MacKenzie Awning Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 16, 1949

87 N.L.R.B. 1098 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter Of MACKENZIE AWNING COMPANY, AWNING MANUFAC-
TURING COMPANY , EMPLOYER AND PETITIONER and UPHOLSTERERS'
INTERNATIONAL UNION, A. F. L. and LOCAL 877, AWNING, TENT,
CANVAS AND DISPLAY DECORATORS UNION, UNITED BROTHERHOOD OR
CARPENTERS & JOINERS OF AMERICA, A. F. L.
Case 'No. 7-RM-18.Decided December 16,19-119
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before George A.
Sweeney, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the
hearing 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 power in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Reynolds and Gray].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. MacKenzie Awning Company manufactures and sells canvas
products, other than awnings, principally for use by the United States
Government. It also sells awnings made for it by Awning Manufac-
turing Company. Both companies are partnerships, the former being
composed of four members of the MacKenzie family, and the latter of
the same four persons and one Peter Ruff. Awning Manufacturing
Company itself makes no purchases or sales, both being made for it by
MacKenzie. Financial adjustments are made through intercompany
bookkeeping accounts. The parties agree that for all purposes ma-
terial herein, the two partnerships are one. They are therefore re-
ferred to herein as the Employer.
The Employer annually purchases goods to the value of about
$250,000, of which approximately 95 percent is received from sources
outside the State of Michigan. Total annual sales amount to about
$400,000, of which 95 percent represents sales to the United States
Government. About 80 percent of the Employer's products are
shipped to points outside Michigan.
87 NLRB No. 112.
1098
MACKENZIE AWNING COMPANY 1099
The Employer concedes, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act'
2. Upholsterers' International Union A. F. L., herein called the
Upholsterers, and Local 877, Awning, Tent, Canvas and Display
Decorators Union, United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of
America, A. F. L., herein called the Display Decorators, are labor
organizations claiming to represent certain employees of the
Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section
t (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Employer and the Upholsterers agree that the appropriate
unit should include all employees of the Employer, excluding office
-clerical and professional employees, salesmen, guards, and supervisors.
The Display Decorators contends that the unit should also include
the employees of C & Z Erection Company, formerly Canvas Manu-
facturers Erection Company.
The record shows that Canvas Manufacturers Erection Company
was owned and operated by the Employer until May 1, 1949, when it
sold the business to two former employees who formed the partnership
known as C & Z Erection Company. Although the greater part of
C & Z's business during the first 6 months of its existence has been
erection work for the Employer, C & Z functions as an independent
,company, paying its own employees by checks drawn by it on a bank
account held in its own name. Returns and reports required by law
to be submitted to government authorities by associations and corpo-
rations have been filed in the name of C & Z Erection Company. There
is no evidence that the sale was other than bona fide. In view of the
fact that the employees of C & Z are not employees of the Employer,
we shall exclude them from the unit.
Accordingly, we find that all employees of MacKenzie Awning
Company and Awning Manufacturing Company, Detroit, Michigan,
excluding office clerical and professional employees, salesmen, guards,
and supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the Act.
' MacKenzie Awning Company, 57 NLRB 489. In Detroit Canvas Manufacturers Associa-
tion, 80 NLRB 267 , the Board refused to assert jurisdiction over a group of canvas products
manufacturers , including the Employer, upon the ground that their business was essentially
local in nature . However, in that case the record was silent as to the customers of the
employers . That deficiency has been corrected in this case . Moreover, the volume of the
Employer ' s business has increased considerably since the hearing in the Detroit Canvas
Manufacturers case.
1100 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision 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, among the employees in the
unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, 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 rein-
stated prior to the date of the election; and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining,
by Upholsterers' International Union, A. F. L., or by Local 877,
Awning, Tent, Canvas and Display Decorators Union, United
Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America, A. F. L., or by
neither.