Tabardrey Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 1, 1939

17 N.L.R.B. 6 (N.L.R.B. 1939)

In the Matter of TABARDREY MANUFACTURING COMPANY and TEXTILE
WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA
Case No. R-1554.-Decided [November 1, 1939
Textile Manufacturing Industry-Investigation of Representatives : controversy
concerning representation of employees : stipulation : refusal to recognize peti-
tioner until certification ;-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : stipu-
lation : all hourly and piece-rate production and maintenance employees, ex-
cluding supervisory , clerical, watchmen-Election Ordered
Mr. Herbert O. Eby, for the Board.
Long, Long d Barrett, by Mr. J. Dolph Long and Mr. George A.
Long, of Graham, N. C., and Mr. Sidney S. Paine, of Haw River,
N. C., for the Company.
Mr. Henry I. Adams, of Charlotte, N. C., for the Union.
Mr. Stanley D. Metzger, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On May 24, 1939, Textile Workers Organizing Committee, herein
called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the Fifth
Region (Baltimore, Maryland), a petition alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Tabardrey Manufacturing Company, Haw River, North
Carolina, herein called the Company, and requesting an investiga-
tion and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of
the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the
Act. On August 4, 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 2, ordered an investigation and authorized the
Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice.
'The petition was signed by Textile Workers Organizing Committee . At the hearing,
however, this was changed , without objection , to Textile Workers Union of America.
17 N. L. R. B., No. 2.
6
TABARDREY MANUFACTURING COMPANY 7
On August. 17, August 26, and September 8,. 1939, the Regional
Director issued a notice of hearing and notices of postponement, re-
spectively, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and
upon the Union. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on October
12, 1939, at Burlington, North Carolina, before Berdon M. Bell, the
Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board and the
Union were represented by counsel; the Company was represented by
counsel and by its president. All participated 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
several rulings regarding the admission of evidence. The Board
has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and they are hereby
affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Tabardrey Manufacturing Company is a North Carolina corpora-
tion having its principal place of business at Haw River, North Caro-
lina. It is engaged in the manufacture of cotton grey goods, namely,
corduroy, moleskins, and suedes. The chief raw material used by
the Company is cotton. During the period from January 1 to
September 30, 1939, 14.8 per cent of the cotton used by the Company
was purchased by and shipped to it from points outside the State
of North Carolina. The Company produces annually approximately
51/2 or 6 million yards of goods of an approximate value of $1,025,000.
Approximately 99 per cent of the Company's products are sold to
the Proximity Manufacturing Company, Greensboro, North Caro-
lina. At least 60 per cent of these are, after processing by the Prox-
imity Manufacturing Company, sold and transported into States
other than the State of North Carolina. Three officers and directors
of Proximity Manufacturing Company are also officers and directors
of the Company. The Company employs approximately 325 persons.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Textile Workers Union of America is a labor organization, affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to mem-
bership all hourly and piece-rate production and maintenance em-
ployees of the Company, excluding clerical and supervisory employees
and watchmen.
247384-40-vol. 17-2
8 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
At the hearing the parties stipulated that on May 4, 1939, at a
conference between the Company and the Union, the Company, be-
cause of its lack of knowledge as to whether the Union represented
a majority of its employees, refused to recognize the Union as the
sole bargaining agency for its employees. 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
At the hearing the parties stipulated that all hourly and piece-
rate production and maintenance employees of the Company, ex-
clusive of supervisory and clerical employees and watchmen, con-
stitute an appropriate bargaining unit. We see no reason to alter
the agreed unit.
We find that all hourly and piece-rate production and maintenance
employees of the Company, exclusive of supervisory and clerical em-
ployees and watchmen, constitute a unit appropriate for purposes of
collective bargaining and that said unit will insure to employees' 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
At the hearing the Union requested an election to determine the
question concerning representation. We find that the question which
has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Com-
pany can best be resolved by. an election by secret ballot.
The Company and the Union agreed at the hearing that, in the
event that the Board should direct an election, the eligibility of em-
ployees to participate therein should be determined by the Company's
pay roll for the week ending September 30, 1939. We shall direct
that those eligible to vote in the election shall be the employees in
the appropriate unit whose names appear upon the Company's pay
roll for the week ending September 30, 1939, including employees who
TABARDREY MANUFACTURING COMPANY 9
did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or
on vacation, and employees who were then or have since been tem-
porarily laid off, but excluding those who have since quit or been
discharged for cause.
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 Tabardrey Manufacturing Company, Haw
River, North Carolina, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and
Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
2. All hourly. and piece-rate production and maintenance employees
of the Company, exclusive of supervisory and clerical employees and
watchmen, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the 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 Re-
lations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation ordered by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with Tabardrey Manufacturing Company, Haw River, North Caro-
lina, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as pos-
sible but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Di-
rection of Election, under the direction and supervision of the Re-
gional Director for the Fifth 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 all hourly and piece-
rate. production and maintenance employees of Tabardrey Manu-
facturing Company, Haw River, North Carolina, whose names ap-
pear upon the Company's pay roll for the week ending September
30, 1939, including employees who did not work during such pay-
roll period because they were ill or on vacation, and employees who
were then or have since been temporarily laid off, but excluding
clerical and supervisory employees, watchmen, and employees who
have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented by Textile Workers Union of
America for the purposes of collective. bargaining.