Columbia Mills Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 29, 1940

25 N.L.R.B. 1065 (N.L.R.B. 1940)

In the Matter Of COLUMBIA,_MILLS COMPANY and INDEPENDENT EM-
PLOYEES ASSOCIATION OF COLUMBIA MILLS
Case No. R-1931.Decided July 29, 1940
Jurisdiction : rope, -twine, and cotton duck manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question:
conflicting claims of rival representatives ; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em-
ployees including section men and excluding second hands, overseers, superin-
tendents, and clerical employees
Mr. D. MeK. Winter and Mr. Ben Adams, of Columbia, S. C., for
the Independent.
Mr. Douglas McKay, of Columbia, S. C., for the Company.
Mr. R. H. Brazzell, of Atlanta, Ga., and Mr. David Jaffe, of New
York City, for the T. W. U. A.
Mr. Aaron Lewittes, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
,On April 17 and June 19, 1940, Independent Employees Association
,of 'Columbia Mills, herein called the Independent, filed with the Re-
gional Director for the, Tenth Region (Atlanta, Georgia), a petition
and an amended petition alleging that a question affecting commerce
had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Columbia
Mills Company, Columbia, South Carolina, herein called the Com-
pany, and requesting an investigation and certification of representa-
tives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act,
49 Stat. 449, herein referred to as the Act. On May 31, 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 Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as
amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Direc-
tor to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due
:notice.
25 N. L R. B , No. 107.
1065
1066 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
On June 20 and 24, 1940, the Regional Director issued notices of
hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the
Independent, and Textile Workers Union of America, Local No. 253,
herein called the T. W. U. A. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held
on July 3, 1940, at Columbia, South Carolina, before Warren Woods,,
the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. Pursuant to mo-
tion the T. W. U. A. intervened. The Independent, the Company,
and the T. W. U. A. 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 all parties. The T. W. U. A. filed a motion to dismiss
the petition. The motion is hereby denied. The Board has reviewed
the rulings made by the Trial Examiner during the course of the
hearing on motions and on objections to the admission of evidence-
and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are-
hereby affirmed. On July 18, 1940, the parties presented oral argument
before the Board at Washington, D. C.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Columbia Mills Company, a South Carolina corporation, is engaged'
at Columbia, South Carolina, in the manufacture of rope, twine, and
cotton duck. In 1939 the Company purchased materials valued in
excess of $700,000 and manufactured products valued at about $1,000,-
000. It obtained approximately 50 percent of its raw materials from
and shipped approximately 99 percent of its finished products to-
States other than South Carolina. The Company employs about 1,150,
employees in the unit herein found to be appropriate.
The Company admits that it is engaged in interstate commerce.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Independent Employees Association of Columbia Mills is` an un-
affiliated labor organization, admitting to membership employees of',
the Company.
Textile Workers Union of America, Local No. 253, is a labor organ-
ization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,.
admitting to membership employees of the'Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Pursuant-to a consent election agreement between the Company, the
T. W. U. A., and an agent of the Board, an election was held on_
February 16, 1938. Of a total of 687 eligible voters, 630 voted, 471_
COLUMBIA MILLS COMPANY 1067
voting for the T. W. U. A. and 154 voting against the T. W. U. A.
Thereafter the Company and the T. W. U. A. executed a contract which
was renewed in 1939 and again in May 1940. The contract between
the Company and the T. W. U. A. expired on July 12, 1940.
On April 1, 1940, the Independent asked the Company for exclu-
sive recognition. The Company refused the request pending Board
determination of the conflicting claims of the Independent and the
T. W. U. A.
From a statement of the Regional Director introduced into evi-
dence and from a supplemental statement of the Trial Examiner at
the hearing, it appears that the Independent and the T. W. U. A.
have substantial membership among the employees of the Company
herein found to constitute an appropriate unit.
We 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 Independent, the T. W. U. A., and the Company are agreed,
and we find, that all of the production and maintenance employees
of the Company, including section men and excluding second hands,
overseers, superintendents, and clerical employees, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that said
unit will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of
their rights 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 concerning representation which has
arisen can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. We find
that eligibility to vote in the election shall be determined by the pay
roll immediately preceding the date of our Direction of Election.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
1068 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of the Company, within the meaning of Sec-
tion 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations
Act.
2. All production and maintenance employees of the Company, in-
cluding section men and excluding second hands, overseers, super-
intendents, 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-
tions Act, 49 Stat. 449, 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 purposes of collective bargaining
with Columbia Mills Company, Columbia, South Carolina, an elec-
tion by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible but not
later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction of Elec-
tion, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director
for the Tenth 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 of the production and maintenance
employees of the Company, including section men and excluding
second hands, overseers, superintendents, and clerical employees, who
are employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the
date of this Direction of Election, including employees who do not
work during such pay-roll period because they may be ill, on vaca-
tion, or temporarily laid off, but excluding those who will have since
quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire
-to be represented by Independent Employees Association of Colum-
bia Mills or by Textile Workers Union of America, Local No. 253,
for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
MR. WILLIAM M. LEISERSON took no part in the consideration of
the above Decision and Direction of Election.