International Shoe Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 23, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 608 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In' the Matter Of INTERNATIONAL SHOE COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
UNITED SHOE WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. 0., PETITIONER
Case No. 17-R-1800.-Decided July 23, 1947
Mr. A. G. Eberle, of St. Louis, Mo., for the Employer.
Messrs. Dave Wilson and Herbert N. Long, of St. Louis, Mo., for
the Petitioner.
Mr. Leonard J. Mandl, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Jefferson
City, Missouri, on June 5, 1947, before William J. Cassidy, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
-from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. TFIE BUSINESS OF TILE EMPLOYER
International Shoe Company, a Delaware corporation, is engaged
in the business of manufacturing shoes. Its headquarters and gen-
.eral office is located at St. Louis, Missouri. It operates in excess of 50
plants located in various States. Its Bolivar Street plant in Jeffer-
son City, Missouri, with which we are here concerned, fabricates ju-
venile Goodyear welt shoes, Dun Deer shoes, and Boy Scout moccasin
kits. During the past year, the Employer at its Bolivar Street plant
used raw materials valued in excess of $500,000, of which a sub-
stantial portion came from points outside the State of Missouri.
During the same period, the Employer at its Bolivar Street plant
manufactured shoes valued- at more than $500,000, all of which were
:shipped to St. Louis, except for shipments of Boy Scout moccasin
kits which were sent to points directed by the buyer.
The Employer admits and Ave find that it is engaged in commerce
-within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
74 N. L. R. B., No. 118.
608
INTERNATIONAL SHOE COMPANY
If. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
609
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations , claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the Pe-
titioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in accord with the agreement of the parties, that all produc-
tion and maintenance employees at the Employer 's Bolivar Street
plant, Jefferson City , Missouri , excluding office and clerical employees,
bonded watchmen , instructors , and all or any other supervisory em-
ployees , 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
The Employer contends that an election would be inappropriate at
the present time because it is changing operations at its Bolivar Street
plant, and the change will cause an expansion in the number of em-
ployees in the unit.
The record shows that the Bolivar Street plant manufactures Dun
Deer shoes, Boy Scout kits, and juvenile welt shoes. A temporary plant
in Houston, Missouri, performs part of the manufacturing operations
,on the Dun Deer shoes, but this temporary arrangement will terminate
when the permanent plant being built at Houston is completed. When
the Houston plant is completed, about January 1, 1948, all Dun Deer
and Boy_ Scout kit operations will be transferred there, and only
juvenile welt shoes will be manufactured at the Bolivar Street plant.
There are now about 300 production and maintenance employees at
the Bolivar Street plant, of whom about 237 are working on welt
shoes. When the Bolivar-Street plant is fully converted to welt shoe
operations, the Employer's anticipated pay roll will be about 460 em-
ployees. In addition to the 237 employees already working on welt
1 On the April 17 pay roll there were 202 employees working on welt shoes . Prior to
the hearing , ftbout 35 additional people ' ere hired to work on welt shoes.
610 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
shoes the Employer will retain at the Bolivar Street plant many of the
other employees whose skills can be utilized or whose present duties
will remain substantially the same after the change to exclusive welt
shoe operations. It appears, therefore, that the group of employees
now working on welt shoes, plus those presently employed at other
operations and who will be retained when the Employer's Bolivar
Street plant is converted, constitutes a representative group and over
50 percent of the total anticipated pay roll. We shall adhere to our
usual policy in such circumstances, and direct an immediate election.2
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with International Shoe Company, Bol-
ivar Street plant, Jefferson City, Missouri, 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 super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Seventeenth Region, acting
in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and
subject to Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 4, among the employees in the
unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed dur-
ing the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direc-
tion, including employees who did not work during said pay-roll pe-
riod because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and
including employees in the armed forces of the United States who
present themselves in person at the polls, but excluding those em-
ployees who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not
been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented by United Shoe Workers
of America, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
2 Matter of Pioneer Tool and Engineering Company, 62 N. L. R. B . 1435; Matter of
Patapsco Scrap Corporation , 69 N. L. R B. 911 ; Matter of John Deere Dubuque Tractor
Company, 72 N. L. R. B. 656; Matter of Textron, Incorporated , 73 N. L . R. B. 393; Matter
of Thompson Products, Inc., 73 N. L. R . B. 548.