Volney Felt Mills, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 8, 1949

81 N.L.R.B. 1243 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of VonxEY FELr Maas, INc., EMPLOYER and UNrrEn
PAPERWORBERs OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 32-RC-102.-Decided March 8,1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing officer
of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's rulings
made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent employees
of the Employer.
3. A question of representation exists concerning the representation
of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1)
and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate unit:
The Petitioner requests a unit of all production and maintenance
employees at the Employer's Memphis, Tennessee, plant, excluding
office and clerical employees and all supervisors.' The Employer,
while agreeing with the general composition of the unit, would exclude
the three beater room foremen, the three machine tenders, the master
mechanic, and the yard boss as supervisors.
The Employer's plant is under the over-all supervision of the plant
manager and the plant superintendent. The plant operates on three
shifts. At the head of each shift is a tour boss who is generally re-
•Reynolds , Murdock, and Gray.
1 There are approximately 43 employees in the group sought by the Petitioner.
81 N. L. R. B., No. 194.
1243
1244 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
sponsible for overseeing the work of the several departments on his
shift. The machine room and the beater room consist of small groups
of three and four employees respectively, on each shift. There are six
maintenance employees who are either machinists, helpers or welders.
The employer apparently designates as foreman in each group one
employee who is more experienced than his fellow workers.
These individuals are basically experienced men with duties which
are virtually identical with those of their fellow employees but who
are technically acquainted with the production process and are there-
fore given the responsibility of regulating the flow of 'work in their
respective departments, in addition to working along with the em-
ployees in such departments. While the other employees in these de-
partments may look to these individuals for instruction and guidance
in the course of their work, the relationship appears to be similar to
that of a master craftsman to an apprentice. The parties agree that
none of these employees have the independent right to hire, discharge,
promote, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of their
fellow employees, nor does the record support a finding that they have
the power to effectively recommend such action. We do not believe
they can be said to direct responsibly their fellow employees.
Furthermore, we have previously considered the status of similarly
classified employees with virtually identical functions at another plant
of the employer and found them to be non-supervisory? Accordingly,
we find that they are not supervisory employees and we shall include
them in the appropriate unit.
There remains for consideration the unit placement of the yard
boss. The yard boss, in addition to the usual clerical work of re-
ceiving, recording, weighing, computing, and tagging inbound raw
material, directs four roustabouts in unloading, transporting by hand
truck, and storing such materials in the warehouse as designated by
the yard boss. Unlike the working foremen considered above, the
yard boss does not participate in the manual labor performed by the
roustabouts who work under his direction. Moreover, in a previous
case involving another plant of the Employer, we have excluded the
yard boss from the similar unit therein found appropriate .3 We find
that the yard boss involved in the present proceeding responsibly
directs the employees in his group and is, therefore, a supervisor within
the meaning of the amended Act. We shall, accordingly, exclude him
from the unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees of Volney
Felt Mills, Inc., at its Memphis, Tennessee, plant, including beater
' See Matter of Voiney Felt Mills, Inc., 71 N. L. R. B. 951.
$ See footnote 2, supra.
VOLNEY FELT MILLS , INC. 1245
room foremen, machine tenders, and the master mechanic, but ex-
cluding office and clerical employees, the yard boss, and all other super-
visors, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and
supervision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case
was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among
the employees in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered
4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately
preceding the date of this Direction of Election, including employees
who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or
on vacation or temporarily laid off, 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, and also excluding em-
ployees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective
bargaining, by United Paperworkers of America, CIO.