Armour and Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 29, 1948

79 N.L.R.B. 1138 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of ARMOUR AND COMPANY, EMPLOYER and, PRODUCE,
GROCERY & MEAT WAREHOUSEMEN, DRIVERS AND EMPLOYEES LOCAL
UNION #233, AFFILIATED WITH I. B. T. C. W., & H. OF AMERICA,
A. F. L., PETITIONER
Case No. 35-RC-89.-Decided September °R9,1948
DECISION
AND
ORDER'
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in interstate commerce within the
meaning of fthe National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Petitioner and United Packinghouse Workers of America,
C. I. 0., herein called the Intervenor, are labor organizations claim-
ing to represent employees of the Employer.
3. The alleged appropriate unit :
The Petitioner has requested severance from the plant-wide unit
of all the country and city truck drivers at the Employer's Indian-
apolis, Indiana, plant, excluding all production and maintenance
employees, clerical employees, plant guards, and supervisors. The
Intervenor, which has represented the Employer's production and
maintenance employees, including the truck drivers,, 'since its cer-
tification by the Board in 1938, claims that only the plant-wide unit
is appropriate in view of (a) the history of collective bargaining, and
(b) the integration of the city truck drivers and the shipping room
employees. The Employer takes no position on the unit issue.
The city truck drivers make deliveries of meat from the Employer's
plant exclusively within the city of Indianapolis. They form part
* Houston, Murdock , and Gray.
79 N. L. R. B., No. 153.
1138
ARMOUR AND COMPANY 1139
of the shipping room personnel, work under the supervision of the
shipping room foreman, are promoted to their jobs as city truck driv-
ers from other jobs in the shipping room according to seniority, and,
in case of a lay-off, may "bump" other shipping room employees with
less seniority,. -
The country truck drivers, on the other hand, who deliver meat
throughout nearby areas in the State of Indiana, and occasionally as
far as Illinois, constitute a separate department, work under a separate
supervisor, and acquire separate departmental seniority. They are
guaranteed a 48-hour week, whereas the city truck drivers are guaran-
teed a 40-hour week, and the other shipping room employees are
guaranteed a 36-hour week. The city and country truck drivers are
paid the same hourly rate, while the other shipping room employees
are paid 20 cents less.
In view of the bargaining history, of the close integration between
the city truck drivers and the other shipping room employees, and of
the differences in wages and working conditions between the country
Iand*city truck drivers, we find the unit requested by the Petitioner
.inappropriate.'
As the Petitioner indicated at the hearing that it was not interested
in representing either the city or country truck drivers separately, we
shall not consider the question whether either group alone would
constitute an appropriate unit. Accordingly we shall dismiss the
petition herein.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition herein be, and it hereby is,
dismissed.
' Matter of Jacob Schmidt Brewing Co., 57 N. L. R. B. 548 ; Matter of Standard Oil
Company, 67 N. L. R. B. 132.