Textron, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 29, 1947

72 N.L.R.B. 341 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of TEXTRON, INCORPORATED, EMPLOYER and AMALGAM-
ATED CLOTHING WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 1-R-3400.Decided January 29, 1947
Edwards cfi Angell, by Mr. William C. Waring, Jr., of Providence,
R. I., for the Employer.
Grant c6 A ngoff, by Mr. Harold B. Roitman, of Boston , Mass., for
the Petitioner.
Messrs. George Roewer and Ralph A. Roberts, of Boston, Mass., for
the Intervenor.
Mr. Benj. E. Cooke, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Boston,
Massachusetts, on November 25, 1946, before Robert E. Greene, hear-
ing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Textron, Incorporated, is a Rhode Island corporation with its prin-
cipal office and place of business located at Lowell, Massachusetts.
The Employer operates approximately 14 plants throughout New
England, including one located at South Portland, Maine, which is
the only plant involved in this proceeding. The Employer is engaged
at this plant in stitching and trimming women's rayon slips. From
the first week in September 1946 to November 25, 1946, the Employer
purchased for use at its South Portland plant raw materials valued
at more than $5,000, all of which was shipped to this plant from points
outside the State of Maine. During the same period, the Employer
manufactured finished products at the South Portland plant valued
at more than $2,000, substantially all of which was shipped to points
outside the State.
72 N. L. R. B., No. 63.
341
342 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent-employees of the
Employer.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, herein called the
Intervenor, is a labor organization afligted with the American Fed-
eration of Labor, 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 has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The parties agree generally that all production and maintenance
employees of the Employer at its South Portland plant, excluding
watchmen, office, clerical, and supervisory employees, constitute an
appropriate unit. They are in disagreement, however, as to' instruc-
tors. The Intervenor would exclude them, contending that they are
supervisory employees; the Petitioner and Employer would include
them.
An instructor is an experienced sewer who has been selected to
train and instruct employees in the operation of stitching machines.
An instructor may be returned to his former role as sewer, is paid no
extra compensation for his instructing work, and receives vacation,
insurance, and other benefits identical with those received by sewers.
While instructors keep production records and report directly to the
floorladies or the plant manager regarding progress of trainees, they
do not possess authority effectively to recommend retention, promo-
tion, transfer or any form of disciplinary action. Accordingly, we
are of the opinion that instructors do not possess supervisory author-
ity within the Board's customary definition and shall include them
in the unit.'
We find that all production and maintenance employees, including
instructors, but excluding watchmen, office, clerical employees, floor-
' See Matter of E. I . du Pont de Nemours & Company , Inc, Rayon Division, 62 N L R B.
146 ; Matter of Armstrong Tire & Rubber Company , 61 N. L. R. B. 1503.
TEXTRON, INCORPORATED 343
ladies, 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
The Intervenor contends that no election should be held until the
Employer's plant has employed its maximum personnel complement.
The record reveals that within approximately 1 month after com-
mencement of operations, there were 82 employees on the pay roll
and within about 2 months, this number had been increased to ap-
proximately 94. From a physical standpoint, the Employer's plant
cannot accommodate more than 150 employees. Moreover, at the time
of the hearing, the Employer could not predict when or whether
there would be an increase or decrease of personnel. Inasmuch as
the Employer, at the time of the hearing, had more than 50 percent
of its maximum personnel complement, we find that an election is
now appropriate.2
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Textron, Incorporated, South
Portland, Maine, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as
early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the data
of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the First Region, acting in this matter as agent for the
National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and
203.56, of National Labor Relations 13oard Rules and Regulations-
Series 4, 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 have not been rehired or re-
instated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether they
desire to be represented by Amalgamated Clothing Workers of
America, CIO, or by International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union,
AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
2 See Matter of Tyler Fixture Corporation, Southwest Div., 67 N. L. R . B. 945.