Donovan Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 10, 1941

36 N.L.R.B. 804 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter Of MORTEN-DAVIS COMPANY, DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE
TRADE NAME OF DONOVAN MANUFACTURING COMPANY and INTERNA-
TIONAL LADIES' GARMENT WORKERS' UNION, LOCAL No. 387
Case No. R-3070-Decided November 10, 1941
Jurisdiction : clothing manufacturing industry.
Practice and Procedure : petition dismissed where no appropriate unit within
the scope of the petition ; unit limited to "cutters" held inappropriate.
Mr. George 0. Wilson, of Dallas, Tex., for the Company.
Mr. Jack Johannes, of Dallas, Tex., for Local No. 387.
Mrs. Augusta Spaulding, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On August 9, 1941, International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union,
Local No. 387, herein called Local No. 387, filed with the Regional
Director for the Sixteenth Region '(Fort Worth, Texas) a petition,
and on September 25, 1941, an amended petition, alleging that a ques-
tion affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of
employees of Morten-Davis Company, doing business under the trade
name of Donovan Manufacturing Company,' Dallas, Texas, herein
called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification
of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On October 2, 1941,
the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting
pursuant 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 an investigation and authorized the Regional
Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing
upon due notice.
'The notice of hearing and other formal papers designated the employer as Morten-
Davis Company, Donovan Manufacturing Company. The record, however, made at the
hearing discloses that the correct name of the Company is Morten-Davis Company, doing
business under the trade name of Donovan Manufacturing Company . The petition and
other formal papers are hereby ordered amended to show the correct name of the Company.
36 N. L. R. B., No. 170.
804
MORTEN-DAVIS COMPANY 805
On October 3, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear-
ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and Local
No. 387. Pursuant to notice , a hearing was held on October 6, 1941,
at Fort Worth, Texas, before V. Lee McMahon, the Trial Examiner
,duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company and
Local No. 387 were represented by counsel and both participated in
the hearing . At . the commencement of the hearing , the Company
moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that the unit proposed
therein was inappropriate for bargaining . The Trial Examiner re-
served ruling upon this motion for the Board . For reasons which
.appear in Section III below, the motion is granted. Full opportunity
to be heard , to examine and cross -examine witnesses , and to introduce
evidence bearing on the issues was afforded both parties . During the
course of the hearing , the Trial Examiner made several rulings upon
other motions and upon objections to the admission of evidence. The
Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that
no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby
.affirmed.
On October 15, 1941, Local No. 387, and on October 16, 1941, the
Company filed briefs which the Board has considered.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Morten-Davis Company, doing business under the trade name of
Donovan Manufacturing -Company, is engaged in the manufacture
and sale of ladies' ready -to-wear garments under the trade brands of
"Prima Donna Dresses" and "Dona Togs." The principal raw ma-
terial used .by the Company at its plant is cloth , 95 per cent of which
is purchased and delivered to the Company 's plant from points outside
Texas. During 1940 sales of the Company's products amounted to
more than $1 ,000,000, of which approximately 75 per cent represented
products sold and shipped from the plant to points outside Texas.
For corresponding periods, the Company's business is substantially
the same in 1941 as it was in 1940.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union , Local No. 387, is a
labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,
admitting to membership employees of the Company.
806 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
III. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
Local No. 387 contends that the cutters employed at, the Company's,
plant constitute an appropriate bargaining unit. The Company con-
tends that all production employees at its plant, excluding supervi-
sory employees, constitute a single appropriate unit.
At its plant the Company employs about 200 production employees,,
including 4 cutters. The cutters work at tables at one end of the
production floor. No partitions divide the cutters from other produc-
tion workers. The Company pays its cutters, sample makers, pattern
makers, markers, and spreaders on an hourly basis. Almost all other
production employees are machine operators who work on a piece-rate
basis, with an hourly minimum.
In February 1941, International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union,.
herein called the International, began organizing the Company's
employees on a plant-wide basis. Employees who became members
of the International joined Local No, 348, to which production workers
locally employed in the industry were eligible. On' June 6, 1941, the
International chartered Local No. 387, the petitioner in this proceed-
ing, for cutters locally employed in the industry. Cutters who were
members of Local No. 348 transferred their. membership to Local
No. 387. On or about August 4, 1941, Local No. 387 requested the
Company to bargain with it for cutters employed by the Company.
The Company refused to bargain, contending that the cutters alone
did not constitute an appropriate unit.
The International has organized plants of the Company's competi-
tors-in Texas on an industrial basis and has contracts with such com-
panies for all production employees. The International has been ac-
tively engaged in organizing the production employees of the Com-
pany on an industrial basis. Although the International had as mem-
bers, at the time of the hearing, other production employees in
addition to cutters, it did not claim to represent a majority'in this
larger unit. The International considers a plant-wide unit ultimately
appropriate for bargaining. Under these circumstances, we find that
a unit restricted to cutters employed by the Company is inappropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining.2
IV. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Since the bargaining unit sought to be established by the petition
is not appropriate, as stated in Section III above, we find that no ques-
See Matter of Justin McCarty, Inc. and International Ladies' Garment Workers Union,
Local No. 387, 36 N. L. R. B. 800; Matter of Kohen-Ligon -Folz, Inc. and International
Ladies' Garment Workers Union, Local No . 387, 36 N . L. R. B. # 808; Cf. Matter of
Crescent Dress Co. and Cutters Local 11, I. L. G. TV. U. (A. F. of L.), 29 N. L. R . B., No. 67;
Matter ,of Arlington Mills and Federation of Woolen & Worsted Workers , U. T. W. A.-
A. F. L.; Matter of Arlington Mills and Textile Workers Union of America, 31 N. L. R. B.,
No. 6.
MORTEN-DAVIS COMPANY 807
tion has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the-
Company in an appropriate bargaining unit.
On the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record.
in the case, the Board makes the following:
CONCLUSION OF LAW
No question concerning representation of employees of Morten-
Davis Company, doing business under the trade name of Donovan
Manufacturing Company, Dallas, Texas, has arisen in a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning=
of Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and conclusion of'
law, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the peti-
tion for investigation and certification of representatives of employees
of Morten-Davis Company, doing business under the trade name of-
Donovan Manufacturing Company, Dallas, Texas, filed by Interna-
tional Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, Local No. 387, be, and it.
hereby is, dismissed.