The American Thread Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 14, 1941

34 N.L.R.B. 277 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of THE AMERICAN THREAD COMPANY , KERR MILLS and
WEAVERS PROGRESSIVE ASSOCIATION (A. F. T. 0.)
Case No. R-,0809.-Decided August 14, 1941
Jurisdiction : cotton thread and yarn manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : Com-
pany refused to accord union recognition until it is certified by the Board;
election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em-
ployees with the exception of administrative, office, clerical, and supervisory
employees; agreement as to
Ropes, Gray, Best, Coolidge, & Rugg by Mr. Oscar Shaw and Mr.
Robert D. Price, of Boston, Mass., for the Company.
Mr. Terrance J. Lomax, Jr., of Fall River, Mass., for the Association.
111r. David Jaffe, of New York City, for the T. W. U. A.
Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On June 23, 1941, Weavers Progressive Association (A. F. T. 0.),
herein called the Association, filed with the Regional Director for the
First Region (Boston, Massachusetts) a petition alleging that a ques-
tion affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of
employees of The American Thread Company, Kerr Mills, Fall River,
Massachusetts, herein called the Company, and requesting an investiga-
tion and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of
the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act.
On July 19, 1941, 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 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the
Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice.
On July 21, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the Association,
and Textile Workers Union of America, herein called the T. W. U. A.,
34 N. L. R. B., No 41.
451269-42-vol . 34-19 277
278 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
a labor organization claiming to represent employees directly affected
by the investigation. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on July
28, 1941, at Fall River, Massachusetts, before William S. Gordon, the
Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The
Company, the Association, and the T. W. U. A. were represented by
counsel and participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard,
to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence
bearing on the issue 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 reviewed the
rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors were
committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed.
On August 11, 1941, the T. W. U. A. and the Company filed briefs
which the Board has considered.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The American Thread Company is a New Jersey corporation with
its principal office in New York City. It operates a plant at Fall
River, Massachusetts, known as the Kerr Mills, with which we are
here concerned, where it is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and dis-
tribution of cotton threads and combed cotton yarns. The Company
uses about $1,350,000 worth of raw materials annually at its Kerr
Mills, all of which are shipped to it from points outside the State of
Massachusetts. The Company manufactures finished products at its
Kerr Mills, valued at more than $4,000,000 annually, over 90 per cent
of which are shipped by it to points outside the State of Massachu-
setts. The Company admits that it is engaged in interstate commerce
within the meaning of the Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Weavers Progressive Association of the American Federation of
Textile Operators is an unaffiliated labor organization admitting to
membership employees at the Kerr Mills of the Company.
Textile Workers Union of America is a labor organization affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to member-
ship employees at the Kerr Mills of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Association has requested the Company to bargain with it as
the exclusive representative of employees it the Kerr Mills. The
Company has denied this request until such time as the Association is
THE AMERICAN THREAD COMPANY 279
certified by the Board . In July 1941, the T. W. U. A. entered into
a members only contract with the 'Company covering employees in
certain departments at the Kerr Mills. Such a contract clearly does
not constitute a bar to a present determination of majority representa-
tives. The Company, the Association , and the T. W. U. A. stipulated
at the hearing that the Association and the T. W. U. A. each represent
a substantial number of employees of the Company.
We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation
of employees of the Company. '
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.
c
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Association and the Company allege that all production and
maintenance employees at the Kerr Mills of the Company, excluding
administrative, office, clerical, and supervisory employees, constitute
an appropriate bargaining unit. The T. W. U. A. did not take any
position at the hearing with respect to the appropriate unit but stated
that it was "dedicated to the principles of industrial unionism."
We find that all production and maintenance employees at the Kerr
Mills of the Company, excluding administrative, office, clerical, and
supervisory employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining and that such unit will insure to employees of
the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization and to
collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question which has arisen concerning representa-
tion can best be resolved by the holding of an election by secret ballot.
The Company , the Association , and the T. W. U. A. agreed that in
the event the Board directed an election , eligibility to vote should be
determined by the Company's pay roll for the period immediately
preceding the date of the Direction - of Election . We find that the
employees eligible to vote in the election shall be those in the appropri-
ate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately
preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein , subject to such
limitations and additions as are set forth in the Direction.
280 -DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board males the following:
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of The American Thread Company, Fall River,
Massachusetts, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6)
and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All production and maintenance employees at the Kerr Mills of
the Company, excluding administrative, office, clerical, and super-
-visory employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
National Labor Relations Act.
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, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended,
it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with The American Thread Company, Fall River, Massachusetts, an
election by secret ballot be conducted as early as possible, but not later
than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direc-
tion and supervision of the Regional Director for the First Region,
acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board
and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations,
among all production and maintenance employees at the Kerr Mills
of the Company who were employed during the pay-roll period im-
mediately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees
who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or
on vacation or in the active military service or training of the United
States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding administrative, office,
clerical, and supervisory employees and' those employees who have
since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they
desire to be represented by Weavers Progressive Association
(A. F. T. 0.), or by Textile Workers Union of America, affiliated with
the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining, or by neither.
4
MR. EDWIN S. SMITH took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.