J. - National Labor Relations Board

84 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARDwhere the only union at the plant had organized, bargained collectivelyand obtained contracts for only these 33 employees, who Werein a separate department and by reason of their skill constituted adefinite craft, and were the only employees in the plant eligible formembership in the union, the other employees being eligible for membershipin other labor organizations. 47 Similarly, the Board has heldthat a unit of employees in the spinning mill, excluding employeesin the hosiery mill, of a plant was an appropriate one, as the unioncontended, where the evidence established that the two groups ofemployees did entirely different work, that the only union at theplant had organized, and admitted to membership, spinners only,and that the hosiery workers were eligible for membership in anotherlabor organization. 48 To deny the appropriateness of the unitssought by the unions in the above situations would be to deny to theorganized employees in the plant the benefits of the act simply becauseother employees had not yet organized. .The Board in several cases, in accordance with_ the desires of theonly labor organization involved and despite the opposition of thecompany, has excluded from an otherwise, plant-wide unit a smallgroup of employees who by reason of their skill or work constitutean established craft, either ineligible for membership in the petitioningunion, or eligible for membership in another union whose Jurisdictionover these employees is conceded by the petitioning union."Despite the contention of the employer that the employees in eachdepartment constitute separate units, the Board, in accordance with41 Matter of Horace G. Prettyman and Int. Typographical Union, 12 N. L. R. B. 640. Cf.Matter of Clippies Co. and Matchworkers' Federal Labor Union No. 20927, 10 N. L. R. B. 168.Here the Board found that a unit including the employees in one department only wasappropriate where such employees by reason of their work constituted a separate crimp andwere the sole employees organized by the only bona fide union at the plant and eligible formembership in it.48 Matter of Richmond Hosiery Mills and Textile Workers Organ. Comm., 8 N. L. R. B.1073.49 In Matter of General Electric Co. and United Electrical. Radio & Machine Workers orAmor.. 9 N. L. R. B. 1213, the Board excluded from an industrial unit truck drivers whodesired to be included in the unit and who were eli gible for membershi p in the industrialunion which had at first tried to enroll them as members and in its ori ginal petition hadsought to include them in the unit. The Board pointed out that the industrial union hadan agreement with a craft union that it would urge .truck. drivers to join the craft union,and that in a recent strike of truck drivers among other companies the trucks of the companyhad been barred from certain areas because they had not been driven by driversbelonging to the craft union. The Board said :"• • * it is apparent not only that little community of interest exists between theCompany's * • • workers and its truck drivers, but also that the United's interest. asembodied in its a greement with the Brotherhood, in attempting to avoid the possibility ofdisharmony within labor's own ranks, deserves recognition."In Matter of Century Biscuit Co. and United Bakin g Workers, 9 N. L. R. B. 1237. the Boardexcluded truck drivers from an industrial unit, althou gh the industrial union in the pasthad bargained for them and obtained a contract covering them. The Board pointed outthat at present none of them were members of the industrial union, toward which all hadshown hostility ; that their work differed from that of the other employees; and that theywere eli gible for membership in another union whose jurisdiction over them was acknowledgedby the industrial unim. Other similar cases are : Matter of Clinton Garment Co.and Int. Ladies Garment Workers Union, 8 N. L. R. B. 775 (machinists excluded, ineligiblefor members h ip) ; Matter of Southport Petroleum Co. and Oil Workers Int. Union, Local No.227, 8 N. L. R. B. 792 (truck drivers excluded, ineligible for membership) : Matter of B. F.Sturtevant Co. and United Electrical and Radio Workers Local Industrial Union No. 248,8 N. L. R. B. 835 (pattern makers excluded, eli g ible for membership in other, craft, union) ,•Matter of Armour cf Co. and Packing House 'Workers Organ. Comm.. 8 N. L. R. B. 1100( garage mec'anics and helpers, and street cleaners excluded, eligible for membership Inot h er unions) : Matter of Inland Steel Co. and Steel Workers Organ. Comm., 9 N. L. R. B.783 (truck drivers and bricklayers excluded, eligible for membershi p in other, craft, unions)Matter of Illinois Knitting Co. and Federal Labor Union No. 21025, 11 N. L. R. B. 48(machine fixers excluded where petitioning union had acknowled ged jurisdiction of recognizedcraft union over them, which they were eligible to loin) ; Matter of Seotnerr PackingCo. and Antal. Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of N. Amer., Local No. Pe, 12 N. L. R. B.1098 (truck drivers excluded, eligible for membership in another labor organization) •,Matter of McAdoo Sportswear Co., Inc. and Int. Ladies' Garment Workers Union, 12N. L. R. B. 1199 (machinists excluded from unit of production employees in ladies' garmentindustry where machinists ineligible for membership in union and traditionally notorganized along with production employees in ladies' garment trades).