United Furniture Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 5, 1942

38 N.L.R.B. 927 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter Of UNITED FURNITURE CORPORATION and UPHOLSTERERS
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA, A. F. OF L., LOCAL 305
Case No. B-3440.-Decided February 5, 1942
Jurisdiction : furniture manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re-
fusal to accord union recognition until certified by the Board : election
necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all production and maintenance
employees, exclusive of clerical or stenographic workers, supervisory em-
ployees and timekeepers ; stipulation as to.
Mr. Albert P. Wheatley, for the Board.
Mr. Norman Block, of Greensboro, N. C., and Mr. Don A. Walser,
of Lexington, N. C., for the Company.
Mr. George Walker, Mr. B. H. Wiggins, and Mr. M. L. Bum garner,
of Thomasville, N. C., for the Union.
Mr. Max E. Halpern, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On November 5, 1941, Upholsterers International Union of North
America, A. F. of L., Local 305, herein called the Union, filed with
the Regional Director for the Fifth Region (Baltimore, Maryland)
a petition, and on December 19, 1941, an amended petition, alleging
that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of United Furniture Corporation, herein
called the Company, and requesting 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 December 27,
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
38 N. L. R. B, No. 167.
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928 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice.
On December 29, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the
Union. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on January 8, 1942,
at'Lexington, North Carolina, before William P. Webb, the Trial
Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Board
and the Company were represented by counsel and the Union by repre-
sentatives; all participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be
heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evi-
dence 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 re-
viewed 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
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
United Furniture Corporation, a North Carolina corporation with
its principal place of business and office in Lexington, North Carolina,
is engaged in the manufacture and sale of wooden furniture and the
sale of upholstered furniture in Lexington, North Carolina. The
Company purchases in excess of $500,000 of raw materials annually
for its operations at its plant and approximately 50 per cent of such
purchases are received by the Company from places outside the State
of North Carolina. The Company manufactures in excess of $1,000,000
of bedroom furniture and approximately 98 per cent of the Com-
pany's finished product is sold and shipped outside the State of North
Carolina. The Company has about 250 employees.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Upholsterers International Union of North America, Local 305, is
a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.
It admits to membership employees of the Company.
M. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
,The Union has requested, and the Company is withholding, ex-
clusive recognition, pending certification by the Board. The state-
I Notice was also served on United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America,
affiliated with A. F. of L., and United Furniture workers, affiliated with C. I. O. Neither
of these organizations appeared at the hearing.
UNITED FURNITURE CORPORATION 929
ment of the Regional Director introduced in evidence at the hearing
shows that the Union represents a substantial number of employees
in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate .2 -
We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of
employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF TIE 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 Union stipulated, and we find, that all pro-
duction and maintenance employees of the Company, exclusive of
clerical or stenographic workers, supervisory employees, and time-
keepers, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining. We further find that such unit will insure to 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, and we shall accordingly direct, an
election by secret ballot among the persons who were employed dur-
ing the pay-roll period immediately preceding the -date of the- Direc-
tion of Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set
forth in the Direction.
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 employes of United Furniture Corporation , within the
2 The Regional Director's statement shows that the Union submitted 148 authorization
cards and applications for membership , dated between May 1 , 1941, and November 1, 1941;
that all these cards bear apparently genuine signatures and that 134 of the signatures on
said 148 cards were the names of persons whose names appeared on the Company's pay
roll of November 14, 1941.
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930 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National
Labor Relations Act.
2. All production and maintenance employees of the Company,
exclusive of clerical or stenographic workers, supervisory employees,
and timekeepers, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
National Labor Relations Act.
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 bargain-
ing with United Furniture Corporation, Lexington, 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 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
of United Furniture Corporation, who were employed by the Com-
pany during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of
this Direction, including 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 clerical or stenographic workers, supervisory
employees, and timekeepers, and employees who have since quit or
been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire
to be represented by Upholsterers International Union of North
America, Local 305, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,
for the purposes of collective bargaining.
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