Newnan Cotton Mills

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 4, 1944

57 N.L.R.B. 917 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of NEWNAN COTTON MILLS and TEXTILE WORKERS UNION
or AMERICA , C. I. 0.
- Case No. 10-R-124.Decided August 4,194 • ,
Mr. R. 0 . Jones, of Newnan , Ga., for the Company.
Mr. Horace White , of Atlanta , Ga., for the Union.
Mr. Joseph C. Wells, of counsel to'the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE, CASE
Upon a- petition duly filed by Textile Workers Union of America
(CIO), herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Newnan Cotton Mills, herein called the Company, the National Labor
Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before T. Lowry Whittaker, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held ,
at Newnan, Georgia, on June 17, 1944. The Company and the Union
appeared and participated. All parties were afforded full oppor-
tunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to
introduce evidence bearing on the issues . 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
Newnan Cotton Mills is a Georgia corporation engaged in the manu-
facture and sale of cotton, rayon, wool, and mixed fibre textiles. The
Company has its office at Newnan, Georgia, and operates two mills-,
one located at Newnan, and the other located 2 miles from the first
57 N. L. R. B., No . 149. ,
917
918 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and outside the corporate limits of Newnan? During the past year
the Company purchased raw materials having a total value in excess
of $2,000,000, of Which approximately 75 percent was shipped to the
Company from points outside the State of Georgia. During the same
period, the Company sold products totaling in value more than $2,000,-
000, of which approximately 90 percent represents shipments to places
outside the' State.
The Company admits that it is-engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. TilE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Textile Workers Union of America, affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to mem-
bership eniployees'of the Company..
III. TIIE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE UNIT
5'
The Union contends that production and maintenance employees
of the Company at Mill No. 2, excluding executives, militarized
guards, technical, clerical, and supervisory employees, constitute an
appropriate unit. The Company contends that the proposed unit is
inappropriate and that employees at Mills No. 1 and No. 2 constitute
a single appropriate unit.
The Company operates two mills. Mill No. 1 is located in Newnan.
Georgia, and Mill No. 2 is located outside Newnan, approximately 2
miles from Mill No. 1. Natural and dyed yarns are produced at Mill
No. 1, and shipped directly to customers or to Mill No. 2 to be woven
into fabrics. Yarns and woven fabrics are produced at Mill No. 2,
Which has no facilities for dyeing. Therefore, yarn produced at Mill
No. 2 is sometimes shipped to Mill No. 1 to be dyed. A machine shop
and a blacksmith shop are located at each mill. Gear cutting ma-
chinery for both mills is located at Mill No. 2.2 The shaper and mill-
ing machines, utilized by both mills, are located at Mill No. 1.3 Mill
No. 1 has a greater capacity than Mill No. 2 for the blending of cotton
and wool fiber. At present, therefore, about-25 percent of such blend-
ing for Mill No. 2 is performed at Mill No. 1. Some of the raw
material,used at Mill No. 1 is stored at Mill No. 2. The Company
1 The mill in Newnan , is designated as. Mill No . 1, and the other as 111111 No . 2, and are
thus referred to herein. °
2 The machinery used requires many change gears for changing the twists and sizes of
yarns being produced . Inasmuch as these gears are made of cast iron , frequent replacement
is.necessary.
a The shaper is used in 'shaping or planing the mill parts , which are 'purchased in the
rough and finished before being attached to a machine . The milling machine is used for
cutting the slots or other irregular indentations in metal, such as cutting keyways and
shafts. .
NEWNAN COTTON, MILLS 919
operates six trucks to haul materials between the two mills, to trans-
port supplies for company=owned houses, and to transport materials
between the mills and the railroad. Both mills obtain water from
a water system maintained by the Company for its use . All admin-
istrative and clerical functions for both mills are performed at the
Company's office which is located a few yards outside the gate of
Mill No. 1. Finished products are generally shipped from the mill
which completed the final operation in the manufacturing process. -
A general manager is in charge of operations and labor control at
both mills. However, each mill has its superintendent who has the
authority to hire and discharge subject to the review of the general
manager. The Company's pay roll is arranged so that it identifies
the department and mill in which the employees included thereon
have worked during the pay-roll period. Temporary transfers of
employees from one mill to another were negligible during the past
year. The Company owns a group of houses in Newnan where em-
ployees working at Mill No. l are housed, and another group of houses
near Mill No. 2, where employees working at Mill No. 2 are housed.
However, some of the employees at both mills do not live in any of
these houses, and some employees working at Mill No. 2 live in the
houses in Newnan while others working at Mill No. 1 live in the
houses near Mill No. 2.
A union witness testified to'the effect that the Union began organ-
ization of employees working at Mill No. 2 during the latter pact of
April 1944, and that the Union accepted membership cards only from
employees working at Mill No. 2. Further, his testimony was to the
effect that the Union informed employees working at Mill No. 1 that
organization at Mill No. 1 would not be attempted by the Union until
after an election had been held among employees working at Mill No.
2. The Union submitted 224 authorization cards, all of which were
dated April 1944. There are approximately 420'employees in the unit
for which the .Union petitioned. Thus it appears that between the
date that organization of employees working at Mill No. 2 began and
the date of the hearing, a 'period of less than 6 weeks, more than 50
percent of the employees at Mill No. 2 purportedly became members
of the Union. There is nothing in the record to indicate that organ-
ization of employees at Mill No. 1 would not succeed and progress
similarly, if attempted 4
In view of the functional inter-relation of the Company's operations
in its two mills, and particularly the inchoate state of organization,5
we find that the unit proposed by the Union is inappropriate. We
* Cf. Matter of Standard Overall Company, 53 N. L. R. B.'960, and cases cited in support
thereof
5 See Matter of Metal Office Furniture Company , 51 N. L. R B. 993 ; Matter of Harry M.
Sensenieh, et al, 55 N L R B. 566; Matter of Terrell Machine Co , 57 N L. It. B. 275.
920 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
f
shall, therefore, dismiss the petition herein without prejudice. Our
finding concerning the unit alleged in the present petition, however,
does not preclude the reinvestigation by the Board of the appropriate-
ness of a similar unit upon a new petition supported by a showing of
material changes in the circumstances which underlie 'ou'r Decision
herein.6
IV. THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Since the bargaining unit sought to be established by the petition
I
is not appropriate as found in Section III, above, we find that no
question has arisen concerning representation of employees of the
Company, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition for investigation and certi-
fication of representatives of employees of Newnan Cotton Mills, New-
nan, Georgia, filed herein by Textile Workers Union of America,
C. I. 0., be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Order.
° See Matter of Kentucky Fluorspar Company , 52 N. L R . B. 227.
1^