Sidney Blumenthal & Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 21, 1946

68 N.L.R.B. 859 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of SIDNEY BLUMENTHAL & CO., INC . ( CAROMOUNT DIvi-
SION ) and TEXTILE WORKERS UNION OF AMFRICA , C. I. O.
Case No. 5-R-2253.-Decided June 21, 1946
Battle, Winslow & Merrell, by Mr. Kenneth D. Battle, of Rocky
Mount, N. C., and Mr. William F. Healy, of Derby, Conn., for the
Company.
Mr. Toby E. Mendes, of Rocky Mount, N. C., for the Union.
Mr. Harvey B. Diamond, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Textile Workers Union of America,
C. I. 0., herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Sidney
Blumenthal & Co., Inc. (Caromount Division), Rocky Mount, North
Carolina, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations
Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before
Sidney J. Barban, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Rocky
Mount, North Carolina, on May 2, 1946. The Company and the Union
appeared and participated. 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. On
May 3, 1946, the Company filed a request for oral argument before the
Board. Said request is hereby denied.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Sidney Blumenthal & Co., Inc., operates six plants, two in Connecticut,
two in Rhode Island, and two in North Carolina. We are only con-
68 N. L. R B., No. 112.
859
860 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
cerned here with the plants located in North Carolina. The two North
Carolina plants, one located in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, called
the Caromount Division, and the other in Wilson, North Carolina,
called the Wilson Division, are engaged in the manufacture of plush
and pile fabrics. The North Carolina plants of the Company use an-
nually raw materials and supplies valued in excess of $1,000,000, ap-
proximately 40 percent of which is shipped to the plants from points
outside the State of North Carolina. The Company produces annually
at the North Carolina plants finished products of a value in excess of
$1,000,000, approximately 90 percent of which is shipped to points
outside the State of North Carolina.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Textile Workers Union of America is a labor organization, affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to member-
ship employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of the employees of the Caromount
Division until the Union has been certified by the Board in an appro-
priate unit.
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
The Union seeks a unit of production and maintenance workers em-
ployed in the Caromount Division of the Company,' including the ticket
clerk, remnant clerk, watchmen, instructors, forelady, and assistant fore-
lady, but excluding the head knife fixer .2 The Company contends that
the unit also should include employees -of the Wilson Division on the
ground that the operations of the two divisions are closely integrated.
It further urges that the head knife fixer be included and the forelady
and assistant forelady be excluded.
The Caromount Division of the Company is comprised of a plant
located in Rocky Mount, Nash County, North Carolina, wherein are
i There are approximately 474 employees in the appropriate unit.
I Romeo Tippett.
SIDNEY BLUMENTHAL & CO., INC. 861
performed all operations necessary for the manufacture of finished fab-
rics, including weaving. The Wilson Division plant is located in the
city of Wilson County, about 18 miles from Rocky Mount, and employs
about 90 persons engaged only in weaving operations. Most of the ma-
terial used at the Wilson plant is prepared at Rocky Mount, transported
to Wilson for weaving, and returned to the Rocky Mount plant for
further processing. There is no interchange of employees between the
2 plants, each division hiring its workers from within its own commu-
nity. Although the administrative offices for both plants are maintained
at Rocky Mount, each plant has its own supervisory staff. The Com-
pany keeps separate production records and pay rolls for each plant.
Although the Union had previously attempted to organize both plants,
and in fact had lost a consent election held on June 29, 1944,3 it states
that its recent organizational activities have been limited to the Caro-
mount plant.
In view of the foregoing facts, particularly the geographical separa-
tion of the plants, the absence of interchange of employees, and the
present state of union organization, we find that a unit limited to em-
ployees of the Caromount Division is appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining.4
There remains the question as to whether or not the forelady, assistant
forelady, and the head knife fixer should be included in the unit. The
Union seeks the inclusion of the forelady and assistant forelady because
they were permitted to vote in the previous election. The record indicates,
however, that their duties are supervisory, and are similar to those of
assistant foremen whom The parties have agreed should be excluded. We
shall exclude the forelady and assistant forelady.
The duties of the head knife fixer are to train newly appointed knife
fixers, and to take care of the more difficult jobs. He was chosen for
the position because of his long experience and superior skill. However,
he does not have supervisory jurisdiction over the other knife fixers.
Inasmuch as the head knife fixer does not fall within our usual definition
of a supervisory employee, we shall include him in the unit.
We find that all production and maintenance workers employed in the
Caromount Division of the Company, including ticket clerks, the rem-
nant clerk, watchmen, the head knife fixer, and instructors, but exclud-
ing foremen, assistant foremen, the forelady, the assistant forelady, dis-
patch clerks, office clerical employees, and all or any other supervisory
employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or other-
wise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend
8 See Matter of Sydney Blumenthal and Company, Inc., 59 N L R. B 348, wherein the
Board set aside the election after the Union had filed objections alleging interference with the
conduct of the election.
4 Matter of May, McEwen, Kaiser Company-May Full Fashion Division, 66 N L. R. B. 1341;
Matter of The Bailey Company, 66 N. L. R. B 899.
862 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 im-
mediately 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 Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representatives
for the purposes of collective bargaining with Sidney Blumenthal & Co.,
Inc. (Caromount Division), Rocky Mount, North Carolina, 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 Fifth 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 temporarily
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 election, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented by Textile Workers Union
of America, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining.