The Lehon Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 15, 1941

34 N.L.R.B. 313 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of Tim Lm-iox COMPANY and A. F. or L. • LOCAL 22456
Case No. R-2796.-Decided August 15, 191.x.1
Jurisdiction : composition roofing manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: Com-
pany refused to accord union recognition until certified by the Board; election
necessary:
Pay roll preceding Direction of Election to determine eligibility notwith-
standing request of sole union for a pay roll preceding filing of petition
where, due to increased business, new employees hired by the Company since
such date are permanent and not temporary employees.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em-
ployees, including those in specified departments, and including watchmen;
shingle-nmachine inspectors found not to be supervisory employees included in
unit.
Mr. Fred Muller, Jr., of Memphis, Tenn., for the Company.
Mr. R. O. Ross, of Knoxville, Tenn., for the A. F. of L.
Mr. William H. Bartley, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF TILE CASE
On May 30,1941, A. F. of L. Local 22456, herein called the A. F. of
L., filed with the Regional Director for the Tenth Region (Atlanta,
Georgia) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had
arisen concerning the representation of employees of The Lehon Com-
pany, Memphis, Tennessee, herein called the Company, and request-
ing an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to
Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein
called the Act. On July 11, 1941, 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, as amended, ordered an investigation and
authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an
appropriate hearing upon due notice.
On July 18, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the A. F. of L.
Pursuant to notice a hearing was held on July 25, 1941, at Memphis,
34 N L. R. B, No. 52.
313
314 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Tennessee, before Earle K. Shawe, the Trial Examiner duly desig-
nated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company was represented
by the general manager of its Memphis, Tennessee, plant and the
A. F. of L. by its general organizer ; both 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 on motions and on objections to the admission of - evidence.
The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds
that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby
affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Lehon Company is an Illinois corporation, having its princi-
pal, office and place of business in Chicago, Illinois, and operating
plants at Chicago and Wilmington, Illinois, and Memphis, Tennessee.
At the Memphis, Tennessee, plant, the only one with which we are
here concerned, the Company manufactures and sells composition
roofing. During the year 1940 the Company purchased raw materials
for its Memphis plant amounting to approximately $350,000 in value,
approximately 85 per cent of which was purchased outside the State
of Tennessee. During the same period the Company manufactured
and sold composition roofing amounting in value to approximately
$1,250,000, approximately 64 per cent of which was sold and shipped
to points outside the State of Tennessee. The Company admits that
it is engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of the Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATON INVOLVED
A. F. of L. Local 22456 is a labor organization affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor. It admits to membership employees
of the Company.
M. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On May 30, 1941, the A. F. of L. requested that the Company
recognize it as the exclusive bargaining representative of the Com-
pany's employees. The Company refused to do so until and unless
the Board certified the A. F. of L. as such representative. A state-
ment by the Trial Examiner introduced at the hearing shows that
THE LEI-ION COMPANY 315
the A. F. of L. represents a substantial number of the employees in
the unit alleged to be appropriate.'
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
The Company and the A. F. of L. agreed at the hearing that the
appropriate unit should consist of all production and maintenance
employees in the Memphis plant, including those in the roofing de-
partment, the shipping department, the asphalt department, and the
felt mill, and including watchmen, but excluding supervisory and
clerical employees.
The Company and the A. F. of L., however, disagreed as to the
status of Marvin Phillips and Bennie Phillips; the Company con-
tending that these men are not supervisory employees and the A. F.
of L. contending that they are supervisors. The two men are inspec-
tors on the shingle-cutting machine, one working the day shift, the
other the night shift. Their duties consist of inspecting finished
shingles, checking defects, and instructing machine operators in the
means of remedying defective production. They are. paid the same
hourly rate as the men working on the shingle machine and as other
production and maintenance workers. They keep a record of the
time worked by each man in the shingle department. They have no
power to hire or discharge or give efficiency ratings and were char-
acterized by the Company at the hearing as " "strawbosses." We find
that these men are not supervisory employees and should be included
in the appropriate unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees in the
Memphis plant, including those in the roofing department, the
shipping department, the asphalt department, and the felt mill, and
'The Trial Examiner's statement shows that the A. F. of L. presented 79 application
cards bearing genuine original signatures , 69 of which bore the names of persons on the
Company's pay roll of July 7, 1941. The pay roll contained the names of 108 production
and maintenance employees, 9 supervisory employees , and 4 clerical employees.
316 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
including watchmen and shingle-machine inspectors, but excluding
supervisory and clerical employees, constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining. We find further that said unit
will insure to the 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
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot.
The A . F. of L . requests that the pay roll immediately preceding
the filing of the petition be used to determine eligibility to vote in
the election . The Company asks that the pay roll immediately
preceding the date of the Direction of Election be used. The Com-
pany instituted a second shift in the plant sometime in Julie 1941
and hired 24 new employees at that time . These men have been put
to work with older employees on both the first and second shifts.
The Company 's president testified , without contradiction , that the
second shift was made necessary by greatly increased business, and
that the new employees are permanent employees. We find that
these employees are not merely temporary employees and that they
are eligible to vote in the election . ' We shall , in accordance with our
usual practice , direct that the employees of the Company eligible to
vote in the election shall be those in the appropriate unit who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election , subject to such limitations and addi-
tions as are set forth in the Direction of Election.
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 The Lehon Company, Memphis, Tennessee,
within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All production and maintenance employees in the Melnphis
plant of the Company, including those in the roofing department,
the shipping department, the asphalt department, and the felt. mill,
and including watchmen and shingle-machine inspectors, but exclud-
ing supervisory and clerical employees, constitute a unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of
Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act.
THE LEHON COMPANY 317
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 Rela-
tions Act and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it
is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with The Lehon Company, Memphis, Tennessee, 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 Tenth 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 production,and maintenance employees in the Memphis plant of
the Company, whose names appear on the Company's pay roll for the
period immediately preceding the date 'of this Direction of Election,
including those in the roofing department, shipping department, the
asphalt department; and the felt mill, watchmen and shingle-machine
inspectors, and employees who did not work during such pay-roll
period because they were ill or on vacation or in the active military
service or training of the United States or temporarily laid off, but
excluding supervisory and clerical employees and employees who have
since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not
they desire to be represented by A. F. of L. Local 22456, for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining.
MR. EDWIN S. SMITH took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.