Waite Carpet Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 6, 1949

85 N.L.R.B. 1130 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of WAITE CARPET CODIPAN Y, EMPLOYER and UPIIOL-
STERERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AM,IERICA,- A. F. or 'L.,
PETITIONER
Case No. 13-RC-771.-Decided September 6,M,,9
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before George L.
Powell, hearing officer.' The hearing officer's rulings made at the
hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Gray].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The following employees of the Employer constitute a unit ap-
propriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the Act:
All production and maintenance employees at the Employer's carpet
manufacturing plant at Oshkosh,. Wisconsin, excluding office em-
ployees, sales employees, guards, executives, and supervisors.
5. For some time the Employer has been engaged in the manufacture
of carpets and rugs at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Since 1941, the Employer
i Independent Textile Workers Association of Oshkosh is the recognized representative of
the employees in the appropriate unit under a contract expiring September 8, 1949, which
constitutes no bar to this proceeding . The contracting union has not complied with the
requirements of Section 9 (f), (g), and (h) of the Act and decided not to participate in
these - proceedings.
85 N. L. R. B., No. 190.
=1130
WAITE CARPET COMPANY 1131
has operated without many changes in the design and style of its
products, The market for these products has now disappeared.
About June 1, 1949, when there were 192 employees on its pay roll, it
became necessary for the Employer to cease production. On July 22,
1949, the day of the hearing, the Employer had 35 or 40 experimental
and repair workers on its pay roll, engaged in repairing and replacing
machinery, and experimenting with new colors, designs, weaves, and
styles. The Employer was not making any products. The Em-
ployer estimates that about October 1, 1949, there will be some indi-
cation of its future market and employment needs.
The Petitioner seeks an immediate election and urges that the pay
roll of June 1, 1949, be used to determine eligibility and that all em-
ployees with at least 1 year's seniority at that time be permitted to
vote. The Employer contends that eligibility should be limited to a
pay roll current at the time of the election.
The record discloses that the present complement of employees at
the plant is neither representative in number nor work category, nor
does it disclose when a representative group of production and mainte-
nance employees will be employed at the plant. Under the circum-
stances, it does not appear desirable to hold an election at this time.
We shall, however, provide that an election be conducted in the fall of
the year when it shall appear to the Regional Director that the Em-
ployer's plant is in production with a representative group therein
employed, eligibility to be determined by the pay-roll period imme-
diately preceding the issuance of the notice of election.2
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted on a date to be selected by the Regional
Director, subject to the instructions set forth in paragraph 5, above,
under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the
Region in which this case was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and
203.62 -of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations,
among the employees in the unit found appropriate in paragraph num-
bered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period imme-
diately preceding the date of the issuance of the notice of election,
including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period
because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid- off, but ex-
cluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged for.
2 Matter of Prosper Shevenell & Son, Inc ., 81 N. L. R. B. 1303 ; Matter of Texsun Citrus
Exchange, 82 N. L . R. B. 540.
1132 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the
election, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled
to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be repre-
sented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by Upholsterers' Inter-
national Union of North America, A. F. of L.