Mock, Judson, Voehringer Co. of North Carolina, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 31, 1945

63 N.L.R.B. 96 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of MOCK, JUDSON,'VoEI-IRINGER COMPANY or NORTH
CAROLINA, INC. and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF HOSIERY WORKERS,
CIO
Case No. 5-l?-1924.-Decided July 31, 1945
Mr. Kenneth M. Brim, of Greensboro, N. C., for the Company.
Messrs. H. G. B. King and John J. McCoy, of Chattanooga, Tenn.,
Mr. W. Cedric Stallings, of High Point, N. C., and lllr. Myles H. Cun-
ningham, of Greensboro, N. C., for the Union.
Mr. Bernard Goldberg, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STA'EMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by American Federation of Hosiery
Workers, CIO, herein called the Union, alleging that a question affect-
ing commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees
of Mock, Judson, Voehringer Company of North Carolina , - Inc.,
Greensboro , North Carolina , herein called the Company , the National
Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon
due notice before George L. Weasler, Trial Examiner. Said hearing
was held at Greensboro, North Carolina , on June 8, 1945 . The Com-
pany and the Union appeared and participated . All parties were
afforded full opportunity to be heard , to examine and cross -examine
witnesses , and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. At the
hearing, the Union moved that, in the event an election was ordered,
the ballot carry only the name of the Union and no space be allotted
for a "No Union" vote. For reasons stated in Section V, infra, the
said motion is hereby denied. The Trial Examiner 's rulings made
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
All parties were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case , the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Mock, Judson, Voehringer Company of North Carolina, Inc., is a
North Carolina corporation engaged in the manufacture and sale of
63 N. L . R. B., No. 10.
96
MOCK, JUDSON, VOEHRINGER COMPANY OF NORTH CAROLINA, INC. 97
full-fashioned hosiery at its plant in Greensboro, North Carolina.
During the year 1944, the Company purchased raw materials, consist-
ing of raw yarn, needles, and machine parts, valued at about $500,000,
of which approximately 75 percent was shipped to the plant from
points outside the State of North Carolina. During the same period,
the Company manufactured and sold full-fashioned hosiery valued
at approximately $1,000,000, all of which was shipped outside the
State.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
American Federation of Hosiery Workers, affiliated with the Con-
gress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to recognize the Union as the collective
bargaining representative of any of its employees until the Union has
been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. ,
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.,'
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IF. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union seeks a unit of all production and maintenance em-
ployees, including watchmen, but excluding office and clerical em-
ployees, the shipping clerk, the electrician, cafeteria employees,
instructors, fixers, foremen, and foreladies. The Company agrees
generally with the appropriateness of the aforesaid unit, but would
include the shipping clerk, the electrician, cafeterial employees, in-
structors and fixers, whom the Union desires to exclude.
Shipping clerk: The Company employs one shipping clerk who
spends about 1 hour each day in clerical work and the balance of his
time packing, shipping, and receiving merchandise. On occasion he is
1 The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 352 application for membership
cards; that the names of 251 persons appearing on these cards were listed on the Com-
pany's pay roll containing the names of 611 employees in the appropriate unit ; and that
the cards were dated between July 1944 and May 1945.
98 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
assisted in the latter type of work by knitters' helpers with respect
to whom, however, he does not exercise supervisory functions. In
accordance with our practice, we shall include the shipping clerk in
the unit.
Electrician: The Company employs one electrician, who is assisted
by a helper, to do all of its electrical repair work. Since his duties
clearly pertain to maintenance, and are not supervisory, we shall in-
clude the electrician as well as his helper in the unit.
Cafeteria employees: There are six cafeteria employees engaged,
under the supervision of the maintenance foreman, in making sand-
wiches and selling and distributing them together with candies and
cake to employees throughout the plant. It is obvious that the work
of these cafeteria employees does. not relate directly to the production
and maintenance processes. Accordingly, we shall exclude them from
the unit?
Instructors: The Company has two employees with the job title
of instructor and one employee classified as a needle man who spend
either all or part of their time instructing learners in various oper-
ations. The instructors make neither reports nor recommendations
concerning the learners to the foremen who supervise instructors as
well as learners. We are of the opinion that the instructors, includ-
ing the' needle man, are not supervisors within the Board's customary
definition and we shall therefore include them in the unit.
Fixers: The fixers are skilled mechanics engaged primarily in keep-
ing the knitting machinery in proper operating condition. In addi-
tion to their repair duties, the fixers furnish the knitters with some of
their needed supplies such as needles, and give knitters a substantial
part of their operational instructions, principally those relating to
the adjustment of machinery. Requests for action by management,
such as permission to take time off, are often made initially to the
fixers by production workers. The terms and conditions of employ-
ment of the fixers indicate that the Company regards these employees
as occupying a position different from that of production workers
generally.
Thus, production workers punch time clocks, whereas fixers, like
foremen and foreladies, do not. Production workers have always
been paid on an hourly or piece-rate basis; fixers were salaried until
the week of the hearing when they were placed on an hourly compen-
sation basis as the result of an order from an inspector for the United
States Wage and Hour Administration. However, although they are
now hourly paid, the Company has a written contract with each fixer
2 Matter of Servel, Inc., 58 N. L. R. B. 5; Matter of Standard Oil Company of Cali-
fornia, 58 N. L. R. B. 560; Matter of Dempster Brothers , Inc., 58 N. L R. B. 151 ;
Matter of The New Britain Machine Company, 48 N. L. R B. 263.
8 Matter of E. I du Pont de Nemours & Company, Inc , Rayon Division, 62 N. L. R. B.
146; Matter of General Steel Castings Corporation , 41 N. L. R B 350.
MOCK, JUDSON, VOEHRINGER COMPANY OF NORTH CAROLINA, INC. 99,
by which the latter agrees to work 50 hours for a stated salary; none
of the hourly paid employees, except the electrician, have such
contracts.
The Union contends that the fixers are supervisors, that they are,
ineligible for membership in the Union, that no attempt has been made
to organize them, and that they are excluded from every bargaining
unit in the full-fashioned hosiery industry for which the Union is the
collective bargaining representative. In the latter connection, it points
to the fact that the impartial chairman under the collective bargaining
contract between the Union and the Full Fashioned Hosiery Manu-
facturers of America, Inc., a trade association comprising about 33,
firms in the industry, has ruled that fixers have managerial duties and
hence are excluded from the coverage of the aforesaid contract.
The Company's principal argument in opposition to the contentions
of the Union is that the fixers herein are not supervisors and hence
should be included in the unit. We find it unnecessary to determine
whether the fixers are "supervisors" within the Board's customary defi-
nition. We are of the opinion, on the basis of the entire record in
the case, that there exists a well established pattern of collective bar-
gaining in the full-fashioned industry whereby fixers are excluded
from units of production and maintenance employees. In view of this
bargaining pattern, we believe that the purposes of the Act will best
be effectuated if the fixers are not included in the proposed unit.
Accordingly, we shall exclude them.4
We find that all production and maintenance employees, including
watchmen, shipping clerks, electricians, instructors and needle men,
but excluding office and clerical employees, cafeteria employees, fixers,
foremen, foreladies, and all other supervisory employees with author-
ity to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes
in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, con-
stitute 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 Union has requested that the Board use the pay roll for the
week ending June 9, 1945, in determining eligibility to vote because
the Company has indicated an intention to increase the number of
employees. The Company has stated that, although it desires to
increase the number of its employees, it has little expectation of doing
so because of manpower shortages. We perceive in these circum-
stances no reason for departing from our regular practice in fixing
the eligibility date, and the Union's request is accordingly denied.
11 To the extent that Matter of Tower Hosiery Mills, Inc., 58 N. L. R. B . 1053, is incon-
sistent with the present decision, it is hereby overruled
662514-46-vol. 63-8
100 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Union also requested , in the event an election was ordered, that
only the Union 's name appear on the ballot , without a place for a
'4No Union" vote , in view of the campaign against the Union being
conducted by a group of employees who, however, have made no de-
mand either for recognition as the collective bargaining representa-
tive of the Company's employees or for a place on the ballot. To
comply with this request would contravene our established practice of
affording employees the opportunity of voting for or against any
bargaining representative. Accordingly, the Union's request is
hereby denied. '
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec-
tion herein , subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
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 III, Section 9, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Mock , Judson,
Voehringer Company of North Carolina, Inc., Greensboro, North
Carolina, 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 supervision of the Regional Di-
rector for the Fifth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the
National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections
10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations , among the employees in
the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed
during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this
Direction , including employees who did not work during the said
pay-roll period 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 employees 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 American
Federation of Hosiery Workers, CIO, for the purposes of collective
bargaining.