Armour Leather Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsJul 27, 1944

57 N.L.R.B. 705 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the =Matter of ARMOIIR LEATHER 'COMPANY ' and INTERNATIONAL,- FuR Râ€žLFATH KWOItHERStiUNION , C. I. O. Case No. 5-R-1595.-Decided July N'7, 1944 Mr. James H. Herbert, of New York City, for the Company. Mr. Hardy Scott, of Asheville, N. C., for the Union. Mr. Robert Silagi, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT Â° OF-THE CASE- Upon an amended petition duly filed by International Fur & Leather Workers Union,' C. I. 0., herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Armour Leather Company, Sylva, North Carolina, -herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations, Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before- Sidney J. Barban, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Sylva,. North Carolina, on June 27, 1944. The Company and the Union appeared and participated. All parties were afforded full oppor- tunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. At the hearing the Company moved to dismiss the petition on the. ground that no evidence was adduced showing a substantial interest by the petitioner which would justify the direction of an election. Ruling on the motion was reserved for the Board. For the reasons. stated in Section III, footnote 1, infra, the motion is hereby denied. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearings 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 makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BIISINESS OF THE COMPANY Armour Leather Company` is a division of Armour Company, an Illinois corporation,' which operates a plant at Sylva, North Carolina, and eight other plants in four other States. The instant proceeding 57 N. L. R. B., No. 116. - 601248-45-vo1.57-46 705 706, DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD is concerned solely with the plant in Sylva, North Carolina, which is engaged in the processing of sole and belt leather. During the year '1943 the Company processed hides and used tanning extracts valued .at,over $50,000, of which 75 percent was shipped to the plant at â€¢Sylva from points outside -the.State of North- Carolina. : During the same year the Company produced finished goods valued at approximately $85,000, more than 95 percent of which was shipped to points outside the State 'of North Carolina. _ No, direct purchases or, sales were in- volved- since the hides were originally sent to the Sylva plant from other plants of the Company for tanning, were there converted into rough tanned material; and were thereupon shipped to other plants of the Company for further processing. We find, contrary to the contention of the Company, that it is en- gaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Rela- tions Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED - International Fur & Leather Workers Union, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admit- tiiig to membership employees of the Company. III. THE-QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the ,exclusive' bargaining representative of its employees until the Union .,has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. 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 parties agree.that the unit should contain all production and maintenance employees of the Company,, including - part-time em- 1 The Field Examiner reported that there were 110 employees in the unit sought by the Union and for whom the Union had submitted 98 application for membership cards. The Company contends that the Union has made an insufficient showing of present representa- tion among the employees herein concerned and the Board should therefore dismiss the petition . The Company further contends that the Field Examiner ' s report is not properly in e%idence , but (that testimony should have been taken at the hearing for the purpose of determining whether there was a sufficient showing of interest on .the part of the Union to warrant an election . We find these contentions without merit . As we have frequently stated "authorization or membership cards are required , not as a proof of the precise number of employees who desire to be represented by a labor organization , or as a basis for de- termining the appropriate representative , but simply to provide a reasonable safeguard against the indiscuminate institution of representation proceedings by labor organizations which might have little or no membership in the unit claimed to be appropriate" ; See Matter of If. G. Hill Stores, Inc, Warehouse, 39 N. L. R. B. 874 . This safeguard is adequately provided by a statement of the Field Examiner made upon the basis of a card check and needs no supplementation by the introduction of further evidence at the hearing. ARMOUR LEATHER COMPANY 707 ployees,,but excluding, all office clerical employees, seasonal workers, and supervisors. The parties disagree with respect to the watchmen and the shipping clerk, all of whom the Union would, include and the Company exclude : Ti?atch`?nen-The?;Company'.,ennploys two full-time watchmen and one part-time watchman*. The full-time watchmen work 46. hours'a week; the part-time',watchman is employed as a watchman 10 hours -a week, the balance of his time being devoted to maintenance, work. The watchmen are not militarized and do not wear uniforms. One full-time watchman is deputized by the sheriff of the county, the oth- ers are not. A gun is available for their use and they sometimes carry it. , Their duties are to, protect the plant against fire, theft and tres- passers. In accordance with our usual practice, we shall exclude the deputized watchman and include the two ' non-deputized watchmen? Shipping clerk-The Company has but one shipping clerk, whose duties are 'to weigh leather, record the 'weights, and help other em- ployees', to take the leather into the storage room where it 'is sorted into various weights. 'He also inspects the leather for defects as it is sorted. About once a week leather is transferred out of storage, at which time the shipping clerk weighs it out again, makes a record of the weight, and turns it into the office. The shipping clerk is under the supervision of the loft foreman and appears on the production ` and maintenance pay roll. The Company contends that the shipping clerk should be excluded from the unit as a clerical employee inas- much as he spends 60 percent of his time doing clerical work. The Union, however, contends that the shipping clerk is essentially 'a pro- duction and"maintenance employee. The shipping clerk is the only employee who performs clerical work within the, plant itself. Even though he apparently devotes much' of his' time to clerical activities, it appears that it is-spent in direct contact with the movement, inspec- tion, weighing, and sorting of leather. The fact that the Company lists him on the production and maintenance pay roll and offers him1' the same conditions of employment as it,does the other employees is sufficient indication that it considers him as one of the' production and maintenance employees. Under these circumstances, we shall in- clude him in the unit.3 We find that all production and maintenance employees' of the Com- pany, including the non-deputized watchmen, shipping clerk, and ,part-time employees; but excluding all office clerical employees, the deputized watchman, seasonal workers, ' and all supervisory employ- ees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise ' See Matter of Potlatch Forests, Inc., 52 N. L. R . B. 1377 ; Matter of Parks Air College, Inc, 55 N. L. R. B. 1034 ;, also Matter of Continental Can, Company ( Memphis Plant), 55 N. L . R. B. 180. ' See Matter of Colonial Sugars Company, Gramercy Refinery, 39 N. L. R. B. 417; also Matter of Delta -Star Electric Company, 37 N. L . R. B. 459. '70$" DECISIONS -6F NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 'effect changes in the :status of employees, or effectively recommend -such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of -collec- tive bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. 'THE DETERMINATION,;OFâ€¢REERESENTATJES- 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 ands addition's set forth ' in the Direction. i 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- itions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section-9,,of National Labor ,Relations 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 Armour Leather Company, Sylva, 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, 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 the said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tem- ;,.porarily.laid off, and including employees in. the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but ex- cluding 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 Fur & Leather Workers Union, 'C. I. 0., Local 365,4 fort the purposes of collective bargaining.' CHAIRMAN MILLIs took no part in the consideration of the 'above Decision and Direction of Election. A request to appear thus on the ballot is hereby granted.