Mississippi Products, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 6, 1948

78 N.L.R.B. 873 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of MISSISSIPPI PRODUCTS , INC., EMPLOYER and INTERNA-
TIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA , CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 15-RC-54.Decided August d, 1914
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed. The Employer's motion to dismiss the petition is
hereby denied.'
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 Chairman Herzog and
Members Murdock and Gray.
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. International Woodworkers of America, affiliated with the Con-
gress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization claiming to
represent employees of the Employer.
rAfter the - heRriiig ;- the Employer moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that the
real petitiongt in tli,i case is not lute, national Woodworkers of Amein a, hereinafter called
the Woodworkers , biit the Congress of Industrial Organizations , herei natter called the CIO,
with which the Woodwoikers is affiliated On November 28, 1947 , the Board , on its own
motion, vacated its Decision and Direction of Election in an earlier case involving this
Employer , ^11attei of Mississippi Products, Inc., 74 N L R B 107 , because the petitioner
in that case , the CIO, had failed to comply with Section 9 (f) and ( h) of the Act The
Employer now contends that, although the present petition , which was filed on March 8,
194S, is technically in the name of tin, Woodwoikeis . the real party in interest is the CIO
The Employer points to the fact that the petition is based upon a showing of interest
obtained through the org.inizmg effoi t of the same people who filed the former petition, and
asserts that they have nieiel continued the oiganizational campaign previously conducted
on behalf of the CIO We do not agiee with the Employer that the facts , which are
admitted , establish that the CIO im the true pasty in interest in this pioceedmg Although
the director of the Petitioners organizing campaign at the Employer's plant occupies the
position of State Director for the CIO , the recoil shows that the Woodworkers pays the
CIO a substantial amount in addition to the usual per capita taxes to obtain the time and
services of CIO officials in organizational efforts on the Woodworkers ' behalf Furthermore,
all membership application cards piesented by the Petitioner to the Board to establish the
substantiality of its ruteiest in the present case show that the signers have designated the
Woodworkeis as their representatne We have no reason to believe that employees at the
Employei s plant are in doubt that the Woodworkers and not the CIO is seeking to repre-
sent them The ballot will make the choice clear
This case is clearly distinguishable from those cases in which the Board has found that
an individual m a labor organization was attempting to circumvent the prohibition against
use of the Board 's facilities by a non -complying labor oigamzatioii There is no indication
in the present proceeding that the Petitioner , if successful in the election, would not
represent the employees involved
78 N. L. R. B ., No. 119.
873
874 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization claim-
ing to represent employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The parties agree as to the inclusion within the unit of all pro-
duction and maintenance employees at the Employer's plant at Jack-
son, Mississippi, including sample and form builders, production in-
spectors, and boiler room operators, but excluding draftsmen, lumber
inspectors, dispatchers, timekeepers, time-study men, and office clerical
employees. The Petitioner and Intervenor, however, would include,
and the Employer would exclude, all clerical employees working
outside the general offices, checkers, the messenger, and cafeteria
employees.
The plant clerical employees in dispute are located in the receiving,,
stock and traffic offices; the checkers work throughout the production-
area of the plant. The stock clerks issue supplies, small tools, and raw
materials, and keep the necessary records thereof; the general clerk
in the receiving office checks materials received and prepares reports,
the clerks in the traffic office keep records of freight shipments, process,
freight bills, count and record the number and type of goods to be
loaded on carriers, and oversee the loading. The checkers tabulate the
amount of production in the factory departments, recording the time
that goods produced are released to other department From the
information gathered by the checkers, the dispatchers schedule pro-
duction in the operating departments. Although the parties have
agreed to exclude dispatchers from the bargaining unit, presumably
because their work is dissimilar from that performed by those within
the unit, we believe that the checkers have a closer, more intimate rela-
tion with the activities of the production workers in the plant. We
shall therefore include the checkers in the unit. We shall also include,
for the same reason, all non-supervisory clerks and clerk-typists who
work in the receiving, stock, and traffic offices 2
The messenger distributes interoffice memoranda, runs errands, and
makes bank deposits. He works under the supervision of the chief
accountant. We agree with the Employer's contention that he should
be excluded from the unit, not however because he carries confidential
documents which he has the opportunity of reading, but solely because
2 Matter Of Msssisssppi Products , Inc., 74 N. L R B 107 : Matter of Grede Foundrties, Inc.,
76 N. L . it. B. 1246. Although the parties inferentially agreed that clerk-typists should be
excluded , we see no basis for distinguishing between them and the clerks in the same offices
in this regard.
MISSISSIPPI PRODUCTS, INC. 875
he has no interests in common with the production and maintenance
workers.
The cafeteria workers in the Employer's plant are hourly paid, but
are on a different working schedule than the production and mainte-
nance workers. Although they are under the direct supervision of the
personnel department, while all others in the unit are supervised either
by the production or the production control superintendent, we believe
that they should properly be part of this unit comprising production
and maintenance employees .3
We find that the following employees of the Employer constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act:
All production and maintenance employees, including sample and
form builders, production inspectors, boiler room operators, checkers,
clerical employees in the receiving, stock and traffic offices, and cafe-
teria employees, but excluding draftsmen, lumber inspectors, dis-
patchers, timekeepers, time-study men, guards, office clerical em-
ployees, the messenger, and all supervisors as defined by the Act.
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 30
'days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervi-
sion 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, among the employ-
ees 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 International Woodworkers of America, CIO, or by United
Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL, or by
neither.
MEMBER GRAY took no part in the consideration of the above Decision
and Direction of Election.
a Matter of Bowers Battery and Spark Plug Company, Inc., 72 N. L. R B. 1161.