Armour and Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 4, 1946

65 N.L.R.B. 778 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of ARMOUR AND COMPANY and AMALGAMATED MEA'r
CUTTERS AND BUTCHER WORKMEN OF NORTH AMERICA (AFL)
Case No. 10-R-1636.Decided February 4, 1946
Mr. D. B. Horton, of Macon, Ga., for the Company.
Mr. I. P. Reagan, of Atlanta., Ga., for the Union.
Mr. Donald B. Brady, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Amalgamated Meat Cutters and
Butcher Workmen of North America (AFL), herein called the
Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen con-
cerning the representation of employees of Armour and Company,
Macon, Georgia, herein called the Company, the National Labor Re-
lations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before Dan M. Byrd, Jr., Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held
at Macon, Georgia, on November 23, 1945. The Company and the
Union appeared and participated. -All parties were offered full op-
portunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and
to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an 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
Armour and Company, an Illinois corporation, with its principal
office and place of business at Chicago, Illinois, operates a branch
house at Macon, Georgia, where it is engaged in the distribution of
meat, eggs, cheese, butter, and related products. During the past 6
months, the Company has received approximately 29 freight carloads
65 N. L. R. B., No. 131.
778
ARMOUR AND COMPANY 779
per month of such products, approximately 26 of which were received
from sources outside the State of Georgia. All of the products dis-
tributed by the Company are distributed within the State of Georgia.
We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the National Labor Relations Act.
11. TIIE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North
America, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor
organization admitting to membership employees of the Company.
111. T11E QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive representative of certain of its employees at its Macon branch
house until the Union has been certified by the Board in an appropriate
unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing,. indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of em-
ployees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.)
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
We find, in substantial accord with the agreement of the parties, that
all employees of the Company, at its Macon, Georgia, branch house,
excluding executives, office and clerical employees, inspectors, salesmen,
shipping clerks, and all supervisory employees with authority to hire,
promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise .effect changes in the status
of employees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. TIIE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec-
tion herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
1 The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 15 authorization cards and that
there were 40 employees in the alleged appropriate unit.
780 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power' vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act,
and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Armour and Com-
pany, Macon, 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 Article III, Sections
10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the
unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed
during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this
Direction, including employees who did not work during said pay-roll
period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off,
and including employees in the armed forces of the United States who
present themselves in person at the polls, but excluding those employees
who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been
rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented by Amalgamated Meat
Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America (AFL), for the
purposes of collective bargaining.