Salter Mills Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 23, 1948

76 N.L.R.B. 930 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of SALTER MILLS COMPANY, M. SALTER AND SONS]
EMPLOYER and TEXTILE WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA, C, I. O.,
PETITIONER
Case No.1-RC-27.Decided March 23, 19. 8
Mr. Morris Crosley, of Lynn, Mass., for the Employer.
Mr. Hagh Brown, of Boston, Mass., for the Petitioner.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Lynn,
Massachusetts, on December 10, 1947, before Sam G. Zack, hearing offi-
cer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirnied.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board-
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-roan
panel consisting of the undersigned Board Members.*
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Salter Mills Company, herein referred to as Salter Mills, is a Massa-
chusetts corporation with a plan in Saugus, Massachusetts, where it
is engaged in the business of cleaning and scouring raw wool and pre-
paring it for spinning. The wool processed by Salter Mills belongs to
various woolen mills and dealers. During the 6-month period preced-
ing the date of the hearing, Salter Mills processed approximately 1,-
000,000 pounds of wool for a charge of approximately $42,000. Of
this total, approximately 10 percent was shipped to customers outside
the State of Massachusetts.
M. Salter and Sons, herein called Salter, is a Massachusetts corpo-
ration engaged in the business of buying and selling woolen rags and
*Chan man Herzog and Members Reynolds and Murdock.
76 N L R B, No. 126.
930
SALTER MILLS COMPANY 931
woolen waste products in Saugus , Massachusetts . During the 6-month
period preceding the date of the hearing , Salter purchased approxi-
mately $85,000 worth of woolen waste materials , of which 50 percent
was received from points outside the State of Massachusetts. During
the same period , Salter sold approximately $98,000 worth of woolen
waste materials , of which 25 percent was shipped to out-of-State
customers.
The Employer admits , and we find , that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations , claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the Peti-
tioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner seeks a single unit of all the production and mainte-
nance employees of Salter Mills and Salter, excluding office and clerical
employees, and supervisors. Salter Mills and Salter oppose the scope
of the unit proposed by the Petitioner and contend that separate units
of the employees of Salter Mills and Salter are appropriate.
Although separate corporations, Salter Mills and Salter have the
same officers and directors. Paul Salter is the president and treasurer,
his nephew, Gershon Salter, the vice president, and his wife, Sally
Salter, the clerk. These three individuals also serve as directors of
the two corporations. Salter Mills conducts its activities in four adja-
cent buildings, two of which are used for its processing operations,
while the other two are warehouses. All four structures are owned by
Salter Mills. Salter occupies part of the space in the two processing
plants as well as the warehouses, the quantity varying with the needs
of its business. Salter does not pay Salter Mills for the use of the
premises until the close of each year when the parties determine what
rent should be charged for the year's occupancy. , The figure arrived
at is based on a rough estimate of the amount of space 9,41f^r occupied
781903-48-vol. 76 60
932 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
during the year which is in turn determined by the number of bales of
wool that Salter stored on the premises that year. One office serves
both corporations for their financial and other records which are sepa-
rately kept.
Paul Salter, in addition to his roles as president, treasurer, and direc-
tor, is the dominant figure in the management of the two corporations.
It would appear that he formulates all labor and production policies.
His nephew, Gershon Salter, is also active in the business of the two
firms and serves as assistant to Paul Salter. The only rank of super-
visors employed in the two corporations are foremen. There are ap-
proximately 7 employees of Salter Mills, and 10 employees of Salter.
't'heir skills, it seems clear, are not notably different. Either corpora-
tion may, and frequently does, call upon the services of the employees
of the other when additional help is required. While the employees
are listed on separate pay rolls, no deduction is made for, nor is a record
kept of, the time the employees of one corporation spend performing
work for the other corporation. However, at the end of each year,
the corporations each estimate the value of the services rendered by em-
ployees in the other corporation and a reimbursement is made.
Under all the circumstances, including the fact that the actual con-
trol of both corporations is vested in the same individuals, we are of
the opinion that the two corporations constitute a single employer
within the meaning of Section 2 (2) of the Act.'
Accordingly, we find that all the production and maintenance em-
ployees of Salter Mills and Salter, excluding office and clerical em-
ployees, and all supervisors, constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b)
of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for purposes
of collective bargaining with Salter Mills Company and M. Salter
and Sons, Saugus, Massachusetts, 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 direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the First Region, and subject to Sections
'203.61 and 203.62, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regu-
lations-Series 5, among the employees in the unit found appropriate
in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period
immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees
who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill
' Matter of A. W. Franklin Manufacturing Corporation , 71 N. L. It. B. 142.
SALTER MILLS COMPANY 933
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 reinstated prior to the date of the election, and also ex-
cluding cmployees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to
determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Textile
Workers Union of America, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective
bargaining.