Cordele Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsAug 7, 1946

69 N.L.R.B. 1292 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of CORDELE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, EMPLOYER and AMALGAMATED CLOTHING WORKERS OF AMERICA (CIO) , PETITIONER Case No. 10-R-1877.-Decided August 7, 1946 Mr. B. Zeesman , of Eastman , Ga., and Mr . H. 0. Drake , of Cordele, Ga., for the Employer. Mr. M. Luke, of Sycamore . Ga., and Mr. H. J. Pike. of Atlanta, Ga., for the Petitioner. Mr. John H. Wood, Jr .. of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES Upon a petition duly filed, the National Labor Relations Board on May 24, 1946, conducted a prehearing election among employees of the Employer in the alleged appropriate unit. to determine whether or not they desired to be represented by the Petitioner for the purposes of collective bargaining. At the close of the election a Tally of Ballots was furnished the parties. The Tally shows that, there were approximately 51 eligible voters and that 49 of these eligible voters cast ballots, of which 46 were for the Petitioner, 2 were against the Petitioner, and 1 was challenged. Thereafter, a hearing was held at Cordele, Georgia, on June 14, 1946, before Albert Maynard, 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 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER The Employer is a Georgia corporation with its single manufac- turing plant located at Cordele, Georgia, where it, is engaged in the cutting, trimming, and sewing of boys' trousers and girls' jodhpurs. During the year 1945 the Employer was entirely engaged in the proc- essing of cotton fabric into army trousers pursuant to a contract with 69 N. L. R. B. No. 158. 1292 CORDELE MANUFACTURING COMPANY 1293 the United States Army. The fabric so processed was received from the Army Depot at Conley , Georgia, and the trousers , upon comple- tion, were returned to the Conley depot. During the first quarter of 1946, the Employer 's work under army contract constituted only 75 percent of its total production . The remaining 25 percent consisted of work done under contract with Trauner and Grentlich , a partner- ship located in New York City, and involved the performance of simi- lar services in connection with the production of boys' trousers. The contract with the partnership required the Employer to receive cot- ton fabric owned by the partnership from points in Georgia and to ship the finished garments to customers of Trauner and Grentlich throughout the southeastern States . Since May 1, 1946, the Employer has, in addition , undertaken the production of girls ' jodhpurs from its own materials shipped to it from points in Georgia and South Caro- lina. During 1945 , the Employer received $120,000 for the services performed for the Army. Since January 1 , 1946, the Employer has received $12,500, for the services rendered Trauner and Grentlich. At the time of the hearing , however, the Employer had not sold, nor contracted to sell, any of the jodhpurs produced from its own materials. We find, contrary to the contention of the Employer , that it is en- gaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Rela- tions Act., II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations claiming to represent employees of the Employer. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employer has refused to recognize the Petitioner as the exclu- sive bargaining representative of employees of the Employer in the alleged 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 We find, in accordance with the agreement of the parties, that all production and maintenance employees 2 of the Employer but ex- I Matter of Brown & Root, et al., 51 N. L. R. B. 820; Matter of War Hemp Industries, Inc., 57 N. L. R. B. 1709. 2 At the hearing the parties agreed that this description includes all inspectors and firemen. 1294 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD eluding executives, office and clerical employees, and all or any other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively 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 The Employer questions the propriety of this proceeding at this time in view of the fact that it expects to increase the number of its employees from approximately 50 to 140 as soon as it has fully re- established its peacetime business. Although the record does not dis- close the precise number of employees on the Employer's pay roll be- fore the war, the evidence does indicate that for a considerable time before the spring of 1945, there were approximately 140 employees on the pay roll, and that the Employer contemplates reestablishing oper- ations on this scale in its peacetime business. It is also clear in this connection that restoration of full scale peacetime operations depends primarily upon the availability of raw materials and supplies. Under the foregoing circumstances, we do not believe that the employees now working at the plant should be deprived of their rights at the present time to bargain collectively with the Employer. Ac- cordingly, inasmuch as the results of the election held previous to the hearing show that the Petitioner has secured a majority of the valid votes cast and that the challenged ballot is insufficient to affect the results of the election, we shall certify the Petitioner as the collective bargaining representative of the employees in the appropriate unit. However, because the number of production and maintenance em- ployees may more than double within a comparatively short time as a result of the Company's expansion, we shall entertain a new repre- sentation petition affecting the employees in this unit within a period less than 1 year, but not before the expiration of 6 months from the date hereof, upon proof that (1) the number of employees in this unit is more than double the number of employees eligible to vote in the election already conducted; and (2) the petitioning labor organization represents a substantial number of employees in the expanded unit.3 CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (CIO), has been designated and selected by a majority of all production and maintenance employees of Cordele Manufacturing 3 See Matter of Adler Metal Products Corp., 67 N. L. R. B. 328 ; Matter of Thompson Products, Inc., 66 N. L. It. B. 123, and cases cited therein. CORDELE MANUFACTURING COMPANY 1295 Company, Cordele, Georgia, excluding executives, office and clerical employees, and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, as their representative for purposes of collective bargaining, and that, pursu- ant to Section 9 (a) of the Act, the said organization is the exclusive representative of all such employees for the purposes of collective bar- gaining with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment. MR. JOHN M. HOUSTON took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Certification of Representatives.