Morse and Morse, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 5, 1949

83 N.L.R.B. 383 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of MORSE AND MORSE , INC., EMPLOYER and IDA STACEL,
PETITIONER and INTERNATIONAL LADIES' GARMENT WORKERS' UNION
AND ITS LOCALS, Nos. 266 , 84 AND 496
Case No. 21-RD-73.-Decided May 5, 1949
DECISION
0
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a decertification petition duly filed, hearing in this matter was
held before Jerome Smith, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rul-
ings are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. At the
hearing, the Union made various motions to dismiss which will be
considered hereinafter.
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-member panel [Members Reynolds, 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. The Petitioner, an employee of the Employer, asserts that the
Union is no longer a representative of the Employer' s employees as
defined in Section 9 (a) of the Act.
The International and its Locals Nos. 266 and 84 were recognized
by the Employer as the exclusive bargaining representative of its
employees in a joint agreement dated May 16, 1947, and effective
until March 31, 1949. This agreement is automatically renewable
for 1 year unless termination notice is given by either party at least
30 days prior to its expiration date. The petition herein was filed
on January 21, 1949, more than 2 months prior to the expiration date,
and more than a month prior to the "Mill B" date, of the contract.
Although the employer has continued to give effect to the terms of
1 The record is not clear as to whether Local No. 496 is actually in existence. It is
not a party to, or mentioned in, the collective bargaining agreement between the Employer
and the other unions herein involved. Union counsel stated at the hearing that such Local
is a paper organization only, that it has no interest in these proceedings , and that it should
not have been made a party to them. The record does not establish that Local 496 has
ever represented any of the employees in question , or that it has ever clatimed to represent
any of such employees Therefore , we hereby dismiss the petition insofar as Local
No. 496 is concerned
83 N. L. R. B., No. 54.
383
384 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the contract, we find no merit in the contention of the Union that
it is a bar to these proceedings.
The Union moved to dismiss the petition upon the grounds: (1)
that no notice of hearing was served upon the International, or upon
its Locals Nos. 84 and 496; 2 (2) that such parties were not served with
notice of an informal conference after the filing of the petition; (3)
that the Petitioner was incompetent to file the petition herein, since
she was an officer of the-Union at the time the petition was filed; and
(4) that the unit described in the petition properly should constitute
two units instead of one because it has been bargained for in the past
by separate unions. Upon the entire record in this case, we find that
both the International and Local No. 84 were constructively, if not
actually, served with notice,3 and that in any event the rights of such
parties have not been prejudiced. Furthermore, the International and
its Locals Nos. 266 and 84 are joint contracting parties insofar as the
above-mentioned contract is concerned, so that notice to any of them
is notice to all three of them.' With regard to the sufficiency of
service of notice of an informal conference after the filing of the peti-
tion, it neither appears that such conference was ever held, nor that
the Board's Rules and Regulations require the holding of such a
conference.' We find, therefore, that the motion to dismiss on this
ground is lacking in merit. We likewise find no merit in the Union's
contention that the Petitioner' s status as an officer of the Union at
the time of the filing of the petition renders her incompetent to
institute this proceeding.° In view of the foregoing, and for the
reasons stated hereinafter in paragraph numbered 4, we shall deny
the Union's motion to dismiss.
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.
2 In view of our findings herein we deem it unnecessary to pass upon the sufficiency of
service upon Local No. 496.
'The Notice of Hearing was sent by registered letter, addressed as follows :
"International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union,
AFL, and Locals 266, 84 and 496
116 West 11th Street
Los Angeles, California"
The registered receipt for such letter was signed for on behalf of Local No. 266. In
the past, the Employer has addressed all correspondence to all of the unions in the
manner above set forth . None of this correspondence has ever been returned as being
improperly addressed The Employer ' s attorney , in all his negotiations with the Inter-
national and the Locals in question , has never known of, or been advised of, any address
other than the one above listed . At the hearing, union counsel admitted that he advised
his father , who is vice president of the International , of the date of the hearing.
a Texas v. Ryan, 233 U. S. 273.
s See Section 203 55 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 5, as amended.
e Section 9 (c) of the Act provides that a petition such as herein involved may be filed
by "an employee, a group of employees, or any individual acting in their behalf . . . .
The Petitioner is no less "an employee" or "an individual ," within the meaning of the Act,
because she was an officer of the Union at the time the petition was filed.
MORSE AND MORSE, INC. 385
4. The following employees constitute an appropriate unit for the
purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b)
of the Act :
All cutters, sample makers, trimmers, inspectors, folders, packers,
operators, pressers, shippers, spreaders, and general help at the Em=
ployer's Los Angeles, California, plant, excluding sales, office and
professional employees, guards, and supervisors, as defined in the
Act.'
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes 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
supervision of the Regional Director for the Twenty-first Region, and
subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among the em-
ployees 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 re-
hired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding
employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective
bargaining, by International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and
its Locals Nos. 266 and 84.
7 Inasmuch as the International and Its Locals Nos. 266 and 84 bargained for this group
of employees as a single unit, we find no merit in the contention that such group should
now be separated into two units.