Sewell Hats, Inc.Download PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsJun 28, 194350 N.L.R.B. 883 (N.L.R.B. 1943) Copy Citation In the Matter Of SEWELL HATS, , INCORPORATED and CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS Case No. R-5477.-Decided June 28, 1943 Mr. Clifford R. Wheeless and Mr. 0. C. Hancock, of Atlanta, Ga., for the Company. Mr.-R. C..Thomas and Mr. C. H. Gillman, of Atlanta, Ga., for the Union.' Miss Marcia Hertz^mark, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND. DIRECTION 1OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by Congress of Industrial Organizations, herein- called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Sewell Hats, Incorporated, Red Oak, Georgia, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Dan M. Byrd, Jr., Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Atlanta, Georgia, on June 2, 1943. The Company and the Union appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Exam- iner's rulings made at the hearing are free from, prejudicial error and•'are. hereby,:; affirmed. All,,ptrties were afforded opportunity to file-.briefs with the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Sewell Hats, Incorporated, is a Georgia corporation engaged in the manufacture of wool hats at, Red Oak, Georgia. During 1942 the Company purchased raw,-materials valued in-excess of $50,000, in excess of 50 percent of which was shipped from points outside the State of Georgia. During the same period the Company manu- 50 N. L. R. B., No. 128. 883 884 DECISIONS OF NATIO\AL rLABOR. RELATIONS BOARD factured finished products valued in excess of $100,000, more than 50 percent of.which was shipped to points outside the State of Georgia. c II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED •s ^I' The Congress of Industrial Organizations is a labor admitting to membership employees of the Company.' organization III . (THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION By letter dated May 12 , 1943, the Union requested' recognition as the exclusive bargaining representative of the Company 's employees. Attempts of the parties to arrange a conference proved . unsuccessful. The Company has not recognized the Union I as the iepresentative'of its employees. A statement of the Trial Examiner which was introduced in evi- dence shows that the Union represents a' substantial number of em- ployees in the unit ;hereinafter ' found to ` be,appropriate.2 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 Union' seeks a unit composed ' of all ' production aiid Maint'e- 'nance employees , excluding supervisors ' and , clerical workers. - The Company contends that • lalf employees excluding officers of'the'Com- pany constitute an appropiiate unit: it appears from the record that the cle 'rical''employ'ees gory iii'the office and have little o r no contact with 'the'production and' niainte- nance = elrip1oyees .. We shall ' exclude them 'from '`th'e'unit. "Although it is not clear from 'the evidence how'many 'supervisor`s 'are' eniployed by the Company ,' we shall follow ' of r'usual policy' arid' exclude 'super- visory employees as set forth below. We find` that all ' producti'on'and maintenanceemploye'es of the Com- pany, excluding clerical employees and all supervisory employees with IIt appears from the record that the CIO does not have an International Union which organizes the type of employees involved herein . ; Its practice under the circumstances is to issue an industrial union charter 'and later transfer these employees to the appropri- ate International Union. z The-Trial- Examiner 's report discloses that the Union submitted ' 40 authorization cards, all bearing apparently, genuine, original signatures , and 36 bearing names.of , persons whose names appear on the Company ' s pay roll of May 11, 1943 ; , the pay roll contains the names of,63 persons within the unit hereinafterlfound,appropriate. " The Company asserted at the hearing and in, its brief that the Union obtained the afore- mentioned cards through 'intimidation and fraud, in that employees were told that they would not be permitted to work if they refused to join the Union - Since the Union is seek- ing an election , 'and not certification upon the record , we will not consider the evidence on this question See Matte of Caesar Manufacturing, Inc, 49 N .' L"R -B. 1045, and cases cited therein.' SEWELL HATS, INCORPORATED 885 authority to hire, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, consti- tute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. I V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES The Union requested, and the Company agreed to, the use of the pay roll of May 12, 1943, to determine eligibility to vote. Under the cir- cumstances of this case, 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 em- ployed; during the pay-roll period immediately preceding May 12, 1943, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. DIRECTION' OF ELECTION By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Gabor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela- tions Act, and pursuant 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 Sewell Hats, In- corporated, Red Oak, Georgia, 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 Tenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Ar- ticleIII, Section 10, of 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 May 12, 1943, including employees who did not work during said pay-roll pe- riod because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United States who pre- sent themselves in person at the polls, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Congress of Industrial Organ- izations for the purposes of collective bargaining. CHAIRMAN Maras took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election. 536105=44-ro1. 50-57 - Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation