The Terrell Machine Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 28, 1945

60 N.L.R.B. 993 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of THE TERRELL MACHINE COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, A. F. L.
Case No. 5-R-1796.-Decided February 28, 1945 ,
Messrs. Frank H. Kennedy and Goebel Porter, of Charlotte, N. C.,
for the Company.
Mr. F. T. Cornelius, of Charlotte, N. C.,'for the A. F. L.
Mr. Harold M. Humphreys, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Association of Machin-
ists, A. F. L., herein called the A. F. L., alleging that a question affect-
ing commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees
of Tlie Terrell Machine Company, Charlotte, North Carolina, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided
for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before George L. Weasler,
Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Charlotte, North Caro-
lina, on January 23, 1945. The Company and the A. F. L. appeared
and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be
heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evi-
dence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at
the hearing are free from prejudicial 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 snakes the following:
FINDINCS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Terrell Machine Company is a North Carolina corporation
having its principal office and place of business at Charlotte, North
Carolina, where it is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and distribu-
tion of textile machinery and textile machine parts. The Company
operates three plants, two of which are located in Charlotte, North
60 N. L R. B., No. 169.
993
628563-45-vol. 60 64
°--994 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Carolina, and one in Crossnore, North Carolina. During the year
1944, the Company purchased raw materials amounting in value to
'more-than $25,000, of which in excess of 25 percent was shipped to
the Company from points outside the State of North Carolina. For
The same period, the Company's finished products amounted in value
to more than $25,000, of which in excess of 25 percent was shipped to
points outside the State of North Carolina.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Association of Machinists, affiliated with the Ameri-
- can Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to member-
ship employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the A. F. L. as
-the exclusive bargaining representative-of certain of its employees
,until the A. F. L. has been certified by the Board in an appropriate
runit. -
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of em-
ployees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.'
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 A. F. L. seeks a unit comprised of all production and mainte-
nance employees of the Church Street and Mint-Palmer plants at
Charlotte, North Carolina, excluding supervisors of the rank of general
-foremen and above and all office clerical employees. Contrary to the
wishes of the A. F. L., the Company would also include the production
.and maintenance employees at its Crossnore plant, and exclude fore-
men, assistant foremen, inspectors, and stockroom employees.
The Company maintains its general offices at Charlotte, North Caro-
lina. Its operations consist of three plants, the Church Street plant
and the Mint-Palmer plant, both located in Charlotte, North Carolina,
and the Crossnore plant located in Crossnore, North Carolina. The
-Crossnore plant is'known as the wood working plant; there,_the Com-
pany manufactures wooden blocks from logs, and sends them to the
Mint-Palmer plant for further processing. At the Mint-Palmer
' The Field Examiner reported that the A. F. L. submitted 78 application-for-mem-
bership cards, and that there are approximately 100 employees in the alleged appropriate
unit.
THE TERRELL MACHINE COMPANY 995
plant,2 the Company manufactures tools, and equipment and parts for
textile machinery, while at the Church Street plant, it produces bobbin
cleaning machinery, conveying equipment, and machine parts. All
three plants are operated under the supervision of a production man-
ager and the Company pays uniform wages for similar skill at all its
plants.
The Charlotte plants are 11/2 miles apart, and there is considerable
interdependency between them. Thus, each relies on the other for the
completion of certain finishing operations. In addition, machines are
built in the Church Street plant and Mint Street section of the Mint-
Palmer plant for ultimate use in the Palmer Street section of the latter
plant. There also has been some interchange of machinery, between
the Charlotte plants. Moreover, prior to the acquisition of the Cross=
nore plant, located 125 miles from the Charlotte plants, the Company
purchased the materials now manufactured there from other sources,
and it appears that, in the event the Crossnore plant should cease
operations, it would not necessitate the shutting down of the Charlotte
plants. In a prior representation proceeding initiated by the Union
wherein it sought a unit confined to employees of the Church Street
plant, the Board, in dismissing the petition, stated, ". . . a unit of em-
ployees of both Charlotte plants is feasible for collective bargaining
purposes." 3 We are of the opinion that a unit restricted to the
employees of the Charlotte plants is appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining.
As noted above, the Company's operations are directed by a produc-
tion manager. Below the production , manager in the Company's
supervisory hierarchy are general foremen, one at the Church Street
plant, and one at each of the two sections of the Mint-Palmer plant .4
Foremen work under their respective general foremen, and assistant
foremen perform their functions under the supervision of their respec-
tive foremen. As previously indicated, both parties agree to the exclu-
sion of the general foremen. Testimony of witnesses for the Company
indicates that foremen and assistant foremen have authority effec-
tively to recommend hiring and discharging. We are of the opinion
that these employees possess sufficient indicia of supervisory authority
to warrant their exclusion.
We find no merit in the Company's contention that inspectors and
stockroom employees should be excluded from the unit. Inspectors
pack and assist in shipping, in addition to their inspection functions.
Stockroom employees are employed in the stockroom which is located
in the plant. These employees stock the shelves of the stockroom,
check tools in and out, and keep records of such work. The inspectors
2 The Mint-Palmer plant is composed of two divisions, known as the Mint-Street section
and the Palmer Street section.
' Matter of The Terrell Machine Company, 57 N. L. R. B. 275.
4 There is also a general foreman at the Crossnore plant.
996 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and stockroom employees work the same hours and are paid on the
same basis as the production employees. Neither the inspectors nor
the stockroom employees appear to have any supervisory authority.
We shall include them in the unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the
Company's Church Street and Mint-Palmer plants at Charlotte, North
Carolina, including inspectors, and stockroom employees, but exclud-
ing office clerical employees, foremen, and assistant foremen, and all
other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, dis-
charge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em-
ployees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of
Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. TIIE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the
employees 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
Act, 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 Terrell
Machine Company, Charlotte, North Carolina, 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 Fifth Region, acting in
this hatter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board and sub-
ject 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 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 represented
by International Association of Machinists, A. F. L., for the purposes
of collective bargaining.