Foster Jewelry Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 28, 1948

79 N.L.R.B. 1051 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of FOSTER JEWELRY CO ., EMPLOYER and ALEXANDER
PELLEGRINO , PETITIONER and PLAYTHINGS , JEWELRY AND NOVELTY
WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, C. I. 0., UNION
Case No. 1-RD-10.Decided September 28, 1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, an original hearing in this case was held
at Providence, Rhode Island, on April 13, 1948, after adjournments
from March 1 and February 5, before Thomas H. Ramsey, hearing
-officer. At this hearing, the hearing officer sustained an exception
by the Employer to questions by the Union attempting to establish
that the normal pre-Christmas force of employees was far greater
than the force employed at the time of the hearing, and that a seasonal
curtailment then existed during which a decertification election should
not be held.
On June 25, 1948, the Board, having reversed the hearing officer's
ruling, directed that the record be reopened and that a further hear-
ing be held to adduce additional evidence with respect to the normal
-complement of employees of the Employer within the unit, fluctua-
tions in employment levels, and similar pertinent information. There-
after a further hearing was held on August 2, 1948, before the same
hearing officer. The rulings made by the hearing officer, with the
exception noted above, 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-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is a Rhode Island corporation engaged in the
manufacture of costume jewelry at Providence, Rhode Island. The
Employer admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning
of the National Labor Relations Act, and we so find.
* Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Murdock.
79 N. L. R. B., No. 135.
1051
1052 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
2. The Petitioner, an employee of the Employer, asserts that the
Union is no longer the representative. of the Employer's employees
as defined in Section 9 (a) of the Act.
The Union is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, and has heretofore been recognized by the
Employer as the exclusive bargaining representative of its produc-
tion and maintenance employees.
3. A contract between the Employer and the Union was executed
December 27, 1946, for a term of 1 year, automatically renewable from
year to year in the absence of 30 days' written notice by either party.
On November 17, 1947, the Employer gave written notification to the
Union that it would not renew the agreement. On December 8 it
wrote the Union that, "pursuant to the Labor Management Relations
Act of 1947, Section 8 (d)," it intended to terminate the December 27,
1946, agreement and was willing to discuss a new contract. The de-
certification petition was filed December 11, 1947. On January 6, 1948,
the Employer, in compliance with Section 8 (d) (3) of the Act, wrote
the Federal Conciliation and Mediation Service and the Rhode Island
State Labor Relations Board advising of the existence of a dispute
concerning wages, hours, and working conditions of the Employer's
employees.
We find no merit in the Union's contention that the Employer's
failure to give notice 60 days before the termination of the contract,
as provided in Section 8 (d) (1) of the Act, has the effect of auto-
matically renewing the contract so as to bar this decertification
petition.,
Accordingly, we find that a question affecting commerce exists con-
cerning the representation of employees of the Employer, within the
meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. In accordance with the stipulation of the parties, we find that
.the following unit, which is the unit for which the Union was recog-
nized by the Employer as collective bargaining representative, is
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act : All production and maintenance em-
ployees of the Employer, excluding executives, office and clerical em-
ployees, tool makers, foremen, foreladies and all other supervisors.
5. The record indicates that the Employer's normal complement of
employees during the war averaged 41, and since the war, 28. Only
12 were employed in December when the decertification petition was
filed, and only 3 production and maintenance employees were working
at the time of the hearing in April. At the time of the supplemental
' Matter of International Harvester Company, 77 N. L. R. B. 242.
FOSTER JEWELRY CO. 1053
hearing in August, approximately 25 were employed. The Employer's
president testified that the jewelry business is a highly seasonal one
with the busiest season occurring between August 1 and December
15. The Union's International Representative would not say whether
the Union objected to an election among a complement of 25 to 30
employees. We are of the opinion that it is possible to obtain a rep-
resentative vote in an election conducted at this time.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with the Employer, 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 Region in which this case
was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among
the employees in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4,
above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately pre-
ceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work
during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or
temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or re-
instated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented by Playthings, Jewelry and
Novelty Workers International Union, C. I. 0., for the purposes of
collective bargaining.