Bahan Textile Machinery Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 26, 1946

70 N.L.R.B. 839 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of BAHAN TEXTILE MACHINERY COMPANY, INC.,
EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL MOLDERS AND FOUNDRY WORKERS OF
NORTH AMERICA, A. F. of L., PETITIONER
Case No. 10-R-1894.-Decided August 96, 1946
Leatherwood and Walker, by Mr. D. B. Leatherwood, of Greenville,
S. C., for the Employer.
Mr. F. Ed. Long, of East Point, Ga., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Jerome J. Dick, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Green-
ville, South Carolina, on June 19, 1946, before M. A. Prowell, Trial,
Examiner. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Bahan Textile Machinery Company, Inc., a South Carolina corpora-
tion with its office and plant in Greenville, South Carolina, is engaged
in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of textile machinery parts.
During the year 1945, it used raw materials exceeding $10,000 in value,
all of which was received from points outside the State of South Caro-
lina. During the same period, it manufactured finished products
valued at approximately $500,000, 50 percent of which was shipped to
points outside the State of South Carolina.
The Employee admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. TILE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
70 N. L . R. B., No. 61.
839
840 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all the Employer's Foundry
Department employees, including all employees in the core room, but
excluding painters, carpenters, pattern makers, clerical employees,
timekeepers, superintendent, foreman of the pattern shop and core
room, assistant superintendent, cleaning and painting foreman, shake-
out foreman, and all other supervisory employees. Although the Em-
ployer is in substantial agreement, contrary to the Petitioner's posi-
tion it would include painters, carpenters, and pattern makers.
There are 2 painters, 2 carpenters, and 3 pattern makers in the
Foundry Department. The painters clean and paint castings, while
the carpenters make jackets for flash and bottom boards and also make
patterns. The pattern makers, besides making patterns, pour molds;
in addition, there is considerable interchange between them and the
core makers. It also appears that there is a single foreman for the
pattern shop and core room, and that this individual is a former core
maker. It is clear from the foregoing facts that the functions and
interests of the painters, carpenters, and pattern makers are related
to those of the other workers in the Foundry Department. Accord-
ingly, we shall include the painters, carpenters, and pattern m,Lkers.
We find that all of the Foundry Department employees of the Em-
ployer, including all employees in the core room, painters, carpenters,
and pattern makers, but excluding clerical employees, timekeepers,
superintendent, foreman of the pattern shop and core room, assistant
superintendent, cleaning and painting foreman, shake-out foreman,
and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote,
discharge, 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. TILE DETERMINATION OF REPREwE N F TIVEE:s
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot, subject, to the
limitations and additions set forth in the Direction.
BAHAN TEXTILE MACHINERY COMPANY, INC. 841
At the hearing the Petitioner requested that certain individuals 1
be permitted to vote on the ground that they were temporarily laid
off by the Employer. The Employer, however, insisted that these
persons had been permanently discharged. The Company temporarily
laid off some of these individuals on May 3, 1946, and the remainder
on May 10, 1946, because of a shortage of pig iron and coke. But
thereafter the Employer began making alterations to modernize its
plant, and found that it would no longer require the services of any
of these persons. Accordingly, by letter dated May 28, 1946, it noti-
fied them they were permanently discharged. It thus seems clear that
these persons are no longer employees of the Employer, having been
permanently parted from employment.2 The Petitioner's request is
denied.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purpose of collective bargaining with Bahan Textile Machinery
Company, Inc., Greenville, South 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 super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Tenth Region, acting in this
matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board and subject
to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of National Labor Relations Board
Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, 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
Molders and Foundry Workers of North America, A. F. of L., for the
purposes of collective bargaining.
'They are Charles E. Phillips , Benjamin F. Kennedy, Homer C Smith , Eugene Mitchell,
Jessie H. Rainey , Jr, Earnest Brooks, Mathew Gates, Russell Church, Therome Marlow,
John F. Byars , Silas N. Epps , Bruce A. Long , Edgar B. Painter, Richard S . Epps, James
Brewster , J. D. Smith, and Jessie Wilks.
2 Although the Petitioner implied at the hearing that several of these individuals had
been discriminatorily discharged in violation of the Act , no unfair labor practice charge
has been filed against the Employer , which denied the implication.