Peerless Woolen Mills was a subsidiary of Burlington Industries which maintained plants in Cleveland, Tennessee,[1] Rossville, Georgia, and Tifton, Georgia between 1951 - 1961. Burlington Industries closed the two Georgia production sites in 1961.[2]
History of business
editThe textile maker made a large addition to an existing mill in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1925. At this time the Tennessee city was the second largest producer of hosiery in the United States.[3]
Peerless Woolen Mills built a new manufacturing plant in Cleveland, Tennessee in 1955. Formerly it operated in buildings leased from Hardwick Woolen Mills, starting in 1951. A 250,000-square-foot (23,000 m2) plant, the new facility was engaged in preparing weaving and finishing operations. It opened in February 1956.[1]
The Rossville operation was liquidated and the Tifton plant was sold to the J.P. Stevens Textile Corporation.[2] In November 1961 a Federal judge ruled that Burlington Industries could close the Peerless Plant in Rossville without engaging in collective bargaining with a union there. He denied a National Labor Relations Board injunction. The NLRB had asked for the injunction when members of the Allied Industrial Workers contended the mill was being shut down to avoid collective bargaining.[4] In November 1961, the NLRB studied whether to appeal the judge's ruling because the company's union won the right to represent workers in August 1961, a month before the plant was closed down.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b Peerless Woolen Mills, Wall Street Journal, September 26, 1955, pg. 19.
- ^ a b Burlington Industries Will Keep Cleveland Tenn., Plant, Wall Street Journal, September 29, 1961, pg. 11.
- ^ Chattanooga, New York Times, October 4, 1925, pg. 28.
- ^ Judge Approves Closing Burlington's Wool Unit Without Bargaining, Wall Street Journal, November 20, 1961, pg. 3.
- ^ Leg-Up For Labor?, Wall Street Journal, November 28, 1961, pg. 1.