Selwyn Shoe Manufacturing Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 21, 1946

65 N.L.R.B. 557 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of SELWYN SHOE MANUFACTURING CORPORATION and
BOOT AND SHOE WORKERS UNION, A. F. OF L.
Case No. 17-R-1168.Decided January 21, 1946
Mr. A. B. Frey, of St. Louis, Mo., for the Company.
Messrs. Ben Berk and George L. Blake, of St. Louis, Mo., for the
Union.
Mr. Samuel G. Hamilton, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Boot and Shoe Workers Union, A. F.
of L., herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Selwyn
Shoe Manufacturing Corporation, herein called the Company, the
National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing
upon due notice before Elmer L. Hunt, Trial Examiner. The hearing
was held at Boonville, Missouri, on October 12, 1945. The Company
and the A. F. of L. appeared and participated. All parties were
afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine
witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial
Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial
error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded opportunity
to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Selwyn Shoe Manufacturing Corporation, an Illinois corporation,
having its-principal operating office at Boonville, Missouri, is engaged
in the business of manufacturing shoes. During the year 1944 the
Company purchased raw materials in an amount in excess of $1,000,000,
of which 90 percent was shipped from points outside the State of
Missouri. During the same period the Company's manufactured prod-
65 N. L. R B., No. 92
557
558 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ucts, valued at approximately $1,400,000, were sold and shipped to the
Tober-Saifer Shoe Company, a Missouri corporation doing business
at St. Louis, Missouri. More than 20 percent of all shoes sold by
Tober-Saifer Shoe Company is sold and shipped to points outside
the State.
,We find, contrary to the Company's contention, that it is engaged
in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.'
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Boot and Shoe Workers Union is a labor organization, affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership
employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of the Company's employees at
its Boonville, Missouri, plant until the Union has been certified by
the Board in an appropriate unit. A statement of a Board agent,
introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicates that the Union
represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter
found appropriate.2
1 See N I, R B v Richter's Bakery, 140 F (2c1) 870, 871 (C C A 5), cert denied, 322
U S 754, N L R B. v Newport News Shipbuilding it Dry Dock Co , 101 F (2d) 841, 843
(C C A 4), affirmed in this respect 308 U S 241 , N L R B v Fainblatt, 306 U S 601,
607, N L R B. v T IV. Phillips Gas it Oil Company, 141 F (2c1) 304, 305 (C C A 3) ;
Matter of L L Stone, et at, trailing as Wire it Metal Manufacturing Company, 64
N L R B 1139, Matter of Rogers Manufacturing Company, 58 N L R B 1339
2 The Field Examiner reported that the,Union submitted 181 cards, bearing the names
of 126 employ ees listed on the Companv's pay roll of July 3, 1945, and that the cards are
dated February 1945 to and including September 1945, with 8 cards undated. There are
approximately 426 employees in the appropi late unit.
At the hearing the Company argued that the Field Examiner ' s report was incompetent
to prove that the Union actually represents any of the employees affected by this proceed-
ing, and that it was an ex parte statement not subject to cross-examination It contended,
accordingly , that the Union had failed to prove the essential allegations of its . petition.
In its brief filed with the Board subsequent to the hearing the Company again questioned
the substantiality of the Union ' s showing by further attacks upon the Field Examiner's
report We find that the Company's contentions are without merit As we have fre-
quently stated , the submission of cards is an administrative expedient adopted by the
Board to determine for itself whether or not a question concerning representation has
arisen . As we have pointed out many times , a union is not required to prove at the
hearing in a proceeding under Section 9 (c) of the Act the precise number of employees it
represents , but need only exhibit to the Board ' s administrative agents, who duly report
thereon to the Board , a prima facie showing in support of its representation claims suf-
ficient to warrant further investigation by means of a hearing and an election See
Matter of Wadesboro Full-Fashioned hosiery Mills, Inc, 64 N. L R B 245, Matter of
Phillips Petroleum Company , 64 N. L R . B 658 ; Matter of Buffalo Arms Corporation, 57
N L R B 1560 ; Matter of Amos -Thompson Corporation, 49 N. L. R B. 423 , Matter of
Bakelite Corporation , 60 N. L . R. B. 318.
In its brief the Company intimates that inasmuch as the Field Examiner ' s report Is
dated September 26, 1945 , this indicates that be purported to have made a check of the
cards against a pay roll current on that date. It also states that a Board agent visited
the plant earlier than September 26, 1945, and implies that the Field Examiner ' s report is
consequently false . Inasmuch as the report clearly states that the pay roll used for check-
ing was dated July 3, 1945, the intimation is without factual basis.
SELWYN SHOE MANUFACTURING CORPORATION 559
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the
representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in substantial accordance with a stipulation of the parties,
that all employees of the Company at its Boonville , Missouri , plant,
excluding bonded watchmen , the engineer , professional employees,
factory and office clericals , salesmen , and all supervisory employees
with authority to hire, promote , discharge , discipline , or otherwise
effect changes in the status of employees , or effectively recommend
such action , constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among employees
in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period
immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein,
subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction.
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 Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Selwyn Shoe Manu-
facturing Corporation , Boonville, Missouri , an election by secret bal-
lot shall be conducted as early as possible , but not later than thirty (30)
days from the date of this Direction , under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Seventeenth Region, acting
in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and
subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regula-
tions, among 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 or on vaca-
tion or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed
forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the
polls, 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 , to determine whether or not they desire to be
represented by Boot and Shoe Workers Union , A. F. of L., for the
purposes of collective bargaining.
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