Wells-Lamont Smith Corp.

In the Matter of WELLS-LAMONT S^IITII CORPORATION and INTERNA- TIONAL GLOVE WORKERS OF AiuERICA, LOCAL 103, AFFILIATED WITH TIIE AMERICAN FEDERATION of LABOR and BT ARDSTOWN ASSOCIATION OF GLOVE WORKERS Case No. R-1869-Decided July 2, 1940 Jurisdiction : glove manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question where employer refust.s to accord full recognition to union ; election necessary Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em- ployees excluding clerical and all supervisory employees. Fyffe ct Clarke, by Mr. Albert J. Smith, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company. Mr. Thomas Durian, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the International. Mr. Lawson Wood, of Beardstown, Ill., for the Association. Mr. Louis Colcin, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION July 2, 1,940 STATEMENT OF TILE CASE On April 22, 1940, International Glove Workers of America, Local 103, herein called the International, filed with the Regional Director for the Thirteenth Region (Chicago, Illinois) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of. Wells-Lamont Smith Corporation, Beards- town, Illinois, herein called the Company, and requesting an investi- gation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On May 20, 1940, 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 Bodrd Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon clue notice. 25 N L. R. B, No 8 21 2S°030--42-col 25--3 22 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD On May 22, 1940, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the Interna- tlonal, and upon Beardstown Association of Glove Workers, herein called the Association, a labor organization claiming to represent employees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on June 3, 1940, at Beardstown, Illinois, before Stephen M. Reynolds, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The company was represented by counsel, the Inter- national and the Association by their representatives, and all partici- pated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to intro duce evidence bearing on the issues was affording all parties. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner, made several rulings on motions and on objec- tions 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 of lined. ' Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY ThQ Company, a Minnesota corporation with its principal offices at Chicago, Illinois, operates plants at Beardstown, Illinois; Burling- ton and New London, Iowa; and Louisiana and Elsberry, Missouri; where it is engaged in the business of manufacturing gloves. This proceeding is concerned only with the plant at Beardstown. The Beardstown plant expends approximately $245,000 annually for the purchase of raw materials, all of which is shipped to it from points outside the State of Illinois. The Company does an annual business amounting to approximately $360,000 at its Beardstown plant, 80 per cent of which is derived from shipments n:acle to points outside the State of Illinois. The Company employs approximately 165 employees at its Beardstown plant. It admits that it is engaged in interstate commerce. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOIXED International Glove Workers of America, Local 103, is a labor organization admitting to membership all production, maintenance, admits to membership all production and maintenance employees of the Company, excluding supervisory and clerical employees. Beardstown Association of Glove Workers is an unaffiliated labor organization admitting to membership all production, maintenance and clerical employees of the Company, excluding employees having the power to hire and discharge. WELLS-LAMONT SMITH CORPORATION, 23 III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On April 6, 1940, the International, claiming to represent a major- -it..), Iof the Company's employees at the Beardstown plant, requested the Company to deal with it as the exclusive representative of its em- ployees. The Company refused, stating that it doubted the Interna- tional's claim to represent a majority of the employees. We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company. Ii. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNIN G REPRESENTATION UPON ` COMMERCE We find that the question concerning representation which has .,risen, occurring in connection with operations of the Company de- scribed 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 International urges that all production and maintenance employees of the Company, excluding supervisory and clerical em- ployees constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Association and the Company contend that all production, maintenance, and clerical employees of the Company, excluding em- ployees having the authority to hire and discharge, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. The only dispute as to unit concerns clerical employees and super. visory employees not having power to hire or discharge. The Inter- national urges the exclusion of all such employees, and the Associa- tion and the Company desire their inclusion. At the hearing this dispute narrowed down to 11 named employees. Florence Zeek, Erick Patterson," Elmer Wilson, and Russel Whited are classified by- the Company as instructors. They are all paid on an hourly basis while the employees whom they instruct are paid on a piece-rate basis. They all have the power to reconnnend the hiring and discharging of employees. James T'ochildson is employed with - eight others in the packing department. Although all the employees in this department are paid on the same basis, Tochildson directs the packing operations of the others. Iwan Aloway is in charge of issllulg cutting orders to the cutters. He has the authority to appor- tion the Nvork and designate the cutters to various jobs. In view of the supervisory duties of the afore-nneitioned employees, and in 24 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD view of the conflicting claims of the rival unions, we find that Zeek Patterson, Wilson, Whited, Tochildson, and Aloway should be excluded from the unit.' Arthur Krohe is classified by the Company as a shipping clerk. He does not handle the products to be shipped , his duties being cleri- cal in nature . Dorothy Lynn and Betty Philips are office workers and 'their work is purely of a clerical nature. In accordance with our usual practice as to clerical employees we find that Krohe, Lynn, and Philips should be excluded from the unit.2 Lawson Wood is engaged in determining the number of cuts to be produced from leather hides . His work is closely allied with production and we shall include him within the unit. Helen Mali- coat is engaged in issuing stock to other employees . She has no supervisory powers and her work is closely allied with that of the production workers. We shall include Malicoat in the unit. We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Company, excluding clerical and all supervisory employees , consti- tute a unit appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining and that said unit will insure to employees of the Company 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 We find that the question which has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of the Company can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. The parties- agreed at the hearing that in the event the Board directed an election that eligibility of the em- ployees to vote should be determined by the Company's pay roll of May 25, 1940. We find that those employees of the Company within the appropriate unit, whose names appear on the Company's pay roll of May 25, 1940, shall be eligible to vote, excluding those who have since quit or been discharged for cause. 1Cf Mattel of lien; Manufacturing Co, Inc and A F of L Fedeial Local Union No. 20893, 7 N L R B 95, Matter of The Cuda/ii] Packing Company and United Packinghouse Workers of America, Local 21, of the Packinghouse 1Vo,ters Organizing Committee, etc., 13 N. L R B 520 In Matter of The Elechic Auto-Late Company, American Enameled Magnet 1Piie Division and International Association of Mac/imists, Local 218, et ai, we stated. "Wheie, as heie, rival unions making conflicting clams in regard to the inclusion in a unit made up of production employees, of employees whose duties are on the border- line between production and management, we have ordinarily excluded them " 2See Matter of Atlantic Ensue Iron Woil,c and industrial Union of Maisie and Ship- building Workers of America, Local No. 13, 5 N L R B 402, where we stated • "As it is obvious that the status and functions of clerical employees are essentially different Pion, the status and functions of employees who do manual labor, our usual practice has been to exclude cleiical employees from a unit largely composed of production and mainte- nance employees Since no affirmative showing has been made by the Association or the Company, nor any arguments advanced by them as to why we should dep,ut from this pi actice, we shall exclude the cleiical employees from the unit " WELLS-LAMONT SMITH CORPORATION 25 The International requested that in the event the Board directed an election it appear on the ballot as "Local Union No. 103, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor." The request is hereby granted. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : CoNCLuSIONTs or LAW 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of «Tells-Lamont Smith Corporation, Beards- town, Illinois, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All production and maintenance employees of .the Company, excluding all 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. 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 Rela- t]ons Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purpose of collective bargaining with Wells-Lamont Smith Corporation, Beardstown, Illinois, 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, un- der the direction and supervision of the, Regional Director for the Thirteenth 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 production and maintenance em- ployees of the Company, whose names appear on the Company's pay roll of May 25, 1940, excluding all supervisory and clerical employees and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Local Union No. 103, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, or by Beardstown Association of Glove Workers, for the pur- poses of collective bargaining, or by neither.