Redfern Lace Works, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 30, 1942

38 N.L.R.B. 739 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter of REDFERN LACE WORKS, INC. and UNITED TEXTILE
WORKERS OF AMERICA, A. F. OF L.
In the Matter Of REDFERN LACE WORKS, INC. and LACE WORKERS'
AUXILIARY SECTION A. L. O. OF A.
Cases Nos. R-3402 and RD/03.Decided January 30, 194
Jurisdiction : lace manufacturing and sales industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re-
fusal of Company to accord union recognition ; dispute as to appropriate unit ;
elections necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : single or separate units comprising.
(1) all employees engaged in finishing operations at one of the Company's plants ;
(2) all production and maintenance employees at the Company's other plant,
excluding weavers, and office, clerical, and supervisory employees ; determina-
tion of, dependent upon elections.
Mr. Richard J. Hickey, for the. Board.,
Mr. Charles M. Aller, of Somerville, N. J., for the Company.
Mr. Henry M. Katz, of New York City, and Mr. Burton Hyman,
of Brooklyn, N. Y., for the United.
Mr. Leon Gero f sky, of Somerville, N. J., for the Auxiliary.
Mr. Robert C. Moore, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On July 15, 1941, United Textile Workers of America, A. F. of L.,
herein called the United, filed a petition with the Regional Director
for the Second Region (New York City), alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Redfern Lace Works, Inc., herein called the Company, and
requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pur-
suant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act. On No-
vember 12, 1941, Lace Workers' Auxiliary Section A. L. O. of A.,
' Erroneously referred to in the formal papers as Redfern Lace Manufacturing Co , and
as Redfern Lace Works.
38 N. L. R. B., No. 142.
739
740 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
herein called the Auxiliary , filed a similar petition . On December 2,
1941 , the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board,
acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act, and Article III, Sections
3 and 10 (c) (2 ), of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regu-
lations-Series 2, as amended , ordered an investigation and author-
ized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appro-
priate hearing upon due notice, and further ordered that the two
cases be consolidated.
On December 10, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of con-
solidated hearing, copies of which, together with copies of the peti-
tions, were duly served upon the Company, upon the United, and
upon the Auxiliary . Pursuant to notice , a hearing was held at Somer-
ville, New Jersey, on December 15, 1941, before Frank A. Mouritsen,
the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner.
The Company, the United, and the Auxiliary were represented by
counsel or by their official representatives and participated in the
hearing. Full opportunity to be heard , to examine and cross-exam-
ine witnesses , and to introduce evidence bearing upon the issues was
afforded all parties. During the course of the hearing the Trial
Examiner made rulings on motions and on objections to the admis-
sion 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. TILE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Redfern Lace Works , Inc., is a New Jersey corporation having its
principal office and plant in Somerville , New Jersey . It maintains a
sales office in New York City. The Company is engaged in the manu-
facture, sale , and distribution of lace and related products . The prin-
cipal raw materials used by the Company are yarn, chemicals, and
dyes, and during the period from April 1, 1941, through September
1941, the Company imported from sources outside the State of New
Jersey raw materials valued at $110,000, which represented approxi-
mately 80 per cent of all materials used. During the same period
about 95 per cent of the Company's products , valued at $326,000, were
sold and shipped to customers outside the State of New Jersey.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
United Textile Workers of America, affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to member-
ship employees of the Company.
RED FERN LACE WORKS, INC. 741
Lace Workers' Auxiliary Section of the Amalgamated Lace Oper-
atives of America, unaffiliated, is a labor organization admitting to
membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Both the United and the Auxiliary have requested of the Company
recognition as exclusive bargaining agent for the employees in the
unit, respectively, which each claims to be appropriate and in which
each has made a substantial showing of membership.2 The Company
has refused to grant such recognition to either, because of disagreement
as to the unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.
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
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 manufacturing operations of the Company are carried on in two
plants, located about one-fourth mile apart in Somerville, New Jersey.
In one of these, known as the Bell Avenue plant, the actual weaving of
lace is carried out, together with all auxiliary operations preparatory
to weaving, such as designing, brassing, card punching, and brass
bobbin winding and pressing. In the other plant, known as the
Doughty Avenue plant, the so-called "finishing" operations are per-
formed. These include mending, washing, dyeing, bleaching, drawing,
and scalloping.
The United contends that the employees engaged in finishing opera-
tions at the Doughty Avenue plant, exclusive of supervisory employees
having the right to hire or discharge, constitute an appropriate collec-
tive bargaining unit. The Auxiliary and the Company, on the other
2 A report of the Regional Director inLioduced into evidence respecting the iepresentation
claims of the two unions discloses the following : The United submitted to the Regional
Director 32 membership applications , dated between May 27 and July 8 , 1941, bearing
apparently genuine original signatures of employees appearing on the Company ' s November
1, 1941, pay roll . This pay roll contained the names of 50 employees within the unit alleged
by the United to be appropriate. The Auxiliary submitted 78 undated applications which
bore apparently genuine original signatures of employees listed on said pay roll, which
contained the names of a total of 127 employees
742 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
hand, contend that a single unit is appropriate, including all produc-
,tion and maintenance employees in both plants, exclusive of weavers
and office, clerical, and supervisory employees.
The record shows that the separation of the lace manufacturing
processes of the Company into a production department and a
finishing department is not entirely fortuitous, as the Company,
contends. The operations at the Doughty Avenue plant are of a
different nature from those carried on at the Bell Avenue plant. At
,the' Doughty Avenue plant all operations are directed toward finish-
ing a woven product, while at the Bell Avenue plant the operation',
auxiliary to weaving all deal with the designing of lace and the
preparation of raw materials for the machines. In addition to the
geographical separation of the two plants and the different opera-
tions performed in them, it appears that there is no interchange of
personnel between them, with the exception of two men employed
to "do maintenance work in both plants. Indeed, it would be im-
practical to shift employees temporarily from one plant to the other,
since, except in the case of weavers, it requires an average of about
six, months to train an employee to do efficient work. The evidence
also reflects, however, that originally all the Company's operations
were confined to a single plant and that it would be possible in the
future to operate in a single plant of sufficient size. Both of the
plants are located within the city of Somerville, New Jersey, and
there is but a single office for both. Operations at both are under
the supervision of a single superintendent. Working conditions in
the plants are substantially ' the same, and, as noted above, approxi-
mately the same amount of training is required for all employees
except weavers.
There is no history of collective` bargaining in the Company's
plants, except in the case of weavers,3 not here involved, and the
record does not reveal the customary collective bargaining procedure
in other similar industrial plants.
Under the circumstances herein presented we find that the em-
ployees engaged in finishing operations at the Doughty Avenue plant
could properly constitute a separate unit or be included with the
-auxiliary employees at the Bell Avenue plant in a larger unit, either
of which would insure to the employees of the Company the full
benefit of their right to self-organization and to. collective bargaining
and otherwise would effectuate the policies of the Act. We hold,
therefore, that the desires of the employees involved shall govern,
and we shall, direct that separate elections be held among the em-
' The Company has never executed a written contract covering weavers, however, it
has, since about 1911, paid to weavers the wage scale agreed upon between Amalgamated
Lace Operatives of America, parent body of the Auxiliary , and an industry-wide association
of lace manufacturers.
REDFERN LACE WORKS, INC. 743
ployees in the Doughty Avenue plant, and among the auxiliary
production and maintenance employees of the Bell Avenue plant.
Upon the results of these elections will depend in part our determi-
nation of the appropriate unit or units. If a majority of the em-
ployees in the Doughty Avenue plant select the United as their
representative, they will constitute a separate and distinct bargaining
unit ; if a majority of them choose the Auxiliary and a majority of
the Bell Avenue employees also express their desire to be represented
by the Auxiliary, then the employees at both plants shall constitute
a single unit .4
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question which has arisen concerning representa-
tion of employees of the Company can best be resolved by means, of
elections by secret ballot. We shall direct two separate elections, one
among the employees in the Company's Doughty Avenue plant,' and
the other among the auxiliary production and maintenance employees
at the Bell Avenue plant.
The United requested that eligibility of employees to vote in any
election ordered by the Board be determined by reference to the
Company's pay roll of November 1, 1941, on the ground that that pay
roll was used by the Regional Director in investigating the unions'
claims. Neither the Auxiliary nor the Company expressed a prefer-
ence for one pay-roll date over another. In the absence of unusual
circumstances it is the practice of the Board to direct that eligibility
be determined by reference to the pay roll for the period ending
immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election. In
this case no circumstances appear to render desirable an earlier pay
roll, and we shall therefore follow our usual practice, which- is
designed to elicit, as nearly as is practicable, an expression of the
desires of the Company's current personnel.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and.the entire record
in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSION OF LAW
A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Redfern Lace Works, Inc., Somerville,
New Jersey, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6)
and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
Matter of The Globe Machine and Stamping Co. and Metal Polishers' Union, Local No. 3,
of at , 3 N L R B. 294 and subsequent cares
744 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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
Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended,
it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as a part of the investigation ordered by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with Redfern Lace Works, Inc., Somerville, New Jersey, elections
by secret ballot shall be conducted as soon as convenient 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 Rela-
tions Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and
Regulations :
1. Among the persons employed by the Company at its Doughty
Avenue plant during the pay-roll period ending immediately pre-
ceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not
work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation
or in the active military service or training of the United States, or
temporarily laid off, but excluding supervisory employees having
the right to hire or discharge and employees who have since quit
or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to
be represented by United Textile Workers of America, affiliated with
the A. F. of L., or by Lace Workers' Auxiliary Section A. L. O. of
A., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither; and
2. Among all production and maintenance employees employed by
the Company at its Bell Avenue plant during the pay-roll period
ending 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 in the active military service or
training of the United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding
weavers and office, clerical, and supervisory employees and employees
who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented by Lace Workers'
Auxiliary Section A. L. O. of A., for the purposes of collective
bargaining.