Riverside Mills

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 29, 1949

85 N.L.R.B. 969 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of RIVERSIDE MILLS, EMPLOYER and TEXTILE WORKERS
'UNION OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 10-RC-591.-Decided August 209, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before John C. Carey,
Jr., hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hear-
ing 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
Houston 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 labor organization involved claims to represent certain 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 Petitioner seeks a unit of the Employer's production and
maintenance employees at the Employer's Augusta, Georgia, plant,
including plant-clericals and watchmen, but excluding office-clericals,
professional employees, guards, and supervisors. The Employer con-
tends (1) that the proposed unit is not homogeneous and that it is
therefore inappropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining; (2)
that plant-clericals have few interests in common with production
and maintenance employees and should, therefore, be excluded from
any unit of such employees that the Board may find appropriate; (3)
that "watchmen" are guards within the meaning of the Act and may
not, therefore, be represented in any over-all unit; and (4) that cer-
tain workers are supervisors within the meaning of the Act and may
not, therefore, be included in any unit.
85 N. L. It. B., No. 172.
969
970 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Employer is engaged in the reclamation of various textile
wastes 1 and of steel scrap and in the manufacture of woolen yarns and
twines and of jute bale covers. Its activities comprise about 6 differ-
ent businesses. In all, the Employer makes and sells about 50 differ-
ent products. The Employer conducts its operations in some 50 build-
ings, including about 30 warehouses, on a 10-acre lot in the city of
Augusta.
The Employer's 4 principal operating departments include textile
manufacturing, waste reclamation, mechanical maintenance, and en-
gineering, which, in turn, are further divided into about 27 subdepart-
ments. Of the approximately 600 employees involved in this pro-
ceeding, two-thirds work in the textile manufacturing department
under the superintendent of manufacturing, and one-third work in
the waste reclamation department under the superintendent of out-
side handling. Twenty-four to 30 employees work in the mechanical
maintenance department under the master mechanic. The engineering
department operates under the engineer, who requisitions such em-
ployees as he may see fit from the mechanical maintenance department.
Though the Employer uses some of the materials' which it reclaims in
its own manufacturing operations, it rarely interchanges employees
between its 4 principal operating departments, except, as stated above,
between its mechanical maintenance and its engineering departments.
The great majority of the employees sought by the Petitioner are
hourly paid and are listed on the same departmentalized factory pay
roll. They have virtually the same interests and working conditions,
and they are all subject to the same over-all supervision by the Em-
ployer's president. They do not readily fall into groups distinguish-
able on the basis of true craft skills. The Employer does not suggest
any more appropriate grouping for its employees than the plant bar-
gaining unit sought by the Petitioner. There is no history of collec-
tive bargaining at the plant, and no other labor organization seeks to
represent any of the employees involved in this proceeding. Under
all these circumstances, we are of the opinion that the employees
sought by the Petitioner have a sufficient community` of interest to
constitute an identifiable, homogeneous unit. We therefore find, con-
trary to the Employer's contention, that the proposed plant unit is
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.2
The Petitioner would include plant-clericals in the unit; the Em-
ployer would exclude these employees on the ground that they have
few interests in common with production and maintenance employees.
Plant-clericals work throughout various departments of the Employ-
0
, E. g., cotton, wool, rayon, and jute wastes.
2 Matter of General Steel Tank Company, 81 N. L. R. B. 1345; Matter of Doughnut
Corporation of America, 66 N. L. R. B. 1231.
RIVERSIDE MILLS 971
er's plant , receiving , weighing, checking, and moving materials, and
keeping records. Although they do no actual production work, they
transport materials to production departments, work under the same
.departmental supervision as do production and maintenance employ-
ees, and are listed on the same pay roll as such employees . We shall
therefore include plant -clericals in the unit hereinafter found appro-
priate.'
The Petitioner would include watchmen in the unit; the Employer
would exclude them on the ground that they are guards within the
meaning of the Act. Watchmen work only at night, "look after the
place when nobody is there," and punch time clocks. They occasionally
fire boilers. It is not clear whether they are armed; in any event, the
Employer does not furnish them with firearnns. We find that the
watchmen are employed as guards within the meaning of Section 9
(b) (3) of the Act and we shall exclude them from the unit.
Supervisors
As stated above, there are approximately 600 employees involved
herein. The parties agree that superintendents , of whom there are 2,
general overseers , of whom there are 3, and overseers or foremen, of
whom there are 9, are supervisors within the meaning of the Act, and
should therefore be excluded from the unit . The Employer , however,
contends, and the Petitioner denies, that the following workers are
supervisors within the meaning of the Act and should be excluded
from the unit : second hands ; the fixer in the card room of the bagging
mill; fixers in the weave room ; the leader in the shredding department;
the mix foreman in Department 13; the mechanic-fixer in Department
13; the scale man ; the leaderman in Department 14 ; the leader truck
driver in Department 16; the working foreman in Department 19;
gang leaders in Department 21; and card fixers, spinning fixers, and
winding fixers in the yarn department.
Second hands, of whom there are 15, have authority to hire and dis-
charge, to suspend and lay off employees , to transfer employees within
their respective departments , and to adjust grievances . We there-
fore find that they are supervisors within the meaning of the Act and
shall exclude them from the unit 4
The fixer in the card room of the bagging mill maintains production
by keeping the Employer 's machinery in steady and efficient operation.
Though he may, within his department , transfer employees from one
machine to another to increase efficiency , he may do so only in the ab-
3 Matter of The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, 73 N. L. R. B. 246.
' Matter of Aragon -Baldwin Mills , Inc., Aragon Plant, 80 N . L. R. B. 1042.
972 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
sence of the second hand ; if the latter is present, his consent is neces-
sary to any such transfer. There is no evidence in the record that this
fixer has ever hired, discharged, or disciplined employees, or investi-
gated or adjusted grievances.5 On the contrary, his duty is directed-
towards the efficient operation of the Employer's machinery rather
than to the handling of personnel problems, which are the problems of
the second hands. Under these circumstances, we find that he is not a
supervisor and we shall include him in the unit .6
Fixers in the weave room work under the weave room's second hand
and, like the fixer in the card room of the bagging mill, are charged
with the duty of maintaining production. They have authority to
assign employees to specific machines and to correct production diffi-
culties only in the absence of the second hands. They have less au-
thority than the fixer in the card room of the bagging mill, whom we
have included in the unit' We shall therefore include these workers
in the unit."
The leader in the shredding department is in charge of a department
of approximately five persons. She has authority to transfer em-
ployees from one type of work to another and is charged with the
responsibility of maintaining discipline. We shall therefore exclude
her from the unit .9
The mix foreman in Department 13 is in charge of approximately 24
employees, whom he responsibly directs in order that they may make
the correct mix. He hires, subject to the authority of the general
foreman, maintains discipline, effectively recommends transfers and
discharges, and is in complete charge of the floor when the general
foreman is in some other part of the building. Under all these cir-
cumstances, we shall exclude him from the unit."'
The mechanic-fixer in Department 13 keeps machines in order so
that production may be maintained. He has, at the most, two assist-
ants. A witness for the Employer testified that he has less authority
than the fixer in the card room of the bagging mill, whom we have
found not to be a supervisor," and that this worker is "more mechanic
than supervisor." There is no evidence in the record that he may
affect the status of the employees with whom he works. We shall
therefore include him in the unit.12
'He may make recommendations In personnel matters, but ultimate authority therein
is vested in second hands or other supervisors.
9 Matter of Greensboro News Company, Inc., 85 N. L. It. B. 54 ; Matter of Marshall
Field, doing business as The Chicago Sun, 46 N. L. It. B. 1335.
- See above.
' Cf. Matter of Watson-Flagg Machine Co., 83 N. L. It. B. 734.
' Matter of Foster Wheeler Corporation, 79 N. L. R. B. 1062.
15 Matter of Lloyd Corporation, Ltd., 79 N. L. It. B. 1477.
11 See above.
12 Matter of Standard Oil Company of California, 79 N. L. It. B. 1466.
RIVERSIDE MILLS 973
The scale man is in charge of the pressroom in the waste departwnt.
The Employer's shipping department furnishes him with schedules
of orders of waste materials, in various quantities, to be shipped to its
customers, and, in order to maintain these schedules, he responsibly
directs approximately 10 employees in the packing and repacking of
such materials. He assigns specific jobs to employees, transfers them
from one machine to another, and uses independent judgment to meet
the varying demands of the shipping schedules. We shall therefore
exclude him from the unit 13
The leaderman in Department 14, the Employer's cleaning room, is
in charge of the work shift whenever more than one shift is required
in the department operations. The entire department consists of the
foreman in charge, the leaderman, one trucker, three sorters, and two
laborers. At the time of the hearing, there was only one shift running,
and that under the foreman's direct supervision, and there is no evi-
dence in the record as to when the Employer will put a second shift in
operation. At the present time, therefore, the leaderman is a manual
worker, with the duty of "getting the material through the machine
as fast as possible." As far as the record shows, he does not now
exercise any supervisory powers over personnel. Under all these
circumstances, and on the basis of his present status, we shall include
him in the unit.14
The leader truck driver in Department 16 drives a truck from De-
partment 16, the Employer's steel-tie reclamation department, to
various other departments, and collects and transports steel ties to
Department 16, where they are straightened and occasionally welded
together. Though the leader truck driver is said to be in charge of
Department 16, which consists of about eight workers, he has less
authority than the fixer in the card room of the bagging mill, whom
we have found not to be a supervisor 15 There is no evidence in the
record that this worker has any of the powers of a "supervisor" as set
forth in Section 2 (11) of the Act. We shall therefore include him in
the unit.16
The working foreman in Department 19, who has the job title of
"machinist" and spends a substantial part of his time in running lathes
and in using planes, shapers, and other machinist's tools, is engaged in
maintenance work, such as the moving and installation of machinery.
He has no permanent helpers and no authority to ask for any specific
number of assistants for the jobs that management may assign to him.
'9 Cf. Matter of Celanese Corporation of ,America, 80 N. L . R. B. 61.
14 Matter of United States Gypsum Company, 81 N. L. It. B. 310.
11 See above.
16 Matter of General Electric Company ( Plastics Division of the Chemical Department),
81 N. L. R. B. 476.
974 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
He JIay, however, generally request assistance, in which case the master
mec anic assigns him as many assistants as he (the master mechanic)
deems necessary. Though the working foreman apparently uses his.
own discretion in determining how machinery should be moved, he has
no authority over other employees of the Employer. Under all these
circumstances, we shall include him in the unit "
Gang leaders in Department 21, of whom there are four, "direct"
employees but must refer disciplinary matters to the superintendent
of outside handling. The record shows neither the number of em-
ployees working under each gang leader, nor the nature of the work..
There is no evidence in the record that gang leaders exercise any of
the powers of a "supervisor" as set forth in Section 2 (11) of the Act.
We shall therefore include them in the unit 18
Card fixers, spinning fixers, and winding fixers in the yarn depart-
ment report irregularities, correct production difficulties, and make
mechanical adjustments. Second hands are in charge of workers in
the department. There is, however, no evidence in the record that these
fixers normally exercise any of the powers of a "supervisor" as set forth
in Section 2 (11) of the Act. We shall accordingly include them in
the unit 19 %
On the basis of the entire record in this case, we find that all produc-
tion and maint3nance employees at the Employer's waste-reclamation
a.nd textile-manufacturing plant at Augusta, Georgia, including plant
clericals, the fixer in-the card room of the bagging mill, fixers in the
weave room, the mechanic-fixer in Department 13, the leader man in
Department 14, the leader truck driver in Department 16, the working
foreman in Department 19, gang leaders in Department 21, and card
fixers, spinning fixers, and winding fixers in the yarn department,
but excluding office-clericals, professional employees, guards, and
superintendents, general overseers, overseers or foremen, second hands,,
the leader in the shredding department, the mix foreman in Depart-
ment 13, the scale man, and other supervisors, constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
"Matter of Kentucky Utilities Company, 81 N. L. R. B. 1006.
,'Matter of General Electric Company (Plastics Division of the Chemical Department),
supra.
1e The fact that spinning fixers may occasionally, e. g.. during vacation periods, substi-
tute for second hands does not require us to make a contrary finding. The record does
not indicate that the second hand's supervisory authority is vested in the spinning fixers
during such periods. Matter of Celanese Corporation of America, 81 N. L. R. B. 1041
Matter of Kentucky Utilities Company, supra.
If, however, the Employer has spinning fixers on a third shift, who act as, and have
the supervisory authority of second hands, they should be excluded from the unit as second
hands.
RIVERSIDE MILLS 975
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 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 rein-
stated 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 bar-
gaining, by Textile Workers Union of America, CIO.