William R. Warner & Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 25, 1946

65 N.L.R.B. 1350 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of WILLIAM R. WARNER & Co., INC. and, SOAP & ALLIED
WORKERS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE, DIVISION OF UNITED PACKING-
HOUSE WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO
Case No. 2-R-6786.-Decided February 25, 1946
Messrs. McLanahan , Merritt dl Ingraham , by Mr. Richard Swann
Buell, of New York City ; and Messrs . Benedict Salk over and John
Holzbog, both of New York City , for the Company.
Messrs. John Zeroka and William Rix, both of New York City, for
the C. I. O.
Messrs . Buitenkant cl Cohen , by Mr. Arnold Cohen, of New York
City, for the A. F. L.
Mr. David V. Easton, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a first amended petition duly filed by Soap & Allied Workers
Organizing Committee, Division of United Packinghouse Workers of
America, CIO, herein called the C. I. 0., alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of William R. Warner & Co., Inc., New York City, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for
an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Jack Davis, Trial Ex-
aminer. The hearing was held at New York City on October 1, 1945.
The Company, the C. I. 0., and Cosmetics, Soap and Perfumery
Workers Union, Local 20646, A. F. of L., herein called the A. F. L. ap-
peared and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity
to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses , and to introduce
evidence bearing on the issues . During the course of the hearing,
the A. F. L. sought and obtained from the Trial Examiner permission
to withdraw from the hearing, and relinquished all claim of interest
among the employees involved. 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.
65 N. L . R. B., No. 223.
1350
WILLIAM R. WARNER & CO., INC. 1351
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
William R. Warner &, Co., Inc., a Delaware corporation, is engaged
in 'the manufacture and distribution of medicinal products and cos-
metics. For this purpose, it and its wholly owned subsidiaries operate
a plant located in New York City with which we are concerned herein.,
During the past year the Company purchased raw materials for use
at its New York plant valued in excess of $1,000,000, of which 75 per-
cent was shipped to the plant from points outside the State of New
York. During the same period, the sales of the Company exceeded
$1,000,000 in value, 75 percent of which was shipped from the New
York City plant to points outside the State of New York.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. TILE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Soap & Allied Workers Organizing Committee, Division of United
Packinghouse Workers of America, is a labor organization affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to member-
ship employees of the Company.2
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition'to the C. I. O. as
the exclusive bargaining representative of certain of its employees
until the C. I. O. has been certified by the Board in an appropriate
unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the C. I. O. represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate 3
'These subsidiaries are Richard Hudnut; Hudnut Sales Co. Inc, warner Hudnut Cor-
poration ; Schering & Glatz, Inc. ; Marcy Laboratories, Inc. ; and Standard Laboratories,
Incorporated ., The record indicates that the production processes of the parent corpora-
tion and those of its subsidiaries are interrelated , and that some of the employees in-
volved herein are listed on the pay rolls of the subsidiaries for bookkeeping purposes and
for the purpose of complying with certain governmental regulations. In view of these
circumstances . and the Company ' s assertation that only a plant-wide unit is appropriate,
for the purposes of this proceeding we shall consider the Company as composed of the
parent corporation and its subsidiaries.
2 Since, as previously noted, the A. F. L. withdrew from the proceeding , relinquishing
all claim of interest among the employees involved herein , we shall not consider it an
interested party.
8 A Field Examiner reported that the C. I. 0 submitted 146 designations , and that
there are approximately 160 employees In the appropriate unit. The record indicates that
the Company employs approximately 116 employees in its shipping and receiving depart-
ment, approximately 24 maintenance employees , and approximately 22 employees in the
bottle-washing department
1352 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 UNITS
The C. I. 0. seeks a unit comprised of all employees engaged in the
Company's receiving and shipping department, maintenance division,
and bottle-washing department, including stockroom clerks, order
clerks, and gang leaders in the shipping and receiving department,
and watchmen, but excluding truck drivers and chauffeurs, clerical
employees, supervisory employees, and all other employees. The Com-
pany contends that only a plant-wide unit is appropriate; in the
alternative, it asserts that "if it should be found by the Board that the
appropriate bargaining unit is that petitioned for," watchmen, gang
leaders, and bottle-washing department employees should be excluded
therefrom.
The productive operations of the Company are housed in a single
7-story building. These operations are divided among several depart-
ments, each having a separate supervisor under the-over-all super-
vision of the vice president in charge of operations. The receiving
and shipping department, the maintenance division, and the bottle-
washing departments are located in the basement and lower floors of
the Company's plant .4 All employees of the Company are engaged
through a single personnel office and work under similar conditions
of employment. With the exception of the maintenance workers, the
large majority of these employees are unskilled and able to work in
any of the production departments, including the receiving and ship-
ping department and the bottle-washing department.,' However, ex-
cept in cases of necessity, the Company's policy has been not to inter-
change the employees of the various departments. Furthermore, in
view of the fact that the majority of the maintenance employees are
skilled workers, transfers and interchanges between the maintenance
division and other departments of the Company' are rare.
The Company has had no previous collective bargaining history.
In 1939, the A. F. L. unsuccessfully sought to represent the Com-
pany's employees in a plant-wide units Two subsequent attempts
by the A. F. L. to represent employees similar to those sought-herein
resulted in either an administrative dismissal of the petition or its
withdrawal.7
4 However, the paint shop, which is part of the maintenance division, is located on the
top floor of the plant.
5 The Company considers the receiving and shipping department to be a production
department. Although the record is not clear in this respect, there is some indication
that it also considers the bottle-washing department a production department.
O Case No 2-R-1494. The A. F L. lost the consent election which took place in this
proceeding
T Cases Nos. 2-R-2763 and 2-11-2923.
'WILLIAM R. WARNER & CO., INC. 1353
Although the C. I. O. is currently seeking to organize all employees
of the Company, its efforts have not progressed sufficiently to warrant
the filing of a representation petition on behalf of employees other
than those sought herein. Consequently, in view of the lack of a
bargaining history upon' a broader basis, the substantially separate
departments into which the Company's employees are divided, and the
limited extent of their self-organization, we are of the opinion that
units of employees less than plant-wide in scope are appropriate for
.collective bargaining purposes at this time.
We have previously noted that, with the exception of the employees
in the maintenance division, the Company's employees are largely
unskilled, and that the departments into which its employees are di-
vided are substantially separate. These circumstances, coupled with
the fact that we have previously found appropriate units confined to
employees of single departments, particularly, employees engaged in
maintenance, on the one hand, and shipping and receiving department,
on the other,8 persuade us that the Company's maintenance division
employees should be represented at this time separately from the
remaining employees sought by the C. I. 0.9 Consequently, we shall
find appropriate two units : one comprised of the Company's main-
tenance division, and the other of its receiving and shipping, and
bottle-washing, departments.
There remains for consideration the specific composition of the two
units.
As previously noted, the Company contends that watchmen should
not be bargained for in the same unit as the other employees sought
herein by the C. I. O. The record indicates that these employees, in
the performance of duties usual to their classification, exercise no mon-
itorial functions. Consequently, there appears to be no reason why
they should not be represented for collective bargaining purposes.
Furthermore, since they are engaged in "maintaining" the Company's
premises, we shall include them with the unit of maintenance division
employees hereinafter found appropriate io
A further controversy exists with respect to the status of gang
leaders in the receiving and shipping department. The record indi-
cates that these employees have authority to recommend promotions
and discipline. Under these circumstances, we find them to be super-
"See Matter of Rohm & Haas Company, 51 N. L. R. B. 1232; Matter of White -Rodgers
Electric Company, 58 N. L. R. B. 312, Matter of Prentice -Hall, Inc, 39 N. L. R. B. 92.
'While the employees in each of the three departments sought by the C. I. 0. might
conceivably constitute separate units, the employees in the bottle-washing and the re-
ceiving and shipping departments are unskilled workers, whereas the majority of the
maintenance division employees are skilled . Furthermore , the bottle -washing department
is essentially an adjunct of the receiving and shipping department which has added duties
of bottle washing Consequently , we perceive no reason to separate the employees of
these two departments.
10 See Matter of White -Rodgers Electric Company, supra.
1354 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
visory employees within the meaning of our customary definition, and
we shall exclude them.
We find the following groups of employees of the Company con-
stitute units appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
1. All maintenance division employees, including watchmen, but ex-
cluding 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 all other employees;,
and
2. All bottle-washing department and receiving and shipping de-
partment employees, including stockroom clerks and order clerks in
the receiving and shipping department, but excluding gang leaders
in the receiving and shipping department, all other supervisory em-
ployees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or other-
wise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recom-
mend such action, and all other employees.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by elections by secret ballot among the employees
in the appropriate units 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 Re-
lations 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 William R.
Warner & Co., Inc., and Richard Hudnut; Hudnut Sales Co., Inc.;
Schering & Glatz, Inc.; Marcy Laboratories, Inc.; Warner Hudnut
Corporation; and Standard Laboratories, Incorporated, New York
City, two 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 Second 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 the em-
ployees in the units found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were
WILLIAM R. WARNER & Co., INC. 1355
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 temporarily
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 elec-
Lion, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by
Soap & Allied Workers Organizing Committee, Division of United
Packinghouse Workers 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.