Pagoda Knitting Mills, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 14, 1949

87 N.L.R.B. 621 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of PAGODA KNITTING MILLS, INC., EMPLOYER and JOHN
J. SNYDER, PETITIONER and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF' HOSIERY
WORKERS, UNION
Case No. 4-RD-36.Decided December 14,1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a decertification petition duly filed, a hearing was held before
Harold Kowal, hearing officer. The hearing officer referred to the
Board the Union's motion to dismiss -the petition on the ground that
the Employer's employees are out on a strike against the Employer.
For the reasons stated in Section 5, infra, this motion is hereby denied.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju-
dicial error and are hereby affirmed.
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 [Chairman Herzog and Members
Reynolds 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 the bargaining representative of the Employer's
employees designated in the petition.
The Union is a labor organization currently recognized by the
Employer as the exclusive bargaining representative of the Em-
ployer's employees designated in the petition.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the represen-
tation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The following employees of the Employer constitute a unit ap-
propriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act :
All knitting and auxiliary employees at the Employer's Reading,
Pennsylvania, plant, including knitters, seamers, loopers, menders,
87 NLRB No. 84.
621
622 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
examiners , watchmen,' and shipping employees, but excluding office
and clerical employees, and all supervisors as defined in the Act .2
5. The Union objects to our holding an election at this time. It seeks
dismissal of the petition on the ground that the employees are now
engaged in a strike against the Employer. The record discloses that
the employees have been on strike since about September 1, 1949.
Although the record is not clear, the strike appears to have arisen as:
the result of a dispute flowing from the Union's attempt to negotiate a
new contract. The Employer and the Petitioner assert, in opposition:
'to the motion, that the very existence of the strike makes advisable an
election to determine the question of representation. In proceedings
initiated by a petition for certification, it has not been our practice to^
withhold an election solely because of the existence of a current eco-
nomic strike.3 We find no basis in the statute for altering our prac-
tice in this decertification case 4
We shall, therefore, direct the holding of an immediate election, per-
mitting all employees to participate who were employed during the.
pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction. All.
persons hired since September 1, 1949, the date of the strike, and all
strikers shall be presumptively eligible to vote subject to challenge..
The challenged ballots shall not be counted unless they affect the re-
sults of the election, in which case the question as to which of these
ballots shall be opened and counted will await further investigation,
concerning the employment status of the affected individuals .5
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 super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case-
was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the
unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
I The watchmen spend the greater part of their time in maintenance work. We find that
they are not guards within the meaning of the Act , and shall , according to our usual prac-
tice in such cases, include them in the unit . Texsun Citrus Exchange , 82 NLRB 540.
2 The parties agree that this unit is appropriate . The Union has held a series of con-
tracts covering this unit, the latest having expired on August 31, 1949.
3 See Cocoline Products, Inc., 79 NLRB 1420; Ace Novelty Manufacturing Company, 77
NLRB 945; Caterpillar Tractor Co., 77 NLRB 457; Pipe Machinery Company , 76 NLRB.
247.
4 National Color Printing Company , 78 NLRB 1,47; Solar Electric Corporation, 77
NLRB 414 ; Colonial hardwood Flooring Co., Inc., 76 NLRB 1039.
5 Cocoline Products , Inc., supra.
PAGODA KNITTING MILLS, INC. 623
.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 rehired or re-
instated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether or not
they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining,
by American Federation of Hosiery Workers and Branch 10 Ameri-
can Federation of Hosiery Workers.