Murray Leather Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 8, 1947

73 N.L.R.B. 892 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of MURRAY LEATHER COMPANY, IiiI'LOYER and LOCAL 22,
INTERNATIONAL FUR AND LEATHER WORKERS UNION OF THE UNITED
STATES AND CANADA, C. I. 0., PETITIONPat
Case No.1-R-i.58.9.-Decided May 8,1947
Mr. James S. Murray, of Woburn, Mass., for the Employer.
Mr. Sidney S. Grant, of Boston, Mass., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Edward A. Raleigh, of Boston, Mass., and Mr. Martin J. MeGah,
of Woburn, Mass., for the Intervenor.
Mr. Jerome A. Reiner, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Boston,
Massachusetts, on March 18, 1947, before Robert E. Greene, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. At the hearing the Inter-
venor moved to dismiss the Petition. The hearing officer referred the
matter to the Board. For reasons appearing hereinafter, the motion
to dismiss is denied.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Murray Leather Company is a Massachusetts corporation, located at
Woburn, Massachusetts, where it is engaged in the business of buying
and tanning hides and selling finished leather products. Approxi-
mately 90 percent of the hides purchased by the Employer is obtained
from sources outside the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and ap-
proximately 90 percent of the Employer's finished products is shipped
to points outside the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; the annual
gross sales of the Employer amount to approximately $2,000,000.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
73 N L. R. B., No. 172.
892
MURRAY LEATHER COMPANY
LI. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
893
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
United Leather Workers International Union, Local 122, herein
called the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of
the Employer.
III. TIIE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION 1
On July 12, 1945, the Intervenor was certified by the Board as col-
lective bargaining representative of certain employees of the Em-
ployer.2 It thereafter signed an agreement with the Employer effec-
tive from July 23, 1945, to April 1, 1947, and with provision for yearly
automatic renewal unless terminated by written notice given 45 days
before April 1 of each succeeding year.
Thereafter, the Intervenor ants the Employer negotiated a new con-
tract which was signed on January 20, 1947, but was dated January
13, 1947, and was to remain in effect until January 1, 1949. On Janu-
ary 31, 1947, the Petitioner made written request of the Employer for
recognition as collective bargaining representative of the Employer's
employees, and on February 4, 1947, filed its petition with the Board.
The Intervenor contends that the contract dated January 13, 1947, is
a bar to this proceeding. This contract was executed before the
Mill B date 3 of the contract expiring April 1, 1947, and, was therefore
a premature extension of that contract. Inasmuch as the Petitioner
filed its petition before the Mill B date of the extended contract, the
contract of January 13, 1947, cannot, under well-established prin-
ciples,4 bar a current determination of representatives.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The parties have agreed, and we find, that all production employees
of the Employer's plant in Woburn, Massachusetts, excluding firemen,
'The Intervenor moved to dismiss the petition for failure of the Petitioner to adduce
evidence of interest at the hearing we have been administratively satisfied of the Peti-
tioner ' s representative interest herein Accordingly , for the reasons set forth in Matter
of 0. D Jennings & Company (68 N. L R. B 516 ), we find no merit to the Intervenor's
contention
2 Matter of Boston Hide and Leather Company , et al, 60 N . L. R. B 919.
8 Matter of Mill B, Inc., 40 N. L. R. B 346
4 Matter of Worth Hardware Co., Inc, 71 N . L. R B. 684 , Matter of Houston Packing
Company, 71 N. L. R B. 1232
894 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
engineers, maintenance employees, watchmen, office workers, execu-
tives, foremen, and all other supervisory employees with authority 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 0 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Murray Leather Company,
Woburn, Massachusetts , 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
Director for the First Region , acting in this matter as agent for the
National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and
203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 4, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Sec-
tion IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period im-
mediately 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, 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 they desire to
be represented by Local 22, International Fur and Leather Workers
Union of the United States and Canada, CIO , or by United Leather
Workers International Union , Local 122 , AFL, for the purposes of
collective bargaining , or by neither.
5 Any participant in the election directed herein may , upon its prompt request to and
approval thereof by the Regional Director , have its name removed from the ballot.