Endicott-Johnson Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 5, 1942

45 N.L.R.B. 1092 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter of ENDICOTT-JOHNSON CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL
FUR AND LEATHER WORKERS UNION, C. I. O.
Case 1Vo. R-4543.-Decided December 5, 1942
Jurisdiction : tanning and shoe manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : re-
fusal to recognize petitioner; election. necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all production and maintenance em-
ployees of Company's tanneries, with specified inclusions and exclusions.
Mr. William H. Pritchard -and- Mr. Howard A. Swartwood, of
Endicott, N. Y., for the Company.
Mr. Nathan Witt, of New York City, for the Union.
Miss Muriel J. Levor, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed-by International- Fur and Leather Work-
ers'Union C. -I. 0., herein called the Union, alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Endicott-Johnson Corporation, Endicott, New York,
herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board
provided for an'appropriate hearing upon due notice before Francis
V.' Cole, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was' held at Binghamton,
New York, on November 10, 1942. The Company and the, Union
appeared, participated, and- were afforded full, opportunity to be
heard, to examine, and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evi-
dence bearing.on .the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at
the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Endicott-Johnson Corporation, a New York corporation, has its
principal offices and place of business in the village of Endicott,
45 N. L. R. B., No. 156
1092
ENDICOTT-JOHNSON CORPORATION 1093
New York, and is engaged in the business of tanning leather and in
the production and manufacture of leather, canvas and rubber; shoes,
and other types ,of footwear. ^ The Company operates 22 factories,
6 tanneries, and 26 auxiliary departments. The Company also has
a Nation-wide sales organization for its products. About 18,200
employees are employed in its various plants.
The six tanneries operate as a separate unit from the shoe manufac-
turing part of the business. ^ All six tanneries are located at Endicott,
'at Bing-New York, while the shoe factories are variously situated
hamton, Johnson City, and Endicott.
The Company sold goods to the value of approximately'$80,852,000
during its fiscal year ending November 30, 1941.' About 87 percent
of the finished products sold by the corporation were shipped and
delivered outside of New York State. Raw materials valued at ap-
proximately $32,000,000 were used in the manufacturing processes
carried on at the Company's plants during the same fiscal year. About
60 percent of such raw materials originated in States other than the
State of New York and in foreign countries.
The Company stipulated that it is engaged in interstate commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II: THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED'
International Fur and Leather Workers Union is a labor, organiza-
tion afliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admit-
ting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRI)$ENTATION
On or about October 16, 1942, the Union, in a letter to Mr. George
Johnson, president of the Company, claimed representation of a
majority of the employees in the tanneries at Endicott, New York,
and requested a conference for the purpose of bargaining collectively.
In a letter dated October 17, 1942, the Company claimed that the pro-
posed unit was inappropriate and refused the conference.
A statement of the Trial Examiner made subsequent to the hearing
and which by agreement of the parties is hereby made a part of the
record, indicates that the Unon represents a substantial number of
employees of the Company in the unit hereinafter found to be
appropriate." '
l The Trial Examiner reported that the Union had submitted about 1,500 application-
for-membership cards, and that the Company ' bad submitted its pay roll of November 14,
1942, listing 2,338 employees in the unit claimed by the Union . He further reported that
a check of every tenth name on the pay roll against the Union 's cards revealed that 118
cards bore apparently genuine signatures of persons on said pay roll.
1094 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR 'RELATIONS BOARD
We find that a question - affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) 'and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT ,
The Union contends that the appropriate unit should consist of- all
the workers in and about the tanneries; the Company contends that
the employer-wide unit is appropriate. The parties stipulated that
if the Board found that employees in the tanneries alone, constituted
an appropriate unit, the unit should be described as follows: "all
production and maintenance employees (including employees in the
machine shop, mechanical building, and two powerhouses), fire pre-
vention employees (excluding the chief, assistant chief, captains, and
lieutenants), and chemical manufacturing employees, employed in and
about the tanneries at Endicott, New York, excluding office, clerical,
and supervisory employees and the employees in the chemical labora-
iory located in the mechanical building." ' It was also stipulated that
assistant foremen were to be excluded from the unit.
The Company, in asserting that the proposed unit is inappropriate,
relies upon the Board's finding in a prior case that an employer-wide
unit constituted an appropriate unit.' In that case, decided Novem-
ber 24, 1939, the Board's finding of the employer unit was made pur-
suant to an, agreement of the parties there involved 3 , The unions
there involved lost the election, and there has been no collective bar-
gaining on behalf of any of the employees. The Union, which-was
not a party to the prior proceeding, limits its membership to employees
engaged in work in and about the tanneries and has not sought to
organize any other employees of the Company. The operations and
skills required of tannery workers are different from those of em-
ployees in the shoe factories and other departments and there appears
to be no interchange of employees between the tanneries and other
divisions of the Company.
In view of the fact that the employees in the six tanneries are a
homogeneous group and can function effectively as a separate unit for
the purposes of collective bargaining, and since substantial self -•
organization among the employees of the Company is at present
limited to the tanneries, we conclude that a unit composed of tannery
employees is appropriate.4 Accordingly, we find that all production
3 Matter of Endicott-Johnson Corporation and Boot and Shoe Workers Union, Local 42,
A.F of L, 17 N. L . R. B. 1004.
3 The labor organizations there involved were Boot & Shoe Workers Union, A. P. of L,
and United Shoe Workers of America, C. I O.
4 The Board has found that employees in the shoe plants of a company operating both
shoe factories and tanneries constituted an appropriate unit although the company claimed
an employer-wide unit : Matter of Wolverine Shoe and Tanning Corporation and United
Shpe Workers of America, 45 N. L . R. B. 620.
ENDICOTT-JOHNSON CORPORATION 1095
and maintenance employees (including employees in the machine shop,
mechanical building , and two powerhouses ), fire prevention employees
(excluding the chief , assistant chief, captains , and lieutenants), and
chemical manufacturing employees , employed in and about the tan-
neries of the Company at Endicott , New York, excluding office, cleri-
cal, and supervisory employees , employees in the chemical laboratory
located in the mechanical building , foremen, and assistant foremen,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen
can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. Although the
parties stipulated that if an election should be ordered by the Board,
eligibility to vote should be determined by reference to the November
14, 1942, pay roll, we find nb reason to depart ' from our customary
practice and shall direct that the persons eligible to vote in the elec-
tion shall be those in the appropriate unit who were employed during
the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction
of Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth
in the Direction.
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 Relations Act,
and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended , it is , hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to determine representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Endicott -Johnson
Corporation, Endicott, New York, 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 , under the direction and supervision of
the Regional Director for the Third Region, acting in this matter as
agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article
III,, Section , 10, of said Rules and Regulations , among the employees
'in the"unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed
by the Company during the pay-roll period immediately preceding
the date of this Direction , including any such employees who did not
work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation-
or in the active military , service or training of the United States, or
temporarily laid off , but excluding any who have since quit or been
discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be
represented by International Fur and Leather Workers Union, C. 1. 0.,
for the purposes of collective bargaining.