P. Lorillard Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 1, 1937

3 N.L.R.B. 529 (N.L.R.B. 1937)

In the Matter of P. LORILLARD COMPANY, INC. and INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS LODGE No. 10, CIGARMAKERS' INTER-
NATIONAL UNION OF AMERICA
Cases Nos. R-189 and R-190.-Decided September 1, 1937
Tobacco Industry-Investigation of Representatives : controversy concerning
representation of employees : refusal by employer to recognize unions as exclu-
sive representatives of employees in appropriate units-Units Appropriate for
Collective Bargaining : ( 1) craft; ( 2) production employees on hourly and
piece rate bases-Representatives : proof of choice : petition authorizing union
to bargain collectively on behalf of signatories-Certification of Representatives:
upon proof of majority representation-Election Ordered.
Mr. Reeves R. Hilton for the Board.
Mr. Todd Wool, of New York City, for the Company.
Mr. John Hirschberg and Mr. W. F. Robinson, of Richmond, Va.,
for the I. A. M.
Mr. Charles Duke, of Richmond, Va., for the Cigarmakers' Inter-
national.
Mr. Howard Lichtenstein, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On June 1, 1937, and June 21, 1937, respectively, International
Association of Machinists Lodge No. 10 and Cigarmakers' Inter-
national Union of America each filed with the Regional Director for
the Fifth Region (Baltimore, Maryland), a petition alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa-
tion of certain specified maintenance employees and the representa-
tion of production employees, respectively, employed at the Rich-
mond plant, Richmond, Virginia, of P. Lorillard Company, Inc.,
New York, New York, herein called the Company, and requesting
the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, to
conduct an investigation pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On June
'International Association of Machinists Lodge No. 10 and Cigarmakers' Interna-
tional Union of America are referred to herein respectively as the I. A. M. and the
Cigarmakers ' International.
529
530 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
25, 1937, the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and
Article III, Sections 3 and 10 (c) (2) of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, con-
solidated the cases for the purposes of hearing and authorized the
Regional Director to conduct an investigation and to provide for
an appropriate hearing. On June 29, 1937, the Regional Director
issued a notice of hearing to be held at Richmond, Virginia, on July
15, 1937, copies of which were duly served upon, the Company, upon
the I. A. M., and upon the Cigarmakers' International.2
Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held at Richmond, Virginia,
on July 15, 1937, before Samuel V. Gusack, the Trial Examiner duly
designated by the Board. All parties appeared by counsel and full
opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and
to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was' afforded them. The
Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner on motions ,and
objections made during the hearing, and finds that no prejudicial
errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE COMPANY AND ITS BUSINESS
P. Lorillard Company, Inc. was incorporated in New Jersey in 1911
and maintains its executive offices in New York, New York. The
Company is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigars, cigarettes,
plug and scrap chewing tobacco, and smoking tobaccos. It is one of
the four largest manufacturers of these products in the United States,
and its stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The Com-
pany and its subsidiaries, P. Lorillard Company of Delaware, Alston
Tobacco Company, Incorporated, and Federal Tin Company, Inc.
maintain factories in New Jersey, Kentucky, Virginia, Ohio, Penn-
sylvania, and Maryland. Warehouses are maintained in Kentucky,
Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin; New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connec-
ticut. The Company purchases tobacco from practically. all of the
tobacco producing' States, and sells its products throughout the United
States. The Company engages in extensive national advertising
through newspapers,' magazines and other periodicals of national
circulation.
The Richmond, Virginia, plant of the Company, to which the issues
herein are directed, is devoted to the manufacture of cigars and little
cigars, exclusively. Cigar tobacco is not raised in Virginia but is
shipped to the plant from other Southern States, Wisconsin, Con-
2 The notice of hearing addressed to the, I. A. M. Incorrectly designated the Coni-
pany as "P. Lorrilard Tobacco Co."
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 531
necticut, Puerto: Rico, and Cuba. Its products are shipped to all
points in the United States by truck, rail, and water.
The plant employs approximately 2,300 employees of whom 2,000
are hourly and piece-work production employees and maintenance
employees, exclusive of 75 machinists, specialists, machinists' appren-
tices, and machinists' helpers engaged in maintaining the machinery
in the plant. ,
IT. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Association of Machinists Lodge No. 10 is a labor
organization admitting to its membership machinists of many classi-
fications,3 including the machinists, specialists, machinists' apprentices,
and machinists' helpers, employed by the Company at its Richmond
plant. Lodge No. 10 received its charter in 1888 from the Interna-
tional, which is affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.'
Cigarmakers' International Union of America is a labor organiza-
tion affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to
membership all persons engaged in the cigar industry. Locals 163 and
178 of Richmond were chartered by the Cigarmakers' International in
August 1936, and October 1936, respectively. Local 163 accepts for
membership all white employees of the Company at its Richmond plant
who are engaged in production at hourly and piece rate wages, and
all maintenance employees except those eligible for membership in the
I. A. M. Local 178 admits all colored employees of the same
designation.
III. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS
The Company employs approximately 2,300 employees at its Rich-
mond plant, of which approximately 2,000 are production workers
employed on an hourly and piece rate basis and maintenance employees
exclusive of machinists, specialists, machinists' apprentices, and ma-
chinists' helpers. The Cigarmakers' International claims that the
bargaining unit should include all such employees, and no objection
was raised at the hearing to this contention.4
The I. A. M. claims that 53 maintenance employees designated as
machinists, specialists, machinists' apprentices, and machinists' help-
ers, in the Richmond plant constitute a bargaining unit. Neither
the Company nor the Cigarmakers' International controverted this
contention.
We therefore find-that, in order to insure to the employees of the
Richmond plant of the Company the full benefit of their right to
self-organization and collective bargaining, and otherwise to effectu-
8 See Constitution of the Grand Lodge, District and Local Lodges , International Asso-
ciation of Machinists , I. A. M. Exhibit No. 1.
4 Under its Constitution , the Cigarmakers ' International accepts foremen as members.
532 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ate the policies of the Act, the machinists, specialists, machinists'
apprentices, and machinists' helpers employed by the Company at
its Richmond plant constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining, and the production employees of the Rich-
mond plant, employed on an hourly and piece rate basis, together
with maintenance employees, exclusive of machinists, specialists,
machinists' apprentices and machinists' helpers, also constitute a unit
appropriate for such purposes.
IV. QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Both the I. A. M. and the Cigarmakers' International claim to rep-
resent a majority of the Company's employees in the respective units
designated above under Section III, and the Company has indicated
its willingness to bargain collectively with the unions as sole bar-
gaining agents, if the Board certifies that each has been designated
as the representative of the majority of employees in the respective
unit. The Company's present refusal to recognize these unions will
tend to create resentment and dissatisfaction among the employees
who are members of the unions, and we find that questions concern-
ing the representation of the employees of the Company have arisen.
V. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTIONS OF REPRESENTATION ON COMMERCE
We find that the questions of representation which have thus arisen,
in connection with the operations of the Company described in Sec-
tion I above, have a close, intimate, and substantial relation to trade,
traffic, and commerce among the several States, and tend to lead to
labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow
of commerce.
VI. REPRESENTATION BY UNIONS OF MAJORITY OF EMPLOYEES IN
EACH UNIT
The I . A. M. contends that only 53 employees in the Richmond
plant are eligible for membership . It introduced a petition dated
May 20, 1937, signed by 46 employees within this appropriate unit,
authorizing the I . A. M. to bargain collectively with the Company
as their representative.' The validity of the signatures contained
in' the petition was established by competent testimony , and even
accepting the Company 's contention that there are 75 employees in
this unit, it'is clear , and we so find, that a majority of them have
designated the I . A. M. as their representative for the purposes of
collective bargaining . We further find that by virtue of Section
9 (a) of the Act, the I. A. M. is the exclusive representative for the
5 One of the employees who signed the petition had left the employ of the Company
prior to the hearing.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 533
purposes of collective bargaining of all the machinists , specialists,
machinists ' apprentices and machinists ' helpers in the Richmond
plant of the Company, and we will so certify it.
The Cigarmakers ' International offered for examination at the
hearing 1704 union application cards representing 1260 paid up
members in Local 163 , and 444 in Local 178 . All of such members
were alleged to be employees of the Company , in the appropriate
unit designated above, and were alleged to constitute a majority of
the 2,000 employees in such unit . However, the authenticity of
these cards was not established at the hearing . We conclude that
a question has arisen concerning the representation of the production
employees paid on an hourly and piece rate basis, and the mainte-
nance employees , exclusive of machinists , specialists , machinists' ap-
prentices , and machinists ' helpers, which can best be resolved by the
holding of an election by secret ballot to determine whether they
desire to be represented by the Cigarmakers ' International.
CONCLUSIONS o iE, LAW
On the basis of the above findings of fact, the Board makes the
following conclusions of law :
1. Questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of the employees of the Richmond , Virginia, plant of
P. Lorillard Company, Inc., within the meaning of Section 9 (c),
and Section 2, subdivisions ( 6) and (7) of the National Labor
Relations Act.
2. All of the machinists , specialists , machinists ' apprentices, and
machinists ' helpers of the Richmond , Virginia , plant of P. Lorillard
Company, Inc., constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
National Labor Relations Act.
3. All of the production employees of the Richmond, Virginia,
plant of P. Lorillard Company, Inc., paid on an hourly and piece
rate basis , and all maintenance employees , exclusive of machinists,
specialists , machinists ' apprentices , and machinists ' helpers, con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations
Act.
4. International Association of Machinists Lodge No. 10, having
been designated by a majority of the machinists , specialists, ma-
chinists ' apprentices , and machinists ' helpers employed in the Rich-
mond, Virginia , plant of P. Lorillard Company, Inc., as their repre-
sentative for the purposes of collective bargaining , is, by virtue of
Section 9 ( a) of the National Labor Relations Act, the exclusive
representative of all such employees for the purposes of collective
49446-38-vol I11-35
534 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment,
and other conditions of employment.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as a part of the investigation authorized by the
Board to ascertain representatives for collective bargaining with the
Richmond, Virginia, plant of P. Lorillard Company, Inc., an election
by secret ballot shall be conducted within 15 days from the date of
this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the Fifth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the
National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section
9 of said Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, among all
the production employees paid on an hourly and piece rate basis,
and all maintenance employees, exclusive of machinists, specialists,
machinists' apprentices, and machinists' helpers, who were employed
in the Richmond, Virginia, plant of P. Lorillard Company, Inc., on
June 21, 1937, to determine whether they desire to be represented
by Cigarmakers' International Union of America, for the purposes
of collective bargaining.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National- Labor
Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8
of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1,
as amended,
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that International Association of Machin-
ists Lodge No. 10 has been designated and selected by a majority
of machinists, specialists, machinists' apprentices, and machinists'
helpers employed by P. Lorillard Company, Inc., in its Richmond,
Virginia, plant, as their representative for the purposes of collective
bargaining, and that, pursuant to the provisions of Section 9 (a) of
the Act, International Association of Machinists Lodge No. 10 is
the exclusive representative of all such employees for the purposes
of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of
employment, and other conditions of employment.
MR. EDWIN S. SMITH took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision, Direction of Election, and Certification of Representatives.