American Furniture Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 23, 1937

4 N.L.R.B. 710 (N.L.R.B. 1937)

In the Matter of AMERICAN FURNITURE COMPANY - and TEXTILE
WORKERS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE • ' '
Case No. R-410.-Decided December &3;1937
Furniture Manufacturing Industry Investigation of Representatives : contro-
versy concerning representation of employees ; agreement for election-Unit
Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production employees ; no' controversy
as to-Representatives : proof of choice : consent election ; definition of-Certifl-
cation of Representatives : upon proof of majority representation as determined
by results of election.
Mr. Jacob Blum and Mr. Charles Y. Latimer, for the Board.
Weinberg; Sweeten'& Green, by Mr. Leonard Weinberg, of Balti-'
more, Md., and Whittle eC Whittle, by Mr. K. C. Whittle,- of'Mar`tins-
ville, Va., for the Company.
Mr. Eugene R. Thorrens, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On August 10, 1937, Textile Workers Organizing Committee, herein
called the T. W. O. C., filed with the Regional Director for the Fifth
Region (Baltimore, Maryland) a petition alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of American Furniture Company, Martinsville, Virginia,
herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and cer-
tification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On Sep-
tember 2, 1937, 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 Regulations-
Series 1, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the
Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice.
On September 23, 1937, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and
T. W. O. C. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on October 4,
710
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 711
1937, at Martinsville, Virginia, before James G., Ewell, the Trial.
Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board, and the Com-
pany were represented by counsel and participated in-the hearing.,
Full opportunity to be heard,,to examine and to cross-examine wit-;
nesses , 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.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the' following
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Company is a Virginia corporation engaged in the making of-
household furniture, employing"920, hourly rate production workers-
in its , plant, consisting of four manufacturing units . located in
Martinsville, Virginia. Net sales for 1936 amounted fo $2,209,640.62.
The Company secures a substantial portion of its raw materials,,
including lumber, veneers, glass, hardware, varnishes and'otlier fin-
ishing materials from outside of`Virginia. The lumber is kiln-dried,.
cut to dimensions, :machined, veneer applied wherever used, chairs
upholstered with' textile materials, finished, and the manufactured
product packed for shipment in the Company's plants. The Com-
pany I sells its products through its sales. organization, directly to
department stores,,.retail stores, jobbers and mail, order houses. A
substantial portion of its products is sold in every state of the Union
and in parts of Canada. • Spur tracks from a division, of the Norfolk-
Western Railway service the Company's manufacturing, units.
II. THE UNION INVOLVED ,
Textile Workers Organizing Committee is a labor organization _
affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization. "It admits .
to membership all textile workers, excluding supervisory' and clerical,
employees. '
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION, '
At the hearing counsel'for the Board, aria the Company 'stipulated
that an 'election 'should be held, without an 'order"of 'the Board,.
among the hourly `rate employees, except supervisory and clerical
employees, 'of the 'Company to determine whether or not they' de-
sired •T. =W. O. C. to' be their exclusive representative for the purposes.
67573-38-vol. iv-46
712 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
•of collective bargaining, and, that in the event the majority of the
:employees in such unit designate T. W. 0. C. as such representative,
the Company would bargain collectively with T. W. 0. C. as the
exclusive representative of all such employees.
We find that a question has arisen concerning representation of em-
ployees 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 T. W. 0. C. in their petition and the Company by its stipula-
tion have indicated their agreement as to the proper constitution of
the appropriate unit. Accordingly, we find that the production em-
ployees of the Company, excluding clerical and supervisory em-
ployees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining and that 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 otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
In the stipulation relating to the election, the Company reserved
the right to raise'before us the question as to the legal status of
T. W. 0. C. to act as a collective bargaining agent. As we under-
stand it, the position of the Company is that inasmuch as at the date
of the hearing no local union of the employees of the Company had
been chartered, there was no organization then in existence which
could be designated as a collective bargaining agent. The argument
involves a fundamental misconception of the Act. The Act does
not limit the employees' choice of representatives to labor organiza-
tions in which they participate as members or otherwise. Section
2 (4) of the Act defines "representatives" to include any individual
or labor organization. T. W. 0. C. is an aggregate of individuals
with the rights and powers normally incident thereto. We have cer-
tified that committee as a collective bargaining agency on numerous
occasions. ' We will do so now on the basis of the following results
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 713
of the election, conducted by the Regional Director on October 6,
1937, which have been incorporated into the record by stipulation
of the parties : ,
For Textile Workers Organizing Committee__________________ 576
Against Textile Workers Organizing Committee______________ 282
We find that T. W. O. C. has been designated and selected by a
majority of the employees in the appropriate unit as their repre-
sentative for the purposes of collective bargaining . It is, therefore,
the exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the
purposes of collective bargaining.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CoNcr usIONs OF LAw
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of American Furniture Company, Martins-
ville, Virginia, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2
(6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The production employees of the Company, excluding clerical
and supervisory employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the National' Labor Relations Act.
3. Textile Workers Organizing Committee is the exclusive repre-
sentative of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (a) of the National
Labor Relations Act.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
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, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National
Labor Relations . Board. Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended,
IT Is HEREBY CERTIFIED that Textile Workers Organizing Committee
has been designated and selected by a majority of all hourly rate
employees of American Furniture Company, Martinsville, Virginia,
excluding clerical and supervisory employees, as their representative
for the purposes of collective bargaining and that, pursuant to the
provisions of Section 9 (a) of the Act, Textile Workers Organizing
Committee is the exclusive 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.