Penn-Hadley Mills, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 5, 1949

85 N.L.R.B. 570 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter Of PENN-HADLEY MILLS, INC., EMPLOYER and TEXTILE
WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA, C. I. 0., PETITIONER
Case No. 4-RC-414.8.Decided August 5,1919
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing in this matter was held before
Julius Topol, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at
the hearing are free from prejudicial 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 is a labor organization claiming to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
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.
4. The appropriate unit; the determination of representatives:
As stipulated by the parties, the following employees of the Em-
ployer constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act:
All production and maintenance employees at the Employer's plant
at Blakely, Pennsylvania, excluding office and clerical employees,
watchmen, foremen, assistant foremen, and all other supervisors as
defined in the Act.
At the close of business on May 13, 1949, 11 days after the petition
herein was filed, the Employer ceased production.. The Employer's
position at the hearing was that this shut-down was for economic
reasons, that it is temporary only, that the Employer intends to re-
sume operations just as soon as it deems such resumption warranted
by market conditions, and that an exact date for the reopening of the
plant is not foreseeable. Testimony of the Employer's representatives
85 N. L. R. B., No. 102.
570
PENN-HADLEY MILLS, INC. 571
indicated that resumption of operations would not take place in less
than 6 weeks, but might, on the other hand, be postponed for several
months, possibly until after the end of the year. The Employer's
president testified that he intends to reemploy the workers who were
on the pay roll when the plant ceased operations. If the entire plant
is reopened, all the old employees will be recalled; if curtailed opera-
tion is resumed, the old employees will be called back to work on the
basis of seniority and ability.
The Petitioner requests an immediate election, with eligibility de-
termined by the pay roll preceding the shut-down. It maintains that
the workers have not lost their employee status, that they should not
be deprived of their right to be represented by a collective bargaining
agent until the reopening of the plant, and that they have a definite
interest in negotiating the terms of their return to work.
The Employer requests a postponement of the election until after
the plant has reopened. It urges that eligibility based on the last pay
roll preceding the shut-down would not result in a representative vote,
because at the time that the plant reopens it will be necessary to replace
those former employees who have secured permanent employment else-
where during the shut-down.1
As the shut-down of the plant is temporary and as the Employer
intends to call back its old complement of employees, we believe that
the workers employed at the time of the cessation of operations have
not lost their employee status.2 In the circumstances, it is our opinion
that to defer the holding of an election until the reopening of the
plant would result in postponing, if not defeating, the exercise by the
employees of their rights to the free expression of their wishes con-
cerning representation, which is guaranteed by the Act. Accordingly,
we shall direct an election as hereinafter provided, among the em-
ployees in the unit found appropriate who were employed during the
IIn support of its request for a postponement of the election . the Employer cites the
Board 's decisions in Matter of Coast Pacific Lumber Company, 78 N. L . R. B. 1245, and
Matter of Tucker Corporation, 79 N. L . It. B. 1262. We distinguish the present case from
the cases referred to. In the Coast Pacific Lumber and Tucker cases a full employee com-
plement had never been achieved . Coast Pacific Lumber had been producing a short period
of time , and its anticipated expansion would increase the number of employees almost
four times . Operations at Tucker were still in the experimental stage at the time of that
proceeding . In neither case had a representative complement been employed ; in Coast
Pacific Lumber the hiring of several new categories of employees was contemplated, and in
Tucker it was not possible to foretell the relative strength of the job categories which
would make up the future work force.
In the present case a complete work force had been employed and will be recalled to
work as indicated above ; and , although the number of employees may decrease , there is
no evidence that the scope of resumed operations will differ or that the character of the
employee complement will change . Here we have a full complement , and it is a represent-
ative complement.
2 See Matter of Green Colonial Furnace Company, 52 N. L. It. B . 161, 177 and the cases
cited therein.
572 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
:pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the temporary cessa-
tion of operations, May 14,1949.
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
May 14, 1949, 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 dis-
charged for cause and have not been rehired 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 Tex-
tile Workers Union of America, C. I. O.