Falls City Tobacco Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 16, 1938

8 N.L.R.B. 907 (N.L.R.B. 1938)

In the Matter of FALLs CITY TOBACCO COMPANY and TOBACCO WORKERS
INTERNATIONAL UNION
Case No. C-692.-Decided August 16, 1938
Tobacco Industry-Settlement : stipulation providing for withdrawal of recog-
nition of company-dominated union, and invalidation of closed -shop contract
Entered therewith-Order: entered on stipulation.
Mrs. Mary Iliff and Mr. Robert E. Greene, for the Board.
Woodrward, Dawson d; Hobson, of Louisville, Ky., for the re-
spondent. -
Mr. Samuel. L. Evans, of Louisville, Ky., for the Union.
Mr. Joseph B. Robison, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon charges and amended charges duly filed by Tobacco Workers
International Union, herein called the Union, by Samuel L. Evans,
the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, by
the Regional Director for the Ninth Region (Cincinnati, Ohio), is-
sued its complaint, dated June 7, 1938, against Falls City Tobacco
Company, Louisville, Kentucky, herein called the respondent, alleg-
ing that the respondent had engaged in and was engaging in unfair
labor practices affecting commerce, within the meaning of Section
R (1), (2), and (3), and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor
Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act.
In respect to the unfair labor practices the complaint alleged in
substance (1) that the respondent formed and gave support to a
labor organization known as the Falls City Tobacco Employees
Union and that it dominated and interfered with the administra-
tion thereof; and (2) that the respondent did at all tines since 1937
require of all of its employees to join the halls City Tobacco Em-
ployees Union as a necessary condition to their continued employ-
ment and did employ only persons who were members of that or-
ganization. Copies of the complaint and notice of hearing were duly
served upon the respondent and the Union.
3 N L. R. B., No. 111.
907
908 NATIONAL LABOR ICELATIONS BOARD
On June 8, 1938, prior to the hearing, scheduled for June 13, 1938,
the respondent, the Union, and representatives of the Board entered
into a stipulation settling the case. The stipulation is as follows:
I
It is hereby stipulated and agreed by and between the re-
spondent, Falls City Tobacco Company, by its attorneys, and
Tobacco Workers International Union, by its duly accredited
representative, and the attorneys for the National Labor Rela-
tions Board, Ninth Region, as follows:
1. Upon charges duly filed by the Tobacco Workers Inter-
national Union through Samuel L. Evans, duly accredited repre-
sentative for this purpose, Philip G. Phillips, agent of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board, acting pursuant to authority,
granted in Section 10 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act
approved July 5, 1935, and acting pursuant to its Rules and
Regulations, Series 1, as amended, Article IV, Section 1, issued
its Complaint and Notice of Hearing on the 7th day of June,
1938, against Falls City Tobacco Company, respondent herein.
2. The Amended Charge, Complaint and Notice of Hearin,;
thereon, as well as a copy of the Rules and Regulations, Series 1,
as amended April 18, 1936, were duly served upon the respond-
ent and upon Tobacco Workers International Union on June 3,
1938, in accordance with said Rules and Regulations, Series 1,
as amended, Article V, Section 1, which hearing was to begin at
9:30 A. M., on June 13, 1938, in the United States Post Office,
City of Louisville, County of Jefferson, State of Kentucky, thus
allowing an intervening period of five (5) days between the
service of said Amended Charge, Complaint, Notice of Hearin;
and copy of Rules and Regulations.
3. Respondent, Falls City Tobacco Company, is and has been
at all times hereinafter mentioned a corporation organized and
existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Ken-
tucky, having its principal office and place of business in the
City of Louisville, County of Jefferson, State of Kentucky, and
is now and has continuously at all times hereinafter mentioned
been engaged at a place of business in the City of Louisville,
County of Jefferson, State of Kentucky, hereinafter called the
Louisville Plant, in the processing, sale and distribution of
tobacco.
4. Tobacco Workers International Union is a labor organiza-
tion within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
5. Respondent, Falls City Tobacco Company, is engaged in
interstate commerce within the meaning of the National Labor
Relations Act.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 909
6. The principal raw materials used by the respondent at the
Louisville Plant are tobacco, hoops and hooks.
7. During the period of January 1, 1937 to December 31, 1937,
the respondent purchased as raw materials for use in the Louis-
ville Plant tobacco in the amount of approximately 8,000,000
pounds, and hooks and hoops to the value of approximately
$16,000.00. 40% of this tobacco used by the respondent at the
Louisville Plant was purchased in states of the United States
other than the State of Kentucky, principally from the States
of North Carolina, South Carolina. Georgia, and Tennessee.
100% of the hoops and hooks used by the respondent at the
Louisville Plant was purchased in states of the United States
other than the State of Kentucky, namely, in the State of Ohio.
8. Raw materials are shipped to the Louisville Plant by rail,
motor truck, and other carriers.
9. During the period from January 1, 1937 to January 1, 1938,
the gross sales and/or shipments of the respondent from the
Louisville Plant were approximately 8,000,000 pounds. 3% of
these sales and/or shipments was made to customers without
the State of Kentucky.
10. Respondent, Falls City Tobacco Company, waives its right
to file an answer to the Complaint of the National Relations
Board, and its right to hearing on said Complaint as set forth
in Section 10 (b) and 10 (c) of the National Labor Relations
Act, and admits the sufficiency of the Notice of Hearing de-
scribed above, and waives its right to any further notice of
hearing.
II
It is further stipulated and agreed by and between the respec-
tive parties hereto that the National Labor Relations Board
may forthwith enter an order in the above entitled case to the
following effect :
Respondent, Falls City Tobacco Company, shall:
1. Cease and desist from the date hereof :
(a) In any manner interfering with, restraining or coercing
its employees in the exercise of their rights to self-organization,
to form, loin or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively
through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage
in concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining
or other mutual aid or protection as guaranteed in Section 7 of
the Act ;
(b) From discouraging membership in Tobacco Workers In-
ternational Union, or any other labor organization of its em-
910 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ployees, or encouraging membership in Falls City Tobacco
Employees Union, or any other labor organization -of its em-
ployees, by discriminating against employees in regard to hire,
tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment:
(c) From dominating or interfering with the administration
of Falls City Tobacco Employees Union or with the formation
or administration of any other labor organization of its em-
ployees, and from contributing financial or other support to the
Falls City Tobacco Employees Union, or any other labor organi-
zation of its employees (except that nothing in this paragraph
shall prevent the respondent from permitting its employees to
confer with it during working hours without the loss of time
or pay) ; from recognizing Falls City Tobacco Employees Union
as the exclusive bargaining agency for all of its employees, and
from allowing the said Falls City Tobacco Employees Union
the right to check-off, or from in any other manner effectuating
the provisions of the contract entered into between the respondent
and the Falls City Tobacco Employees Union on August 9,
1937, or any other contract, entered into between respondent and
said Falls City Tobacco Employees Union.
2. Take the following affirmative action, which the Board
finds will effectuate the policies of the National Labor Relations
Act :
(a) Withdraw all recognition from the Falls City Tobacco
Employees Union as the representative of its employees for the
purpose of dealing with the respondent concerning grievances,
wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or other conditions
of employment;
(b) Disestablish the Falls City Tobacco Employees Union as
the representative of the respondent's employees for the purposes
of collective bargaining;
(c) Notify said Falls City Tobacco Employees Union that the
respondent will no longer be bound-by nor will longer abide by
any contract or contracts entered into between it and the Falls
City Tobacco Employees Union ;
(d) Post notices within five days of the receipt of this stipula-
tion in conspicuous places throughout the said Louisville Plant
stating :
(1) That Falls City Tobacco Employees Union is disestab-
lished as the representative of the respondent's employees for
the purposes of collective bargaining, and that the respondent
will refrain from any recognition thereof ;
(2) That it will cease and desist in the manner aforesaid in
Section 1, subdivision (c) hereof;
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 911
(3) That such notices will remain posted for a period of at
least thirty consecutive days from the date of posting and from
the date on which the Louisville Plant resumes normal pro-
duction ;
(4) Notify the Regional Director of the National Labor Rela-
tions Board for the Ninth Region, within a period of fifteen
(15) clays after the entry of the order, what steps have been
taken to comply with the said order.
III
It is further stipulated and agreed by and between the re-
spective parties hereto that in the event an order of the Board
is entered herein and it becomes necessary , in order to enforce
its terms and provisions, to file a petition for enforcement of the
same in the appropriate circuit court of the United States Cir-
cuit Court of Appeals by the National Labor Relations Board,
the respondent, Falls City Tobacco Company, consents and
agrees that a decree of the said court to the same effect be en-
tered upon said order without notice of the application thereof.
IV
All stipulations herein made and terms and provisions thereof
are made subject to the approval of the National Labor Rela-
tions Board.
On June 15, 1938, the Board issued an order approving the above
stipulation and making it a part of the record in this proceeding,
and ordering further, in accordance with Article II, Section 37, of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as
amended, that the proceeding be transferred to and continued
before it.
Upon the basis of the above stipulation and the entire record in
the case the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE RESPONDENT
Falls City Tobacco Company is a Kentucky corporation having its
principal office and place of business in Louisville , Kentucky. It
is engaged in the processing , sale, and distribution of tobacco. The
principal raw materials used by the respondent are tobacco , hoops,
and hooks . During the year 1937 the respondent purchased 8,000,000
pounds of tobacco, and hooks and hoops to the value of approxi-
mately $16,000 . 00. Forty per cent of the tobacco and all of the hooks
912 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and hoops used by the respondent during that year were purchased
outside of the State of Kentucky. During the same year the re-
spondent sold approximately 8,000,000 pounds of tobacco, 3 per cent
of these sales being made to customers outside of Kentucky.
As noted above, the respondent has stipulated that it "is engaged
in interstate commerce within the meaning of the National Labor
Relations Act."
The aforesaid operations of the respondent constitute trade, traffic,
and commerce between the several States of the United States.
IT. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Tobacco Workers International Union is a labor organization.
ORDER
On the basis of the above findings of fact and on the above stipu-
lation, and pursuant to Section 10 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that
Falls City Tobacco Company, Louisville, Kentucky, its officers,
agents, successors, and assigns, shall:
1. Cease and desist :
(a) From in any manner interfering with, restraining or coerc-
ing its employees in the exercise of their rights to self-organization,
to form, join or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively
through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in con-
certed activities for the purposes of collective bargaining or other
mutual aid or protection as guaranteed in Section 7, of the Act;
(b) From discouraging membership in Tobacco Workers Inter-
national Union, or any other labor organization of its employees, or
encouraging membership in Falls City Tobacco Employees Union, or
any other labor organization of its employees, by discriminating
against employees in regard to hire, tenure of employment or any
term or condition of employment;
(c) From dominating or interfering with the administration of
Falls City Tobacco Employees Union or with the formation or ad-
ministration of any other labor organization of its employees, and
from contributing financial or other support to the Falls City To-
bacco Employees Union, or any other labor organization of its em-
ployees (except that nothing in this paragraph shall prevent the
respondent from permitting its employees to confer with it during
working hours without the loss of time or pay) ; from recognizing
Falls City Tobacco Employees Union as the exclusive bargaining
agency for all of its employees, and from allowing the said Falls
City Tobacco Employees Union the right of check-off, or from in
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 913
any other manner effectuating the provisions of the contract entered
into between the respondent and the Falls City Tobacco Employees
Union on August 9, 1937, or any other contract entered into between
respondent and said Falls City Tobacco Employees Union.
2. Take the following affirmative action, which the Board finds
will effectuate the policies of the Act :
(a) Withdraw all recognition from the Falls City Tobacco Em-
ployees Union as the representative of its employees for the purpose
of dealing with the respondent concerning grievances, ,wages, rates
of pay, hours of employment, or other conditions of -employment;
(b) Disestablish the Falls City Tobacco Employees Union as the
representative of the respondent's employees for the purposes of,*
collective bargaining;
(c) Notify said Falls City Tobacco Employees Union that the
respondent will no longer be bound by nor will longer abide by any
contract or contracts entered into between it and the Falls City To-
bacco Employees Union;
(d) Post notices within five (5) clays of date of this order in con-
spicuous places throughout the said Louisville Plant stating :
(1) That Falls City Tobacco Employees Union is disestablished
as the representative of the respondent's employees for the purposes
of collective bargaining, and that the respondent will refrain from
any recognition thereof;
(2) That it will cease and desist in the manner aforesaid in Section
1, subdivision (c) hereof;
(3) That such notices will remain posted for a period of at least
thirty (30) consecutive days from the date of posting and from the
date on which the Louisville Plant resumes normal production;
(4) Notify the Regional Director of the National Labor Rela-,
tions Board for the Ninth Region, within a period of fifteen (15)
days from- the date of this order, what steps have been taken to
comply with the said order.