Border City Mfg. Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 6, 1941

36 N.L.R.B. 678 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of BORDER CITY MFG. Co. and TEXTILE WORKERS UNION,
OF AMERICA (C. I. 0.)
In the Matter of RICHARD BORDEN MFG. Co. and TEXTILE WORKERS
UNION OF AMERICA ( C. I. 0.)
Cases Nos . R-2979 and R-2980, respectively-Decided November 6,
1941
Jurisdiction : textile industry.
Investigation and 'Certification of Representatives : existence of questions :• par-
ties stipulated that Companies refused to accord recognition to each of rival
unions until it is certified by the Board; elections necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em-
ployees, excluding shipping and receiving employees, executives, supervisors
and clerical employees, of each of the Companies held appropriate ; loom fixers
and loom changers ; slash tenders ; and knot-tiers, drawing-in machine operators,
and warp twisters held not to constitute separate appropriate units as requested
by several craft unions where the operation of the plants were functionally
coherent and highly integrated ; the crafts were merely arbitrarily defined
segments of an integrated operation ; and where bargaining by the crafts had
always 'been on an industrial basis.
Mllr..James A. Burke, of Fall River, Mass., for ,the Border City
Company.
Mr. Lewis F. Fayan, of South Swansea, Mass., for, the Richard
Borden 'Company.
Mr. Isadore :Katz, of New York City, for-the T. W. U. A.
Mr. Terrance. J. Lomax, Jr., of Fall River, Mass., for the Loom
Fixers, the Slasher Tenders and the Knot-Tiers.
Mr. ,Charles W. Schneider, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
STATEMENTS OF THE CASES
On July 3, 1941, Textile Workers Union of America (C. I. 0.),
herein called the T. W. U. A., filed with the Regional Director for the
First Region (Boston, Massachusetts) separate petitions alleging.that
questions affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of, respectively, Border City Mfg. Co., herein called
36 N. L. R. B., No. 147.
678
BORDER CITY AUG. CO. 679
Border City, and Richard Borden Mfg. Co., herein called Richard
Borden, both of Fall River, Massachusetts, and requesting an investi-
,-ation and certification of representatives of employees in each of the
Companies pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations
Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On August 12, 1941, the
National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pur-
suant 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 investigations in each of the cases and authorized the Regional
Director to conduct them and to provide for appropriate hearings upon
due notice. On August 27, 1941, the Board, acting pursuant to Article
III, Section 10 (c) (2), of said Rules and Regulations, ordered that the
two cases be consolidated and that the case of Arkwright Corporation
also be consolidated with them.'
On August 28, 1941, the Acting Regional Director issued a notice
of hearing in the consolidated cases, copies of,which were duly served
upon the Companies; the T. W. U. A.; Loom Fixers Local No. 6, herein
called the Loom Fixers; Slasher Tenders Local No. 16, herein called
the Slasher Tenders; Knot-tiers, Drawing-in Machine Operators, and
Warp Twisters Local No. 52, herein called the Knot-Tiers; and Weav-
ers Progressive Association Local No. 1, herein called the Weavers,
labor organizations claiming to represent employees directly affected
by the investigations.
On September 5, 1941, the Board, acting pursuant to Article III,
Section 10 (c) (4), of the Rules and Regulations, ordered that the
Arkwright case be severed from the two cases involved in this
proceeding.
Pursuant to notice a hearing was held in Fall River, Massachusetts,
on September 8, 1941, before William S. Gordon, the Trial Examiner
duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner.
Border City, Richard Borden, the T. W. U. A., the Loom Fixers,
the Slasher Tenders, and the Knot-Tiers appeared by counsel and par-
ticipated in the hearing? Full opportunity to be heard, to examine
and cross-examine witnesses , and to introduce evidence 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 reviewed the rulings
of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors were com-
mitted. The rulings are hereby affirmed. Following the closing of
the hearing the parties entered into a stipulation for the correction
of the record. The stipulation is hereby approved. It is ordered
'Matter of Arkioright Corporation and Textile Workers Union of America (C. 1. 0.),
36 N. L. R. B., No. 148.
2 The Weavers did not appear in this proceeding.
680 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RE'LA'TIONS BOARD
that the record be corrected in accordance therewith. The four unions
filed briefs, which the Board has considered.
Upon the entire record in the case the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANIES
A. Richard Borden Mfg. Co.
Richard Borden Mfg. Co. is a Massachusetts corporation having
a mill, office, and its principal place of business in Fall River, Massa-
chusetts, where it is engaged in the manufacture and distribution of
cotton textile goods. The principal raw material used by the Com-
pany is cotton. The Company uses annually at the mill raw materials
valued at approximately $650,000, all Of which are shipped to Fall
River from and through States other than Massachusetts. The Com-
pany manufactures annually at the mill. finished goods valued at ap-
proximately $1,600,000, about 95 per cent of which is sold to customers
leaving their principal place of business outside the State of Massa-
chusetts. Of this 95 per cent approximately 88 per cent is shipped
to and through States other than Massachusetts.
B. Border City/ Mfg. Co.
Border City Mfg. Co. is a Massachusetts corporation having a mill,
office, and its principal place of business at Fall River, Massachusetts,
where it is engaged in the manufacture and distribution of cotton
textiles and rayon .goods. The principal raw materials used by the
Company are- cotton yarn and rayon. The Company uses annually
at the mill raw materials valued at approximately $725,540, of which
about 13 per cent is shipped to Fall River from and through States
other than Massachusetts. The Company manufactures annually at
the mill finished goods valued at approximately $1,405,016, of which
about 58 per cent is shipped from the mill to and through States other
than Massachusetts.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Textile Workers Union of America is a labor organization, affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to member-
ship employees of the Companies.
Loom Fixers Local No. 6, Slasher Tenders Local No. 16, and Knot-
Tiers, Drawing-in Machine Operators, and Warp Twisters Local No.
52, hereinafter collectively called the Locals, are labor organizations
affiliated with the American Federation of Textile Operatives, admit-
ting to membership employees of the Companies.
BORDER CITY MFG. CO.
III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
681
It was stipulated by the parties that questions concerning repre-
sentation exist, the Companies having declined to recognize each of the
unions involved as exclusive bargaining representative until it is
certified as such by the Board.
The parties stipulated that each of the unions. represents a sub-
stantial number of employees of each of the Companies in the union
it alleges to be appropriate.'
We find that questions have arisen concerning the' representation of
employees of each of the Companies.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find that each of the questions concerning representation which
have arisen; occurring in connection with the operations of the respec:
tive Companies 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 UNITS
A. Richard Borden Mfg. Co.
The T. W. U. A. contends that the appropriate unit is plant-wide.
The Loom Fixers, the Slasher Tenders, and the Knot-Tiers contend
that -certain mutually exclusive groups of employees constitute crafts
and should be established as separate appropriate units. Apart from
the groups claimed by the Locals, the T. W. U. A. and the Locals stipu-
lated that all production and maintenance employees, excluding the
shipping and receiving employees, executives, supervisory employees
and office and clerical employees, constitute an appropriate unit.5 The
Company takes no position with reference to the dispute.
Specifically, the respective Locals claim that each of the following
classes of employees constitutes an appropriate unit: (1) the loon
8 The T. W. U. A. submitted to the Trial Examiner the following 'evidence of member-
ship in a unit of the Border City Mfg. Co. production and maintenance employees,
exclusive of certain categories agreed upon by the parties , and also exclusive of certain
groups claimed by the Locals: (1) 417 record cards of members in good standing; (2)
collection books showing payment of dues of 401 persons . Of the 401, 265 who paid
dues in September 1941, and an additional 8 who paid dues in August 1941, were on the
Border City pay roll of August 30, 1941. That pay roll lists 461 employees in the
aforementioned unit. No other specific evidence of membership was submitted by any of
the parties.
* The parties agreed that "supervisory " should be interpreted to include , second hands
and employees superior to second hands.
5 The Locals agreed that these exclusions should apply to any unit found appropriate.
682 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
fixers and the loom changers; (2) the slasher tenders, excluding
helpers; (3) the knot-tiers (including helpers), the warp twisters,
and the drawing-in machine operators, (but excluding hand drawing-in
operatives).
Richard Borden Mfg. Co. is a complete cotton textile mill. It manu-
factures both yarn and cloth. Four departments in the plant are
involved in the actual process of production : carding, spinning, warp
preparation, and weaving.' The raw cotton is cleansed and treated
in miscellaneous ways in the carding room, after which it is trans-
formed into yarn in the spinning rooni. After spiimiug, the warp
yarn' is subjected to certain preparatory treatment and then is slashed.
Slashing consists of starching the warp to protect it from injury in
the loom. The warp is then drawn through a device called the harness,
which determines the pattern of the cloth. The warp and tire harness
are then transferred to the weaving room where the warp and filling
are interwoven on the loom, producing cloth. The groups claimed by
the Locals are all employed in either warp preparation or weaving.
The total number of production and maintenance employees at the
Richard Borden plant is approximately 644. Of these, 9 are slasher
tenders; 11 knot-tiers, helpers, warp twisters, and drawing-in machine
operatives; and 42 loom fixers and changers; each of which groups the
Locals would establish as separate appropriate units. The work of the
9 slasher tenders is performed in the warp-preparation departrment,
and is only one of a number of steps necessary in the preparation of,
warp for the loom. In addition to the slasher tenders, there are 72
other employees in the department who perform operations equally
essential to the preparation of the warp. The drawing-in machine
operators, whom the Knot-Tiers would include in the same unit with
the tiers and the twisters, are also employed in the warp-preparation
department; whereas the knot-tiers and the twisters are engaged in
operations in the weaving room. This proposed unit thus cuts across
two departments.
Of approximately 213 employees in the. weaving room, comprising
about 15 groups of production and maintenance employees, 32 are
fixers, 10 changers, 4 tiers, and 5 are twisters. The entire weaving-
r•oom staff is engaged in operating, supplying, and servicing the loom.
The loom fixers and changers install cylinders of warp in the loom
and repair and maintain it; the tiers and twisters tie yarn into the
weave. They are but several of numerous groups of operatives, includ-
ing weavers, who have one common function : the production of cloth
° There is a fifth department , the cloth room , where the finished cloth is sheared and
inspected, and otherwise prepared for shipment.
Two types of yarn are produced by spinning--one called warp , the other called filling.
Cloth is produced by interweaving them. Filling is ready for weaving after being spun
but the warp requires further tre mtment.
BORDER CITY MFG. CO. 683
from the thread. The basic operation is weaving. The remainder of
the tasks are specializations of the weaving process or necessary steps
to the continuous operation of the loom. The various operatives lire
necessarily in intimate contact. The cessation of work on the part of
any one of the 15 groups engaged necessarily results in the shut-down
of the loom.
While the Loom Fixers and the Slasher Tenders have maintained
locals since about 1892, and the Knot-Tiers since 1933, these locals
are all branches of one organization, the American Federation of
Textile Operatives, and their bargaining on matters of wages, hours,
and general working conditions has been conducted since 1895 by the
Fall River Textile Council. The Council is composed of represen-
tatives of the Locals and the Weavers." The employers, including
Richard Borden and Border City, are represented in these negotia-
tions by the, Fall River Manufacturers Association. No written con-
tracts have resulted. The Council purports to represent only the
members of the Locals and the Weavers, but it has nevertheless cus-
tonlarily bargained for all employees in the plants. Changes re-
sulting from this bargaining have therefore always been plant-wide.
The Locals have confined themselves to the adjustment of specific
grievances within the particular groups they represent. Strike action
seems to have been uniformly on an industrial basis.
It is evident from the foregoing that the operations of the mill are
functionally coherent, and that the various occupations are but arbi-
trarily defined segments of a highly integrated process. It is, also
evident that, in spite of the fact that the Locals have maintained
formally separate identities, the actual course of employee, organiza-
tion and collective bargaining which they have established in Fall
River, has been on an industrial. basis for almost half a century. We
therefore conclude that under the circumstances the separate units
requested by the Locals are inappropriate for the purposes' of collec-
tive,bargaining. We further find that the plant-wide unit. requested
by the T. W. U. A. is appropriate for such purposes."
We therefore find that all production and maintenance. employees
of the Richard Borden Mfg. Co., excluding shipping and receiving
employees, executives,. supervisory employees, and office and clerical
employees, constitute an appropriate unit, and that. said unit will
insure to the employees of the Company the full benefit of their right
to self-organization and to collective bargaining, and will otherwise
effectuate the policies. of the Act.
8 Weavers progressive Association Local No. ] is also 'affiliated with, the Federation.
The Weavers organizes on a plant-wide basis wherever possible. 'See Matter of The
American Thread Co., Kerr Mills, and Weavers Progressive Association, (A. F. T. 0.),
34 N. L. R. B., No. 41.
6 Cf. Matter of The American Thread Company, Kerr Mills, and' Weavers Progressive
Association (A. F. T. 0.), supra.
684 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
B. Border City Mfg. Co.
The processes and operations in the Border City mill are the same
as in that of Richard Borden except that Border City does not manu-
facture yarn, which it receives from outside sources. The processing
begins with the slashing operation. There are two production de-
partments:,slashing and weaving. The disputed groups are the same
here as in the Richard Borden mill except that Border City employs
no knot-tiers or drawing-in machine operators. These operations
are performed by hand. The positions of the Unions are the same.
as in the Richard Borden case.
For the reasons stated in connection with the case of Richard Bor-
den Mfg. Co., hereinabove discussed, we find that all production and
maintenance employees of the Border City Mfg. Co., excluding ship-
ping and receiving employees, executives, supervisory employees, and
office and clerical employees, constitute an appropriate unit, and that
,said unit will insure to the employees-of, the Company the full benefit
of their right to self-organization and to collective bargaining, and
will otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act.
171. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
Although the T. W. U. A. requested that it be certified as the bar-
gaining representative at Border City on the basis of evidence sub-
mitted at the hearing , we find that the questions which have arisen
concerning the representation of the employees of the Companies can
best be resolved by elections by secret ballot.
All parties agreed , to the use of. current pay -rolls. to determine
eligibility to participate in the elections . In accordance with the
desires of the parties and our usual practice , we shall direct that the
employees of the Companies eligible to vote in the elections shall be
those in the appropriate units employed during the pay-roll period
immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Elections, sub-
ject to such limitations and additions as are set forth in the Direction
hereinafter.
The Locals stated that they did not desire to appear on the ballots
in the event the plant -wide units were found to be appropriate. How-
ever, the history of organization indicates that the American Federa-
tion of Textile . Operatives has an interest in the proceedings .by reason
of the affiliation of the Locals. We shall therefore direct that its
name be placed on the ballot , followed by that of the Locals in brack-
ets. If the Federation and/or , any of the Locals desire to withdraw
from the ballots they may do so by filing with the Regional Director
within five (5 ) days from the date of this Direction of Elections a
declaration of intention not to participate in the elections.
BORDER CITY MFG. CO. 685
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. Questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Richard Borden Mfg. Co., and Border City
Mfg. Co., Fall River, Massachusetts,' within the meaning .of Section
4p (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All production and maintenance employees of Richard Borden
Mfg. Co., excluding shipping and receiving employees, executives,
supervisory employees, and office and clerical employees, constitute a
unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9, (b) of the Act.
3. All production and maintenance employees of Border City Mfg.
Co., excluding shipping and receiving employees, executives, super-
visory employees, and office and clerical employees, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
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 8, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2; as-amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part-of thednvestigatiohs authorized by the Board
to determine representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with Richard Borden Mfg. Co. and Border City Mfg.. Co., elections by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
thirty (30) days from the'date of this Direction of Elections, under
the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the First
Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations
Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regula-
tions, among the following :
1. All production and maintenance employees of Richard Borden
Mfg. Co., Fall River, Massachusetts, who were employed during the
pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of
Elections, including employees who did not work during said 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 shipping and receiving employees, executives, supervisory
employees' -i0 office and clerical employees, and employees who have
10 See footnote 4, supra.
686 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they
desire to be represented by Textile Workers Union of America, affili-
ated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, or by American
Federation of Textile Operatives [Loom . Fixers Local No. 6; Slasher
Tenders Local No. 16; Knot-Tiers, Drawing-in Machine Operators,
and Warp Twisters Local No. 52], for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining, or by neither;
2. All production and maintenance employees of Border City Mfg.
Co., Fall River, Massachusetts, who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Elec-
tions, including employees who did not work during said 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 shipping and receiving employees, executives, supervisor.
employees," office and clerical employees, and employees who have
since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they de-
sire to be represented by Textile Workers Union of America, affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, or by American Fed-
eration' of Textile. Operatives [Loom. Fixers Local-.No. 6; 'Slasher.
Tenders Local No. 16, Knot-Tiers, Drawing-in Machine Operators,
and Warp Twisters Local No. 52], for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining, or by neither.
Mr. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration.of the above
Decision and .Direction of Elections.,
11 See footnote 4, supra.