Beaver Mills-Lois Mill

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 14, 1936

1 N.L.R.B. 147 (N.L.R.B. 1936)

In the Matter of BEAVER MILLS-Lots MILL and LOCAL No. 1871,
UNITED TEXTILE WORKERS OF AMERICA
Case No. R-12
DIRECTION FOR ELECTION
Januai y 14, 1936
The National Labor Relations Board having found that a question
affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of the
employees of the production and maintenance departments of the
Beaver Mills-Lois Mill, Douglasville, Georgia, and acting pursuant
to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section
9 of the National Labor Relations At, approved July 5, 1935, and
pursuant to Article III, Section 8 of the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, hereby
DIRECTS that as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
in the above case to ascertain representatives for collective bargain-
ing with the Beaver Mills-Lois Mill, an election by secret ballot shall
be conducted within a period of one week from the date of this Direc-
tion for Election, under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the Tenth Region, acting in this matter as the agent
of the National Labor Relations Board and subject to Article III,
Section 9 of said Rules and Regulations, among the employees en-
gaged in the production and maintenance departments of the Beaver
Mills-Lois Mill on November 23, 1935 and those employed between
that date and the date of this Direction for Election in the produc-
tion and maintenance departments, excepting overseers, second hands,
supervisory, and clerical employees, and those who quit or have been
discharged for cause during such period, to determine whether or
not they desire to be represented by Local 1871, United Textile
Workers of America.
MR. CARMODY took no part in the consideration of the above Direc-
tion for Election.
[SAME TITLE]
Decision , February 8, 1936
Cotton Tex-tile Industry-Representatives : proof of choice : petition designat-
ing; membership in union-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargacning : eligi-
bility for membership in only organization making bona fide effort at collective
147
148 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
bargaining ; production and maintenance employees-Election Ordered: question
affecting commerce : confusion and unrest among employees-controversy con-
cerning representation of employees : request by substantial number in appro-
priate unit-Interference, Restraint or Coercion: by civic club.
Mr. Thomas I. Emerson for the Board.
Spalding, Sibley, Troutman c Brock, by Mr. P. F. Brock, of
Atlanta, Ga., and Mr. Francis H. Baldy, of New York City, for the
Company.
Mr. Frank Constangy, of Atlanta, Ga., for the Union.
Mr. Joseph Rosenfarb, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
STATEMENT OF CASE
On October 21, 1935, Local No. 1871, United Textile Workers of
America, hereinafter called the union, acting pursuant to Article III,
Section 1 of the Rules and Regulations-Series 1, filed with the
National Labor Relations Board a petition for an investigation and
certification of representatives of employees in the Lois Mill of Beaver
Mills, hereinafter called the company, pursuant to Section 9 (c) of
the National Labor Relations Act, approved July 5, 1935. On No-
vember 12, 1935, this Board, pursuant to Article III, Section 3 of
Rules and Regulations, authorized the Regional Director for the
Tenth Region to conduct an investigation and to provide for an
appropriate hearing upon due notice. Notice of hearing was issued
and duly served, and hearings were held on December 3 and 4, 1935,
before a Trial Examiner designated by the Board.
The company. appeared through counsel and filed a motion to
dismiss the proceedings. This motion was denied by the Trial
Examiner. The company then filed a plea to the jurisdiction of the
Board and in abatement of the proceedings. Testimony was taken
on this plea by the Trial Examiner and decision was reserved. The
company also filed a second motion to dismiss on the merits, upon
which decision was likewise reserved, and an answer. By stipulation
the evidence taken on the plea to the jurisdiction is also to be
considered on the merits.
The ruling of the Trial Examiner on the first motion to dismiss is
hereby affirmed. The plea to the jurisdiction and in abatement, and
the second motion to dismiss, upon which decision was reserved, are
hereby denied.
From the evidence adduced at the hearing the National Labor
Relations Board promulgates the following :
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 149
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. The Beaver Mills is a corporation organized and existing under
the laws of the State of Massachusetts, with its principal office in
New York City. It owns and operates a textile mill in Douglasville,
Georgia, known as the Lois Mill. As of November 23, 1935, there
were 232 employees at the Lois Mill. The company also owns a
textile mill in Asheville, North Carolina, and one in Waterford, New
York, neither of which, however, it has operated for. the last few
years.
2. The same group of stockholders which owns a controlling share
in the Beaver Mills likewise owns a controlling interest in the Martel
Mills and the Henrietta Mills. The Martel Mills is incorporated in
Delaware and operates six mills, one in Georgia and the remainder
in North and South Carolina. The Henrietta Mills is incorporated
in North Carolina and operates two mills in North Carolina and one
in South Carolina. The officers of the Beaver Mills, Martel Mills
and Henrietta Mills are identical.
3. The Lois Mill is engaged in the manufacture of cotton goods,
principally broad cloth. It converts raw cotton into the gray state
of the product, the finishing being done at other mills.
4. The cotton from which the Lois Mill produces its cotton goods
is purchased through a cotton buyer located in Henrietta, North
Carolina, from merchants and other sellers located in New Orleans,
Memphis, Dallas and other concentration points outside the State of
Georgia. All of the cotton used by the Lois Mill is grown in and
shipped from states other than Georgia, principally from Arkansas
and also from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and other states. The
cotton is shipped to the Lois Mill by rail. It is then stored in the
warehouse of the Mill where there is normally a six to ten weeks'
supply on hand. The Lois Mill consumes about 75 bales a week or
about 4,000 bales a year.
5. The Lois Mill also consumes about 5,000 tons of coal a year, six
to eight weeks' supply of which is normally one hand in the yard of
the Mill. All the coal is obtained from Tennessee and Kentucky.
6. Certain miscellaneous supplies are obtained from outside of
Georgia; starch is shipped from Illinois; burlap is bought in New
York and shipped from points in South Carolina and Georgia;
machine supplies are obtained in Massachusetts. Sizing and belting
are obtained from Georgia.
7. The Lois Mill produces 35,000 pounds of cotton goods a week.
All of this is sold through Catlin Farish Company of New York.
commission merchants, who are exclusive selling agents for the mills.
Shipments from the Mill are by rail, f. o. b. Douglasville, Georgia.
150 NATIONAL LABOR 'RELATIONS BOARD
8. More than 90 per cent of the products of the Mill are shipped
to points outside of the State of Georgia. The greater part of this
is sent to finishing plants in Massachusetts, South Carolina and other
states.
9. Goods shipped by the Mill to finishing plants are in the normal
course shipped out from such plants, after being finished, to all
points in the United States where they are worked up into clothing
and other finished goods which are in turn shipped to various points
in the United States.
10. The Beaver Mills is in keen competition with mills all over
the southern and eastern states which produce the same type of
fabric.
11. All of the aforesaid constitutes a continuous flow of trade,
traffic and commerce among the several states.
12. In September 1934 a strike occurred in the Lois Mill which
lasted for a period of about four weeks. During that time the
Mill did not operate; nor did it make any shipments of its products.
13. In September, 1933, Local No. 1871 of the United Textile
Workers of America, a labor organization affiliated with the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor, was organized among the production and
maintenance employees of the Lois Mill.
14. During a period of several weeks following July 9, 1935, a
petition was circulated by members of the union among the em-
ployees of the Mill authorizing the union and the Georgia Federa-
tion of Labor to act as collective bargaining representatives and to
enter into' negotiations with the management for an agreement con-
cerning wages, hours, and conditions of work. The petition was not
circulated in the plant. About 236 employees of the Mill signed the
petition, of whom 189 were on the payroll of the Mill on November
23, 1935.
15. At a meeting of the union on July 13, 1935, a bargaining com-
mittee, which included the President of the Georgia Federation of
Labor, was appointed to negotiate with the management. On or
about August 1, 1935, the committee conferred with the management
in the offices of the Mill. The management did not at that time
question the right of the committee to represent the employees.
16. On or about July 17, 1935, the management closed down the
Lois Mill.
17. During September and October, 1935, the Civitan Club of
Douglasville, Georgia, prepared and caused to be circulated among
the employees of the Lois Mill, a petition reading as follows :
"We, the undersigned former employees of Beaver Mill, affirm
our loyalty and confidence in the managers, H. C. Dresser and
T. W. Haddle, and respectfully ask that if it is at all practical
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 151
and can be done without material loss to the company, that oper-
ations of the mill be resumed as soon as possible.
"We are all in desperate need of work and agree to such rules
and regulations as are in effect at other mills in this section of
the country."
18. On or about October 15, 1935, the Lois Mill was reopened. The
maximum hours fixed by the Textile Code were retained , the work
load was increased , and wages were reduced , but not below the min-
imum fixed by the Textile Code.
19. Shortly after the notice of hearing was served on the parties
in this proceeding the Civitan Club prepared and caused to be
circulated among the employees of the Lois Mill a second petition
reading as follows :
"GENTLEMEN : We, the undersigned employees of Beaver Mills-
Lois Mill, Douglasville , Georgia, are satisfied with our working
conditions and do not want any elections in our mill or any other
interference."
This petition was circulated in the Mill, during working hours and
in the presence of the foremen , by J. W. Wortham , a steam engine
operator in the Mill, and Grady Cole, a section hand in the Mill. The
petition was signed by 185 employees.
20. The Civitan Club of Douglasville is composed of business men
in Douglasville and includes in its membership the mayor of Douglas-
ville and several of the councilmen . The Club is openly and actively
opposed to the selection by the employees of the Lois Mill of
representatives who are not employees of said Mill or residents of
Douglasville , and to the participation by such persons in the activi-
ties of said employees relating to self-organization and collective
bargaining.
21. Ever since its organization , the union has been an active, func-
tioning organization , and has held regular meetings at which attend-
ance has varied from 75 to 150.
22. A state of uneasiness , tension, and bitterness on the question
of representation exists among the employees of the Lois Mill. The
situation thus existing tends to lead to labor disputes which have the
necessary effect of burdening and obstructing commerce and the free
flow of commerce by materially affecting , restraining , and burdening
the free flow of cotton to the Lois Mill and the free flow of cotton
goods from the Lois Mill.
23. All the employees in the Lois Mill except the supervisory and
clerical force are eligible for membership in Local No . 1871, United
Textile Workers of America. No other labor organization exists
or has in recent years existed in said Mill.
97571-36-vol i-11
152 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
CoNoLusIoNs or LAW
1. The production and maintenance employees of the Lois Mill,
which includes all employees except the executive and managerial
staff, overseers, second hands, clerical employees, and mill police-
men, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
2. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the rep-
resentation of the production and maintenance employees of the Lois
Mill, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) of the Act.