American Viscose Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 9, 1949

83 N.L.R.B. 422 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

' r. '+C
In the Matter of AMERICAN' VISCOSE CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and
TEXTILE WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA, CIO PETITIONER
Case No. 9-RC-347.-Decided May 9, 1949
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held in this case in Park-
ersburg, West Virginia, on March 23 and 24, 1949, before William A.
McGowan, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the
hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Members Reynolds, Murdock, and
Gray.]
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion. of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c). (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act, for the following reasons:
The Employer is engaged in the manufacture of rayon, yarn, and
staple fiber at seven plants in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Vir-
ginia. Its operations are completely integrated, and its labor rela-
tions policies are centrally controlled from the main office in Phila-
delphia, Pennsylvania. For 12 years the Employer and the Peti-
tioner have engaged in collective bargaining for the Employer's pro-
duction.and maintenance employees on a multiple-plant basis. Nu-
merous contracts have been executed by the parties, and since 1942 the
Petitioner has been recognized as the exclusive bargaining represents-
tive for the production and maintenance employees in all seven of the
Employer's plants." r
, In the present proceeding, the Petitioner seeks to represent a unit
consisting of office and laboratory employees in the Parkersburg, West
1 The Employer 's operations and collective bargaining history are more fully considered
in-Matter of American Viscose Corporation , 79 N. L . R. B. 958 , in which the Board refused
to sever a unit of lead burners at the Employer 's Front Royal , Virginia, plant from the
multiple-plant production and maintenance unit.
83 N. L. It. B., No. 64.,
422 -- '
AMERICAN VISCOSE CORPORATION 423
Virginia, plant of the Employer. There has been no collective bar-
gaining for employees in these categories at any of the Employer's
plants. The Employer contends that the petition should be dismissed
upon the ground that a unit confined to one plant is inappropriate in
the. face of the, long history of collective bargaining on a multiple-
plant basis.
In view of the integrated nature of the Employer's operations, and
the long and successful history of collective bargaining for produc-
tion and maintenance employees-on a multiple-plant basis, we are of
the opinion that a unit of office and laboratory employees restricted
to the Parkersburg plant is too limited in scope to be appropriate for
purposes of collective bargaining. We shall, therefore, dismiss the
petition?
ORDER
Upon the basis of the entire record in this case, the National Labor
Relations Board hereby orders that the petition filed in the instant
.matter-be, and it hereby is, dismissed.3
See Matter of Joseph E. Seagram cB Sons, Inc., 83 N. L. It. B. 167, decided on April
-26, 1949 , in which the Board ' s reasons for this conclusion are fully discussed . Although
Board Member Gray disagrees with the Seagram case , he considers himself bound by the
majority holding therein.
The Employer also contended that the petition should be dismissed because of an alleged
agreement on the part of the Petitioner not to represent the employees covered by the peti-
tion . In view of our dismissal of the petition on the ground that the unit sought is inappro-
lpriate, we find it unnecessary to consider this question.