P. Lorillard Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 12, 1946

66 N.L.R.B. 615 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of P . LORILLARD COMPANY and FooD, TOBACCO, AGRI-
CULTURAL AND ALLIED WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA, CIO
Case No. 4-B-1926.-Decided March 12, 1946
Mr. Todd Wool, of New York City, for the Company.
Miss Elayne Goldstein, of Philadelphia, Pa., for the CIO.
Mr. Joseph A. Padway, by Mr. Robert A. Wilson, of Washington,
D. C., for the AFL.
Mr. Benj. E. Cook, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and
Allied Workers Union of America, CIO, herein called the CIO, al-
leging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the
representation of employees of P. Lorillard Company, Lancaster,
Pennsylvania, herein called the Company, the National Labor Rela-
tions Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice be-
fore Herman Lazarus, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on January 24, 1946. The Company, the
CIO, and the Cigarmakers' International Union of America, A. F. of
L., herein called AFL, appeared and participated. The AFL moved
to dismiss the petition on the ground that no question concerning
representation had arisen. The Trial Examiner referred this motion
to the Board. For reasons stated in Section III, infra, the motion to
dismiss is hereby denied. All parties were afforded full opportunity
to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce
evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
66 N. L. R. B., No. 85.
615
616 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
P. Lorillard Company, a New Jersey corporation, with principal
offices in New York City, is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and
delivery of cigarettes, smoking and chewing tobacco, and cigars in
several States of the United States. At Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the
Company maintains a plant, the only one involved in this proceeding,
where it stores tobacco for shipment to those plants located in States
other than Pennsylvania. During the past year, the Company re-
ceived at its Lancaster plant from points outside the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, tobacco valued in excess of $207,500. During the
same period, the Company shipped to points outside the Common-
wealth of Pennsylvania, tobacco valued in excess of $1,535,000.
The Company concedes that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. TIIE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied Workers Union of America
is a labor organization, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial
Organizations, admitting to membership employees of the Company.
Cigarmakers' International Union of America is a labor organiza-
tion, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to
membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
By letter dated November 1, 1945, the CIO requested the Company
to recognize it as the exclusive bargaining representative of certain
of its employees. The Company refused to grant such recognition
until the CIO had been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
The record discloses that in 1937, following a card check by the
Board, the AFL was certified as the exclusive bargaining representa-
tive for certain of the Company's employees. The AFL contends that
its certification constitutes a bar to this proceeding. Since that time,
however, no contract has been executed and no negotiations for that
purpose held between the Company and the AFL. The AFL contends
that its failure to negotiate a contract was due to the Company's un-
willingness to cooperate; but no charge of refusal to bargain was
ever filed with the Board by the AFL, nor does it now contend that
the Company has been guilty of any unfair labor practices. Although
the certification of a bargaining representative must be effective for a
P. LORILLARD COMPANY 617
reasonable length of time, which, absent unusual circumstances, the
Board customarily deems to be 1 year,' here, the Board's certification
is approximately 9 years old. We find that the 1937 certification is no
bar to a present determination of representatives.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the CIO represents a substantial number of em-
ployees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, 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 an agreement of the parties,
that all production and maintenance employees of the Company at
its Lancaster , Pennsylvania , plant, excluding office and clerical em-
ployees, foremen , foreladies , supervisors , 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 purposes
of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among employees
in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period
immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein,
subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with P. Lorillard
3 See Matter of Bohn Aluminum and Brass Corporation , 57 N L R. B 1684, cf
Matter of Allis -Chalmers Manufacturing Company, 50 N. L. R B. 306.
2 The Field Examiner reported that the CIO submitted 78 authorization cards. During
the course of the hearing , the Trial Examiner read into the record a statement that the
CIO had submitted to him 3 additional authorization cards purporting to bear signatures
of employees of the Company in the appropriate unit.
There are approximately 102 employees in the appropriate unit
The AFL submitted no cards but relies on its 1937 designation to indicate its interest
among the Company 's employees,
618 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Company, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, an election by secret ballot shall
be conducted as 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 Fourth Region, acting in this matter
as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to
Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among
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 temporar-
ily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United
States who present themselves in person 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 they desire to be representd by Food, Tobacco,
Agricultural and Allied Workers Union of America, affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, or by Cigarmakers' Interna-
tional Union of America, affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.