S. Karpen & Bros.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 11, 1939

14 N.L.R.B. 465 (N.L.R.B. 1939)

In the Matter of S. KARPEN & BROS . and UNITED FURNITURE WORKERS
OF AMERICA, LOCAL No . 576, C. I. O.
Case No. R-1310.Decided August 11, 1939
Furniture Manufacturing Industry-Investigation of Representatives: contro-
versy concerning representation : petitioning union unable to have Company check
its membership cards against the pay-roll records-Unit Appropriate for Collec-
tive Bargaining: plant or several craft units ; history of collective bargaining by
unions, inconclusive ; determination of held dependent upon results of elections ;
'Board refused to abide by stipulation which permits craft union to represent a
part of the unit which it claims appropriate-Elections Ordered
Mr. Charles M. Brooks, for the Board.
Mr. James S. Woollacott, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Company.
Mr. Ernest Marsh, of Los Angeles, Calif., for Local 576.
Mr. William Busick and Mr. George Walker, of Los Angeles, Calif.,
for Local 1561.
Mr. Charles L. Yost, of Los Angeles, Calif., for Local 15.
Mr. H. L. Dougan, of Los Angeles, Calif., for Local 389.
Mr. Theodore W. Kheel, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On January 20, 1939, United Furniture Workers of America, Local
576, C. I. 0., herein called Local 576, filed with the Regional Director
for the Twenty-first Region (Los Angeles, California) a petition alleg-
ing that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the
representation of employees of S. Karpen & Bros., Huntington Park,
California, 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 February 10, 1939, 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 1, as amended, ordered an investigation and au-
thorized the Regional Director to conduct it and' to provide for an
appropriate hearing upon due notice.
14 N. L. R. B., No. 36.
- -465
466 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
On February 28, 1939, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, upon
Local 576, upon Furniture Workers Union, Local No. 1561, United
Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, A. F. L., herein
called Local 1561, upon Upholsterers International Union of North
America, Local No. 15, A. F. L., herein called Local.15, and upon
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen and
Helpers of America, Local No. 389, A. F. L., herein called Local 389,
labor organizations claiming to represent employees directly affected
by the investigation,' upon the Los Angeles Industrial. Union Council
and upon the Los Angeles Central Labor Council.
Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on March 16 and 17, 1939,
at Los Angeles, California, before James C. Batten, the Trial Exam-
iner duly designated by the Board. The Board, the Company, Local
576, Local 1561, Local 15, and Local 389 were represented by counsel
or official representatives and participated in the hearing. Full op-
portunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to
introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all the parties.
During the course- of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several
rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evidence.
The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds
that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby
affirmed.
On June 1, 1939, pursuant to notice duly served on all the parties,
oral argument was had before the Board in Washington, D. C. Only
the A. F. L. Unions were represented before-the Board and partici-
pated in the argument.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
S. Karpen & Bros., a California corporation, is engaged in the
manufacture of mattresses, upholstered chairs, and other pieces of
furniture. Its office, place of business, and plant are located in Hunt-
ington Park, California. Lumber, fabrics, and steel are the principal
raw materials it uses in the manufacture of its products. During the
year 1938, it spent $293,375.00 for all its raw materials, $192,165.00
representing the cost of raw materials shipped to it from sources out-
side the State of California. During the same period it sold finished
products amounting in value to $580,504.00 of which $82,495.00 rep-
resented the value of products shipped to places outside the State of
California.
I These Unions are jointly referred to herein as the A. F. L. Unions.
S. KARPEN- & BROTHERS
IT. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
467
United Furniture Workers of America, Local No. 576, is a labor
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
It admits to its membership all production employees and truck
drivers of the Company, excluding clerical and supervisory employees.
Furniture Workers Union, Local No. 1561, United Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners of America, is a labor organization affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor. It admits to its membership
all employees in the woodworking and finishing departments of the
Company.
Upholsterers International Union of North America, Local No. 15,
is a labor. organization affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor. It admits to its membership all employees of the Company in
the spring, mattress, and upholstering departments.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen
and Helpers of America, Local No. 389, is a labor organization af-
filiated with the American Federation of Labor. It admits to its
membership truck drivers and employees in the shipping department
of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Local 576 began an organizational drive in December 1938. By the
early part of January 1939 it claimed to represent a majority of the
employees and arranged to meet with the.Company. Several meetings
ensued at which Local 576 sought to induce the Company to agree to
check its application cards against the Company pay roll and thereby
determine the question of representation. The parties were unable
to arrive at such an agreement. Thereafter, Local 576 filed its peti-
tion for an investigation and certification of representatives.
We find that a question has arisen concerning representation of
employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTIONS 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.
468 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Company has seven distinct departments of employees. These
departments were designated in the record as follows : Woodworking,-
finishing , spring, mattress , upholstering, shipping, and trucking. To.
a certain extent, each department represents a successive stage in pro
duction. The woodworking department initiates the processes of
production. It constructs furniture, furniture frames , and box
springs frames to which, in turn, the. finishing department applies a
suitable finish. Some pieces are completed thereby; others are then
upholstered by the upholstering department. The spring department
sews springs into the upholstered chairs and also into mattresses made
by the mattress department. In addition, it manufactures the box.
frames, made by the woodworking department, into box springs.
The A. F. L. Unions would separate these seven departments of
the Company into three distinct units. Excluding supervisory em-
ployees Local 1561 seeks a unit composed of employees in the wood-
working and finishing departments, Local 15 a unit of the spring,
mattress, and upholstering departments, and Local 389 a unit of the
shipping and trucking departments. It is not claimed that these
departments have been grouped improperly. The groupings are in
accordance with the practices of the A. F. L. Unions and appear to
be justified by the nature of the work. But in opposition to the
claims of the A. F. L. Unions, Local 576 contends that one unit of
the employees in all departments, excluding supervisory employees,
is appropriate.
The history of collective bargaining and employee organization in
this plant throws little light upon the appropriateness of the units
claimed. The A. F. L. Unions have not had any substantial relations
.With the Company and Local 576 only began its organizational efforts
in December 1938. None of the Unions involved has a contract with
the Company at the present time. Under all the circumstances, we
shall permit the employees to choose between the units advanced as
appropriate.8 For the reasons which appear in Section VI, infra,
this determination shall be made in elections which we ' shall direct.
Upon the outcome of the elections will depend our determination .of
the appropriate unit or units herein.
It was established during the hearing that the two truck drivers
of the Company were members of Local 389. Local 576 thereupon
agreed to exclude them from the unit which it claimed to be appropri-
ate. We shall not, however, abide by this stipulation. In effect,
this stipulation confers upon Local 389 an alternative choice of units.
The woodworking department appears to include a mill and cabinet shop.
See Matter of The Globe Machine and Stamping Co. and Metal Polishers Union, Local
No. 3, at al., 3 N. L. R. B. 294.
S. KARPEN & BROTHERS . . 469
Local 389 maintains that the shipping and trucking employees con-
stitute an appropriate unit. In the event that Local 576 received a
majority of the votes cast by the employees in the shipping depart-
ment, Local 389 would obtain, through this stipulation, a unit of
truck drivers alone. We do not believe that a union should be en-
titled to sever from the unit which it claims to be appropriate, if it
is unable to establish a majority therein, a unit of those employees
whom it represents.4 We shall therefore include the employees in
the trucking department with those in the shipping department in
the election which we shall direct.
We shall direct elections between Local 576 and Local 1561 among
the employees in the woodworking and finishing departments of the
Company, between Local 576 and Local 15 among the employees in
the upholstering, mattress, and spring departments of the Company,
and between Local 576 and Local 389 among the employees in the
trucking and shipping departments of the Company. -We shall cer-
tify the union .which is designated by a majority of the ,employees
within each election unit as exclusive representative thereof. If
Local 576 should win two or three of the election units we shall com-
bine those units in which it has been successful and certify Local
576 as exclusive representative thereof.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
Local 576 introduced into evidence a sufficient number of designa-
tions to show a majority within all three ,units claimed appropriate.
by the A. F. L. Unions. The A. F. L. Unions argued that elections
should be held. In accordance with our policy announced in Matter
of The Cudahy Packing Company,5 we shall direct that elections by
secret ballot be held among the employees within the three units
claimed appropriate.
Although the parties agreed that the pay roll for. the period ending
January 28, 1939, was a satisfactory basis for determining eligibility
to vote, we believe that a more current eligibility date will effectuate'
the policies of the Act. We shall accordingly. direct that all em-
ployees within the units claimed appropriate who are on the pay roll
of the Company for the period immediately preceding the date of
this Direction of Elections shall be eligible to vote, excluding those
who have since quit or been discharged for cause, but including those-
who are sick, on vacation, or temporarily laid off.
Upon the. basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
A Cf. Matter of Rembrandt Lamp Corporation and Metal Polishers , Buffers, Platers and
Helpers International Union, Local No. 6, Chicago, Illinois, affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, 13 N. L. R. B. 945.
e Matter of The Cudahy Packing Company and United Packinghouse Workers of America,
Local No. 21, of the Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee, 13 N. L. R. B. 526.
470 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
CONCLUSION OF LAW
A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the represen-
tation of employees of S. Karpen & Bros., Huntington Park, Cali-,
fornia, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and
(7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
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, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Sections 8 and
9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 2, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the
Board to ascertain representatives for collective bargaining with
S. Karpen & Bros., Huntington Park, California, elections by
secret ballot shall be, conducted within fifteen (15) days from the
date of this Direction of Elections, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Twenty-first 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, among
(1) all employees in the woodworking and finishing departments of
S. Karpen & Bros., Huntington Park, California, whose names ap-
pear on the pay roll of the Company for the period immediately
preceding the date of this Direction of Elections, excluding super-
visory employees and those employees who have since quit or been
discharged for cause, but including those employees who are sick,
on vacation, or temporarily laid off, to determine whether they desire
to be represented by United Furniture Workers of America, Local
No. 576, or Furniture Workers Union, Local No. 1561, United Brother-
hood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, for the purposes of
collective bargaining, or by neither, (2) all employees in the spring,
mattress, and upholstering departments of S. Karpen & Bros., Hunt-'
ington Park, California, whose names appear on the pay roll' of the
Company for the period immediately preceding the date of this
Direction of Elections, excluding supervisory employees and those
employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, but in-
cluding those employees who are sick, on vacation, or temporarily
laid off, to determine whether they desire to be represented by United
Furniture Workers of America, Local No. 576, or Upholsterers Inter-
national Union of North America, Local No. 15, for the purposes of
collective bargaining, or by neither, and (3) truck drivers- and all
employees in the shipping department of S. Karpen & Bros., Hunt-
ington Park, California, whose names appear on the pay roll of the
S. KARPEN & BROTHERS 471
Company for the period immediately preceding the date of this
Direction of Elections, excluding supervisory employees and those
employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, but in-
cluding those who are sick, on vacation, or temporarily laid off, to
determine whether they desire to be represented by United Furniture
Workers of America, Local No. 576 or International Brotherhood of
Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen and Helpers of America, Local
No. 389, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
MR. EDWIN S. SMITH, concurring in part and dissenting in part :
I concur in the decision of the majority to the extent that the
employees in the woodworking and finishing departments are per-
mitted, if they so desire, to constitute a separate bargaining unit
and be represented by Local 1561. I believe that Local 1561 has,
by virtue of the history of its efforts to bargain with the Company,
established the right to claim such a unit.
During its several years in the plant, Local 1561 has failed to induce
the Company to bargain collectively with it. Although the record is
.sparse in. detail, it tends to place upon the Company the responsibility
for this absence of collective bargaining. Local 1561 has persisted in
its efforts to institute collective bargaining, but these efforts have
been frustrated by the Company. It is my opinion that a craft group,
whose sincere attempts to bargain collectively have been nullified by
the employer, may nonetheless have created thereby a right to . claim a
.separate unit. It is for this reason that I concur in that portion of
the majority decision which provides for an election among the em-
ployees in the unit claimed by Local 1561.°
Local 15 has not, so far as the record indicates, made any substan-
tial efforts to bargain with the Company. In 1937 Local 15 sent to the
Company a copy of a form contract which it sent to other furniture
companies in the vicinity. It does not appear from the record, how-
ever, that Local 15 made any further effort to engage in collective
bargaining with the Company. For the reasons stated in previous
dissents,' I would therefore deny to this Union the right to select a
.separate unit in derogation of the wishes of a majority of all the
'employees of the Company.
Local 389 has never attempted to bargain with the Company either
for the truck drivers alone, or for the truck drivers and the shipping
employees. I should therefore not recognize its claim for a unit com-
"Cf. Matter of American hardware Corporation and United Electrical and Radio Work-
ers of America . 4 N. L. R. B. 412 ; Matter of Vallee Aircraft Division, Aviation Manu-
facturing Corporation and United Automobile Workers of America, Local 361, 9 N. L. R. B.
32; Matter of Willys Overland Motors, Inc. and International Union, United Automobile
Workers of America, Local No . 12, 9 N . L. R. B. 924; Matter of The William Powell
-Company and Pattern Makers Association of Cincinnati , 12 N. L. R. B. 115.
'Matter of Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company and International Union, United
Automobile Workers of Anmerica, Local 248, 4 N. L. R. B. 159.
190935-40-vol. 14--31
472 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
posed of these two classes of employees. The parties have stipulated:
however, that the two truck drivers should be represented by Local
389. The majority decision refuses to abide by this stipulation which,
it holds, would give to Local 389 a part of the unit which it claims
appropriate. Since all parties are agreed that Local 389 should rep-
resent the truck drivers, I would abide by the stipulation and hold
that the truck drivers constitute a separate appropriate unit.