Douds v. KNITGOODS WORKERS'UNION, ETC., Civ. No. 17204.

• Decision Date: 19 February 1957
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 17204.
• Parties: Charles T. DOUDS, Regional Director of The Second Region of the National Labor Relations Board, for and on behalf of the National Labor Relations Board, Petitioner, v. KNITGOODS WORKERS' UNION LOCAL NO. 155, INTERNATIONAL LADIES' GARMENT WORKERS' UNION, AFL-CIO, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

148 F. Supp. 615

Charles T. DOUDS, Regional Director of The Second Region of the National Labor Relations Board, for and on behalf of the National Labor Relations Board, Petitioner, v. KNITGOODS WORKERS' UNION LOCAL NO. 155, INTERNATIONAL LADIES' GARMENT WORKERS' UNION, AFL-CIO, Respondent.

Civ. No. 17204.

United States District Court E. D. New York.

February 19, 1957.

Kenneth C. McGuiness, San Francisco, Cal., by Jacques Schurre, Washington, D. C., for petitioner.

Lieberman, Katz & Aronson, by Marshall L. Rosenberg, New York City, for respondent.

RAYFIEL, District Judge.

The petitioner, as a Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board, hereinafter referred to as the Board, filed a petition under Section 10(l) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 160(l) hereinafter referred to as the Act, for appropriate injunctive relief pending the Board's final determination of charges filed by Packard Knitwear, Inc., hereinafter referred to as Packard, alleging that the respondent had engaged and was then engaging in acts and conduct violative of Section 8(b) (4) (C) of the Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 158 (b) (4) (C).

The petition alleges, inter alia,

a. that the respondent is a labor organization within the meaning of Sections 2(5), 8(b) and 10(l) of the Act, 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 152(5), 158(b), 160(l);

b. that pursuant to the provisions of the Act, Packard filed charges with the Board on December 3, 1956, which were supplemented by amended charges filed on December 6, 1956 and December 17, 1956, alleging that the respondent had engaged and was then engaging in unfair labor practices, within the meaning of Section 8(b) (4) (C) of the Act; and

c. that the said charges and amended charges were referred to the petitioner, investigated by him or under his supervision, and as a result thereof he has reasonable cause to believe that the second amended charge is true and a complaint of the Board thereon should issue against the respondent.

A hearing was held on January 22, 1957, at which testimony was adduced and documentary and photographic evidence received. From the pleadings and the evidence, the facts, as I find them, are as follows: Packard was incorporated in February, 1956, and in March, 1956 rented a loft in the building known as No. 49 Wyckoff Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, in this District, where it established a plant for the manufacture of ladies' sweaters. During the month of March it hired several maintenance employees who were engaged in the preparation of the plant and machinery for production. In April the first production employees were hired, their number being increased as time went on.

During the first or second week in April Arthur M. Jacobson, an organizer for the respondent, accompanied by a Mr. Levinson, one of its business agents, called at the Packard plant and engaged in conversation with Benjamin Lippman, its president. They told him that they had learned that a knitgoods plant had been established at the premises and that they wanted to organize its employees. When Lippman informed them that Packard then had no employees in production they left.

Several days thereafter respondent's representatives began to picket the premises, first covering two entrances to the building, and later confining their activities to the main entrance. The number of pickets varied, there being two on some days and three on others. On the first day the signs carried by the pickets bore a legend to the effect that Packard Knitwear was on strike. Lippman complained to a police sergeant about the sign. Within a day or two thereafter the pickets were directed by a Mr. Nelson, manager of the respondent union, to discontinue the use of said signs, and they have since carried signs bearing the legend: "Workers of Packard Knitwear Inc. join Knitgoods Workers Union enjoy better working conditions. Knitgoods Workers Union Local 155 International Ladies' Garment Workers Union A. F. of L."

On or about October 10, 1956, some six months after the commencement of picketing, an election by secret ballot was conducted by the Board to determine the collective bargaining representative of the production and maintenance employees of Packard, and as a result thereof Novelty Knitwear Workers Union, Independent, hereinafter referred to as Novelty Workers, a labor organization within the meaning of the Act, received a majority of the votes cast. On October 18, 1956, the petitioner, on behalf of the Board, duly certified Novelty Workers as the exclusive bargaining representative of "All production and maintenance employees employed at the Brooklyn, New York plant of Packard, excluding office clericals, plant clericals, guards, watchmen and supervisory employees defined in the Act."

The record established that the sales of Packard for the year 1956 aggregated $285,000, of which $95,000 was shipped outside of the State of New York.

Save for a few minor incidents devoid of violence, threats or other improper conduct, the only testimony offered by petitioner respecting acts of respondent's representatives, aside...