that the company re- quires that the union is certified by the National Labor Relations Board before the company recognizes the union as the exclusive bargaining agent for the employes within the agreed bargaining unit and the union desires such designation as exclusive bargaining agent. It is apparent from the foregoing stipulation that the Company is withholding recognition of the Union as exclusive bargaining agent until certification by the Board. We, therefore, find that a question has arisen concerning the 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 Company and the Union stipulated that all the Company's employees except executives, superintendents, foremen, salesmen, time- study men, timekeepers, and office help constituted a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. The contract hereinbefore mentioned applies to the same unit, and we see no reason to depart from it. We find that all the Company's employees except executives, super- intendents, foremen, salesmen, time-study men, timekeepers, and office help constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar- gaining, and that the said unit will insure to employees of the Com- pany the full benefit of their right to self-organization and to col- lective bargaining, and will otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act. 4 The contract recites that it is between the Company and "Local Union No. 48, or its successor of the Textile Workers Union of America." 336 DECISIONS. OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES At the hearing, the Union introduced in evidence 113 cards 5 signed in May and June 1939 by employees of the Company in the stipu- lated unit. The Company conceded the authenticity of the 113 sig- natures on the cards. There were about 125 employees in the unit at the time the contract was negotiated on August 12, 1939, and about 160 in October 1939, at which time 144 of the employees were mem- bers of the Union.6 The Company's counsel conceded that "a major- ity of the respondent's [Company's] employees are members of the petitioning Union . . . in the [stipulated] appropriate bargaining unit." We find that the Union has been designated and selected by a majority of the employees in the appropriate unit as their represent- ative for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Union is, there- fore, the exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining, and we will so certify.? 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 World Bestos Corp., Paterson, New Jersey, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. Textile Workers Union of America is a labor organization, within the meaning of Section 2 (5) of the National Labor Relations Act. 3. All the employees of the said Company except executives, super- intendents, foremen, salesmen, time-study men, timekeepers, and office help constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. 4. Textile Workers Union of America is the exclusive representa- tive of all the employees in the said unit for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act. .5 The cards designated "Textile Workers Organizing Committee, its agents or representa- tives" as the signer 's bargaining agent. The Union is the successor of the said Committee. 9 Irving Abramson , the Union's representative, testified that 31 of the employees in addition to the 113 who had signed the cards were members of the Union at the latter time. ' See Matter of The Detroit Free Press and Newspaper Guild of Detroit, Local 22 of the American Newspaper Guild, 16 N. L. R. B. 461. WORLD BESTS CORPORATION CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES 337 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, and pursuant to Article III, Sections 8 and 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Textile Workers Union of America has been designated and selected by a majority of the employees of World Bestos Corp., Paterson, New Jersey, except executives, super- intendents, foremen, salesmen, time-study men, timekeepers, and office help, 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, Textile Workers Union of America is the ex- clusive representative of all such employees for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment.