Hudson Knitting Mills, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 6, 1944

56 N.L.R.B. 1250 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of HUDSON KNITTING MILLS, INC. and AMERICAN
FEDERATION OF HOSIERY WORKERS (C. I. 0.)
In the Matter of OAKHURST KNITTING COMPANY and AMERIOAN
FEDERATION OF HOSIERY WORKERS (C. I. 0.)
In the Matter of HUDSON HOSIERY COMPANY and AMERICAN FEDERA-
TION OF HOSIERY WORKERS (C. I. 0. )
Cases Nos. 5-R-1508, 5-R-1537 and 5-R-1538 respectively.Decided
June 6, 1944
Mr. Whiteford S. Blakeney, of Charlotte N. C., for the Companies.
Mr. H. G. B. King, of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Mr. Robert D.
Beame, and Miss Adeline Stemp, of Charlotte, N. C., for the Union.
Mr. William C. Baisinger, Jr., of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petitions and an amended petition duly filed by American
Federation of Hosiery Workers (C. I. 0.),1 herein called the Union,
alleging that questions affecting commerce had arisen concerning the
representation of employees of Hudson Knitting Mills, Inc.,2 Oakhurst
Knitting Company, and Hudson Hosiery Company, Charlotte, North
Carolina, herein collectively called the Companies, and individually
referred to as Hudson Knitting, Oakhurst, and Hudson Hosiery, re-
spectively, the National Labor Relations Board consolidated the cases
and provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before
Robert A. Levett, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Char-
lotte, North Carolina, on April 27 and 28, 1944. The Companies
and the Union appeared and participated. All parties were afforded
full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses,
1 This is the correct designation of the Union, as amended without objection during the
hearing.
2 This is the correct designation of Hudson Knitting, as amended without objection
during the hearing.
56 N. L. R. B., No. 225.
1250
HUDSON KNITTING MILLS, INC. 1251
to introduce evidence bearing on the issues, and to file, briefs with
the Board.3 At the hearing, the Companies moved to dismiss each
of the petitions on the following grounds : (1) Hudson Knitting, the
company involved in Case No. 5-R-1508, on the ground that it is
not engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor
Relations Act, and therefore, is not subject to the jurisdiction of
the Board; (2) Oakhurst, the company involved in Case No. 5-R-
1537, on the same ground; and (3) Hudson Hosiery, the company in-,
volved in Case No. 5-R-1538, on the ground that the Union alleges.
in the petition it filed in that case that it represents 50 percent of
the employees in the bargaining unit described therein, which allega-
tion does not constitute a claim to represent a majority of these em-
ployees and therefore does not raise a question concerning representa-
tion. The Trial Examiner reserved ruling upon these, motions for
the Board. For reasons hereinafter stated, the motions are hereby
denied. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following
FINDINGS OF FACTS
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANIES
Hudson Hosiery Company, a North Carolina corporation having
its principal office and place of business in Charlotte, North Caro-
lina, and maintaining a sales office in New York City, is engaged
at plants located at Charlotte, North Carolina, in the manufacture
and sale of women's hosiery. During the year 1943, Hudson Hosiery
purchased raw materials, consisting chiefly of cotton and rayon,
valued in excess of $500,000, of which over 90 percent was shipped
into Charlotte from points outside the State of North Carolina. Dur-
ing the same period, finished products manufactured consisted of
ladies' hosiery valued in excess of $1,000,000, of which over, 90 percent
was shipped to points outside the State of North Carolina.
Hudson Hosiery admits and we find that it is engaged in com-
merce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
Oakhurst Knitting Company, a North Carolina corporation is,
engaged at a plant at Charlotte, North Carolina, in knitting women's
hosiery. Oakhurst devotes all of its operational facilities to knitting
hosiery from raw 'materials owned by Hudson Hosiery. After the
knitting process is completed, the stockings are returned to Hudson
Hosiery for further processing. Oakhurst owns all of the machinery
3 The Company requested an opportunity for oral argument before the Board . We per-
ceive no necessity for oral argument in the instant proceedings . Accordingly , the request
is hereby denied.
1252 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
at its plant, having purchased it in 1942 from a manufacturer in
Laconia, New Hampshire, at a cost of approximately $140,000. Each
year Oakhurst purchases approximately $3,000 worth of knitting
needles from the same machine manufacturer in Laconia, New
Hampshire. Machine replacement parts are purchased from manu-
facturers in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Hudson Knitting Mills, Inc., also a North Carolina corporation,
operates a plant located in the same building in Charlotte, North
Carolina, occupied by Oakhurst at which it is engaged in knitting
ladies' hosiery and, like Oakhurst, it receives all its raw materials
from Hudson Hosiery and after completing the knitting process, re-
turns the stockings to Hudson Hosiery for further processing. Hud-
son Knitting purchased its knitting machinery directly from a manu-
facturer in Reading, Pennsylvania. It purchases approximately $10,-
000 worth of knitting needles each year from a manufacturer in
Laconia, New Hampshire.
All the stock of Hudson Hosiery and Hudson Knitting is owned
by M. E. Pierson, Fritz Seifart, and their immediate families. These
same individuals also own substantially all the stock of Oakhurst.
Fritz Seifart is president and treasurer of Hudson Hosiery, treasurer
and secretary of Hudson Knitting, and president of Oakhurst. M. E.
Pierson is president of Hudson Knitting, secretary of Hudson Hos-
iery, and treasurer and secretary of Oakhurst. The same individuals
are the directors of all three companies. Hudson Knitting owns
the building located on Monroe Road in Charlotte, North Carolina,
which houses Oakhurst's plant and one of Hudson Hosiery's two
plants, as well as its own operations. Hudson Hosiery and Oakhurst
pay Hudson Knitting rent for the space they occupy in the Monroe
Road building. Hudson Hosiery owns a building on Brevard Street,
Charlotte, North Carolina, which houses a part of its operations. In
view of the interlocking directorates of the Companies, the commin-
gling of the products manufactured by each of the Companies, and
since all of the Companies are owned and controlled by the same in-
dividuals, we find no merit in the contentions of Hudson Knitting
and Oakhurst that they are not subject to the jurisdiction of the
Board. Accordingly, we find that each of the Companies is engaged
in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations
Act.,
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
American Federation of Hosiery Workers is a labor organization
affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organization, admitting to
membership employees of the Company.
4 See Matter of Penokee Veneer Company, Splbcewood Corporation , and the F. A. Mac-
Donald Co., 51 N. L. R. B. 997.
HUDSON KNITTING` MILLS, INC. 1253
III. TIIE QUESTIONS CONCERNING, REPRESENTATION
The parties/stipulated at the hearing that, prior to filing its peti-
tions in each of the cases here involved, the Union met with the
Companies individually and requested 'recognition as the exclusive
bargaining representative of the employees within an alleged ap-
propriate bargaining unit, and that in each instance the Company
involved refused to accord the Union the requested recognition on
the ground that the bargaining unit sought was not appropriate.
A statement of a Field Examiner of the Board, introduced into
evidence at the hearing;' indicates that the Union represents a sub-
stantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be
appropriate.5
We find that questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning
the, representation of employees of the Companies, within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union seeks the establishment of three separate bargaining
units comprised of (1) all production and maintenance employees of
Hudson Knitting, including machine fixers or mechanics, but exclud-
ing firemen, cafeteria employees, nurses, painters, carpenters, elec-
tricians and their helpers, clerical and supervisory employees; (2) all
production and maintenance employees of Oakhurst, excluding cleri-
cal and supervisory employees; and (3) all production and mainte-
nance employees of Hudson Hosiery employed in the throwing, knit-
ting, mending, looping, seaming, grey inspection, and pre-boarding
departments in the Monroe Road building; including machine fixers
or mechanics, but excluding firemen, painters, painters' helpers, car-
penters, carpenters' helpers, nurses, cafeteria employees, truck drivers,
clerical and supervisory employees, and all employees of Hudson
Hosiery employed at the Brevard Street building. In the event the
Board finds that the above-described units are individually inappro-
priate, the Union takes the alternative position that the three pro-
posed units should be merged to form a single appropriate bargaining
3 The Field Examiners report is summarized'in the following table •
• Authoriza- Number of
Case No. - Company Iron cards employees in
I submitted alleged unit
5-R-1508--------- Hudson Knitting-------------- `------------------ 141 240
5-R-1537---------- Oakhurst ------------------ --__--------------_,---- 23 25
5-R-1538 ---------- Hudson Hosiery---------------------------------- 205 369
In view of the actual showing of representation made by the Union in Case No: 5-R-1538, we find no merit
in the motion made by Hudson Hosiery seeking dismissal of the petition in that case. -
'1254 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
unit: The Companies oppose both the primary and alternative posi-
tions asserted by the Union, contending that the appropriate unit,
should consist of all production and maintenance employees of all}
three Companies, including those employees of Hudson Hosiery work-
ing at the Brevard Street building, and excluding only clerical and
supervisory employees.
The Companies' operations
Hudson Hosiery, the parent corporation, wits incorporated in 1925
tnd originally conducted all of its manufacturing operations in a
building located on Brevard Street about 1 mile from the center of
Charlotte, North Carolina. This building, which we shall hereinafter
refer to as the Brevard Street plant, was erected in 1929 and was
expanded in 1931 and 1933. It is a 2-story building which houses
,several manufacturing departments of Hudson Hosiery, namely,
knitting, dye, box factory; final boarding, mending, finishing, stock-
room, and shipping and receiving. The general offices for all three
Companies are also located in this building. Hudson Hosiery also
,maintains a cafeteria in the building for the use of its employees. All
'employees working at the Brevard Street plant are on the pay roll
of Hudson Hosiery. Hudson Knitting was organized and incor-
porated in 1934 by the two families which own Hudson Hosiery for
the purpose of acquiring a 1-story building located on Monroe Road
at a distance of approximately,4 miles from the Brevard Street plant.
'The Monroe Road plant, as we shall hereinafter refer to it, was ex-
panded in 19361 1937, and 1938, by the construction 'of 1-story addi-
tions. Oakhurst was organized and incorporated in 1941 for the
purpose of increasing the production of Hudson Hosiery. Oakhurst
is engaged exclusively in the knitting of seamless hosiery while Hud-
son Knitting and Hudson Hosiery knit only full-fashioned hosiery.
All of the manufacturing operations of Hudson Knitting and Oak-
hurst are housed in the Monroe Road plant. Hudson Knitting and
"Oakhurst employ approximately 233 and 22 persons, respectively.
The Monroe Road plant houses the throwing, looping, seaming, grey
inspection, pre-boarding, and maintenance departments of Hudson
Hosiery. The latter company employs approximately 556 persons at
the Brevard Street- plant and 421 persons at the Monroe Road plant.
The manufacture of hosierylby the Companies proceeds substan-
tially in the following manner: all raw materials are' received 'by
Hudson Hosiery at the Brevard Street 'plant and transported by
truck to the Monroe Road plant where the initial process takes place
in the throwing department of Hudson Hosiery. This operation re-
sults in the transformation of the 'raw materials into knitting. yarn.
HUDSON KNITTING MILLS, INC. '1255
The yarn is then taken to another section of the building where it is
delivered to Hudson Knitting and Oakhurst. These latter two com-
panies apply the knitting process to completion, Hudson Knitting
producing full-fashioned hosiery and Oakhurst, seamless hosiery.
The unfinished stockings thus produced are returned to Hudson
Hosiery for further processing in its looping, seaming, and inspection
departments which are also located in the Monroe Road plant. All
-stockings are then taken to the Brevard Street plant for mending,
dyeing, boarding, finishing, packing, and. shipping. The finished
hosiery is commingled and marketed by Hudson Hosiery under two
labels, "Hudson" and "Oakhurst."
Functional correlation of management
In addition to their other official positions with the Companies,
Fritz Seifart and M. E. Pierson, respectively, act as the Companies'
sales manager and general factory manager. One person, R. W.
Burns, is superintendent of knitting for each of the three companies.
The Companies employ a single personnel manager. Each of the
Companies contributes a part of the compensation paid these officials
either directly or by means of inter-company price adjustments.
Concluding findings
In spite of the fact that each of the Companies is a separate legal
entity, we are of the opinion that, because of their interlocking in-
terests and functional correlation as a single manufacturing unit,
Hudson Hosiery, Hudson Knitting, and Oakhurst constitute a single
employer within the meaning of Section 2 (2) of the Act and that
their employees, pooled, form the basis for the appropriate unit.
As previously noted, the Union desires to exclude all employees of
Hudson Hosiery who are employed at the Brevard Street plant from
the appropriate unit. It appears that the Union's reason for exclud-
ing the employees of the Brevard Street plant from its proposed
unit is due to their apparent apathy to its organizational campaign
which, while. it has been quite successful at the Monroe Road plant,
has not succeeded at the former plant. The record indicates that
each of the various departments housed in the two plants conducts
an independent operation in the over-all manufacturing process ;
that, with the exception of knitters, there is a marked difference
between the function and skills of the employees working in the
Monroe Road plant and those employed in the Brevard Street plant;
and that there is no interchange of employees between the two
plants other than an occasional shifting of production workers which
is actually a transfer of surplus labor on a permanent basis. Fur-
1256 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
thermore, there is no history of collective bargaining among the Com-
panies' employees which may be considered in determining the
appropriate unit. While we recognize the high degree of integration
among the various operations conducted at the two plants, we are of
the opinion that, in view of the foregoing facts, and since the Mon-
roe Road plant is geographically apart from the Brevard Street
plant, the employees of the Companies employed at the Monroe Road
plant comprise a unit sufficiently identifiable for the purposes of
collective bargaining. Nor do we perceive any valid reason why
these employees should be denied the right to bargain collectively
merely because the employees of Hudson Hosiery at the Brevard
Street plant apparently do not desire a collective bargaining repre-
sentative at this time.e Accordingly, we find that all production
and maintenance employees of the Companies employed at the Mon-
roe Road plant, except for certain named exclusions, constitute an
appropriate bargaining unit.? Our finding herein with respect to
the appropriate unit, however, does not preclude a later determina-
tion at another stage of self-organization that a more comprehensive
unit .is appropriate.
There remains for consideration the specific composition of the
appropriate unit.
The Union desires to exclude from the appropriate unit firemen
who operate the plant's steam boilers; cafeteria employees who work
in the plant's cafeteria; nurses who administer first-aid to employees
involved in minor accidents; carpenters, carpenters' helpers, painters,
and painters' helpers who perform general' maintenance carpentry
and painting in the plant; and truck drivers who transport materials
between the two plants 8 The Union, asserting that it admits to mem-
bership only employees directly connected with the production of
hosiery, claims that it has not tried to organize these employees of
the Companies since they are not eligible to membership in the
Union. Inasmuch as the Union has not attempted to organize these
employees and since the majority of them are members of various
crafts customarily represented by craft unions and the remainder
perform functions unconnected with the manufacture of hosiery,
we shall exclude the firemen, cafeteria employees, nurses, truck driv-
ers, painters, painters' helpers, carpenters, and carpenters' helpers
employed by the Company in the Monroe Road plant from the
appropriate unit.
9 See Matter of M. B. Manufacturing Company, Inc., 53 N. L. It . B. 1029.
7See Matter of Standard Overall Company (Jobbers Pants Co.), 53 N. L. R. B. 960, an{I
cases cited therein.
In its unit contention , the Union also specifically names electricians as an excluded
classification ; however, the record indicates that the Companies employ no electricians.
HUDSON KNITTING MILLS, INC. 1257
The parties agree that executives, superintendents, foremen, and
foreladies employed by the Companies should be excluded from any
Mappropriate unit as supervisory employees..' We shall exclude them
from' the appropriate unit. We shall also, in accordance with the
agreement of the parties; exclude clerical employees.
Upon the basis of the entire record in the case, and in accordance
with the foregoing findings of fact, we find that all production and
maintenance employees of the Companies who are regularly employed
at the Monroe Road plant, Charlotte,, North Carolina,' including ma:
chine fixers or mechanics, but excluding firemen, carpenters, carpenters'
helpers, painters, painters' helpers, truck drivers, nurses, cafeteria em-
ployees, clerical employees, executives, superintendents, foremen, fore'
ladies, and any other supervisory employees with authority, to hire,
promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status
of employes, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit ap-
propriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the questions concerning representation which
have ariseii be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the
employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election
herein, subject to the limitatiotls and additions 'set fdrth in the
Direction. -
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 Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Hudson Knitting
Mills, Inc., Oakhurst Knitting Company, and Hudson Hosiery Com-
pany, Charlotte, North Carolina, an election 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 Fifth Region, acting in this matter as agent
for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III,
Sections 10 and if, and said Rules and Regulations, among the em-
ployees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction, including employees who did not work during said
1258 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR ' RELATIONS BOARD
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 any who
i
have since quit or been discharged for.cause, and have not been rehired
or reinstated prior. to the date of the election, to determine whether or
not they desire to be represented by American Federation of Hosiery
Workers (C. I. 0.), for'the purposes of collective bargaining.
MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.,
u