Corinth Machinery Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 26, 1946

71 N.L.R.B. 815 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of CORINTH MACHINERY CO_IIPANY, EMPLOYER and
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, LODGE No. 1189,
PETITIONER
Case No. 15-R-1890.-Decided November 26, 1946
Messrs. Cary Stovall and J. C. Jones, of Corinth, Miss., for the
Employer.
Mr. John V. Carlton, of Atlanta, Ga., and Mr. TV. H. Johnson, of
Sheffield, Ala., for the Petitioner.
Mrs. Platonia P. Kaldes, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Corinth,
Mississippi, on October 9, 1946, before Roy O. Hoffman hearing officer.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from pre-
judicial error and are hereby affirmed. The Employer's request for
oral argument is denied inasmuch as the record, in our opinion, ade-
quately presents the issue and positions of the parties.
At the hearing the Employer moved that the petition be dismissed
on the ground that the Employer was denied due process of law under
the National Labor Relations Act, the Constitution, and the Adminis-
trative Procedures Act, because the Petitioner did not prove it ac-
tually represented any of the employees of the Employer or that it
had any substantial interest in the proposed appropriate unit and
because the Employer was prohibited from proving to the contrary.'
We find no merit to the Employer's contentions in this respect and we
hereby deny its motion to dismiss the petition.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
I Public Law 404, 79th Congress, 2nd Session, approved June 11, 1946.
2 At the heaung the Employer offcied to prove that the Petitioner had no substantial in-
terest in the proceeding calling each and every employee in the alleged appropriate unit
to the stand to ask him whether or not lie wanted the Petitioner to represent him for the
purposes of collective bargaining The hearing officer iejected the offer of proof. We find
no error in the hearing officer ' s rulings in this respect. See Matter of 0 D. Jennings d
Company, 68 N L. It B. 516, and cases cited therein.
71 N L R. B , No. 136.
815
717734-47-vol 71-53
816 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOY ER
Corinth Machinery Company is a Mississippi corporation having
its principal office and place of business in the city of Corinth, Missis-
sippi, where it is engaged in the manufacture and distribution of
woodworking machinery including sawmill and edgers. During the
12-month period immediately preceding the hearing, the Employer
received raw materials valued at approximately $100,000, 90 percent
of which came from points outside the State of Mississippi. During
the same period, the Employer's sales were approximately $100,000,
about 80 percent of which was made to customers in States other than
the State of Mississippi.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
U. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
TII. 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
We find, substantially in accord with the stipulation of the parties,
that all employees of the Employer at its plant, including shipping
department employees , packing and crating department employees,
and watchmen , but excluding office employees , clerical employees, sales
employees , executive employees, foremen , and all 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 pur-
poses of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of
the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Corinth Machinery Company,
Corinth, Mississippi, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as
CORINTH MACHINERY COMPANY 817
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 Fifteenth Region, acting in this matter as. agent for
the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55
and 203.56 , of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula-
tions-Series 4, 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 per-
son 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 de-
sire to be represented by International Association of Machinists,
Lodge No. 1189, for the purposes of collective bargaining.