Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 3, 1946

65 N.L.R.B. 101 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of BERKSHIRE FINE SPINNING ASSOCIATES, INC. and
TEXTILE WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA, C. I. O.
Case No. 1-R-2640.-Decided January 3, 1946
Messrs. William A. O'Hearn and Ralph B. Jackson, both of North
Adams, Mass., for the Company.
Mr. D. William Belanger, of Boston, Mass., and Mr. John Bello,
of Holyoke, Mass., for the C. 1. 0.
Mr. John N. Alberti, of North Adams, Mass., and Mr. Andrews J.
Dille, of Adams, Mass., for the Council.
Mr. David V. Easton, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon an amended petition duly filed by Textile Workers Union
of America, C. I. 0., herein called the C. I. 0., alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates, Inc., Adams and North
Adams, Massachusetts, herein called the Company, the National Labor
Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before Leo J. Halloran, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at
Adams, Massachusetts, on October 17, 1945. The Company, the
C. I. 0., and Northern Berkshire Executive Textile Council, herein
called the Council, appeared and participated. All parties were
afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine
witnesses, and to introduce evidence 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 opportunity
to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates, Inc., a Massachusetts corpora-
tion, is engaged in the manufacture of fine grades of cotton textiles.
65 N. L. R. B., No. 24. 101
102 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
For this purpose it operates plants in the States of Massachusetts,
Vermont, and Rhode Island. We are concerned herein solely with the
Company's plants at Adams and North Adams, Massachusetts.
During the fiscal year ending September 30, 1944, the Company
spent approximately $9,000,000 for raw materials, all of which was
obtained from outside the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. During
the same period, the Company manufactured finished products valued
at approximately $27,000,000. About 90 percent of the finished prod-
ucts manufactured at the Company's Massachusetts mills was shipped
to points outside the Commonwealth.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Textile Workers Union of America, affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, and Northern Berkshire Executive Textile
Council, unaffiliated, are labor organizations admitting to member-
ship employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
By letter dated August 27, 1945, the C. I. O. requested recognition
from the Company as the representative of certain of its employees.
The Company orally refused to grant this request, stating that it was
obligated to recognize the Council as such representative under the
terms of a contract existing between it and the Council, and also that,
in any event, it would not recognize the C. I. O. unless and until the
C. I. O. was certified by the Board.
On March 2, 1944, the Company and the Council executed a collec-
tive bargaining agreement in which the Company recognized the
Council as the representative of the employees involved herein. This
agreement provided that it was to continue in effect until September
1, 1945, and from year to year thereafter in the absence of 60 days'
notice by either party prior to any termination date of a desire to
terminate the agreement. The Company and the Council each gave
timely notice to the other of a desire to terminate the contract. There-
after, the parties operated under a series of two 30-day extensions of
the agreement, the first of which was executed after August 27, 1945,
and the second of which expired October 30, 1945. The Council con-
tends that its 1944 contract with the Company is a'bar to this pro-
ceeding. However, inasmuch as the 1944 contract was terminated by
the parties and the extension agreements were executed subsequent to
the presentation of the C. I. O.'s claim, we find that the contract of
BERKSHIRE FINE SPINNING ASSOCIATES, INC. 103
March 2, 1944, as subsequently extended, does not constitute a bar to
a current determination of representatives.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the C. I. O. 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
We find, substantially in accordance with an agreement of the par-
ties, that all employees of the Company at its Adams and North
Adams, Massachusetts, plants, excluding office and clerical employees,
executives, supervisors (second hands and up), and all other super-
visory employees with authority, to hire, promote, discharge, disci-
pline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effec-
tively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b)
of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among 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 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 Berkshire Fine
Spinning Associates, Inc., Adams and North Adams, Massachusetts,
an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but
' A Field Examiner reported that the C. I. O. submitted 749 cards bearing the names of
628 employees listed on the Company's pay roll for the period ending September 15, 1945.
At the hearing, the C. I. 0 submitted 69 additional designations. There are approximately
1,84S employees in the appropriate unit.
At the hearing, and in its brief submitted supplementary thereto, the Council attacked
the validity of the C I O.'s designations. It is well settled that designations submitted
in support of a petition, and any finding based thereon, are not subject to question. See
Matter of Buffalo Arms Corporation, 57 N. L R. B. 1560
The Council's interest in this proceeding is established by its recently expired contract
with the Company.
104 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
not later than sixty (60) days from the date of this Direction, under
the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the First
Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Rela-
tions Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said
Rules and Regulations, among employees in the unit found appropri-
ate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll pe-
riod immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including em-
ployees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they
were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including employ-
ees 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 rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether they
desire to be represented by Textile Workers Union of America, C. I.0.,
or by Northern Berkshire Executive Textile Council, unaffiliated, for
the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
0
v