Textile Machine Works, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 13, 1946

65 N.L.R.B. 1030 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of TEXTILE MACHINE WORKS, INC. and UNITED STEEL-
woRKERS OF AMERICA, CIO
Case No. 4-R-1692.-Decided February 13,1946
Messrs. Sylvan H. Hirsch and William M. J: McGinnis, of Phila-
delphia, Pa., for the Company.
Mr. Harry Boyer, of Reading, Pa., for the Union.
Mr. Philip Licari, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by United Steelworkers of America, CIO,
herein called the Union , alleging that a question affecting commerce
had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Textile Ma-
chine Works, Inc., Reading , Pennsylvania , herein called the Com-
pany, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appro-
priate hearing upon due notice before Herman Lazarus, Trial Ex-
aminer. The hearing was held at Reading, Pennsylvania , on Octo-
ber 1, 1945 . The Company and the Union 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 . At the hearing , the Company moved to dismiss the peti-
tion. For reasons stated in Section IV, infra, the motion is denied.
The Trial Examiner 's rulings made at the hearing are free from prej-
udicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an
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
Textile Machine Works, Inc., a Pennsylvania corporation, is en-
gaged at Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, in the manufacture of braid-
ing and knitting machines, and items of ordnance for the armed
forces of the United States. During the year 1944, the Company
65 N. L R. B., No. 184.
1030
TEXTILE MACHINE WORKS, INC. 1031
purchased raw materials valued in excess of $1,000,000, of which 75
percent was shipped from points outside the Commonwealth of Penn-
sylvania. During the same period the Company sold finished goods
valued at approximately $10,000,000, of which 50 percent was shipped
to points outside the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Steelworkers of America, affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to mem-
bership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company refuses to recognize the Union as the exclusive col-
lective bargaining representative of certain of its employees until
the Union is certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Field Examiner for the Board, introduced into
evidence at the hearing , indicates that the Union represents a
substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found ap-
propriate.'
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
The Union contends that all production and maintenance employees
of the Company's foundry, with certain exclusions, constitute an
appropriate unit. The Company urges that the proposed ' unit is in-
appropriate, and that the production and maintenance employees en-
gaged throughout its plant, including those at its machine shop as
well as its foundry, comprise the appropriate unit.
In a previous proceeding involving the same parties herein, a similar
unit was sought and opposed on the same ground. In that case the
Board dismissed the petition, stating:
In view of the functional relationship between the foundry
and the machine shop, the nature of the Company's operations
and the absence of evidence showing that organization of the em-
ployees in both its divisions has not progressed and will not pro-
gress satisfactorily, we find, that, at this time, the unit sought
'The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted an affidavit sworn to by its
financial secretary , stating that it has enrolled approximately 240 dues -paying members
who are all within the appropriate unit. There are approximately 265 employees in this
unit.
1032 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
by the Union, limited to the Company's foundry employees, is
inappropriate.2
The record in this case reveals substantially the same facts with
respect to the Company's operations in its plant at Wyomissing, Penn-
sylvania. The foundry receives all its servicing, maintenance, power,
light, and steam from the machine shop. A central office for the plant,
under the direction of the General Manager, is responsible for all
hiring and discharging of personnel, as well as for all purchases and
sales. All the Company's employees enjoy the same vacation priv-
ileges, pension rights, and medical attention. The evidence shows that
the Company follows a plan of plant-wide seniority in determining
lay-offs and in filling vacancies occurring in either main division.
There were some transfers of employees from one division to another
during the past year. The record also discloses that a substantial
proportion of the goods produced in the foundry is used or finished
in the machine shop.
However, the plant is divided into 2 main divisions, namely, the
machine shop 3 and the foundry, and the latter is housed in a separate
building located approximately 325 feet from the rest of the plant.
Moreover, there are 2 superintendents, each in charge of a division,
who are responsible to the General Manager. In addition, there can
be no question that the employees of the foundry form a well-defined
homogeneous and skilled group. Similar groupings, we have found,
may be appropriate for collective bargaining purposes 4
The present record shows, furthermore, that, although since early
1944, the Union has attempted to organize among the employees of
both the machine shop 5 and the foundry, effective organization has
been achieved only among the foundry employees.6 We also note that
there is no labor organization presently seeking to represent the
Company's employees in a plant-wide unit. The situation is different
from that considered when our 1944 decision issued. The Union has
since sought to organize the employees in the broader unit, and has
evidently failed, so that the evidence lacking in the earlier proceed-
ing is no longer absent. Under all the present circumstances, we
are of the opinion that the unit sought by the Union is now
appropriate.
We find that all production and maintenance employees engaged at
the foundry in the Company's Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, plant, ex-
2 Matter of Tea,tile Machine Works, Inc., 58 N. L. R. B'549.
'The machine shop is comprised of various production departments, and also includes
the wood pattern and metal pattern departments.
4 See Matter of Viking Pump Company, 49 N. L. R. B. 682; Matter of Maryland Sand-
tary Corporation, 53 N. L. R. B. 1490; and Matter of American Crucible Products Com-
pany, 54 N. L. R. B. 47.
5 Since June 1944, only 372 of the 2,000 employees engaged in the machine shop have
become members of the Union. 1
6 See footnote 1, supra.
TEXTILE MACHINE WORKS, INC. 1033
eluding salaried employees , guards, non -working supervisors, as-
sistant foremen , foremen, and all other 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 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 Elec-
tion 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 Re-
lations Act , and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National
Labor Relations 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 Textile Machine
Works, Inc., Reading , Pennsylvania , 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 Fourth 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 Regulations, among
the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV; above,
who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preced-
ing 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 themselvds in person at the polls, 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 , to determine whether or not they desire to be rep-
resented by United Steelworkers of America , CIO, for the purposes
of collective bargaining. '"