The Athens Stove Works, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 7, 1939

18 N.L.R.B. 148 (N.L.R.B. 1939)

In the Matter of THE ATHENS STOVE WORKS, INC. and INTERNA-
TIONAL MOLDERS UNION OF NORTH AMERICA
Case No. C-877.-Decided December 7, 1939
Stove Manufacturing Industry-Interference , Restraint , or Coercion : charges
of, dismissed-Discrimination : charges of dismissed-Complaint: dismissed.
Mr. Alexander E. Wilson, Jr., for the Board.
Mr. R. A. Davis and Mr. Clem J. Jones, of Athens, Tenn ., for the
respondent.
Mr. Richard A. Williams, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon charges duly filed by International Molders Union of North
America, herein called the Union, the National Labor Relations
Board, herein called the Board, by Charles N. Feidelson, Regional
Director for the Tenth Region (Atlanta, Georgia), issued its com-
plaint dated April 27, 1938, against The Athens Stove Works, Inc.,
herein called the respondent, alleging that the respondent had en-
gaged in and was engaging in unfair labor practices affecting com-
merce within the meaning of Section 8 (1) and (3) and Section 2
(6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein
called the Act. Copies of the complaint, accompanied by notice of
hearing, were duly served upon the respondent ' and the Union.
The complaint alleged in substance (1) that on and after August
31, 1937, the respondent discouraged membership in the Union by
discrimination in regard to the hire and tenure of Charles Bowen;
and (2) that by the above discrimination, by threats and by other
statements and acts, the respondent interfered with, restrained, and
coerced its employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in
Section 7 of the Act. On May 4, 1938, the respondent filed an
answer to the complaint denying that it had engaged in the alleged
unfair labor practices.
Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held in Athens, Tennessee, on
May 5 and 6, 1938, before Webster Powell, the Trial Examiner duly
18 N. L. It. B., No. 23.
148
THE ATHENS STOVE WORKS, INCORPORATED 149
designated by the Board. The Board and the respondent were
represented by counsel and participated in the hearing. Full oppor-
tunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to
introduce evidence bearing upon the issue was afforded all parties.
At the close of the Board's case, counsel for the Board moved to
conform the complaint to the proof. The Trial Examiner granted
the motion. At the close of the hearing, counsel for the respondent
moved to dismiss the complaint. The Trial Examiner denied the
motion. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made
other rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evi-
dence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner
and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings
are hereby affirmed.
On September 1, 1938, the Trial Examiner filed his Intermediate
Report, copies of which were duly served upon the parties. He
found that the respondent had engaged in and was engaging in
unfair labor practices affecting commerce within the meaning of
Section 8 (1) and (3) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act by
discharging and refusing to reinstate Charles Bowen because of
Bowen's union activity. He recommended that the respondent cease
and desist from the unfair labor practices and, affirmatively, offer
full reinstatement with back pay to Bowen.
Thereafter, on September 15, 1938, the respondent filed exceptions
to the Intermediate Report. On March 9, 1939, pursuant to permis-
sion granted by the Board, the respondent presented oral argument
before the Board in Washington, D. C., and filed a brief, in support
of its contentions. The Union did not appear at the oral argument.
The Board has considered the brief and the exceptions and, in so
far as the exceptions are inconsistent with the findings, conclusions,
and order set forth below, finds them to be without merit.
Upon the entire record in the case the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE RESPONDENT
The respondent is a Tennessee corporation with its principal office
and place of business in Athens, Tennessee. It is engaged in the
manufacture and sale of coal, wood, and gas stoves and circulating
heaters, and it employs approximately 370.employees. The respond-
ent obtains a substantial amount of its raw materials from outside
the State of Tennessee. Its annual sales are valued at $1,554,149,
and it ships more than 90 per cent of its products to States other
than Tennessee. The respondent admits that it has been and is
engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of the Act.
150 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Molders Union of North America is a labor organi-
zation affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It admits
to membership molders and foundry workers.
III. THE ALLEGED INTERFERENCE , RESTRAINT , COERCION, AND
DISCRIMINATION
On June 3, 1937, Charles Bowen, a molder, became an organizer
for the Union and thereafter he spoke to several of the respondent's
employees in an effort to interest them in the Union. Bowen testi-
fied that he pursued this activity "secretly." He testified further
that during this period F. O. Mahery, the respondent's manager,
would not speak to him and assumed an unfriendly attitude toward
him. Mahery denied this testimony. Manager Mahery and Glenn
Taylor, the respondent's foreman, testified that they did not learn
of Bowen's union activity until after he was discharged on August
31, 1937.
From the record it appears, and we find, that the respondent dis-
charged Bowen during the morning of August 31, under the follow-
ing circumstances. Bowen, in working on the part of a stove known
as a face casting, was using a sieve known as a No. 4 riddle although
the respondent's rules required that a No. 6 riddle, having a finer
mesh, be used on the type of work in which Bowen was then en-
gaged.'. Upon discovering that Bowen was using the coarser meshed
sieve, Foreman Taylor told Bowen to "break up your work and
turn it all in tonight, I am going to have to let you go." Thereupon
the following conversation ensued :
[Bowen:] What is the matter . . .
[Taylor:] Using a No. 4 riddle .. .
[Bowen:] Why pick on me, the rest of the boys are using
them the same as I am . . .
[Taylor:] Well, you are the only one that's got caught .. .
In this conversation Taylor also denied that the discharge was for
union activity.
Several employees testified to their familiarity with and frequent
violation of the respondent' s rule. Foreman Taylor testified that
while he suspected other employees of ignoring the respondent's rule
in this respect, he "couldn't catch them." The record shows that
'Failure to use fine enough mesh may result in a rough or pitted surface on a casting
and make it unsuitable for use in the finished product . Bowen stated that the use of a
coarser meshed riddle enabled him to sift his sand faster and thus increase the quantity
of his work.
THE ATHENS STOVE WORKS, INCORPORATED 151
the respondent had previously discharged three other _ workers for
failure to observe this rule.
Following his discharge Bowen talked to a group of some 20
molders in the respondent's plant and asked them to attend a meet-
ing of the Union to be held on September 1, 1937. Bowen testified
that at the time of the scheduled meeting he observed Taylor, and
Hughes, another of the respondent's foremen, in a car parked in
front of the entrance to the meeting hall, and that Manager Mahery
appeared on a street corner near the hall. This testimony was not
corroborated. Taylor and Mahery denied generally that they had
ever watched or spied upon any of the respondent's employees.
Hughes did not testify.' Upon the basis of this testimony alone
we do not find surveillance of the meeting by the respondent.
Following the aforesaid meeting Bowen joined the Union. On
the following day, September 2, 1937, the Union requested Manager
Mahery to reinstate Bowen. Mahery refused this request with the
explanation that he had "to back up (his) foremen.",
In view of the secret nature of Bowen's union activities, the lack
of a showing that the respondent was aware of these activities, the
violation by Bowen of a rule for which others had been discharged,
the proximity of his discharge to this violation, the circumstances
surrounding his discharge, and the absence of credible evidence of
anti-union activity on the part of the respondent, we are unable to
conclude that Bowen's discharge was for union membership or
activity.
We find that the record does not support the allegations of the
complaint that the respondent discriminated in regard to the hire
and tenure and terms and- conditions of employment of Charles
Bowen, thereby discouraging membership in a labor organization,
or that the respondent interfered with, restrained, or coerced its
employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section 7 of
the Act. We will, therefore, dismiss the complaint.
Upon the basis of the foreging findings of fact, and upon the
entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. The operations of the respondent, The Athens Stove Works,
Inc., Athens, Tennessee, occur in commerce, within the meaning of
Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
2. International Molders Union of North America is a labor or-
ganization within the meaning of Section 2 (5) of the Act.,
3. The respondent has not discriminated in regard to hire or tenure
of employment, thereby discouraging membership in a labor organi-
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152 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
zation, and engaging in an unfair labor practice within the meaning
of Section 8 (3) of the Act.
4. The respondent has not interfered with, restrained, or coerced
its employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section 7
of the Act, within the meaning of Section 8 (1) of the Act.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and conclusions
of law, and pursuant to Section 10 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that
the complaint against The Athens Stove Works, Inc., Athens, Ten-
nessee, be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
MR. WILLIAM M. LEISExsoN took no part in the consideration of
the above Decision and Order.