Mississippi Products, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 13, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 107 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of Mississippi PRODUCTS, INC.,' EMPLOYER and CON-
GRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS, PETITIONER
Case No. 15-R-2106.-Decided June 13, 1947
Mr. John S. McLellan, of Pressmens Home, Tenn., for the Em-
ployer.
Mr. R. W. Starnes, of Jackson, Miss., for the Petitioner.
Mr. W. L. Hines, of Hattiesburg, Miss., for the Intervenor.
Mr. Bernard L. Balicer, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Jackson,
Mississippi, on March 7, 1947, before George H. O'Brien, hearing of-
ficer.2 The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudical error and are hereby affirmed.3
Upon the entire record in the,case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
The Employer is a Mississippi corporation, wholly subsidiary to
Sears Roebuck and Company, a New York corporation. At its plant
near Jackson, Mississippi, the Employer has been engaged in the
manufacture of desks, radio cabinets and similar furniture products
since August 1946. During the period it has been in operation, the
Employer has manufactured and shipped desks valued at approxi-
mately $15,000 and subassembled stock approximating $30,000 in
Title as amended at the hearing
For the reasons set forth in Section V, sefre, the Employer's motion to dismiss the
petition on the ground th.ut an election at this time would be premature is hereby denied
3 Subsequent to the hearing, the Employer moved the Board to strike from the record a
letter which was appended to the C I. O's brief Inasmuch as the bumf and the letter
are not part of the evidentiary record upon «hich the Board based its findings in resolving
the issues litigated at the hearing, we find no pre j udice in the submission of the letter
The Employer 's motion is lieieby denied.
74 N L. R. B., No 26. 107
108 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
value. The Employer anticipates that 20 percent of its raw mate-
Iials , exceeding $100,000 in value annually , will be obtained from
sources outside the State of Mississippi , and 90 percent of its finished
products , valued in excess of $100,000 annually , will be shipped to,
points outside the State of Mississippi.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
IT. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization, claiming to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, herein
called the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the Amer-
ican Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE, APPROPRIATE UNIT
The parties are in substantial agreement that a unit of all produc-
tion and maintenance employees, excluding dispatchers, clerks (ex-
cept stock and receiving clerks), timekeepers, time-study men, assist-
ant foremen and supervisory employees, comprise an appropriate unit.
The Employer would also exclude, and the Petitioner and the Inter-
venor would include, watchmen, production inspectors, boiler room
operators, and receiving clerks. The Employer and the Intervenor
also desire to exclude stock clerks, whereas, the Petitioner seeks to in-
clude them in the appropriate trait.
Watchmen: The watchmen, who are deputized, provide protection
against fires and trespassers, and maintain order, direct. traffic, and
furnish directional information at the plant gate. One watchman
checks lunch boxes and tool kits. Inasmuch as it does not appear
that the watchmen perform monitorial functions, we shall include
them in the unit."
Production inspectors: The inspectors use standard measuring
games in checking whether parts are correctly cut and processed.
* Jfatter of John Deere Dubuque q') actor Company , 72 N L R B 656
MISSISSIPPI PRODUCTS, INC. 109
They are required to have some technical knowledge so that the plant
engineer can be advised of production defects to be corrected. In-
spectors are paid more than unskilled production workers, but their
earnings do not exceed those of skilled production employees. Al-
though the Employer plans to place the more highly skilled workers
on an hourly basis plus an incentive rate, until that is effected, rejec-
tion of defective items by the inspectors cannot affect the amount of
pay of production employees. Inasmuch as the work of the inspectors
is an ,integral part of the production process and thew working con-
ditions are essentially similar to those of the production and main-
tenance employees, we shall include them in the unit.'
Boiler room operators: The boiler room operators control com-
pressors, boilers. puunps, and similar machinery in the boiler room.
They are under the supervision of the steam plant foreman who is, in
turn, responsible to the plant engineer. The Employer alleges that
the boiler room operators can recommend the discharge of laborers
employed in the boiler room. However, the laborers are only tem-
porarily employed until a defect in the Employer's fuel handling
system has been repaired. We are of the opinion that the boiler
room operators are not supervisory employees within the Board's
usual definition of that term. In view of the close relationship be-
tween their functions and those of the other production and mainte-
nance employees, and since no other organization is seeking to repre-
sent the boiler room operators, we shall include them in the unit.'
Stock and receiving clerks: The stock clerks issue and receive ma-
terials, tools, and supplies kept in the stock room, which is located in
the warehouse area of the factory. The receiving clerk accounts for
the receipt of inatertals and supplies. The stock and receiving clerks
may handle tools and materials, but they normally do no manual la-
bor. Although the Employer alleges that the stock and receiving
clerks have power to recommend the discharge of laborers occasionally
assigned to assist them, we find that the record does not establish that
they possess supervisory authority within the Board's usual definition
of that term. Inasmuch as they work in the plant under plant super-
vision, we find that the duties and interests of the plant clerks in
question are closely related to those of the production and mainte-
nance employees. We shall therefore include them in the unit.
Since the stock and receiving clerks are to be included, we see no reason
0Matte, of The Schathle Conepany, 69 N L It B 527 flatter of Luminous Processes,
Inc, 71 N L R B 405; Matter of Textile Machrne Worbs, Inc, 72 N L R B 56
6 Matter of Ideal Roller d Manufactur inq Company, Inc . 60 N L R B 110.5 at page 1107
Matter of Pacific Mills, 60 N L It B 467 at page 470
7Matter of Goodman flannfaetniiny Company, 58 N L It B 531 (fatter of Kearney
tf Ti crker Co) poi at,on, 60 N L It B 148
110 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
to exclude other plant clerical employees, if any. Accordingly, we
shall include all such employees.
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Em-
ployer at its Jackson, Mississippi, plant, including watchmen, produc-
tion inspectors, boiler room operators and plant clerical employees
(including stock and receiving clerks), but excluding assistant fore-
men, dispatchers, timekeepers, time-study men, office clerical em-
ployees, and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, pro-
mote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of
employees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. TIDE 1ETEp1MINATION OF REPRI?SENTATIVES
The Employer contends that an election should not be directed at
this time, since less than 30 percent of its total contemplated force
is now employed. At the hearing, the Employer alleged that it antic-
ipated increases in its working force at the rate of 175 employees
each 30-clay period until it attained an ultimate force of approxi-
mately 1,500 factory employees. By the Employer's own estimate of
employment and terminations," therefore, the plant by now will have
reached more than 50 percent of its projected factory complement.
Furthermore, the plant is now producing finished products and at
the time of the hearing the production and maintenance employees
then employed were representative of all but one of the employee
categories which the Employer stated that it would ultimately re-
quire.o On or about May 13, 1947, subsequent to the hearing, the
Employer advised the Regional Director that it then employed only
528 factory employees and that it anticipated an expansion to 1,950
employees. The Petitioner, however, claims that the Employer on
I Force Teimi-
Ye
Employ- Termi- at nation
Month ar meats nations month's peicent-
end age
August-------------------------------------------- 1946 158 27 131 17 09
September ----------------------------------------- 1946 66 58 139 41 72
October------------------------------------------- 1946 86 25 200 12 50
November----------------------------------------- 1946 49 39 210 18 57
December ----------------------------------------- 1946 43 26 227 11 45
January___________________________________________ 1947 186 70 343 20 41
February__________________________________________ 1947 229 97 475 20 42
The average monthly termination for the above per iod is 20 31 percent.
At the time of the hearing, the Employer had not employed any "rubbers," employees
who will be engaged in the finishing of certain types of radio cabinets
MISSISSIPPI PRODUCTS, INC. 111
that date had approximately 830 factory employees 10 The Employer
has refused the Board permission to examine its pay-roll list to resolve
these conflicting contentions. In view of the Employer's refusel to
submit a pay roll in substantiation of its more recent allegations, the
Board is justified in accepting the personnel estimates adduced at the
hearing. Accordingly, we are of the opinion that an election at this
time is appropriate 11
We shall, however, entertain a new petition for an investigation
and certification of representatives affecting the employees involved
herein within the next year, but not before the expiration of 6 months
from the date of any certification we may issue in the instant proceed-
ing upon proof (1) that the number of employees in the appropriate
unit is more than double the number eligible to vote in the election
hereinafter directed; and (2) that the Petitioner represents a sub-
stantial number of employees in the expanded appropriate unit'
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 13
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Mississippi Products, Inc.,
Jackson, Mississippi , 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 Re-
gional Director for the Fifteenth Region, acting in this matter as
agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sec-
tions 203 . 55 and 203 .56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and
Regulations-Series 4, among the employees in the unit found ap-
propriate 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 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 them-
selves 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 election, to determine whether
they desire to be represented by the Congress of Industrial Organiza-
tions, or by United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America,
A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining , or by neither.
10 This total approximates the Employer 's original estimate as to its anticipated personnel
increases.
u Matter of Lord Manufacturting Company, 66 N. L. R. B. 667; Matter of Goodyear
Tire & Rubber Company of Kansas , Inc, 65 N L R . B. 532.
13 Matter of The Firestone TI.re & Rubber Company, 69 N. L. It. B . 634; Matter of Alumi-
num Company of America, 52 N. L. R. B. 1040.
13 Any participant in the election herein may, upon its prompt request to , and approval
thereof by , the Regional Director , have its name removed from the ballot.
755420-48-vol. 74-9