Thomaston Cotton Mills

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 14, 1946

66 N.L.R.B. 731 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of THOMASTON COTTON MILLS , GRIFFIN DIVISION and
TEXTILE WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA, CIO
In the Matter of DUNDEE MILLS , INCORPORATED and TEXTILE WORKERS
UNION OF AMERICA, CIO
In the Matter of ALDORA MILLS and TEXTILE WORKERS UNION OF
AMERICA, CIO
Cases Nos. 10-R-1529, 10-R-1586, and 10-R-1585, respectively.-
Decided March 14, 1946
Mr. D. R. Cumming, of Griffin, Ga., for each of the Companies.
Mrs. Clara Kanun and Mr. W. F. Barker, both of Atlanta, Ga.,
for the Union.
Mr. Oscar Geltman, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon separate petitions and amended petitions duly filed by Textile
Workers Union of America, CIO, herein called the Union, alleging
that questions affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Thomaston Cotton Mills, Griffin Division,
Griffin, Georgia; Dundee Mills, Incorporated, Griffin, Georgia; and
Aldora Mills, Barnesville, Georgia, herein respectively called Thomas-
ton, Dundee, and Aldora, and collectively called the Companies,
the National Labor Relations Board provided for appropriate hear-
ings upon due notice before Dan M. Byrd, Jr., Trial Examiner. The
Thomaston and Dundee hearings were held at Griffin, Georgia, on
August 31 and September 26, 1945, respectively. The Aldora hear-
ing was held at Barnesville, Georgia, on September 28, 1945. In
each case, the Company involved and the Union appeared, partici-
pated, and 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 hearings are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties
66 N. L. R. B., No. 95.
731
732 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board. Oral
argument in all three cases , consolidated for the purpose of such
argument ,' was held before the Board at Washington, D. C., on
January 24, 1946.
The Board , on its own motion , hereby consolidates the foregoing
cases for the purpose of decision , and, upon the entire records in
the cases , makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF TIIE COMPANIES
Thomaston Cotton Mills is a Georgia corporation engaged at a
mill in Griffin , Georgia, known as the Griffin Division , in the manu-
facture of cotton textiles. Thomaston uses, each week, miscellaneous
raw materials valued at approximately $3200, and approximately
300 bales of cotton. Approximately 75 percent of the miscellaneous
raw materials and all of the cotton are shipped from points outside
the State of Georgia . Thomaston produces, each week, approximately
280,000 yards of cloth. Approximately 80 percent of the cloth pro-
duced is shipped to points outside the State.
Thomaston Cotton Mills admits, and we find , that it is engaged in
commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
Dundee Mills, Incorporated , is a Georgia corporation engaged at
four mills in and near Griffin, Georgia , in the manufacture of cotton
textiles . In the year 1944. Dundee used raw materials valued in
excess of $500,000, of which approximately 66 percent was shipped
from points outside the State of Georgia. During the same period.
Dundee produced finished products valued in excess of $500,000.
approximately 95 percent of which was shipped to points outside
the State.
We find that Dundee Mills, Incorporated , is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
Aldora Mills is a, Georgia corporation engaged at a mill in Barnes-
ville, Georgia , in the manufacture of tire fabric . In the year 1944.
Aldora purchased approximately 10,000 bales of cotton and 3,750,000
pounds of rayon, almost all of which was shipped from points out-
side the State of Georgia . During the same period , Aldora produced
approximately 3,000,000 pounds of cotton tire fabric and 3,000,000
pounds of rayon tire fabric, all of which was shipped to points
outside the State.
i Oral argument was restricted to the following issue : Whether section men should
be included in the appropriate unit together with rank and file employees.
A representative of the Union appeared and presented oral argument ; counsel for the
Companies submitted a memorandum in lieu of oral argument.
THOMASTON COTTON MILLS, GRIFFIN DIVISION 733
We find that Aldora Mills is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. TIIE 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 Companies.
III. TIIE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Union wrote a letter to each Company,2 requesting recognition
as the representative of a majority of certain of its employees. Each
of the Companies has declined to grant such recognition on the
grounds that it disputes the Union's claim to majority representa-
tion, and that the unit sought by the Union is inappropriate.
Statements of a Board Field Examiner, introduced into evidence
at the hearings, indicate that in each unit proposed by the Union.
it represents a substantial number of the employees of the Company
involved.3
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of each of the Companies, within
the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS
The Union reeks a plant-wide unit for Thoinaston employees.
a four-plant unit for Dundee employees, and a plant-wide unit for
_tldora employees, with certain specified inclusions and exclusions
iu each case. Each of the Companies agrees to certain features of
the unit proposed for its employees, and disagrees as to others, as
discussed below.4
Scope of the Dundee lhait
Dundee operates four mills, known as mills Nos. 1, 2 3, and 5, in
and near Griffin, Georgia.5 Dundee contends that each mill separately
2 The Union's letters to Thomaston, Dundee, and Aldora were dated respectively June
18, September 11, and August 6, 1945
J The reports of the Field Examiner are summarized as follo«s
No designations
submitted by
Compano No in unit the Union
Thomaston 745 353
Dundee 1800 545
Aldora 368 252
s In all the instant cases, the parties have agreed to exclude o(Rce and clerical em-
ployees from the bargaining units
c Dundee's general manager , who testified that the mills are located in and near
Griffin, Geoigia, also testified that null No 1 is located at Experiment , and that mills
Nos. 2, 3, and 5 aie located at East Griffin , Geoigia
734 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
constitutes an appropriate ulpit. Mills Nos. 2, 3, and 5 are approxi-
mately a half mile apart, and are 41/2 to 5 miles from mill No. 1.°
Although the mills function somewhat independently in that each
separately produces cloth of a different weave, they employ similar
skills and equipment, and all are dependent on mill No. 1 for dyeing
operations. Similarly, although there is a separate superintendent
and personnel department for mills Nos. 2, 3, and 5 on the one hand,
and for mill No. 1 on the other, all of the mills are under the super-
vision of one general superintendent, and pay rolls for all four
mills are made up at one central office. Cotton for all of the mills
is purchased by the same buyer. All employees are subject to similar
working conditions, receive substantially the same wage rates in
their respective job classifications, and participate in a uniform
group insurance plan. Employees are frequently transferred from
mill to mill, for their own convenience. Moreover, the Union has
extended its organizing activities to the employees of all four mills.
Upon all the facts and circumstances in the Dundee case, we are
of the opinion that the employees of Dundee's four mills constitute
a single appropriate unit for the purposes of collective bargaining.
Inclusions and Exclusions
Section men: The Union contends that these employees should
be included in the unit, in each of the instant cases. The Companies
contend that they are supervisory employees and, as such, should be
excluded. All of the employees who are generally described as
section men in the instant cases have essentially similar duties,
although they work in a number of different departments in each
mill and have different specific functions and titles.7 These employees
are skilled in the operation and minor repair of the machines in their
departments, which are tended by other employees. They devote
varying portions of each day to setting machine parts and making
machine repairs," and spend the balance of the day, for the most
d There is one yard gang for mills Nos. 2, 3, and 5, and a separate yard gang for null
No. 1.
T In the instant cases, the term "section nnen" was used to describe employees with the
following specific titles :
Thomaston : picker fixers , card grinders , drawing fixers, frame fixers, comber fixers,
spinning department section men, twister room section men, winding department
section men , spooler department section men , slasher foreman.
Dundee: picker fixers , card grinders , drawing section men, frame section men,
spinning section men , winder and warper section men , head loom fixers.
Aidora: card room section men ; spinning room section men, spooling , winding and
warping section men, cotton forming and respooling section men ; cotton cable and
brownell twisting section men ; cotton and rayon winding section men ; rayon twist-
ing and respooling section men; combination loom fixer and second hand.,
Time spent by a section man on mechanical work depends on the number of machines
in a section, and the type of work performed by the section man. In the instant cases,
the records indicate that average time spent by individual section men on mechanical
work varied from a low of 25 percent to a high of almost 100 percent.
THOMASTON COTTON MILLS, GRIFFIN DIVISION 735
part, in making inspections to determine whether the machines are
functioning smoothly. Section men call the attention of the other
employees in their sections to steps required by departmental
routine;9 they report faulty work by other employees to the overseer
or second hand;10 on occasions, they demonstrate proper performance
of the work ;11 they report whether or not the other employees have
shown up on the job, and apparently, whether sufficient supplies of
materials are on hand; in certain sections they record and report
figures indicating the amount of each employee's output; and in
certain sections of the Dundee and Aldora mills, they place employees
at work stations at the beginning of a shift.12 The average pay of
section men is higher than that of regular production workers, but
an efficient production worker can and frequently does earn a higher
wage than is received by the section man in the same department.
While, as noted above, section men report faulty work in their
departments,13 they apparently have no authority to penalize rank
and file employees. In all the instant cases the evidence is to the
effect that when a section man makes a complaint, nothing is done
until the overseer or second hand, after an independent investigation,
decides to take action.14 We deem it significant, moreover, that other
employees of the Companies whose status is somewhat similar to that
of the section men, are not considered to be supervisory employees.15
9 The number of rank and file employees working with each section man varies in the
instant cases from 3 to 26.
10 Overseers and second hands are supervisory employees
"Section men report to the overseer or second hand on the progress made by a
learner and as to whether or not he is qualified to earn base pay
121n the Aldora case, it is clear that such assignments are made as directed by the
overseer or second hand. In the Dundee case, the record does not indicate whether or
not the assignments are made at the direction of an overseer or second hand.
15 It is obviously to a section man's self -interest to report such faulty work as may
cause a machine to require adjustment or repair, inasmuch as the burden of making the
adjustment or repair may fall on him (see footnote 15, relating to Thomaston loom
fixers).
14 In the Thomaston case the Company' s manager testified that if a section man com-
plained about a worker , the overseer or second hand would make an independent investi-
gation, and "if he thought the section employee was not altogether wrong, he would
probably transfer the employee to some other section." In the Dundee case, three of
seven section men who testified stated that they had at one or more times recommended
that an employee be discharged , but only one of them testified that discharge had
actually resulted . This witness , George Lamb, had been section man with the Company
for 23 years . In the Aldora case, one of the overseers testified that despite the fact
that he had received numerous complaints from section men about a certain employee
"• * * we just worried with him until he just eventually quit."
15 Thomaston does not consider its loom firers to be supervisory employees, although
the Company' s manager testified that "if [a loom fixes J has a weaver in his section
that he thinks is the cause of his loom getting out of fix, * * * he will tell the
overseer." Dundee has a number of employees with duties apparently similar to those
of the Dundee section men, whom it does not consider to be supervisory employees
Aldora's regular loom fixer receives the same late of pay as its "combination loom
fixer and second hand," but Aldora considers only the latter to he a section man with a
supervisory status
736 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon the facts and circumstances of the instant cases, we find that
the section men in each case are not supervisory employees within
the meaning of our customary definition.
The Union also contends that it is the custom in the cotton textile
industry to include section men in bargaining units of rank and file
workers, irrespective of whether or not they are supervisory em-
ployees. We are not satisfied, however, that the records in the present
cases sufficiently support this assertion. But from the evidence
adduced in these cases, it would appear that section men in mills of
many other employers in the industry occupy the same status as the
section men here involved.
Inasmuch as we have found that the section men in the instant
cases are not supervisory employees, we shall include them in the
units hereinafter found appropriate, without passing directly on the
issue of custom.
Technical and laboratory employees: In the Dundee and Aldora
cases, the parties have agreed to exclude these employees. In the
Thomaston case, the Company seeks the exclusion of these employees,
and the Union has taken no position on the issue. We shall exclude
technical and laboratory employees from the units hereinafter found
appropriate.
Watchmen: The Companies contend that these employees should
be excluded. The Union seeks to include these employees in the
Dundee and Aldora cases. In the Thomaston case, the Union has
taken no position on this issue. In the Dundee and Aldora mills,
these employees perform the typical duties of watchmen, patrolling
the premises and performing miscellaneous plant-protection and fire
prevention functions. They are not deputized and apparently they
are not militarized. Furthermore, they do not appear to have moni-
torial functions with respect to other employees. The duties of watch-
men at the Thomaston mill were not described. In accordance with
our usual practice, we shall include the watchmen in the units here-
inafter found appropriate."-
We find that the following groups of employees constitute separate
units appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within
the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act :
(a) All employees of Thomaston Cotton Mills, Griffin Division,
Griffin, Georgia, including section men and watchmen, but excluding
office and clerical employees, technical and laboratory employees.
second hands, overseers, and all other supervisory employees with
authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect
ie See Matter of Champion Sheet Metal Company, Inc . 61 N L. R. B. 511. We assume
that at the Thomaston mill the watchmen are not militarized or deputized, and that
they perform functions similar to those of the watchmen at the mills of Dundee and
Aldora.
THOMASTON COTTON MILLS, GRIFFIN DIVISION 737
changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such
action;
(b) All employees of Dundee Mills, Incorporated, at its mills
Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 5 located in and near Griffin, Georgia, including
section men and watchmen, but excluding office and clerical employees,
technical and laboratory employees, second hands, overseers, and all
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 ; and
(c) All employees of Aldora Mills, Barnesville, Georgia, including
section men and watchmen, but excluding office and clerical employees,
technical and laboratory employees, second hands, overseers, and all
other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, dis-
charge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of enm-
ployees, or effectively recommend such action.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the questions concerning representation which
have arisen be resolved by separate elections by secret ballot among
employees in the appropriate units set forth in Section IV, above,
who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding
the date of the Direction of Elections herein, subject to the limitations
and additions set forth in the Direction.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
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 Thomaston Cotton
Mills, Griffin Division, Griffin, Georgia ; Dundee Mills, Incorporated,
Griffin, Georgia; and Aldora Mills, Barnesville, Georgia, separate
elections 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 Tenth
Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Rela-
tions Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said
Rules and Regulations, among employees in the units found appro-
priate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including
686572-46-48
738 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
employees who did not work during said pay -roll period because they
were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including em-
ployees in the armed forces of the United States who present them-
selves 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 elections, to determine whether or
not they desire to be represented by Textile Workers Union of
America, CIO, for the purposes of collective bargaining.
MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Direction of Elections.