The Pilliod Cabinet Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 31, 1946

65 N.L.R.B. 668 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

11
In 'the Matter Of THE PILLIOD CABINET COMPANY and PILLIOD Box
MAKERS ASSOCIATION
Case No. 8-R-1885.-Decided January 31, 1946
Mr. T. J. Pilliod, of Swanton, Ohio, and Mr. Alan B. Loop, of
Toledo, Ohio, for the Company.
Messrs. Aloysius M. Gillen and Bert B. Walton, and Elizabeth
Bloom, all of Swanton, Ohio, for the Association.
Messrs. David Guberman, James Crowley, and Ralph Brown, all of
Toledo, Ohio, for the CIO.
Mr. Angelo J. Fiumara, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Pilliod Box Makers Association, herein
called the Association, alleging that a question affecting commerce
had arisen concerning the representation of employees of The Pilliod
Cabinet Company, Swanton, Ohio, herein called the Company, the
National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing
upon due notice before George F. Hayes, Trial Examiner. The hear-
ing was held at Toledo, Ohio, on October 9, 1945. The Company, the
Association, and Local 996, International Union, United Automobile,
Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (CIO),
herein called the CIO, 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 CIO made two motions to dismiss the petition. Ruling
on the motions was reserved for the Board. For reasons set forth in
Sections II and III, infra, the motions are hereby denied. The Trial
Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial
error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an oppor-
tunity to file briefs with the Board.
65 N. L. R. B., No. 115.
668
THE PILLIOD CABINET COMPANY 669
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Pilliod Cabinet Company, an Ohio corporation with its office
and place of business at Swanton, Ohio, is engaged in the manufacture
of cabinets, boxes, and wood chests. The Company annually uses raw
materials valued at approximately $133,000, about 75 percent of which
comes from points outside the State of Ohio. The finished products
manufactured by the Company during a similar period are valued at
approximately $533,000, about 75 percent of which represents ship-
ments outside the State.
We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Pilliod Box Makers Association, unaffiliated, is a labor organization
admitting to membership employees of the Company?
Local 996, International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft &
Agricultural Implement Workers of America, affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admit-
ting to membership employees of the Company.2
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Association as
the exclusive bargaining representative of certain of its employees
until the Association has been certified by the Board in an appropriate
unit.
'i At the hearing, the CIO moved for a dismissal of the petition, alleging that the Asso-
ciation is not a labor organization for the purposes of collective bargaining Although
the Association does not have some of the attributes generally associated with labor organ-
izations, the record does disclose that the Association was organized for the purpose of
negotiating in behalf of its members with respect to wages and working conditions and is
seeking to function in that capacity We, therefore, find that the Association is a labor
organization within the meaning of Section 2 (5) of the Act. See Matter of Gielow,
Incorporated, 60 N. L. R B. 1477 ; Matter of Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company (Marine
Department), 63 N L. R. B 674; and Matter of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company,
63 N. L. R B. 1387.
2 At the hearing, the Company contended that the CIO had ceased to be a labor organi-
zation. We do not agree The record discloses that the CIO and the Company were in
contractual relationship from June 1$42 to February 1, 1944, that proceedings involving
both parties were thereafter had before the war Labor Board, that the CIO actively par-
ticipated in those proceedings which continued through the first half of 1945, and that, as
late as August 27, 1945, the National War Labor Board issued an Order in those pro-
ceedings. Although the Company points to the resignation of the president of the CIO
and his surrender of the organization's books and charter to the auditor of the parent
organization , the record is barren of any proof as to whether this surrender was authorita-
tively made , nor is there any showing that a formal dissolution of the CIO has been voted
Accordingly, under all the circumstances, we find that the CIO is a functioning labor organi-
zation within the meaning of Section 2 (5) of the Act
670 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
As statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing indicates that the Association represents a substantial number
of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate .3
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.4
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in accordance with the agreement of the parties, that all
employees of the Company at its Swanton, Ohio, plant, excluding
firemen, watchmen, maintenance men, salesmen, office workers, and
all 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 Election
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 Relations
A ct, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions 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 The Pilliod Cabinet
Company, Swanton, Ohio, an election by secret ballot shall be con-
ducted 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 Eighth Region, acting in this matter as
3 The Field Examiner reported that the Association submitted petitions dated November
21, 1944, and June 29, 1945 , listing the signatures of 105 persons , and that 72 names
appearing on the petitions were listed on the Company ' s pay roll of June 23, 1945, which
contained the names of 84 employees in the appropriate unit
The CIO relies upon its expired contract with the Company and the proceedings before
the war Labor Board as proof of its interest in this processing
4 For the reasons stated in footnote 1, supra, we find no merit in the CIO 's motion to
dismiss the petition apparently on the ground that the petition , because of the Associa-
tion 's alleged lack of status as a labor organization , does not raise a question concerning
representation
R The Association 's petition was amended at the hearing to exclude the salesmen.
THE PILLOID CABINET COMPANY 671
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 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
any 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 they desire to be represented by Pilliod Box Makers Asso-
ciation, or by Local 996, International Union, United Automobile,
Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (CIO), for
the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
679100-46-vol. 65-44