General Shoe Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 13, 1958

120 N.L.R.B. 911 (N.L.R.B. 1958)

GENERAL SHOE CORPORATION 911
administrative and professional employees ," watchmen and guards,
and all other supervisors as defined in the Act.
2. All testers , excluding all other employees , watchmen and guards,
and supervisors as defined in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.]
8 Excluded from the unit as administrative and professional employees, by agreement
of the parties , are the employment supervisor or personnel assistant , chief clerk in the
main office , plant engineers , board engineer, mine engineer , mill engineer , and quality
supervisor.
General Shoe Corporation, Chemical Division, operating and
known as S & F Chemical Company and General Adhesive
Company 1 and Oil , Chemical and Atomic Workers Interna-
tional Union , AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case No. 10-RC-3966.
May 13, 1958
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before H. Stephan
Gordon, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the
hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.2
The Employer raised the issue of the necessity for the bargaining
policy committee of the Petitioner to comply with the requirements
of Section 9 (f), (g), and (h) of the Act, contending that it is a
labor organization within the meaning of the Act. The hearing
officer properly permitted litigation of this issue.' The Employer's
contention is based upon the language in the Petitioner's constitution
establishing and authorizing the duties and responsibilities of the
committee including that of "bargain[ing] with the industry on
matters of national concern . . ." in behalf of the International or
any of its locals, providing, however, that any resulting action shall
be subject to approval by a majority vote of those members covered,
and that it cannot terminate an existing labor relations agreement
until similarly authorized.
From the evidence and the constitution itself it is apparent that
the bargaining policy committee is an internal and integral function-
1 The name of the Employer appears as amended at the hearing. S & F Chemical
Company is a separately incorporated but wholly owned subsidiary of General Shoe
Corporation, General Adhesive Company is a division of General Shoe Corporation.
Together they are referred to as the Chemical Division. S & F Chemical and General
Adhesive occupy one plant where their respective employees work together and many are
designated as employed for both.
2 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
[Chairman Leedom and Members Bean and Jenkins].
3 See Standard Cigar Company, 117 NLRB 852; Desanlniers and Company, 115 NLRB
1025.
120 NLRB No. 125.
912 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ing part of the International (the Petitioner herein) and not a sub-
.ordinate and separate organization. Accordingly we find that the
bargaining policy committee is not a labor organization required
separately to comply with the compliance provisions of the Act,'
.and therefore, hereby deny the Employer's motion to dismiss the
proceeding on this basis.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.'
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the represen-
tation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Employer contends that a single plant unit, sought by the
Petitioner, is inappropriate because of the integration of its opera-
tions. It urges as appropriate all facilities of its Southern Shoe
Manufacturing Division totaling 30 installations in 5 States. Alter-
natively, the Employer contends that a single unit of its manufactur-
ing plants, processing terminals, and supply sections in the Nashville,
Tennessee, area is the smallest unit appropriate.
The plant involved herein, generally known as the Chemical Di-
-vision, is engaged in the formulation, preparation, and manufacture
from basic chemicals as raw materials, products such as leather soft-
eners, dyes, finishes, adhesives, and cements used by the Employer in
the manufacture and processing of shoes. These products, as well as
-floor tile cement produced by the Chemical Division , are also sold
to companies other than the Employer.
In a substantial number of representation cases involving various
plants of the Southern Shoe Manufacturing Division the Employer
has presented substantially the same contentions and arguments as
those set forth above and the Board has found single units appro-
priates The Employer admits that the present mode of operation and
.administration relied upon is identical to that in existence at the
.time and presented in one of the more recent proceedings involving
another plant in this area wherein the Employer urged similar con-
tentions. The record presents no persuasive reason to warrant a
finding contrary to these previous determinations. Accordingly, we
find that a single plant unit consisting of the Chemical Division is
appropriate.
6 See Osbrsnk Manufacturing Company, 106 NLRB 16. Cf Endicott Johnson Corpo-
ration, 117 NLRB 1886.
5In view of the foregoing and the entire record, we find that the Petitioner is a labor
organization within the meaning of the Act. Accoi Jingly, the Employ'ee's motion to dis-
miss the petition on this ground is hereby denied.
° See General Shoe Corporation, 117 NLRB 1704 and other General Shoe cases cited
therein.
GENERAL • SHOE CORPORATION ' - , - 913
The parties are- in agreement as- to the inclusion or exclusion of,
all- job categories, except laboratory assistants. and quality control
men whom the Petitioner ;would include and the Employer would
exclude as technical employees.
The core of, the Chemical Division's production operation is per;
formed. by employees classified as compounders and .processors, the
latter constituting by far the largest number of employees in a single
classification. The compounders weigh or measure out various pro;
portions of chemicals-in accordance with formulas created by the
chemist and place the designated amounts in containers for the proc-
essors. Approximately, 6 months' on-the-job training is needed and
a high school eduction is desirable. The processor takes the chemi-
cals that have been compounded and_ combines them, to make the
various formulas. In so doing they read the formulas, place the
compounded chemicals into various types of mixers, give them the
time intended to process to the consistency required by the formula
created by the chemist. Then they place the resultant material in
containers. It requires-approximately 6 months' -on-the-job training
to become a processor and a high school education is preferred.
Laboratory assistants work in the laboratory with the chemist
assisting him in combining the chemicals into the formulas which the
chemist creates. They assist the chemist in experiments, pull tests,
and make chemical analysis. They also make tests of batches of
material while it is being processed or after it is finished to determine
whether it contains the correct formula. Approximately 6 months is
required to train a laboratory assistant and here, again, a high school
education is preferable.
Quality control men check the quality of incoming raw chemicals
to determine whether it differs from the required standards. They
watch and help processors to see that the formula is being followed
correctly. If a particular batch does not look right to the quality
control man the production. supervisor is called and the material is
taken to the chemist. The chemist explains materials, standards, and
the fundamental of statistical quality to employees concerned with
these matters. In addition one of the quality control men for a short
period each day goes to an adjoining plant where rubber milling is
in process to observe whether the milling procedure meets' the estab-
lished specifications of the Chemical Division. Any irregularity ob-
served is reported to a superior in the Chemical Division. The
chemist also checks on the rubber milling processes. The major por-
tion of the quality control man's time is spent on the floor among the
processors. If a processor is absent and there is a shortage of help,
a quality control man could fill'in. Similarly the two process control
men could take over for each other. Two years' experience as a
483142-59-vol. 120-59 -
914 DECISIONS OF 'NATIONAL 'LABOR, RELATIONS BOARD
processor is required to qualify as a quality control man. A ,college
education, although, desirable, is not required of quality control men.
In view of the foregoing, we find that the laboratory assistant and
quality control men are not technical employees 7 and that their in-
terests are closely allied to those of the bulk of production workers.
Accordingly, we shall include them in the unit hereinafter found to
be appropriate within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act: All
production and maintenance employees at the Employer's Chemical
Division (also known as S & F Chemical Company and General Ad-
hesive Company) located in Nashville, Tennessee, including labora-
tory assistants and quality control men, but excluding office clerical
employees, plant protection employees, technicians, professional em-
ployees, and all supervisors as defined in the Act."
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
'' See Bata Shoe Company, Inc, 112 NLRB 1018, 1019; Wells Dairbes Cooperative, 107
NLRB 1445.
8 The parties agree to. exclude servicemen as salaried technicians , and the chemist and
the quality control engineer as professional.
Gail - W. Glass d/b/a Richard A. Glass Company and United
Packinghouse Workers of America, AFI^-CIO , Petitioner. Case
No.- 21-KC,-4749. May 13, 1958
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION, ORDER, AND DIRECTION
OF SECOND ELECTION
Pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election 1 of the Board,
dated June 5, 1957, an election by secret ballot was conducted on
December 3,1957, under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the Twenty-first Region among the employees in the
appropriate unit. Following the election the Regional Director
furnished the parties a tally of ballots which showed that of approxi-
mately 43 eligible voters, 16 cast valid ballots for the Petitioner, 26
cast ballots against any labor organization, and 1 cast a void ballot.
On December 9, 1957, the Petitioner filed timely objections to elec-
tion and conduct affecting election. In accordance with the Rules and
Regulations of the Board the Regional Director conducted an in-
vestigation of the objections and on February 28, 1958, issued and
served on the parties his report on objections in which he found that
the Petitioner's objections raised a material issue with respect to the
conduct of the election and recommended that the election be set aside.
On March 28, 1958, the Employer filed timely exceptions to the
Regional Director's report.
1 Not published.
120 NLRB No. 124.