Standard Overall Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 29, 1943

53 N.L.R.B. 960 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of STANDARD OVERALL COMPANY (JOBBERS PANTS CO.)
and AMALGAMAAD CLOTHING WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 88
Case No. R,5825.-Decided November 09, 1943
Mr. Jacob Blum, of Baltimore, Md., and Mr. Kennon C. Whittle, ,of
Martinsville, Va., for the Company.
Mr. David M. Schlossberg, of New York City, for the Union.
Mr. Glenn L. Moller, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon an amended petition duly filed by Amalgamated Clothing
Workers of America, Local 88, herein called the Union, alleging that
a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa-
tion of employees of Standard Overall Company (Jobbers Pants
Company), Martinsville, Virginia, herein called the Company, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing
upon due notice before Earle K. Shawe, Trial Examiner. Said hear-
ing was held at Martinsville, Virginia, on August 11, 1943. The Com-
pany and the Union appeared; participated, and 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 froth prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed. At the commencement of the hearing, the Company
moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that the Union had failed
to show a substantial interest in an appropriate unit. The Trial Ex-
aminer referred this motion to the Board for ruling. For the reasons
appearing hereinafter, the motion is denied. 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
Standard Overall Company is a Maryland corporation engaged in
the manufacture of- men's clothing, including shirts, overalls, cover-
53 N. L. R. B., No. 182.
960
STANDARD OVERALL COMPANY 961
ails, and trousers. The Company operates four factories located in
Martinsville, Virginia, under the trade name of Jobbers Pants Com-
pany. These plants are known as Plants 1, 2, 3, and 4. Plants 1, 3,
and 4 produce men's trousers, while Plant 2 is engaged exclusively
in the production of coveralls for the United States Army. The Com-
pany's purchases of raw materials, consisting chiefly of cotton, wool,
and dyes, during the 12 months' period ending July 30, 1943, amounted
in value to more than $100,000. Of the raw materials used by the Com-
pany at its four Martinsville plants, 76 percent is shipped to the plants
from points outside the State of Virginia. During the same period
the Company's, finished products amounted in ' value to more than
$100,000, approximately 95 percent of which was shipped by the Com-
pany to points outside the State of Virginia.
The Company admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, Local 88, affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization
admitting to membership employees of the Company.
M. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On or about June 14, 1943, the Union requested that the Company
recognize it as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees
of the Company at its Martinsville Plants 1 and 2. The Company
has refused to accord such recognition, contending that the unit sought
by the Union is inappropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing and, further, that the Union does not represent a majority of the
employees of the Company.
A statement of a Field Examiner for the Board, introduced into
evidence at the hearing, and a supplemental statement by the Trial
Examiner, indicate that the Union represents a substantial number
of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.'
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 National Labor
Relations Act.
I The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 252 application-for-membership
cards, 222 of which bore the apparently genuine signatures of employees in the appropriate
unit whose names appear on the Company's pay roll for the period ending July 19, 1943.
The aforesaid pay roll contains the names of 683 persons in the appropriate unit. The
Trial Examiner reported that at the hearing the Union submitted 19 additional application-
for-membership cards bearing the apparently genuine signatures of persons whose names
appear on the pay roll of August 1f, 1943, which contains the names of 711 employees in
the appropriate unit.
962 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union contends 'that all production and maintenance employees
of the Company at its Plants 1 and 2 in Martinsville, Virginia, exclud-
ing timekeepers, clerical employees, guards, and supervisory em-
ployees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining. The Company agrees to the exclusion of the specific
categories of employees specified by the Union with the exception
of the category of watchmen, whom the Company would include in
the unit, but contends that only a unit consisting of the employees
of all four of the Company's Martinsville plants is appropriate.
As previously stated, Plants 1, 3, and 4 are engaged'in the manufac-
ture of men's trousers, while Plant 2 is engaged in the manufacture of
coveralls for the United States Army. Plants 1, 3, and 4 are located
within a few blocks of each other, while Plant 2 is located about a mile
and one-half from the other plants. All four plants are operated
under the supervision of a general manager and assistant general
manager. The general manager alone has authority to hire and
discharge and he visits all four plants daily to exercise general
supervision over them. Each plant is under the immediate direc-
tion of a foreman, who has authority to recommend the hire and
discharge of employees and to grant time off. The Company main-
tains only one pay roll for all four plants, but the employees' names
are so arranged and numbered on the pay roll that the Company
can determine from its pay roll in which plant each employee works.
Thus, each employee retains the same pay-roll number unless he is
transferred permanently ,to another plant, at which time he is given a
new number which indicates to which plant he has been transferred.
Plants 1, 3, and 4 are each engaged in the production of the same
product, men's trousers, using the same patterns and materials. The
raw materials used by the Company at all four plants are delivered to
the Company at its receiving department at Plant 1. Such materials
are then either sent to the plant at which they are to be used, or they
are stored, sometimes at Plant 1, sometimes at the other plant. Fin-
ished products are all shipped through one shipping office, also located
at Plant 1. Because the Company has been unable to obtain the neces-
sary equipment for Plant 4, materials which are sewed at that plant
are then sent to Plants 1 or 3 to be pressed. The only other functional
relationship between the plants is that the curtains, or waistbands, of
the trousers, are all made at Plant 1 for all three plants. About 6 or 7
employees of Plant 1 make the curtains which are used at all three
plants. There is very little interchange of employees between the
plants, the only exceptions being as to certain inspectors and pressers.
There are a number of pressers and inspectors at Plant 1 who are some-
times sent for short periods to Plant 3, while pressers and inspectors
STANDARD OVERALL COMPANY 963
permanently employed at Plant 3 are sometimes sent to Plant 1. There
are about 10 or 12 such interchanges per week. There are, however,
very few permanent transfers and a temporarily transferred employee
must return to the plant in which he is permanently located to get his
pay check.
The Company has had no previous bargaining history. The Union,
as admitted by the Company in its brief, has attempted to organize all
four plants, but has had virtually no-success at Plants 3 and 4. The
organizer testified that the Union was seeking a unit confined to Plants
1 and 2 because it believed that the employees of Plants 1 and 2 should
not be deprived indefinitely of the opportunity to bargain collectively
because of the lack of interest in collective bargaining on the part of
the employees of Plants 3 and 4. It was the opinion of the union
organizer that Plants 3 and 4 cannot be organized in the foreseeable
future.
In view of the lack of a bargaining history on a broader basis, the
substantially independent operations at the respective plants, and the
limited extent of self-organization among the Company's employees,
we are of the opinion that the unit here sought is appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining at the present time.'- Our finding
that a unit confined to two of the Company's plants is appropriate will
not, however, preclude a finding at some later date that a larger, more
inclusive unit is then appropriate.
The Company's contention that watchmen should be included in the
unit because they carry revolvers, as distinguished from guns, is with-
out merit. The watchmen are armed and the Union has made no
attempt to organize them. They will be excluded from the appropriate
unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees regularly
employed by the Company at its Plants 1 and 2, Martinsville, Virginia,
excluding timekeepers, guards, clerical workers, supervisory employ-
ees with the rank of assistant foreman and assistant forelady, and all
2 Matter of Kentucky Fluorspar Company , 52 N. L R B 27; Matter of Gardner-
Richardson Company, 52 N L R. B 1260 ; Matter of Servel, Inc., 51 N L R B 224;
Matter of Kansas Cety Star Co ., 47 N. L. R B, 386; Cf Matter of Metal Office Furniture
Company, 51 N. L R B 993; Matter of Flint Mfg Co., 49 N L. R B. 1084
.The Company relies upon a number of prior decisions of the Board, notably Matter of
K. & B. Packing & Provision Co., 51 N. L B. B. 72; Matter of Bakewell Manufacturing
Co., 48 N. L B R. 916, and Matter of Fickett-Brown Mfg Co.. 51 N. L. B B 34, to
support its argument that the Union's attempt to organize employees in all four of the
Company's plants precludes a finding that the two-plant unit here sought is appropriate.
It is true that the language employed in the three decisions last named indicates that an
attempt by the union to organize on a broader basis is regarded by the Board as fatal to
the union ' s petition for a unit constituting only a part of the optimum unit. This view,
however, was disapproved in the more recent Kentucky Fluorspar case, in which, to the
extent that it was inconsistent , we expressly overruled Matter of Globe Newspaper Com-
pany, 31 N. L . R. B. 916. We regard the Bakewell case , as well as a number of other
cases on which the Company relies, as distinguishable on their facts from the instant case.
The K. & B. Packing and Fsckett-Brown cases are hereby overruled.
964 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, disci-
pline, discharge, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees
or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective 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 the em-
ployees 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 Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Standard Overall
Company ( Jobbers Pants Co. ), Martinsville , Virginia , 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 Fifth 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 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 or on vacation
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 discharged for
cause and who have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date
of the election , to determine whether or not they desire to be repre-
sented by Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, Local 88, affil-
iated with the Congress of Industrial Workers of America , for the
purposes of collective bargaining.
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