The Vanta Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 18, 1946

66 N.L.R.B. 912 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of THE VANTA COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL LADIES'
GARMENT WORKERS UNION, A. F. OF L.
Case No.1-R-2852.Decided March 18,1946
Warner, Stackpole, Stetson & Bradlee, by Mr. Richard J. Walsh,
of Boston, Mass., for the Company.
Mr. George E. Roewer, of Boston, Mass., for the Union.
Mr. John H. Wood, Jr., of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Ladies' Garment
Workers Union, A. F. of L., herein called the Union, alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of The Vanta Company, Newton, Massachusetts, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided
for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before John W. Cod-
daire, Jr., Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Boston, Massa-
chusetts, on February 7,1946. 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 evi-
dence 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.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. TILE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Vanta Company is a corporation organized and doing business
under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with its
principal office and place of business at Newton, Massachusetts. In
its business of manufacturing children's knit garments, hosiery,
66 N. L. R. B., No. 111.
912
THE VANTA COMPANY 913
toiletries, bottle warmers, and diapers, the Company annually pur-
chases raw materials in excess of $100,000 in value, 80 percent of
which is shipped to the Company from points outside Massachusetts.
The annual sales of the Company exceed $1,000,000, over 90 percent
of which is shipped to points outside the Commonwealth.
The Company admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Ladies' Garment Workers Union is a labor organiza-
tion, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On December 1, 1945, the Union, by letter, asked the Company to
meet with it as bargaining representative of certain of the Com-
pany's employees. On December 10, 1945, the Company declined the
request.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of em-
ployees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.'
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 composed of all production employees en-
gaged in the manufacture of children's garments, excluding workers
employed in the production of hosiery and toiletries, and all those
employed in the receiving, and storekeeping, shipping, store, and
building and maintenance departments.2 The Company contends
that the appropriate unit should include all production and mainte-
nance employees, including employees who work on hosiery and
toiletries, and also the employees of the Shepherd Worsted Mills
which is a separate corporation wholly owned by The Vanta Com-
pany and located on the same premises.3 The Union also desires the
1 The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 135 cards, bearing the names
of 121 employees listed on the Company 's pay roll . There are approximately 199 em-
ployees in the unit alleged to be appropriate.
9 The production employees covered by the union petition include all those engaged in
the actual manufacture of children 's garments in the knitting , bleaching, cutting, sewing,
sterilizing , and boxing and folding departments.
9 The Shepherd Worsted Mills is not a party to this proceeding , and the Union has
made no attempt to organize any of its employees.
886572=4-59
914 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
exclusion of certain other employees discussed below; the Compaii
requests their inclusion.
The Company's manufacture of children's knit garments, stockings.
layettes, baby soap, powder, oil, and bottle warmers, is carried on in a
single building in Newton, Massachusetts, with the exception of the
bleaching and dyeing operations which are carried on in a separate
building nearby. The manufacture of children's garments dif'er,^
substantially from the operations involved in the knitting of hosier,
and the production of such toiletry items as powder, soap, and oil.
The departments sought by the Union are each under separate super-
vision subject only to the over-all direction of the factory superin-
tendent, and little, if any, interchange of employees takes place be-
tween these departments and those of the hosiery and toiletry
departments. The Union contends that only those employees engaged
in actual production of children's garments are eligible to join the
Union, and that for this reason it has restricted its organization to
the specific departments included in the unit requested 4 We are of
the opinion that the production employees requested by the Union
are a sufficiently well-defined and homogeneous group which, under
the foregoing circumstances, may constitute a separate appropriate
bargaining unit.b
Printing and stamping machine operators, stockroom girls,
machine fixers, timekeepers, and sweepers
The Union desires the exclusion of these employees on the ground
that they do no actual production work. The record reveals that they
are employed in the cutting and sewing departments, and that with
the exception of the timekeepers, they are engaged in work, constitut-
ing an integral part of the garment manufacturing process. Accord-
ingly, we shall include them. Although the two timekeepers spend
from 45 to 50 percent of their time operating sewing machines, in
view of their timekeeping duties, we shall exclude them from the unit
in accordance with the Board's customary practice.6
Apprentices
The Union desires to exclude so-called apprentices in the knitting
department. The record reveals, however, that these two employees
4 Although it appears that the original organizing drive was directed to other em-
ployees of The Vanta Company , thereafter the Union confined its organization to the
employees of those departments sought herein.
5 See Matter of Norris , Incorporated, 60 N. L. R. B. 297 ; Matter of Mandeville Mills,
Inc, 58 N. L R. B. 1371; Matter of Rolling Mill Division of The Miller Company, 57
N L. R. B. 1373.
e See Matter of Joseph Dyson & Sons , Inc., 60 N . L. R. B. 867.
THE VANTA COMPANY 915
have been employed 2 and 3 months, respectively, on the knitting
machines, and that their output now equals that of some of the ex-
perienced knitters. Inasmuch as they are directly engaged in pro-
duction, we see no valid reason for their exclusion; we shall include
them.
Assistants to the forelady and the factory superintendent
The Union seeks to exclude two employees who serve respectively
as assistants to the factory superintendent who directs the sterilizing
department and to the forelady in charge of the box and fold depart-
ment. Each is paid substantially more than the other employees in
the department. The supervisory duties of these assistants include
general direction of the work of the departments, including consulta-
tion with their superiors on matters of discipline for employees under
their direction. We are of the opinion that the supervisory status of
the assistants conforms to the Board's customary definition thereof;
accordingly, we shall exclude them.
We find that all employees of the Company engaged in the produc-
tion of children's garments in the knitting, bleaching, cutting, sewing,
sterilizing, and boxing and folding departments, including the so-
called apprentices, printing and stamping machine operators, stock-
room girls, machine fixers, and sweepers in the cutting and sewing
departments, but excluding employees engaged in the production of
hosiery and toiletries, employees in the receiving and storehouse,
shipping, store, and building and maintenance departments, time-
keepeers, assistants to the factory superintendent and the forelady
in the sterilizing and boxing and folding departments, and all or any
other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote. dis-
charge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em-
ployees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section J (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OI' REI'RESENT.MVES
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 immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election
herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
916 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 Rela-
tions 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 representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with The Vanta Com-
pany, Newton, Massachusetts, 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 First 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 tem-
porarily 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 the election, to determine whether or not they desire to be repre-
sented by International Ladies' Garment Workers Union, A. F. of L..
for the purposes of collective bargaining.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.