Monarch Mills, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 17, 1939

16 N.L.R.B. 57 (N.L.R.B. 1939)

In the Matter Of MONARCH MILLS, INC., A CORPORATION and TEXTILE
WORKERS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Case No. C-1173-Decided October 17, 1939
Cotton Textile Manufacturing Industry-Settlement : stipulation providing for
compliance with the Act, including reinstatement of certain employees and pay-
ment of back pay-Order: entered on stipulation.
Mr. Maurice J. Nicoson, Mr. Paul H. Brinson, Mr. Alan Perl, and
Mr. Jacob Blum, for the Board.
Mr. L. W, Perrin, Mr. Donald Russell, and Mr. J. D. Long, all of
Spartanburg, S. C., for the respondent.
Mr. John C. Lanham and Mr. S. T. Lanham., both of Spartan-
burg, S. C., for all complainants.
Mr. C. L. Gibson -and -Mr. -Furman, Garrett, both-of Spartanburg,
S. C., for T. W. O. C.
Mr. Howard IS'. Friedman, of counsel to the Board. '
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon charges duly filed by Local Union #1661, United Textile
Workers of America, and amended charges filed by its successor,
Local Uniori #1661, United Textile Workers 'of America, affiliated
with Textile Workers- Organizing Committee, herein called the
Union, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board,
by Charles N. Feidelson, Regional Director for the Tenth Region
(Atlanta, Georgia), issued its complaint dated June 27, 1938, its
amended complaint dated July 19, 1938, and its second amended com-
plaint dated August 2, 1938, against' Monarch Mills,' Union City,
South Carolina, herein called the respondent, alleging that the
respondent had engaged in' and was engaging in unfair labor prac-
tices affecting commerce within the meaning of Section 8 (1) and
(3) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act,
49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. Copies of the complaint and
1Incorrectly designated in the several complaints as Monarch Mills, Inc ., a corporation.
16 N. L. R. B., No. 10.
57'
58 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the amended complaint, as well as notice of hearing and amended
notices of hearing thereon, were duly served upon the respondent and
the Union. At the hearing on August 2, 1938, the second amended
complaint was introduced in evidence without objection.
Concerning the unfair labor practices, the complaint, as amended
at the hearing,2 alleged, in substance, that (1) on various dates be-
tween July 20, 1935, and December 31, 1937, the respondent dis-
charged certain named employees; (2) between the said dates the
respondent laid off certain named employees and has refused and still
refuses to reinstate them; (3) on September 29, 1936, and thereafter,
following a labor dispute, the respondent refused to reinstate and
still. refuses to reinstate certain named employees; (4) the above-
mentioned discharges, lay-offs, and refusals to reinstate were for the
reason that each of the named employees joined or assisted the Union
or its predecessor union or engaged in concerted activities with other
,employees of the respondent for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing and other mutual aid and protection; and (5) that by the above
.mentioned activities the respondent has discouraged membership in
the Union and its predecessor union and has interfered with;
restrained, and coerced its employees in the exercise of the. rights
guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act. The respondent duly filed
answers to the complaint and to the amendments thereto in which it
denied that its operations brought it within the jurisdiction of the
Board, denied that it had engaged in the unfair labor practices
alleged in the complaint, as amended, and pleaded certain affirmative
defenses.
Pursuant to notice, a hearing on the complaint opened at Spartan-
burg, South Carolina,, on July 25, 1938, before Walter Wilbur, the
Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The hearing closed
on January 19, 1939. The Board, the respondent, and the Union were
represented by counsel and participated in the hearing.
. On.January 27, 1939, the Board, pursuant to Article II, Section 37
and. Section 38 (d), of National Labor Relations Board Rules and
Regulations-Series 1, as amended, ordered the proceeding transferred
to and continued before it, and further ordered that no Intermediate
Report should be issued by the Trial Examiner, that Proposed Find-
ings, Proposed Conclusions of Law, and Proposed Order be issued, and
granted the parties herein the right, within ten (10) days from the re-
ceipt of said Proposed Findings, Proposed Conclusions of Law, and
Proposed Order, to file exceptions, to request oral argument before
the Board, and to request permission to file a brief with the Board.
Copies of this order were duly served upon the parties. On February
2 On October 28, 1938, the second amended complaint was further amended by adding to
it the names of two employees alleged to have been discharged.
MONARCH- MILLSi INC. .59
6, 1939, the respondent filed objections to the above order of the Board.
On February 9, 1939, the Board having considered the respondent's
objections overruled the said objections and denied the prayer of the
respondent that the Trial Examiner be directed to file an Intermediate
Report.
On September 18, 1939,' the respondent and counsel for the Board
entered into a stipulation in settlement of the case. This, stipulation
provides as follows :
STIPULATION
Charges having been filed with Charles N. Feidelson, Regional
Director of the National Labor Relations Board for the Tenth
Region, by the Textile Workers Organizing Committee on Aug.
20, 1937, and amended on October 30, 1937, alleging that respond-
ent, Monarch Mills, had violated Section 8 (1) and (3) of the
National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449; and complaint having
been issued and served on all parties, and hearing having been
held before a duly authorized agent of the National Labor Rela-
tions Board at Spartanburg, South Carolina, from July 25th 1938
to Jan. 19, 1939; and it being the intention of the parties to dis-
pose of the matters which have arisen,
It is hereby stipulated and agreed by and between Monarch.
Mills, by its Treasurer, D. W. Anderson and Jacob Blum, Attor-
ney, National Labor Relations Board, as follows :
1. Monarch Mills is incorporated in the State of South. Caro-
lina, and is engaged in the manufacture, sale and distribution of
cotton textile goods. It has its principal office in the City of
Union, South Carolina, and three plants in and near the>said City
of Union, South Carolina.
In the manufacturing of cotton textile goods the principal raw
materials used by the respondent are cotton, coal, starch, etc.
Over fifty per cent of the raw materials used are imported from
points outside the State of South Carolina to respondent's South
Carolina plants. The approximate total cost of such raw mate-
rials used during the year 1937, including purchases made
within and without the State of South Carolina, amounted to
$2,227,592.68. Over fifty per cent of the finished product is
shipped directly by the respondent to consumers outside the State
of South Carolina. During 1937 total sales of the respondent
amounted to more than $4,351,816.67. Respondent employs ap-
proximately 600 persons at its South Carolina plants.
3 The stipulation was signed by the treasurer of the respondent on September 11, 1939,
and by the attorney for the Board on September 18, 1939.
'60 DECISIONS OF 'NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Monarch Mills admits that it is engaged in interstate commerce
.within the meaning of Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National
Labor, Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449.
2. The respondent, Monarch Mills, waives all further or other
procedure provided by the National Labor Relations Act, or.the
'Rules and Regulations of the National Labor Relations Board,
including the making of findings of fact and conclusions of law.
3. Upon the basis of the facts stipulated in paragraph 1 above,
the pleadings heretofore filed, the record, this stipulation, and by
agreement of the parties hereto, the National Labor Relations
Board may enter its Order in the following form in the above
entitled case :
ORDER
On the basis of this stipulation, and pursuant to Section 10 (c)
of the, National Labor Relations Act, the National Labor Rela-
tions Board hereby orders that Monarch Mills, its officers, agents,
successors and assigns shall :
1. Cease and Desist :
(a) Froin in any Iiianner interfering with, restraining or coerc-
ing its employees in the exercise of their rights to self-organiza-
tion, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain col-
lectively through representatives of their own choosing and to
engage in concerted activities 'for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining, or other mutual aid or protection as guaranteed in Sec-
tion 7 of the National Labor Relations Act :
(b) From in any manner discouraging membership in the Tex-
tile Workers Organizing Committee, or in any other labor organi-
zation of its employees, by discriminating against its employees
in regard to hire or tenure of employment or any term or condition
.of employment.
2. Take the following affirmative action which the Board finds
will effectuate the policies of the Act:
(a) Offer to L. B. Morgan, Dewey Davis, Willie Chalk Ochil-
tree, James W. Shirley, James Garner, Jesse Jolly, A. B. Vinson,
J. C. Vinson, Etta Owens, R. N. Johns, P. D. Price, G. L. Mc-
Kinney, Shuler Gregory, Clara Fowler, Edna Charles, James
Tucker, Aaron Crocker, Willie Satterfield, LeRoy Davis, Hazel
Mayo Cogdell, Alice ' Brannon, Grace Brannon, Mary Charles,
Belton Shirley, Georgia Davis, Bessie Franklin, Dewey Harris,
Mary- Sanders, Henry Creasman, and W. T. Lawson, Sr. rein-
statement to their former or. substantially equivalent positions
in any of the mills of.the respondent, without prejudice to their
other rights and privileges previously enjoyed;
MONARCH MILLS, INC. 61
(b) Make whole the employees named in paragraph 2 (a)
above, and the other employees whose names are also listed in
the appendix hereto,4 by payment to the Regional Director of
the National Labor Relations Board for the 10th Region the
sum of $15,000.00, said sum to be paid within ten (10) days after
the 'Circuit Court of Appeals of the Fourth Circuit enters its
Decree enforcing the Order of the Board, and is to be distributed
by him in accordance with the direction of the representatives
of the employees involved.
(c) Post immediately in conspicuous places in its Monarch
Plant and maintain for a period of at least thirty (30) consecu-
tive days notices containing copies of this order;
(d) Notify the Regional Director for the Tenth Region in
writing ten (10) days from the date of this Order what steps
respondent has taken to comply herewith;
And it is hereby ordered that the cases of all persons men-
tioned in the above charge and not herein reinstated or made
whole in accordance with the provision of paragraph 2 (b) above
be and the same hereby are dismissed.
4. It is the understanding of the parties that in carrying out
Section 2 (a) of the above order all persons therein named to
return to work shall be returned within thirty (30) days of the
entry.of this Order by the Board, and Monarch Mills under-
takes to offer employment to the individuals named in paragraph
2 (a) by Registered Mail, return receipt requested, ' with the
understanding that if an answer is not received and definite
eii-iployment arrangements made within ten (10) days from the
receipt of such registered letter Monarch Mills will be relieved
of further obligations to offer employment to such persons under
this Order. It is the understanding of the parties that the exact
amounts to be paid for distribution among the individuals named
in paragraph 2 (a) and 2 (b) of the. order will be fixed by con-
ferences between a representative of the Board and the Claims
Committee of the complainants.
5. The respondent, Monarch Mills, hereby consents to the
entry by the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the
appropriate Circuit, upon application by the Board, of a consent
decree enforcing, an order of the Board in the form hereinabove
set forth and hereby waives further notice of the application for
such decree.
6. The entire agreement is contained within the terms of this
stipulation and there is no verbal agreement of any kind which
varies, .alters, or adds to the stipulation.
The appendix is attached to the Board 's Order and , hence , is not set forth here.
62 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
7: It is understood and agreed that this stipulation is subject
to the approval of the National Labor Relations Board and shall
become effective immediately upon granting such approval.
On September 20, 1939, the Board issued its order approving the
above stipulation and making it part of the record in the case. Copies
of this order were duly served upon the parties.
Upon the basis of the above stipulation and the entire record in
the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE RESPONDENT
Monarch Mills is a South Carolina corporation having its princi-
pal office in the City of Union, South Carolina, and operating three
plants in and near that city. It is engaged in the manufacture, sale,
and distribution of cotton textile goods. It employs approximately
600 persons at its plants.
The principal raw materials used by the respondent are cotton, coal,
and starch. The total cost of these and other raw materials used
during the ,year of 1937 was in excess of $2,200,000. Of this amount
over fifty per cent was obtained from States other than the State of
South Carolina.
The total sales of the respondent during the year 1937, exceeded
$4,300,000. More than 50 per cent of the finished products manufac-
tured by it are shipped directly by the respondent to consumers out-
side the State of South Carolina.
The respondent admits, and we find, that it is engaged in inter-
state commerce within the meaning of the Act.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact, stipulation, and the
entire record in the case, and pursuant to Section 10 (c) of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act, the National Labor Relations Board
hereby orders that the respondent, Monarch Mills, its officers, agents,
successors and assigns, shall:
1. Cease and desist from :
(a) ,In any manner interfering with, restraining or coercing its
employees in the exercise of their rights to self-organization, to form,
join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through
representatives of their own choosing and to engage in concerted
activities for the purposes of collective bargaining, or other mutual
aid or protection as guaranteed in Section 7 of the National Labor
Relations Act;
MONARCH MILLS, INC. 63
(b) In any manner discouraging membership in the Textile Work-
ers Organizing Committee, or in any other labor organization of its
employees, by discriminating against its employees in regard to hire
or tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment.
2. Take the following affirmative action which the Board finds will
effectuate the policies of the Act :
(a) Offer to L. B. Morgan, Dewey Davis, Willie Chalk Ochiltree;
James W. Shirley, James Garner, Jesse Jolly, A. B. Vinson, J. C.*
Vinson, Etta Owens, R. N. Johns, P. D. Price, G. L. McKinney,
Shuler Gregory, Clara Fowler, Edna Charles, James Tucker, Aaron
Crocker, Willie Satterfield, LeRoy Davis, Hazel Mayo Cogdell, Alice
Brannon, Grace Brannon, Mary Charles, Belton Shirley, Georgia
Davis, Bessie Franklin, Dewey Harris, Mary Sanders, Henry Creas-
man, and W. T. Lawson, Sr., reinstatement to their former or sub-
stantially equivalent positions in any.of the mills of the respondent,
without prejudice to their other rights and privileges previously'
enjoyed;
(b) Make whole the employees named in paragraph 2 (a) above,
and the other employees Whose names are also listed in the Appendix'
hereto, by payment to, the Regional Director of the'National Labor
Relations Board for the Tenth Region the sum of $15,000, said: sum'
to be paid within ten (10) days after the Circuit Court of Appeals .
of the Fourth Circuit enters its 'decree enforcing the Order of the
Board, and is to be distributed by him in accordance with the direc-
tion of the representatives of the employees involved;
(c) Post immediately in conspicuous places in its Monarch plant
and maintain for a period of at least thirty (30) consecutive days
notices containing copies of this Order;
(d) Notify the Regional Director for the Tenth Region in writing
ten (10) days from the date of this Order what steps respondent
has taken to comply herewith;
AND IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the cases of all persons mentioned
in the above charge and not herein reinstated or made whole in ac-
cordance with the provision of paragraph 2 (b) above be, and the
same hereby are, dismissed.
APPENDIX
1. L. B. Morgan
2. Dewey Davis
3. Willie Chalk Ochiltree
4. James W. Shirley
5. James Garner
6. Jesse Jolly
7. A. B. Vinson
8. J. C. Vinson
9. Etta Owens
10. R. N. Johns
11. P. C. Price
12. G. L. McKinney
13. Shuler Gregory
14. Clara Fowler
64 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
15. Edna Charles
16. James Tucker
17. Aaron Crocker
18. Willie Satterfield
19. LeRoy Davis
20. Hazel Mayo Cogdell
21. Alice Brannon
22. Grace Brannon
23. Mary Charles
24. Belton Shirley
25. Mary Sanders
26. Henry Creasman
27. W. T. Lawson, Sr.
28. Georgia Davis
29. Bessie Franklin
30. Dewey Harris
31. John W . Hughes
32. Charlie Prince
33. Melvin Tucker
34. Harold H. Brakefield
35. R. G. Johnson
36. W. P . Davis-
37. John W . Lawson
38. Leva West
39. Clayton Brock
40. John Puckett
41. Roy Clay
42. Mary B. Clay
43. Charlie Tucker
44. Mamie Southers
45. Ervin Cooper
46. Grady Brannon
47. Robert Gibson
48. Iris Craig Harris
49. Lula Hart
50. Hamp Jolly
51. J. S. Petrie
52. Herbert Prince
53. Robert Sparks
54. M. C. Cook
55. John H. Fowler
56. Henry Quinn
57. Ella Self
58. Robert Self
59. David Vinson
60. Ernest Vinson