Peerless Woolen Mills was a subsidiary of

Burlington Industries Burlington Industries, formerly Burlington Mills, is a diversified American fabric maker based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Founded by J. Spencer Love in Burlington, North Carolina in 1923, the company has operations in the United States, Mexico ...

which maintained plants in

Cleveland, Tennessee Cleveland is the county seat of and largest city in Bradley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 47,356 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Cleveland metropolitan area, Tennessee (consisting of Bradley and neigh ...

Rossville, Georgia Rossville is a city in Walker County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,980 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. History A post office has been in operation at Rossville since ...

, and Tifton, Georgia between 1951 ''-'' 1961. Burlington Industries closed the two Georgia production sites in 1961.

History of business

The textile maker made a large addition to an existing mill in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

in 1925. At this time the Tennessee city was the second largest producer of hosiery in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. 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 plant, the new facility was engaged in preparing weaving and finishing operations. It opened in February 1956.''Peerless Woolen Mills'',

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

, September 26, 1955, pg. 19. The Rossville operation was liquidated and the Tifton plant was sold to the J.P. Stevens Textile Corporation.''Burlington Industries Will Keep Cleveland Tenn., Plant'', Wall Street Journal, September 29, 1961, pg. 11. In November 1961 a

Federal judge Federal judges are judges appointed by a federal level of government as opposed to the state/provincial/local level. United States A US federal judge is appointed by the US President and confirmed by the US Senate in accordance with Article 3 of ...

ruled that Burlington Industries could close the Peerless Plant in Rossville without engaging in

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The i ...

with a union there. He denied a

National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Natio ...

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. 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.''Leg-Up For Labor?'', Wall Street Journal, November 28, 1961, pg. 1.

References

Defunct manufacturing companies based in Tennessee Defunct manufacturing companies based in Georgia (U.S. state) Defunct manufacturing companies based in North Carolina 1961 in United States case law Defunct textile companies of the United States {{manufacturing-company-stub