Singer Sewing Machine Company

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 17, 1938

10 N.L.R.B. 696 (N.L.R.B. 1938)

In the Matter of SINGER SEWING MACHINE COMPANY and SEWING
MACHINE MECHANICS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA _
Case No. R476.-Decided December 17, 1938
Sewing Machine Sales and Servicing Industry-Employer: wholly owned
subsidiary corporation-Investigation of Representatives: controversy concern-
ing representation of employees : employer 's refusal to recognize union as
exclusive bargaining agent-Unit Appropriate for Collectwe Bargaining: ad-
justers and power-table men ; community of interest ; history of collective bar-
gaining relations in industry-Representatives : proof of choice : applications
for membership ; signed statement affirming membership-Certification of Rep-
resentatives: upon proof of majority representation.
Mr. Stephen M. Reynolds, for the Board.
Burlingame, Nourse di Petit, by Mr. Arthur E. Petit, of New York
City, and Jones, Obenchain ti Butler, by Mr. Roland Obenchain, of
South Bend, Ind., for the Company.
Mr. Oscar Salenger, of Chicago, Ill., for the Union.
Mr. Henry J. Fox, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF TIIE CASE
On September- 17, 1937, Sewing Machine Mechanics Association
of America, herein called the Union, filed a petition with the Regional
Director for the Thirteenth Region (Chicago, Illinois) alleging that
a'question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, Chicago,
Illinois, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation
and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, herein called the Act. The National
Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to
Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, or-
dered an-investigation and authorized the Regional Director to con-
duct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
On July 2, • 1937, the Union had filed charges with `the Regional
Director alleging that the Company had engaged in and was engaging
10 N. L. R. B.,-No. 58.
696
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 697
in unfair labor practices affecting commerce within the meaning of
Section 8 (1) and (5) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
On February 5, 1938, the Board, acting pursuant to Article III,
Section 10 (c) (2), of the Rules and Regulations, ordered that the
two cases be consolidated for the purpose of hearing.
Upon the charges filed by the Union, on March 19, 1938, the Board
by the Regional Director issued its complaint against the Company,
alleging that the Company had engaged in and was engaging in un-
fair labor practices affecting commerce, within the meaning of Sec-
tion 8 (1) and (5) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
On March 24, 1938, the Company filed an answer, denying the ma-
terial allegations of the complaint and also the jurisdiction of the
Board.
On March 19, 1938, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear-
ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the
Union. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing on the complaint and the
petition was held in Chicago, Illinois, on March 28, 1938, before
Madison Hill, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board.
The Board, the Company, and the Union were represented by counsel,
and participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to
examine and cross-examine the witnesses, and to introduce evidence
bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. During the course of
the hearing, the Trial Examiner made several rulings on motions
and on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board has re-
viewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial
errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed.
On May 12, 1938,the Trial Examiner filed his Intermediate Report
in which he found that the Company had engaged in the unfair labor
practices alleged in the complaint to the extent of having refused to
bargain with the Union. He found, however, that the proof did not
sustain the allegation that the Company had engaged in an unfair
labor practice by the alleged discouraging of its employees from join-
ing or retaining membership in the Union. On June 6, 1938, the
Company filed exceptions to the Intermediate Report. It also re-
quested an opportunity to argue orally before the Board.
Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held before the Board on July
5, 1938, in Washington, D. C., for the purpose of such oral argument.
The Company was represented by counsel, but the Union did not
appear.
On August 8, 1938, the Board issued a Decision and Order in which
it found that the Company had engaged in unfair labor practices
within the meaning of Section 8 (1) and 8 (5) of the Act and in
which it ordered the Company to cease and desist from its unfair
labor practices and to take certain affirmative action to effectuate the
purposes of the Act.
698 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
On October 27, 1938, the Company, the Union, and counsel for
the Board entered into a stipulation, subject to the approval of the
Board, in settlement of the case, in which, inter alia, the Union and the
Company agreed to petition the Board to vacate its Decision and
Order issued on August 8, 1938. The stipulation provides as follows :
IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AN D AGREED by and between Sewing
Machine Mechanics Association of America, hereinafter referred
to as the Union, the Singer Sewing Machine Company, herein-
after referred to as the Company, and John J. Babe, attorney
for the National Labor Relations Board, as follows :
1. The Union agrees that it will and that by this stipulation
it hereby does petition the National Labor Relations Board
praying (1) for permission to withdraw its charge in Case No.
C-679 dated July 2, 1937, filed by it on the same date with the
Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board for the
Thirteenth Region, (2) that the order of the Labor Board in
such case and in Case No. R-726 dated August 8, 1938, and the
decision embodying said order, together with each and every
finding of fact and conclusion of law therein, be vacated and
annulled, and (3) that the complaint of the Labor Board in said
Case No. C-679 based on said charge be dismissed, and further
praying that the petition of said Union for investigation and
certification under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations
Act in Case No. R-726 filed by it with the Regional Director of
the Thirteenth Region of the National Labor Relations Board
on September 17, 1937, be reconsidered by the said Board and
that upon said petition for certification in said Case No. R-726
and upon the record in the above consolidated proceedings the
Board determine and decide said petition and render a decision
embodying appropriate findings of fact and conclusions of law
and certify the Union as the exclusive representative of the
adjusters and power-table men employed by the Company at its
Chicago, Illinois, branch for the purpose of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (a) of the National Labor
Relations Act.
2. The Company consents that on the foregoing petition an
order be entered by the National Labor Relations Board granting
the Union permission to withdraw its said charge, vacating and
annulling said order of the Labor Board dated August 8, 1938,
and the decision embodying said order and each and every find-
ing of fact and conclusion of law therein, and dismissing the said
complaint of the Labor Board without further notice to the
Company, and further consents that the Labor Board reconsider
the petition of said Union for investigation and certification in
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 699
Case No. R-726 and that for such purpose and in lieu and instead
of a new hearing on the said petition the testimony taken and
exhibits received by the Board at the consolidated hearing in
this case at Chicago, Illinois, on March 28, 1938, shall constitute
and be considered by the National Labor Board as the record
of such petition for investigation and certification, and that the
National- Labor Relations .Board may proceed thereon to a deter-
mination and decision without further inotice to, the Company.
3. For purposes of the record provided for in the -preceding
paragraph, the Company and the Union each agree that the
facts in evidence regarding the appropriate unit and the repre-
sentatives of the majority therein be deemed to have and have
remained unchanged or unqualified in anywise from March 28,
1938 to and including the date of this stipulation.
4. The' Company agrees that upon the entry of an order of
the Labor Board granting - the Union permission to withdraw
-its said charge, vacating and annulling said order of the Labor
Board of August 8, 1938, and the decision embodying said order
and each and every finding of fact and conclusion of law therein,
-and dismissing the said complaint of the Labor Board, and upon
-certification by the National Labor Relations Board of the Union
as the exclusive representative of the adjusters and power-table
men employed by the Company at its Chicago, Illinois, branch
-office at 1015 West Jackson Boulevard for the purpose of collec-
tive bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 _(a) of the said
Act, it will, upon request of the Union, bargain collectively with
the Union as the exclusive representative of its said adjusters
and power-table men in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of
employment and other conditions of employment.
5. It is the intention of the parties to this stipulation that it
shall have no force and effect unless and until it is approved by
the National Labor Relations Board.
On November 22, 1938, the Board issued the following order with
respect to the above stipulation :
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the said stipulation be, and it hereby
is, approved and made a part of the record in the above cases; and
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the request of the Union for per-
mission to withdraw its charges be, and it hereby is, granted;
and
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the complaint be, and it hereby is
dismissed; and
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the said findings of fact, conclusions
of law, Decision and Order, be, and they hereby are, vacated and
set aside; and _
-700 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, pursuant to said stipulation, that the
record in the above consolidated proceedings :shall constitute the
record of the said petition for investigation and certification of
representatives; and
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, pursuant to Article II, Section 37 (b)
of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 1, as amended, that Case No. R-726 be, and it hereby is,
severed from Case No. 0-679, and that Case No. C-679 be, and
hereby is, closed.
On the basis of the above stipulation and upon the entire record in
the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Singer Sewing Machine Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of
the Singer Manufacturing Company, is a New Jersey corporation
licensed to do business in Illinois. Its principal office is in New York
City, with branch offices located in Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, and
Indianapolis. Only the branch office at Chicago is here involved.
At the Chicago branch the Company sells, adjusts, installs, and
repairs industrial sewing machines.
The Company obtains all its machines, motors, and parts for the
Chicago branch from the Singer Manufacturing Company which
usually ships these items directly from its manufacturing plants at
Elizabeth, New Jersey; Bridgeport, Connecticut; and South Bend,
Indiana. Occasionally, machines are sent from the manufacturing
plants directly to the customers of the Company. In such instances
the Company's set-up men install the machine for the customer.
In 1937, the Company's total. retail business at its Chicago branch
amounted to $554,703 in value, of which $83,000 represents the value
of sales outside the State of Illinois. Of the 861 machines repaired
by the Company at its Chicago branch during 1937, 126 involved the
repair of machines sent to it from outside Illinois. The Company
employs ten salesmen whose territories cover all or part of Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Sewing Machine Mechanics Association of America, Local No. 1, a
local of the Grated Lodge of the Sewing Machine Mechanics Associa-
tion of America, was organized on April 11, 1937, and its membership
is open to all persons engaged as apprentices or mechanics in the
building, setting up, remodeling, altering, repairing, and servicing
of sewing machines, settings, equipments, attachments, and special
devices.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 701
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
During July 1937, and on numerous occasions thereafter, the Union
informed the-Company that it represented a majority of the adjusters
and power-table men of the Company and requested the Company to
bargain with it as exclusive representative of such employees. The
Company, however, refused at all times to commit itself definitely
on the question as to whether it would grant the Union recognition.
In the stipulation of settlement, the respondent agreed to bargain,
upon request, with the Union if it were certified by the Board as the
exclusive bargaining representative of the adjusters and power-table
men.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company
described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, 'and substantial
relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States, and
tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce
and the free flow of commerce. -
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union claims that the 14 adjusters and 4 power-table men
employed by the Company, constitute a single unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining. Although there is little testi-
mony as to the exact nature of the work of the 4 power-table men it
is apparent that they perform skilled mechanical labor varying only
in degree from that of the 14 adjusters and that the interests of the
power-table men and adjusters are closely allied. Two similar local
unions in other cities require the same qualifications for membership
as does the Union here involved.
We find that the adjusters and the power-table men employed by
the Company constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining and that this unit will insure to these employees
the full benefit of their right to collective bargaining and otherwise
effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Union claimed that during the period from June through Sep-
tember 1937, the Company employed 14 adjusters and 4 power-table
men. This claim was not denied by the Company.
There was introduced in evidence applications for membership in
the Union signed by 14 adjusters and power-table men and also a
702 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
document signed between March 18 and March 21, 1938, by 16 ad-
justers and power-table men, stating that they were members of the
Union prior to June 11, 1937. The financial secretary-treasurer of
the Union testified to the effect that his records disclosed that a
total of 6 adjusters and table men had been accepted in the Union
and had paid initiation fees by June 10, 1937, a total of 9 by July
14, a total of 11 by July 28, and a total of 14 by September 3. He
stated, however, that a number of the adjusters and power-table
men had in fact become union members at earlier dates. Another of-
ficial of the Union testified that 16 adjusters and power-table men
joined the Union prior to June 15, 1937.
It appears, therefore, that the Union represented a majority of
the employees within the appropriate unit by the middle of June
1937. In any event, it is clearly established that it represented such
majority by July 28, 1937, and at all times thereafter.
We find that on July 28, 1937, and at all times thereafter, the Union
was the duly designated representative of the majority of the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit. By virtue of Section 9 (a) of the
Act, the Union is, therefore, the exclusive representative of all the
adjusters and power-table men of the Company, for the purpose of
collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of
employment, and other conditions of employment.
Upon the basis of the above stipulation and findings of fact, and
upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
CONCLUSIONS or LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Singer Sewing Machine Company, Chicago,
Illinois, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and
(7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The adjusters and power-table men of the Company constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within
the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act.
3. Sewing Machine Mechanics Association of America is the exclu-
sive representative of all the employees in the appropriate unit for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
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 8, of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended,
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 703
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Sewing Machine Mechanics Association
of America has been designated and selected by a majority of ad-
justers and power-table men of Singer Sewing Machine Company,
Chicago, Illinois, as their representative for the purposes of collective
bargaining and that pursuant to the provisions of Section 9 (a) of
the Act, Sewing Machine Mechanics Association of America is the
exclusive representative of such employees for the purpose of col-
lective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages , hours of employ-
ment, and other conditions of employment.
SAME TITLE
AMENDMENT TO DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF
REPRESENTATIVES
January 9, 1939
On December 17, 1938, tho National Labor Relations Board issued
a Decision and Certification of Representatives in the above -entitled
case.
The first sentence in the tenth paragraph under "Statement of the
Case" reads as follows :
On October 27, 1938, the Company, the Union , and counsel for
the Board entered into a stipulation , subject to the approval of the
Board, in settlement of the case, in which, inter alia, the Union
and the Company agreed to petition the Board to vacate its
Decision and Order issued on August 8, 1938.
The aforesaid sentence is hereby amended to read as follows :
On October 27, 1938, the Company, the Union and counsel for
the Board entered into a stipulation subject to the approval of
the Board , in which inter alia the Union agreed to petition the
Board to vacate its Decision and Order issued on August 8, 1938.
10 N. L. R. B., No. 58a.