Moran Shoe Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 14, 1948

77 N.L.R.B. 665 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of MORAN SHOE COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INDUSTRIAL
UNION OF MARINE AND SHIPBUILDING WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. 0.,
PETITIONER
Case No.14-RC-69.Decided May 14,1948
Mr. Benjamin Verne, of New York City, and Mr. J. L. Moran, of
-Carlyle, Ill., for the Employer.
Messrs. Joseph Verdu and Angelo Verdu, of East St. Louis, Ill., for
the Petitioner.
- Messrs. Dave Wilson and Herbert Long, of St. Louis, Mo., for the
Shoe Workers.
Messrs. J. H. Skaggs and Edmund Roby, of St. Louis, Mo., for the
A. F. L.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at St. Louis,
Missouri, on January 19, 1948, before Harry G. Carlson, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. At the hearing, the
Employer moved to dismiss the petition on several grounds. The
hearing officer referred this motion to the Board. For the reasons
hereafter set forth, the motion is denied?
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board 2 makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Moran Shoe Company, an Illinois corporation having its principal
office and place of business in Carlyle, Illinois, is engaged in the manu-
facture of infants' shoes. During the 12-month period preceding
the date of the hearing, the Employer purchased for use in its manu-
' The Employer ' s request for oral argument is denied.
2 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 the undersigned Board Members [Chairman Herzog and Members Murdock and Gray].
77 N. L. R. B., No. 108. 665
666 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
facturing operations raw materials valued in excess of $1,000,000, of
which approximately 90 percent was shipped to Carlyle from points
outside the State of Illinois. During the same period it manufactured
finished products valued in excess of $1,000,000, of which approxi-
mately 90 percent was shipped from its Carlyle plant to points outside
the State.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress _
of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
United Shoe Workers of America, herein called the Shoe Workers,
is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Or-
ganizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
International Union of Boot and Shoe Workers, herein called the
A. F. L., "is a labor organization affiliated with the American Fed-
cration of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
The Employer moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that
it was filed by the Petitioner on behalf of the Shoe Workers in order
to circumvent the filing requirements of Section 9 (f) and (h) of the
Act. When the Petitioner filed the petition, it had complied with
those filing requirements, but the Shoe Workers, which had been the
certified bargaining representative of the employees since 1943, was
not in compliance. The hearing officer rejected the Employer's offer
to prove collusion between the Petitioner and the Shoe Workers, which
intervened at the hearing. We have affirmed the hearing officer's
ruling, because both the Petitioner and the Shoe Workers at the time
of the hearing were, and now are, in compliance with the filing re-
quirements. The compliance status of the Shoe Workers before its
intervention herein is not in issue in this proceeding. Accordingly,
the Employer's motion to dismiss the petition is denied.3
4 See Matter of Lion Oil Company, 76 N. L R B. 565 , but of Matter of Campbell
Soup Company, 76 N L R B 950
In its brief the Employer also urges the non -compliance of a local of the Shoe Workers
as a further ground in support of its motion As the local union is not a party to this
proceeding , its compliance status is not in issue herein. Matter of Warshawsky & Co,
75 N. L. R. B 1291.
MORAN SHOE COMPANY 667
The Employer further contends that Section 9 (c) (1) (A) of the
amended Act requires introduction into evidence at the hearing of
proof that the Petitioner represents a substantial number of the em-
ployees whom it seeks to represent. We find this contention without
merit. As we have frequently held, a petitioner's prima facie show-
ing of representative interest is a matter of administrative procedure
to be determined by the Board itself,4 and we perceive -nothing in the
cited provision of the Act that requires a change in this practice.'
We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
1V. TIIE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Shipbuilders, in agreement with the Shoe Workers and the
A. F. L., requests a unit comprising all the Employer's employees,
excluding office and clerical employees and supervisors. The Employer
agrees with the scope of the unit as requested, but, contrary to the
position of the other parties, would exclude shipping clerks as clerical
employees, the leather sorter, the commissary girl, and the belt boy
as non-production employees, and watchmen and the assistant cutting
room forelady as supervisors.
Shipping clerics. The shipping clerks work in the warehouse, located
in a building which also houses some of the production employees.
Their supervisor is the head shipping clerk, under the office manager.
Among them are two sorting girls who sort newly manufactured and
returned shoes into appropriately marked bins and make records of the
stock for office use. Two order fillers push carts along the storage bins
and fill customers' orders. They make the necessary selections and
mark sizes and customers' names on the boxes. A sealing clerk then
checks the orders, seals them into cartons, weighs the packages, and
affixes the proper postage. Finally, a billing clerk prepares invoices on
an electric billing and typing machine. The order fillers receive incen-
tive pay, like the bulk of the production employees; the other shipping
clerks are hourly paid. We believe that these employees, who work in
close proximity to production workers and for the most part perform
manual work, have interests more closely related to those of produc-
tion and maintenance employees than to those of office clerical em-
ployees. We shall, therefore, include them in the unit.
The leather sorter, the commissary girl, and the belt boy. These are
hourly paid employees in the production departments. The leather
sorter sorts incoming leather, selecting it by grades for assignment to
4 Matter of 0. D. Jennings & Company, 68 N. L R. B. 516.
1 Matter of Colonial Hardwood Flooring Co., Inc, 76 N L. R. B. 1039.
668 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
production orders. The commissary girl keeps records of incoming
merchandise and of stock on hand as it moves to the various depart-
ments for production . The belt boy changes belts on the operators'
machines, oils them, and makes minor adjustments . The fact that these
employees are not included in the direct process of production does not
affect the community of interest in working conditions which they
have with the production employees, who work side by side with them.
We shall include the leather sorter, the commissary girl, and the belt
boy.
Machinists. Machinists adjust the production machines, install new
parts, and generally keep the machines in running order. The Em-
ployer would exclude them as management representatives . Although
the Employer 's vice president described machinists as assistants to
department foreladies, he testified that their authority over other em-
ployees is limited to telling the operators how to keep the machines in
order. The record contains no other evidence that they represent man-
agement or have supervisory authority. We do not think they are
supervisors within the meaning of the Act, and we shall therefore
include them in the unit.
Watchmen. The watchmen maintain a 24-hour guard service over
the Employer's property. They perform the usual guard duties, using
hour clocks to make regular rounds of the building. During the night
shift, some of the watchmen sweep the factory; in the daytime some
of them collect debris in and about the plant. Some watchmen do
only guard duty and the others devote a majority of their time to such
work. We believe that the Employer 's watchmen are guards within
the meaning of the Act, and we shall exclude them from the unit.
Assistant cutting room forelady . The assistant cutting room fore-
lady is an hourly paid employee who assists in packaging finished parts,
and is responsible for ascertaining that the component parts of a pro-
duction order emerge from the machines at the same time and, as a
unit, reach a conveyor which takes the completed order out of the de-
partment .. When part of an order is missing , she locates it and moves
it along expeditiously . She does not check for quality of production.
Over her are the department foreman and an assistant foreman, who
are both salaried and who allocate work to the operators and are re-
sponsible for the quality of the work. As to her authority to change
the status of other employees in the department , she has "only the
power of suggestion to her foreman ." We do not think the assistant
forelady is a supervisor within the meaning of the Act, and we shall
include her in the unit.
We find that all employees of the Employer , including shipping
clerks, the leather sorter , the commissary girl , the belt boy , machinists,
MORAN SHOE COMPANY 669
and the assistant cutting room forelady, but excluding watchmen, office
and clerical employees, and supervisors, constitute a unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Sec-
tion 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Moran Shoe Company, Carlyle,
Illinois, 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 Direc-
tor for the Fourteenth Region, and subject to Sections 203.61 and
203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 5, 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 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 re-
instated prior to the election, and also excluding employees on strike
who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether they desire
to be represented by Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding
Workers of America, C. I. 0., United Shoe Workers of America,
C. I. 0., or International Union of Boot and Shoe Workers, A. F. L.,
for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by none of them.