Rock Hill Body Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 21, 1941

32 N.L.R.B. 986 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of ROCK HILL BODY COMPANY and ROCK HILL LOCAL
UNITED AIITOMOBILE WORKERS OF AMERICA
Case No. R-2573. Decided June.1, .1,94.1
Jurisdiction : truck body manufacturing industry. .
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question :
where Company refused to accord union recognition because it was of the
opinion that the union did not represent a majority and where it rejected the
union's proposal for a consent election to be followed by certification of
the union if it won the election ; pay roll as of the date of the hearing to de-
termine eligibility, notwithstanding union's desire for an earlier pay roll ;
election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em-
ployees, excluding supervisors, superintendents, foremen, and office and clerical
employees.
Mr. W. P. Wilson, of Rock Hill, S. C., for the Company.
Mr. E. L. Sandefur, of Winston-Salem, N. C., for the Union.
Mr. Marvin C. Wahl, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On April 17, 1941, Rock Hill Local United Automobile Workers
of America, herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Direc-
tor for the Tenth Region (Atlanta, Georgia) a petition alleging that
a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa-
tion of employees of Rock Hill Body Company, Rock Hill, South
Carolina, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation
and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On
April 29, 1941, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the
Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III,
Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the
Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice.
32 N. L. R. B., No. 157.
986
ROCK HILL BODY COMPANY 987
On May 7, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the Union.
Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on May 20, 1941, at Rock Hill,
South Carolina, before Alexander E. Wilson, Jr., the Trial Exam-
iner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company
was represented by counsel, the Union by its representative; both par-
ticipated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine
and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on
the issues was afforded all parties. During the course of the hearing
the Trial Examiner made various rulings on motions and on objec-
tions to the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed all the
rulings of the Trial Examiner 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
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Rock Hill Body Company, a South Carolina corporation, is located
at Rock Hill, South Carolina, and is engaged in the manufacture and
sale of commercial truck bodies and school buses. The chief raw
materials used by the Company are steel, lumber, paint, and coal, all
of which, with the exception of lumber, are received from sources
outside the State. Fifty per cent of the lumber comes from outside the
State. The Company's annual volume of sales amounts to approxi-
mately $150,000, 25 per cent of the manufactured products being sold
to customers outside of South Carolina.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Rock Hill Local United Automobile Workers of America, is a labor
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
It admits to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On February 26, 1941, the Union wrote to the Company and re-
quested recognition as the exclusive bargaining agent for the Com-
pany's employees. After a conference with the Union's representative,
the Company, on March 31, 1941, replied that it was of the opinion
that the Union did not represent a majority of its employees, and
refused to bargain with it as the representative of all the employees.
Thereafter, the Company rejected the Union's proposal for a consent
election to be followed by certification of the Union if it won the
election.
988 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL' LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
A statement on the record by the Trial Examiner shows that the
Union represents a substantial number of employees in the unit found
below to be appropriate.'
We find, that a question has arisen concerning the representation
of employees of the Company. • '
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We ,find that the question, concerning representation which has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company
described in Section I, above, has a close, intimate, and substantial
relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States and
tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce
and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union and the Company agree that all production and main-
tenance employees' of the' Company, excluding' supervisors, superin-
tendents, foremen, and office and clerical employees constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. They disagree,'
however, as to whether Howard Burris, - Buster Deas, E. L. Deas, and
Kirby Herring should be-included within such unit. ' The Union asks
that,they, be excluded and the Company that they be included.
,All ,four of these men have other employees working under their
supervision to whom they assign work and whose work they direct.
Each is authorized to request the general manager of the Company
to add to or subtract from his crew, but, none has the power to hire
or discharge any of the men. Each is paid on an hourly basis, at
a rate of 5 cents an hour more than the other employees of his crew.
Each is permitted to work on Saturdays while the others in his crew
are not given this privilege, Burris has 8 to 10 men;.Buster Deas, 1;
E. L. Deas, 6 to 8; and Herring, 3 in their respective crews. We find
that Howard Burris, Buster Deas, E. L. Deas, and Kirby Herring
are supervisory employees and should be excluded from the unit herein
found to be appropriate.,
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the
Company, excluding supervisors, superintendents, foremen, and office
and clerical employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining and that said unit will insure to employees
1 The Trial Examiner ' s statement showed that the Union submitted to him 33 authoriza-
tion cards dated between January 29 and February 19, 1941, of which 29 bore the names
of persons on the Company's May 19, 1941 , pay roll. There are 71 employees in all
on said pay roll , 4 of whom the Union alleged to be supervisory, and outside of the unit
which it requested.
ROCK HULL BODY COMPANY 989
of the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization and
to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question which has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of the Company can best be resolved by the
holding of an election by secret ballot.
The Union contends that only employees within the appropriate
unit as of March 15, 1941, should be permitted to vote in the election
on the ground that the Company's business is seasonal and that a
number of employees who were working at the date of the hearing
were not regular employees of the Company. The Company asks
that the pay roll for the period immediately preceding the date of the
hearing, May 19, 1941, be used to determine eligibility to vote. It
admits that its business is seasonal (most school buses being sold from
June through September), that its employment rises in the spring and
summertime, reaching a peak in August, and then declines. Between
March 15, 1941, and the date of the hearing, approximately 10 em-
ployees had been added. The record fails to show whether or not
the same employees are usually reemployed each year.
In view of all the circumstances of the case, we find that those
employees of the Company within the appropriate unit whose names
appear on the Company's pay roll for the period immediately preced-
ing May 19, 1941, shall be eligible to vote, subject to such limitations
and additions as are set forth in the Direction.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact, and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLusIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Rock Hill Body Company, Rock Hill, South
Carolina, within the, meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and
(7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All production and maintenance employees of the Company, ex-
cluding supervisors, superintendents, foremen, and office and clerical
employees constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act.
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
990 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it
is hereby
DmwTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with Rock Hill Body Company, Rock Hill, South Carolina, an election
by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible but not later
than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direc-
tion and supervision of the Regional Director for the Tenth Region,
acting in this matter as agent of the National Labor Relations Board,
and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations,
among all production and maintenance employees of the Company
whose names appear on the Company's pay roll for the period imme-
diately preceding May 19, 1941, including employees who did not work
during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or in
the active service or training of the United States, or temporarily
laid off, but excluding supervisors, superintendents, foremen, and office
and clerical employees and those employees who have since quit or
been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire
to be represented by Rock Hill Local United Automobile Workers of
America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for
the purposes of collective bargaining.