Paramount Shoe Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsFeb 20, 1947

72 N.L.R.B. 866 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of PARAMOUNT SIIOE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, EM- PLOYER and RETAIL, WHOLESALE & DEPARTMENT STORE UNION, CIO. PETITIONER Case No. 14 -R-1499.-Decided February 20,1947 Mr. Karol Korngold, of St. Louis, Mo., for the Employer. Messrs. Philip Reichardt and H. J. Gibbons, of St. Louis, Mo., for the Petitioner. Messrs. Dave Wilson and Herbert N. Long, of St. Louis, Mo., for the Intervenor. Mr. Ralph Winkler, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND ORDER Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at St. Louis, Missouri, on August 22, 1946, before Elsner L. Hunt, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju- dicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Paramount Shoe Manufacturing Company is a Missouri corpora- tion engaged in the manufacture of women shoes in St. Louis; Mis- souri; In 1945, the Employer purchased raw materials valued in excess of $500,000, more than 75 percent of which was obtained out- side the State of Missouri; during the same year, it manufactured finished products valued in excess of $1,000,000, more than 90 percent of which was shipped outside the State. The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 72 N L . R B., No. 144. 866 PARAMOUNT SHOE MANUFACTURING COMPANY 867 II. TIIE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. United Shoe Workers of America, herein called the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organi- zations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. III. THE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE UNIT The Petitioner seeks a unit of two shipping department employees. The Intervenor, which represents all production employees except those in the cutting department, contends that the shipping depart- ment employees should be included in its production unit without an election. If an election is directed, the Intervenor does not de- sire to appear on the ballot. The Employer is neutral. Following a "Globe" election directed December 13, 1942,1 the Board found appropriate two separate units consisting, respectively, of (1) all production department employees, excluding employees in the cutting, shipping, and maintenance departments, office em- ployees, and designers; and (2) all cutting department employees. In excluding the shipping department employees from the produc- tion unit, the Board neither expressly nor by implication conveyed the idea that these employees could appropriately constitute a sep- arate unit. There is nothing in the present record which would jus- tify establishing them in such a unit. Their duties are those cus- tomary with shipping department employees. Under all the circum- stances, we are of the opinion, and we find, that the employees in the shipping department cannot appropriately be grouped in a sepa- rate unit. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the present petition. ORDER - IT IS r-TEREBY ORDERED that the petition for investigation and certi- fication of representatives of employees of Paramount Shoe Manu- facturing Company, St. Louis, Missouri, filed by Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union, CIO, be, and it hereby is, dismissed. 1 Matter of Paramount Shoe Company, 46 N. L. R. B. 587.