Marshall Field & Company

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 20, 1939

12 N.L.R.B. 345 (N.L.R.B. 1939)

In the Matter Of MARSHALL FIELD & COMPANY and TEXTILE WORKERS
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Case No. C-1015.-Decided April 20,1939
Wool and Cotton Textile and Rug Manufacturing Industries-Settlement:
stipulation providing for compliance with the Act-Order: entered on stipula-
tion-Complaint : dismissed as to four persons.
Mr. Henry Shore, for the Board.
Mr. B. C. Trotter, of Spray, N. C., and Mr. J. C. B. Ehringhaus,
of Raleigh , N. C., for the respondent.
Mr. John A. Peel, of Roanoke, Va., for the Union.
Mr. A. J. Toth, of counsel to the Board..
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon charges and amended charges duly filed by Textile Workers
Organizing Committee, herein called the Union, the National Labor
Relations Board, herein called the Board, by the Regional Director
for the Fifth Region (Baltimore, Maryland), issued its complaint
dated February 20, 1939, against Marshall Field & Company, Spray,
North Carolina, herein called the respondent, alleging that the re-
spondent had engaged in and was engaging in unfair labor practices
affecting commerce within the meaning of Section 8 (1), (3), and (5)
and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49
Stat. 449, herein called the Act. A copy of the complaint and notice
of hearing thereon were duly served upon the respondent and the
Union.
Concerning the unfair labor practices, the complaint alleged, in
substance, that the respondent discharged and refused to reinstate
four named employees because of their membership and activity in
the Union; that the respondent has refused and continues to refuse
to bargain collectively with the Union as the exclusive representative
of its employees in an appropriate unit for the purpose of collective
bargaining, although the Union was certified as such representative
by the Board on March 22, 1938; that the respondent demonstrated
12 N. L. R. B., No. 44.
345
346 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
to its employees its hostility to the Union by various methods; made
statements to discourage activity of its employees in the Union;
attempted to influence its employees to vote against the Union in
elections conducted by the Board; attempted to form, sponsor, and
support labor organizations among its employees, and by the afore-
said and other acts, interfered with, restrained, and coerced its em-
ployees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section 7 of the
Act.
On February 27, 1939, the respondent filed its answer containing a
motion to strike the allegations of interference in paragraph 4 of
the complaint on the ground that they lacked the definiteness and
particularity required by the Board's Rules and Regulations. The
ruling on the motion was reserved for the Trial Examiner. In its
answer to the complaint, the respondent admitted the allegations
concerning the nature and scope of its business but denied the allega-
tions of unfair labor practices.
Pursuant to notice, a fiearing was held at Spray, North Carolina,
on March 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8, 1939, before William R. Ringer, the
Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board, at which the Board
and the respondent were represented by counsel, and the Union by
its Regional Director. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and
cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing upon the
issues was afforded all parties. At the commencement of the hear-
ing, the respondent renewed its motion to strike paragraph 4 of the
complaint; this motion was denied by the Trial Examiner. His
ruling is hereby affirmed. On March 8, 1939, the Trial Examiner,
on motion of the respondent, adjourned the hearing without objec-
tion. Thereafter, the respondent, the Union, and counsel for the
Board entered into a stipulation in settlement of the case, subject to
the approval of the Board. This stipulation provides as follows :
It is hereby stipulated and agreed by and among Marshall
Field & Company, Textile Workers Organizing Committee and
Henry Shore, attorney for the National Labor Relations Board,
as follows :
1. Marshall Field and Company (hereinafter referred to as
the Company) is a corporation of the State of Illinois and was
incorporated in the year 1901. The Company is engaged in
manufacturing and retail selling. As part of its manufacturing
operations, the Company operates 12 plants. Nine of these are
located in North Carolina, and among these are the following,
namely, a Woolen Mill plant at Spray, North Carolina, which
is engaged in the manufacture of men's suitings, ladies' dress
goods, coating and blankets; a Rug Mill plant at Leaksville,
North Carolina, which is engaged in the manufacture of rugs; a
MARSHALL FIELD & COMPANY 347
Blanket Mill plant at Draper, North Carolina, which is engaged
in the manufacture of blankets; a Sheeting Mill plant at Draper,
North Carolina, which is engaged in the manufacture of sheet-
ing, casing and pillow tubing; and a Bedspread kill
plant at Leaksville, North Carolina, which is engaged in the
manufacture of bedspreads and yarns. During normal employ-
ment periods, there are approximately 450 employees in the
Woolen mill plant; approximately 550 employees in the Rug
Mill plant; approximately 1,000 employees in the Blanket Mill
plant; approximately 570 employees in the Sheeting Mill plant:
and approximately 385 employees in the Bedspread Mill plant.
The total payroll covering these five plants, including both part-
time and full-time employees, for the year 1938 was approxi-
mately $2,100,000.00. More than 85 percent of the raw mate-
rials used in the manufacture of the products at the Woolen Mill
plant, the Rug Mill plant, the Blanket Mill plant, the Sheeting
Mill plant, and the Bedspread Mill plant respectively come from
a number of states of the United States other than the State of
North Carolina. The Company also receives its manufactured
parts and other supplies from a number of other states of the
United States other than the State of North Carolina. These
raw materials, manufactured parts and supplies are shipped to
the said five plants by rail and trucks. For the years 1938, 1937
and for sometime prior thereto, approximately 90% of the
products manufactured by the Company at each of its five plants
in North Carolina, namely, the Woolen Mill plant, the Rug
Mill plant, the Blanket Mill plant, the Sheeting Mill plant, and
the Bedspread Mill plant, are shipped to and sold in a large
number of states of the United States other than the State of
North Carolina. In marketing its products manufactured in
each of the said five North Carolina plants, the Company uses
salesmen, sells to jobbers, retailers and through department
stores. The Company also advertises its products manufactured
in each of the five plants in newspapers, trade journals and in
market centers. The Company also sells some of its products
manufactured in some of the said five plants to the United States
government. In delivering the products which the Company
manufactures at each of its said five plants, the Company uses
the facilities of rail, express, water, freight and contracted
trucks.
2. The Textile Workers Organizing Committee is a labor or-
ganization as defined in Section 2 (5) of the National Labor
Relations Act.
348 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
3. On March 22, 1938 the National Labor Relations Board
certified that the Textile Workers Organizing Committee had
been designated and selected by a majority of all the employees
of Marshall Field & Company, excluding clerical, sales and
supervisory employees at each of its following five plants,
namely, the Woolen Mill, the Rug Mill, the Bedspread Mill, the
Blanket Mill and the Sheeting Mill, as their representative for
the purposes of collective bargaining, and pursuant to provisions
of Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act, Textile
Workers Organizing Committee has been certified as the ex-
clusive representative of all such employees for the purposes of
collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of
employment and other conditions of employment.
4. On the basis of the pleadings in this case, on the basis of
the facts stipulated in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 above, and on the
basis of this stipulation generally, and with the consent of the
parties hereto, which is hereby given, waiving any and all fur-
ther rights to a hearing and the making of findings of fact and
conclusions by the National Labor Relations Board, the National
Labor Relations Board may enter an Order in this case as herein
below set forth.
5. The said Order shall provide as follows :
(1) Marshall Field & Company, its officers, agents, successors
and assigns shall not interfere with, restrain or coerce its em-
ployees in the exercise of their right to self-organization, to
form, join 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.
(2) On the basis of paragraph 6 of the stipulation of which
this Order is a part, the cases of J. A. Lovick, C. W. Saul,
Everett Nelson and Cooper Richardson are hereby dismissed.
(3) Marshall Field & Company, its officers, agents, successors
and assigns shall not refuse to bargain collectively with the
Textile Workers Organizing Committee as the exclusive repre-
sentative, as provided in Section 9 (a) of the National Labor
Relations Act, of all its employees excluding clerical, sales and
supervisory employees, at each of its five plants, namely, the
Woolen Mill, the Rug Mill, the Bedspread Mill, the Blanket Mill
and the Sheeting Mill in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours
of employment and other conditions of employment.
(4) Marshall Field & Company, its officers, agents, successors
and assigns, shall refrain from insisting on the presence of
persons other than those designated by either Marshall Field &
MARSHALL FIELD & COMPANY 349
Company or the Textile Workers Organizing Committee as their
respective representatives, as a condition of bargaining collec-
tively with the Textile Workers Organizing Committee, as the
exclusive representative, as provided for in Section 9 (a) of the
National Labor Relations Act, of all of its employees, excluding
clerical, sales and supervisory employees at each of its five plants,
namely, the Woolen Mill, the Rug Mill, the Bedspread Mill, the
Blanket Mill and the Sheeting Mill, in respect to rates of pay,
wages, hours of employment and other conditions of employ-
ment.
(5) Marshall Field & Company, its officers, agents, successors
and assigns, shall take the following affirmative action in order
to effectuate the policies of the National Labor Relations Act :
a. Bargain collectively in good faith with the Textile Workers
Organizing Committee as the exclusive representative, as pro-
vided for in Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act,
of all of its employees, excluding clerical, sales, and supervisory
employees at each of its following plants, namely, the Woolen
Mill, the Rug Mill, the Bedspread Mill, the Blanket Mill and
the Sheeting Mill, in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of em-
ployment and other conditions of employment; with the under-
standing that all those present at the bargaining negotiations
shall have been designated by either Marshall Field & Company
or Textile Workers Organizing Committee as their respective
representatives.
b. Post notices immediately in conspicuous places at each of
its following five plants, namely, the Woolen Mill, the Rug Mill,
the Bedspread Mill, the Blanket Mill and the Sheeting Mill, stat-
ing (1) Marshall Field & Company, its officers, agents, succes-
cessors and assigns, will not interfere with, restrain or coerce its
employees in the exercise of their rights to self-organization, to
bargain collectively through representatives of their own choos-
ing and to engage in other mutual aid or protection; (2) Mar-
shall Field & Company, its successors, officers, agents and assigns
will bargain collectively in good faith with the Textile Work-
ers Organizing Committee as exclusive representative of all of
its employees, excluding clerical, sales and supervisory employees
in each of its five plants, namely, the Woolen Mill, the Rug Mill,
the Bedspread Mill, the Blanket Mill and the Sheeting Mill, in
respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment and other
conditions of employment, a majority of all said employees in
each of the said five plants having designated and selected the
Textile Workers Organizing Committee as such exclusive repre-
sentative in an election ordered by the National Labor Rela-
350 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tions Board; with the understanding that all those present at
the bargaining negotiations shall have been designated by either
Marshall Field & Company or Textile Workers Organizing
Committee as their respective representatives ; (3) such notices
shall remain posted for a period of at least 60 days.
c. Notify the Regional Director for the Fifth Region within
twenty days from the service of this Order by a report in writ-
ing setting forth further in detail the manner and form in which
it has complied with the said Order.
6. Textile Workers Organizing Committee agrees that as to
the cases of J. A. Lovick, C. W. Saul, Cooper Richardson and
Everett Nelson, the National Labor Relations Board is hereby
requested to enter an order dismissing each of said cases, the
said cases having been satisfactorily adjusted by negotiations
between Marshall Field & Company and Textile Workers Or-
ganizing Committee.
7. Marshall Field & Company consents to the entry of a decree
by the appropriate United States Circuit Court of Appeals en-
forcing the Order of the National Labor Relations Board in the
form set out in paragraph 5 above.
8. This stipulation and the Order pursuant thereto shall be a
final and conclusive adjudication of all the facts and issues in-
volved in the pleadings of this case.
9. It is expressly understood and agreed that this stipulation
is subject to the approval of the National Labor Relations Board.
On March 15, 1939, the Board issued its order approving the above
stipulation, making it part of the record, and transferring the pro-
ceeding to the Board for the purpose of entry of a decision and order
by the Board.
Upon the stipulation and the entire record in the case, the Board
makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE RESPONDENT
The respondent, an Illinois corporation, is engaged in manufac-
turing and retail selling. As part of its manufacturing operations,
the respondent operates 12 plants, 9 of which are located in the State
of North Carolina. This case is concerned with the operations of
the respondent at five of its plants in North Carolina, namely, its
Woolen Mill plant at Spray, North Carolina, engaged in the man-
ufacture of men's suiting, ladies' dress goods, coating, and blankets;
its Rug Mill plant at Leaksville, North Carolina, engaged in the
manufacture of rugs; its Blanket Mill plant at Draper, North Caro-
MARSHALL FIELD & COMPANY 351
lina, engaged in the manufacture of blankets; its Sheeting Mill plant
at Draper, North Carolina, engaged in the manufacture of sheeting,
casing, and pillow tubing; and its Bedspread Mill plant at Leaks-
Ville, North Carolina, engaged in the manufacture of bedspreads and
yarns. More than 85 per cent of the raw materials used in the man-
ufacture of the products at the said five plants come from States
other than the State of North Carolina. For the years 1937 and
1938, approximately 90 per cent of the products manufactured by
the respondent at each of the said five plants were shipped to and
sold in States other than the State of North Carolina.
We find that the above-described operations of the respondent
constitute a continuous flow of trade, traffic, and commerce among the
several States.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Textile Workers Organizing Committee is a labor organization
affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting
to membership employees of the respondent.
III. REPRESENTATION OF A MAJORITY WITHIN AN APPROPRIATE BARGAINING
UNIT
On March 22, 1938, the Board certified that the Textile Workers
Organizing Committee had been designated and selected by a ma-
jority of all the employees of the respondent, excluding clerical, sales,
and supervisory employees, at each of its following five plants,
namely, the Woolen Mill, the Rug Mill, the Bedspread Mill, the
Blanket Mill, and the Sheeting Mill, as'their representative for the
purpose of collective bargaining, and pursuant to provisions of Sec-
tion 9 (a) of the Act, Textile Workers Organizing Committee has
been certified as the exclusive representative of all such employees
for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay,
wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the above stipulation, findings of fact, and the
entire record in the case, and pursuant to Section 10 (c) of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act, the National Labor Relations Board
hereby orders that the respondent, Marshall Field & Company,
Spray, North Carolina, its officers, agents, successors, and assigns :
1. Shall not :
(a) Interfere with, restrain, or coerce its employees in the exercise
of their right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor or-
ganizations , to bargain collectively through representatives of their
352 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
own choosing, and to engage in concerted activities for the purpose
of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection;
(b) Refuse to bargain collectively with the Textile Workers Or-
ganizing Committee as the exclusive representative, as provided in
Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act, of all of its
employees, excluding clerical, sales, and supervisory employees, at
each of its five plants, namely, the Woolen Mill, the Rug Mill, the
Bedspread Mill, the Blanket Mill, and the Sheeting Mill in respect
to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions
of employment.
2. Shall refrain from insisting on the presence of persons other
than those designated by either Marshall Field & Company or the
Textile Workers Organizing Committee as their respective repre-
sentatives, as a condition of bargaining collectively with the Textile
Workers Organizing Committee, as the exclusive representative, as
provided for in Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act,
of all of its employees, excluding clerical, sales, and supervisory em-
ployees, at each of its five plants, namely, the Woolen Mill, the Rug
Mill, the Bedspread Mill, the Blanket Mill, and the Sheeting Mill, in
respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other condi-
tions of employment.
3. Take the following affirmative action which the Board finds
will effectuate the policies of the Act :
(a) Bargain collectively in good faith with the Textile Workers
Organizing Committee as the exclusive representative, as provided
for in Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act, of all of
its employees, excluding clerical, sales, and supervisory employees at
each of the following plants, namely, the Woolen Mill, the Rug
Mill, the Bedspread Mill, the Blanket Mill, and the Sheeting Mill,
in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other
conditions of employment; with the understanding that all those
present at the bargaining negotiations shall have been designated by
either Marshall Field & Company or Textile Workers Organizing
Committee as their respective representatives;
(b) Post notices immediately in conspicuous places at each of its
following five plants, namely, the Woolen Mill, the Rug Mill, the
Bedspread Mill, the Blanket Mill, and the Sheeting Mill, stating :
(1) Marshall Field & Company, its officers, agents, successors, and
assigns, will not interfere with, restrain, or coerce its employees in
the exercise of their rights to self-organization, to bargain collec-
tively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage
in other mutual aid or protection; (2) Marshall Field & Company,
its successors, officers, agents, and assigns, will bargain collectively in
good faith with the Textile Workers Organizing Committee as ex-
MARSHALL FIELD & COMPANY 353
elusive representative of all of its employees, excluding clerical,
sales, and supervisory employees, in each of its five plants, namely,
the Woolen Mill, the Rug Mill, the Bedspread Mill, the Blanket Mill,
and the Sheeting Mill, in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of
employment, and other conditions of employment, a majority of all
said employees in each of the said five plants having designated and
selected the Textile Workers Organizing Committee as such exclusive
representative in an election ordered by the National Labor Rela-
tions Board; with the understanding that all those present at the
bargaining negotiations shall have been designated by either Mar-
shall Field & Company or Textile Workers Organizing Committee
as their respective representatives; (3) Such notices shall remain
posted for a period of at least sixty (60) days;
(c) Notify the Regional Director for the Fifth Region within
twenty (20) days from the service of this Order by a report in writ-
ing setting forth further in detail the manner and form in which it
has complied with this Order.
AND IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the complaint, in so far as it
pertains to the cases of J. A. Lovick, C. W. Saul, Cooper Richard-
son, and Everett Nelson, be, and it hereby is, dismissed.