Colonie Fibre Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 5, 1938

9 N.L.R.B. 658 (N.L.R.B. 1938)

In the Matter Of COLONIE FIBRE COMPANY , INC.' and COHOES KNIT
GOODS WORKERS UNION No. 21514, A. F. OF L.
Case No. B-1018.-Decided November 5, 1938
Qarnettmg Industry-Investigation of Representatives : controversy concern-
ing representation of employees : rival organizations-Contract : closed-shop, no
bar to determination of representatives where notice of claim of majority is
given to company by rival union prior to renewal date-Unit Appropriate for
Collective Bargaining : production employees , exclusive of millwrights, super-
visory and clerical employees-Election Ordered
Mr. Will Maslow , for the Board.
Medwin & Weiss, by Mr. N. 111. Medwin, of Albany, N. Y., for the
Company.
Mr. John Van Vaerenewyck, and Mr. James P. Corbett, of Cohoes,
N. Y., for C. K. G. W.
Mr. Alfred Udoff, of New York City, and Mr. John J. Walsh, of
vCohoes, N. Y., for T. W. O. C.
. Mr. Henry J. Fox, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF TIDE CASE
On June 15, 1938, the Cohoes Knit Goods Workers Union No.
21514, American Federation of Labor, herein called C. K. G. W.,
filed with the Regional Director for the Second Region (New York
'City) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had
arisen concerning the representation of employees of Colonie Fibre
Company, Inc., of Colonie, New York, herein called the Company,
and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives
-pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49
Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On July 18, 1938, 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
'The Company was incorrectly designated in all the pleadings by the omission of Inc.
from its corporate title This was coirected upon motion of counsel for the Board during
,the course of the heaung
9 N. L. R. B., No. 60.
658
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 659
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended,
ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to
conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due
notice.
On August 20, 1938, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear-
ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, upon
C. K. G. W., and upon Textile Workers Organizing Committee,
herein called T. W. O. C., a labor organization claiming to represent
employees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to notice,
a hearing was held on September 13, 1938, at NeW York City, before
Edward G. Smith, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board.
The Board, the Company, C. K. G. W., and T. W. O. C. were repre-
sented by counsel or official representatives and participated in the
hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine
witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues, was af-
forded all parties. During the course of the hearing the Trial Ex-
aminer 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.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. 1HE BUSLNESS OF THE COMPANY 2
Colonie Fibre Company , Inc., a New York corporation with its
principal office at Troy, New York, and its factory and warehouse at
Colonie, New York, is engaged in the business of garnetting silk,
cotton, wool and rayon clips and rags . The Company processes ap-
proximately 10,000 pounds of rags daily . The bales of finished
shoddy which are sent to the customers are produced from the spe-
cific raw thaterials sent to the Company by its respective customers,
all of whom are situated outside of the State . The Company cus-
tomarily employs approximately 45 people at its factory and ware-
house.
II. TIM ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Cohoes Knit Goods Workers Union No. 21514, is a labor` organiza-
tion affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It admits- to
its membership employees of the Company.
Textile Workers Organizing Committee is a' labor organization
affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization: It ad-
mits to its membership all production employees of` tile' Company,
excluding office employees , foremen, managers, and executives:
9 Most of the facts pertaining to the business of the Company are derived from a stipu-
lation dated August 12 , 1918, signed by all the pai ties concerned in these pioceedings.
134068-39-vol rx--43
660 NATIONAL LABO1 RELATIONS BOARD
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On April 20, 1937, the Company and T. W. O. C. entered into a
written closed-shop agreement with provision for a check-off cover-
ing all production employees of the Company, excluding office em-
ployees, foremen, managers, and executives. The terms of the agree-
ment provided that it should be effective until May 1, 1938, and that
it should be self-renewing thereafter from year to year unless written
notice of a change or abrogation of the contract was served by either
party at least thirty (30) days prior to the annual expiration date.
In February 1938, James J. Corbett, formerly an official in T. W.
O. C., severed his connection with that organization and commenced
to organize the C. K. G. W. The latter organization was chartered
by the American Federation of Labor on March 3, 1938.
In February 1938, the Company's employees petitioned it to dis-
continue the check-off. With the acquiescence of officials of
T. W. O. C. the Company discontinued the check-off. On March 1,
1938, George W. Cox, an organizer for the American Federation
of Labor, wrote the Company informing it that the Company's em-
ployees had withdrawn from T. W. O. C. and had joined the
C. K. G. W. which desired to negotiate the next contract. The
letter further stated that the writer would call upon Caplan within
2 weeks with a proposed contract. Some time thereafter, Cox and
Corbett called upon Caplan to discuss negotiations for a new con-
tract. At this conference Caplan informed them that he already had
a contract with T. W. O. C. and that he had no proof of the fact that
the men involved were affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor. He stated that as far as the Company was concerned it was
immaterial with which organization it bargained.
The Company did not give notice of the abrogation of the con-
tract with the T. W. O. C. The latter contends that the contract
was therefore renewed until May 1, 1939, and constitutes a bar to an
election. This contention is without merit. Written notice of
C. K. G. W.'s claim to represent a majority of its employees was
given to the Company more than a month before the date for re-
newal of the original T. W. O. C. agreement. Furthermore, as .yet
forth hereinafter, there is substantial doubt that at the time of the
renewal the T. W. O. C. represented a majority in the appropriate
unit. We shall not pass upon the question whether or not the agree-
ment was automatically renewed. Even if the agreement was re-
newed, for the reasons just stated such renewal could not operate to
prevent a determination and certification of representatives for col-
lective bargaining in this proceeding-8
8 See Matter of American France Line, et at, 7 N L R B 439; Matter of Unit Cast
Corporation and Steel Workers Organizing Committee, 7 N. L R B. 129.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 661
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 4
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.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The contract between T. W. 0. C. and the Company provided that
its terms applied to employees of all departments except office
employees, foremen, managers, and executives. Caplan, the Com-
pany's president, testified that the contract was interpreted to include
only production workers, who are classified as fixers, garnett workers,
picker tenders, floor men, cutter men, baling press men, and bag
repairers and to exclude the millwrights, superintendents, office em-
ployees and sorters. The exclusion of the sorters from the rest of
the production workers in this otherwise industrial unit seems to us
unwarranted. Since the sorters do not have a separate organization
to represent them, such exclusion would operate to leave the sorters
unrepresented.
We find that the production employees, excluding millwrights,
supervisory employees, and office employees, constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining and that said unit
will insure to the 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
At the hearing the Company pay rolls of May 4 and June 24, 1938,
were received in evidence. C. K. G. W. introduced into evidence 37
application cards, dated between March 6 and March 12, 1938, and a
petition, dated August 10, 1938, affirming that the subscribers were
members of C. K. G. W. The T. W. 0. C. relied on its asserted con-
4 All parties to the proceeding signed a stipulation, dated August 12, 1938, to the effect
that the Company was engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of Section 2 of
the Act and subject to the jurisdiction of the Board.
5 At the hearing Caplan testified that the list of employees introduced into evidence as
Board Exhibit No. 7 represented his pay roll of June 22 , 1938, but since the checks for
this pay roll were dated June 24, 1938 , we are referring to Board Exhibit No. 7 as .the pay
roll of the latter date
662 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tract and did not introduce any evidence of employee membership.
It was stated in the record on several occasions that C. K. G. W. was
asking for an election and not certification on the basis of its card
proof of membership. Under these circumstances we find that the
question which has arisen concerning the representation of employees
can best be resolved by the holding of an election by secret ballot.
The employees in the appropriate unit on the pay roll of June 24,
1938, shall be eligible to vote in such election.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Colonie Fibre Company, Inc., Colonie, New
York, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7)
of the Act.
2. The production employees, excluding millwrights, supervisory
employees and office 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 Re-
lations Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1,
as amended, it is hereby
DmECTEn that, as part of the investigation ordered by the Board
to ascertain representatives for collective bargaining with the Colonie
Fibre Company, Inc., Colonic, New York, an election by secret ballot
shall be conducted within fifteen (15) days from the date of this
Direction under the direction and supervision of the Regional Di-
rector for the Second 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 the production employees of
the Company listed on the pay roll of June 24, 1938, excluding mill-
wrights, supervisory employees, and office employees and those emn-
ployees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to
determine whether they wish to be represented by the Cohoes Knit
Goods Workers Union No. 21514, American Federation of Labor, or
by Textile Workers Organizing Committee affiliated with the Com-
mittee for Industrial Organization, for the purposes . of collective
bargaining, or by neither.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 663
[SAME TITLE]
AMENDMENT TO DIRECTION OF ELECTION
November 15, 1938
On November 5, 1938, the National Labor Relations Board, issued
a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-entitled proceed-
ing, the election to be held within fifteen (15) days from the date
of Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the Second Region (New York City).
The Board, having been advised by the Regional Director for the
Second Region that a longer period within which to hold the election
is desirable, hereby amends its Direction of Election by striking
therefrom the words "within fifteen (15) days from the date of
this Direction" and substituting therefor the words "within thirty
(30) days from the date of this Direction."
9 N. L. R. B., No. 60a.
[SAME TITLE]
SECOND AMENDMENT TO DIRECTION OF ELECTION
November 09, 1938
On November 5, 1938, the National Labor Relations Board, herein
called the Board, issued a Decision and Direction of Election in
the above-entitled proceeding. The Direction of Election directed
that an election by secret ballot be conducted among the production
employees of the Colonie Fibre Company, Inc. listed on the pay roll
of June 24, 1938, excluding millwrights, supervisory employees, and
office employees, and excluding those employees who have since quit
or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they wish to
be represented by the Cohoes Knit Goods Workers Union No. 21514,
American Federation of Labor, or by Textile Workers Organizing
Committee, affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organiza-
tion, for the purposes of collective bargaining or by neither.
On November 15, 1938, the Board issued an Amendment to the
Direction of Election. The Direction of Election, as amended, pro-
vided that an election should be held within thirty (30) clays from
the date of the Direction.
The Board, having been advised by the Regional Director for
the Second Region that the Textile Workers Organizing Committee
has requested the withdrawal of its name from the ballot, hereby
amends its Direction of Election, as amended, by striking therefrom
all the words which follow "to determine whether" and substituting
therefor the words "or not they wish to be represented by the Cohoes
Knit Goods Workers Union No. 21514, American Federation of
Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining."
9 N. L R B., No. 60b.