Pacific Mills

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 30, 1943

48 N.L.R.B. 844 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of PACIFIC MILLS and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF
TEAMSTERS , CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN , AND HELPERS', `Lo0AL' 477,'
(A. F. of L.)
Case No. R-49.116-Decided March 30,19J,3
Jurisdiction : textile manufacturing and finishing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : refusal
to accord petitioner recognition until certified by the Board; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : yardmen, warehousemen (includ-
ing truckers and laborers engaged at five storage depots), truck drivers, and
truck drivers' helpers at one of the company's plants.
Mr. John T. Noonan, of Boston, Mass., for the Company.
Messrs. Timothy H. O'Neil and James T. Earley, of Lawrence, Mass.,
for the Teamsters.
Mr. Paul R. Foisy; of Lowell, Mass., for -the Association.
Mr. David V. Easton, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Chauffeurs, Warehousemen, and Helpers, Local 477, (A. F. of L.),
herein- called the Teamsters, alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Pacific
Mills; Lawrence, Massachusetts, herein called the Company, the Nii-
tional Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing
upon due notice before Robert E. Greene, Trial Examiner. Said hear-
ing was held at Lawrence, Massachusetts, on March 1, 1943. The
Company, the Teamsters, and Pacific Mills Worsted Division Em-
ployees Association, herein called'the Association, appeared, partici-
pated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and
cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the
issues. The Company filed a brief which the Board has considered.
Subsequent to the hearing all parties agreed to the correction of certain
errors in the transcript. The transcript is accordingly ordered cor-
48 N L. R. B., No. 99,
844
V
PACIFIC MILLS , 845
vvected in accordance with the agreement. The Trial Examiner's rul-
ings 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 :
FINm GS OF FACT
I. TIIE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Pacific Mills, a Massachusetts corporation, is a domestic textile man-
ufacturer and finisher, producing a diversified line of woolen goods
and woolen cloth. For these purposes it operates woolen manufactur-
ing mills at Columbia and Lyman, South Carolina, and a finishing
plant at Lyman, South Carolina. In addition it manufactures
worsted woolens and has a finishing plant and mill at Lawrence, Massa-
chusetts. The Company also maintains branch selling offices in the
principal cities of the United States, and its main sales office is in New
York City. We are concerned herein with the,operations of the Com-
pany, at Lawrence, Massachusetts. , In the year 1942, the value of raw
materials used by the Company in its Lawrence, Massachusetts, opera-,
tions, exceeded $8,000,000, of which over 95 percent was received from
points outside the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. During the same
period the value of the finished products manufactured, in the Com-
pany's plant at Lawrence, Massachusetts, exceeded $20,000,000, of
which over 95 percent was shipped to points outside the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts. We find that the Company is engaged in commerce -
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
r
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse-
men, and Helpers, Local 477, is a labor organization affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees
Of the Company.
Pacific Mills Worsted Division Employees Association is an unaffili-
ated labor organization, admitting to membership employees of the
Company.
IH. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company refuses to recognize they Teamsters unless it is first
certified by the Board, contending that the unit sought by the Team-
sters is inappropriate.
A statement of the Regional Director, introduced into evidence at
the hearing, indicates that the Teamsters and the Association each
846 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter
found appropriate.' I
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 UNIT
The Company and the Association contend that all employees at the
Lawrence plant should constitute an appropriate unit, the Association
relying upon several working agreements with the Company since
1937, covering its own members, and the fact that it has dealt with
the Company for employees in practically all departments. The'
Teamsters seeks a unit comprised of yardmen,' warehousemen, truck
drivers, and truck drivers' helpers.
The Association has never been recognized as the exclusive represent-
ative of the Company's employees ; it has been recognized by the
Company as the representative of its own membership, and. has dealt
with the Company on a departmental basis.3 The classifications sought'
by the Teamsters, as disclosed by the record, constitute an identifiable
group, and the work done by employees within these classifications is.
distinct-from that performed by other' employees at the plant. In view r
of the above; we are of'the opinion that, in general, the classifications of
employees sought by the Teamsters may constitute an appropriate unit.
The Teamsters contends that the Company maintains only two ware-
houses at the Lawrence plant; the Company *and the Association are
agreed that the Company operates five warehouses, and contend that if
a unit including warehouse employees is found to be appropriate, all
such employees should be included therein.
The record discloses that, warehouse operations are not limited to 2
locations. The No. 5 building is an overflow storage place, with part
of it comprising a bonded, warehouse and the rest constituting a storage
area which is used for the storage of tops (long,fiber wool). It has a
whip attached to the building for the purpose of raising and lowering
materials. There are 4 to 5 employees, called laborers, assigned to this
building from the yard gang; these employees receive, store, and move
i
' The Regional Director reported that the Teamsters submitted 36 application cards
bearing apparently genuine signatures , of which 25 contained names appearing on the
Company's pay roll of January 2, 1943. He further reported that the Association sub-
mitted 13 membership cards, all bearing apparently genuine original signatures and names
appealing on the above-mentioned pay ioll. Three persons signed cards for, both the Team-
steis and the Association . These are between 74 and 86 employees within the appropriate
unit
2 "Yardmen " and "yard gang" are used interchangeably herein. The latter is nomen-
clature of the Company describing a pool of 25 to 23 laborers who are used in various
duties in the mill yards ; .4 or 5 of these laborers are assigned to the No. 5 warehouse.
3 The president of the Association testified at the hearing that the Association bar.
gained Frith the Company with respect to wages on behalf of the yard gang.
PACIFIC MILLS 847
the raw materials coming in and out of the building. ' All parties are
agreed that the' No. 5 building is a warehouse. The Appleton Street
building is a storage place for raw domestic and imported wool. It,
too, has a whip attached to the building. There are 10 to 15 employees
known as truckers, assigned here who perform duties identical to those
of the laborers in the No. 5 building. All parties are agreed that this
building is a warehouse. The top floor of No. 1 mill is used for the stor-
age of noils (short fiber wool). There is a whip attached here also.
There are 10 to 12 truckers employed here who perform the same duties
as the truckers and laborers hereinbefore mentioned. Although the
basement and other floors of No. 1 are used for operations other than
storage, there is no contact between the truckers who work in the stor-
age space, and the other employees working in the building. The base-
ment of No. 3 building and a floor of No. 4 building, which are treated
as one storage space, are used by the Company for the storage of wool
waste. After the waste is sorted; it is sent to these places where it is
bagged, stored, and kept until sold. There are between 7 and 8 truckers
assigned to these sites who unload, store, and reload the wool waste.
T'lie'basemerit of'No. 10 building is the main storage place of the plant
for tops. There are'between 7 and truckers assigned here to handle
the receiving 'of tops and its storage. A
The Teamsters contends that the locations described above, other
than the No. 5 building and the Appleton Street building, are not ware-
houses. We do not agree with this conclusion. There is no doubt that
storage operations are conducted at all the sites discussed above ; fur-
thermore, it appears from the record that all 'employees assigned to
these places are distinctly separable from other employees of the Com-
pany. We are of the opinion that all the foregoing locations are ware-
houses, and that the truckers and laborers employed therein act in the
capacity of warehousemen. In view of these circumstances, we shall
include them within the unit hereinafter found appropriate.
The Association contends that, in any event, the truckers and the
laborers constituting the yard gang. should not be included in the
same unit with truck drivers and truck drivers' helpers. This con-
tention is based upon' alleged differences in pay and working condi-
tions. The Company contends that the yard gang employees are
actually maintenance employees, and should therefore be excluded
from the unit proposed by the Teamsters. In support of this conten-
tion, the Company points out that the employees in the yard gang
are used anywhere in the manufacturing 'buildings and 'in the mill
yards; that they clean out the wool washing cellar, keep streets in
repair, pick up rubbish, salvage used, material, move lumber, and
above all, assist the maintenance men with regard to moving and
setting up'machinery. , In addition, as mentioned heretofore,, four- or
848 ' DECISIONS OF 3 ATI'0NAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
five are assigned,to:the No. 5 building to act in the capacity of ware-
housemen. A witness for the Company testified that-there is con-
siderable turn-over in the yard gang because-of transfers back and
forth between the manufacturing departments, the yard gang, and
the maintenance departments. Furthermore, the Company contends
that the Teamsters does 'not have jurisdiction over the yard gang.
However, the fact that the Teamsters may not have trade jurisdiction
over such employees does not preclude it from representing them for
purposes of collective bargaining. It is clear that the yard gang
employees are not regular helpers of maintenance men in the ordinary
sense, but in fact are general laborers used primarily in moving
equipment and material, and in various unskilled tasks. We find that
they may appropriately be included with warehousemen, drivers, and
drivers' helpers 4
In view of the foregoing, we find that'all yardmen, warehousemen
(including truckers and laborers engaged at all five 'storage depots),
truck drivers, and truck drivers' helpers of the Company at its Law-
rence plant, constitute a unit appropriate for the purpose, of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Teamsters urges that eligibility to vote be determined by ref-
erence to the pay roll as of December 22, 1942, contending that the
Company has transferred since that date many of the employees
within the unit it seeks to other positions. No evidence was adduced
'in support of this contention. In accordance with our usual procedure,
we shall direct that the question concerning representation which has
arisen 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 'EV^etibn,, subject
to the limitations and additions set forth therein.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
J
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act , and pursuait to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Pacific Mills,
Lawrence , Massachusetts , an election by secret ballot shall be con-
4 See Matter of H. G Hill Stores , Inc Warehouse and International Longshw emen's
and Warehousemen 's Union, affiliated with the C. 1 0, 39 N. L. R. B 874.' ,
PACIFIC MILLS 849
ducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from
the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervisioli of the
Regional Director for the First Region, acting in this matter as agent
for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III,
-Section 10, of said Rules and Regulations, among the employees 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 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
have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine- whether
they desire to be represented by International Brotherhood of Team-
sters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen, and Helpers, Local 477,. affiliated
with the A. F. of L., or by Pacific Mills Worsted Division Employees
Association, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.