Salant & Salant, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 12, 1946

71 N.L.R.B. 661 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of SALANT & SALANT, INC., EMPLOYER and AMALGAMATED
CLOTHING WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 15-R-1871.-Decided November 1,9, 1946
Illr. Joseph Martin, of Nashville, Tenn., for the Employer.
Messrs. Edward A. Blair, Roy McCullough, and Harold S. Martenke,
all of Nashville, Tenn., for the Petitioner.
Mrs. Ida Lee Merchant, of Union City, Tenn., for the Intervenor.
Mr. Warren H. Leland, of counsel to the Board.
- DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF TIIE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed, the National Labor Relations Board on
September 17, 1946, conducted a prehearing election among employees
of the Employer in the alleged appropriate unit, to determine whether
they desired to be represented by the Petitioner or the Intervenor for
the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
At the close of the election a Tally of Ballots was furnished the
parties. The Tally shows that there were approximately 208 eligible
voters, of whom 107 cast votes for the Petitioner; 89 cast votes for the
Intervenor; and 7 cast votes for neither.
Thereafter, hearing in the case was held at Lexington, Kentucky,
before T. Lowry Whittaker, hearing officer.
At the hearing and in its brief the Employer moved to vacate the
election, asserting : (1) that prehearing elections, generally, are
improper and illegal, and by implication, in contravention of the
Administrative Procedures Act; (2) that, in any event, prehearing
elections with two unions on the ballot are repugnant to the Board's
Rules and Regulations because the presence of two unions, per se,
involves a "substantial issue"; (3) that the substitution on September
11, 1946, of Series 4 of the Board's Rules and Regulations for Series 3
has, in effect, deprived the Employer of procedural due process; and
(4) that the unions should have been required to file a waiver, disclaim-
ing their right to protest the results of the election predicated upon
the subject matter of a pending unfair labor practice charge which the
Petitioner filed against the Employer on September 25, 1946, in Case
No. 15-C-1227.
71 \ L. It B, No. 103
661
662 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We reject the Employer's first contention. It is clear, for the
reasons stated in the Squibb case,' that prehearing elections are
neither improper nor illegal. Insofar as the Administrative Proce-
dures Act is concerned, not only are representation proceedings in
large measure exempt from its provisions, but there are no applicable
portions thereof which prohibit, either specifically or by implica-
tion, the conduct of prehearing elections by the Board. We find,
also, that the Employer's second contention lacks merit. For the
Board's Rules and Regulations in no way preclude the holding of
prehearing elections where more than one union is involved. We
find, too, that the Employer's third contention is without merit. The
Employer has failed to show wherein it has been prejudiced by the
substitution of Series 4 of the Board's Rules and Regulations for
Series.3. Moreover, we are satisfied that no possible prejudice could
have resulted from this fact. And we are also of the opinion that
the Employer's last contention lacks substance. The unfair labor
practice charge in Case No. 15-0-1227 was filed on September 25,
1946, and this could have not been waived before the election, which
was held 8 days earlier. Accordingly, the Employer's motion to
vacate the election is hereby denied.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Salant & Salant, Inc., a New York corporation engaged in the
manufacture and sale of work shirts and pants, operates plants in
various cities and towns in the State of Tennessee. We are concerned
in this proceeding only with the Employer's plant located at Lexing-
ton, Tennessee. During each year, raw materials valued in excess
of $100,000 are shipped to the Lexington plant from points outside
the State of Tennessee. Also during each year finished products of
the Lexington plant, valued in excess of $100,000, are shipped to
points outside the State of Tennessee.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
i See Matter of E. R. Squibb € Sons, 67 N. L. R. B. 557.
SALANT & SALANT, INC. 663
United Garment Workers of America, herein called the Intervenor,
is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate -unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
In accordance with the agreement of the parties, we find that all
production and maintenance employees of the Employer's Lexington,
Tennessee, plant, excluding clerical employees, and all supervisory
employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively rec-
ommend 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 Or REPRESENTATIVES
The results of the election held prior to the hearing show that the
Petitioner received a majority of the votes cast. We shall, therefore,
certify the Petitioner as the collective bargaining representative of
the employees in the appropriate unit.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Amalgamated Clothing Workers of
America, CIO, has been designated and selected by a majority of all
production and maintenance employees of Salant & Salant, Inc., at
its Lexington, Tennessee, plant, excluding all clerical employees, and
all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge,
discipline,>or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or
effectively recommend such action, as their representative for the
purposes of collective bargaining, and that pursuant to Section 9 (a)
of the National Labor Relations Act, Amalgamated Clothing Work-
ers of America, CIO, is the exclusive representative of all such em-
ployees for the purposes of collective bargaining with respect to rates
of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of
employment.