Merrimac Hat Corporation

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 25, 1939

12 N.L.R.B. 1204 (N.L.R.B. 1939)

In the Matter Of MERRIMAC HAT CORPORATION and UNITED HATTERS,
CAP AND MILLINERY WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, AFFILIATED
WITH AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR
Case No. R-1361.-Decided May 25, 1939
Hat Manufacturing Industrg-Investigation of Representatives : controversy
concerning representation of employees : employer 's refusal to recognize peti-
tioning union as exclusive bargaining agent-Unit Appropriate for Collective
Bargaining : production employees of three plants, excluding maintenance , cleri-
cal, and supervisory employees ; stipulation as to-Election Ordered
Mr. Edward Schneider, for the Board.
Ropes, Gray, Boyden d Perkins, by Mr. Charles E. Wyzanski, Jr.,
and Mr. Roland Gray, Jr., of Boston, Mass. , for the Company.
Roewer & Reel, by Mr. A. Frank Reel, of Boston , Mass. , for the
American Federation of Labor.
Mr. N. Barr Miller, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On October 8, 1938, and February 18, 1939, the United Hatters,
Cap and Millinery Workers International Union, affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, herein called the Union, filed with the
Regional Director for the First Region ( Boston, Massachusetts) a
petition and amended petition, respectively, alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of
employees of the Merrimac Hat Corporation, Amesbury, Massachu-
setts, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and
certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On
March 24, 1939, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called
the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article
III, Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula-
tions-Series 1, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized
the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice.
12 N. L. R. B., No. 118.
1204
MERRIMAC HAT CORPORATION 1205
On April 6, 1939, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing
and on April 13, 1939, a notice of postponement of hearing, copies of
both of which were served upon the Company and the Union.
Pursuant to the notices, a hearing was held on April 24, 1939, at
Amesbury, Massachusetts, before Charles E. Persons, the Trial Ex-
aminer duly designated by the Board. The Board, the Company, and
the Union were represented by counsel and participated in the hear-
ing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine
witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded
all parties. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner
ruled on one objection to the admission of evidence. This ruling
the Board has reviewed and finds in it no prejudicial error. The
ruling is hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Merrimac Hat Corporation is engaged in the manufacture of com-
pleted hats and of hat bodies in an unfinished state at three plants
at Amesbury, Massachusetts. The Company makes both fur and wool
hat bodies. Raw materials consisting principally of wool, fur, trim-
ming and dye to the value of $1,750,000 annually are used in the
three Amesbury plants. Approximately 84 per cent, in value, of this
material comes from outside Massachusetts. Hats valued at approx-
imately $4,525,000 are produced annually, 94 per cent of which are
shipped to destinations beyond the State of Massachusetts.
The Company employs between 1,100 and 1,400 workers in its
Amesbury plants. On February 25, 1939, there were in its employ
a total of 1,377 persons, 1,238 production employees, 46 supervisory,
45 maintenance, 34 clerical, and 14 engaged in selling.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Hatters, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union,
affiliated with American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization
admitting to membership all workers in the Company's Amesbury
plants except those engaged in supervisory, maintenance, and clerical
duties. The parties have stipulated that the Union is a labor organi-
zation within the meaning of Section 2 (5) of the Act.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Prior to the filing of the petition and amended petition in this-
case the Company was asked to recognize the Union as the exclusive,
1206 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
representative of all production employees in the Amesbury plants.
The Company refused to grant such recognition until an election had
determined that a majority of the employees desired the Union to be
their exclusive representative.
We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of
employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
The Company concedes and we find that the question concerning
representation which has arisen, occurring in connection with the
.operations of the Company, described in Section I above, has a close,
intimate, and substantial relation to trade, traffic, and commerce
.among the several States, and tends to lead to labor disputes burden-
ing and obstructing commerce and the free flow of commerce.
V. TIIE APPROPRIATE UNIT
It was stipulated that the appropriate unit for the purposes of
collective bargaining should be composed of "all production em-
ployees of the Merrimac Hat Corporation in its Amesbury plants.
exclusive of clerical, supervisory and maintenance employees." Main-
tenance men by agreement include machinists who repair production
machines, carpenters, millwrights, electricians, janitors, elevator men,
power-plant and heating-plant employees. Floormen whose principal
duties are the handling of hats or raw materials or who have some-
thing to do with the processing are included in the production unit;
those whose principal duties are to keep machines in repair or keep
floors clean are classified by the parties as maintenance men and ex-
cluded from the unit. Factory clerks, including a style recorder,
are excluded by stipulation, since their duties are clerical. Certain
inspectors having duties of a supervisory character subordinate to the
regular foremen in the plants have been classified by the parties as
production workers because they have no disciplinary duties, nor do
they keep efficiency records. There are 10 or 12 workers who are
interchangeably supervisory or production employees. As to them the
parties agreed that each employee's status for purposes of the election
shall be determined by his duties at the time the election is held. All
packing, shipping, and box-shop employees are agreed to be within
the production unit, as well as hand-transfer men who impress labels
in the hats, "sticker" men who paste labels, and "printing" men who
print or stamp customers' names in hats or on hat bands.
The unit above described is appropriate and we see no reason to
depart from the wishes of the parties. We find that all production
M RRIDTAC HAT CORPORATION 1207
employees of the Amesbury plants of the Company, exclusive of those
designated as maintenance, supervisory, and clerical employees, con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
and that said unit will insure to employees of the Company the
full benefit of their right to self-organization and to collective bar-
gaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The parties have stipulated that the Board may order an election.
We find that the question which has arisen concerning the representa-
tion of employees can best be decided by holding an election by secret
ballot to determine whether or not the employees wish the Union
to represent them. We find in accordance with the stipulation of the
parties that those eligible to vote shall be (1) all persons in the appro-
priate unit who were employed on the date of the amended petition,
February 18, 1939, and who have been employed at any time since
February 18, 1939, up to and including April 24, 1939, excluding any
who have been discharged for cause or who have voluntarily quit, and
(2) all in the appropriate unit who have worked a total of 80 working
days during the year from February 18, 1938, until February 18, 1939,
again excluding those who have been discharged for cause or who
have voluntarily quit during that period.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONcLusIONs OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of the Merrimac Hat Corporation, Amesbury,
Massachusetts, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6)
and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The production employees of the Company in its Amesbury
plants, exclusive of clerical, supervisory, and maintenance employees,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act.
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 Rela-
tions Act and pursuant to Article 111, Section 8, of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended,
it is hereby
1208 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the
Board to ascertain representatives for collective bargaining with the
Merrimac Hat Corporation, an election by secret ballot shall be
conducted within fifteen (15) days from the date of this Direction,
under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the
First Region, acting in this matter as the agent of the National
Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of the
said Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, among the pro-
duction employees of the Company in its Amesbury plants, exclusive
of clerical, supervisory, and maintenance employees, (1) who were
employed on the date of the amended petition, February 18, 1939, and
who have been employed at any time since February 18, 1939, up to
and including April 24, 1939, excluding any who have been discharged
for cause or who have voluntarily quit, or (2) who have worked a
total of 80 working days during the year from February 18, 1938,
until February 18, 1939, excluding those who have been discharged
for cause or who have voluntarily quit during that period, to deter-
mine whether or not they desire to be represented by the United
Hatters, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union, affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining.