Armour and Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 27, 1957

119 N.L.R.B. 623 (N.L.R.B. 1957)

ARMOUR AND COMPANY 623
[The Board revoked the certification issued on April 26, 1955, in
Case No.' 13-RC--4201, dismissed the petition filed in Case No. 13-RC-
5554 and ordered that revocation of the certification in Case No.
13-RC--4201 and dismissal of the petition in Case No. 13-RC-5554
be with prejudice to the filing of -a new petition by Local 311, Office
Employees International Union, AFL-CIO, or by Office Employees
International Union, AFL-CIO, for a period of 6 months from the
date of this Order, unless good cause is shown why the Board should
entertain a new petition filed prior to the expiration of such period.]
MEMBER Murt ooK took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Order.
Armour and Company and United Packinghouse Workers of
America, AFL-CIO, Petitioner . Case No. 18-RC-,3266. Novem-
ber 07,1957
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before William D. Boetticher,
hearing officer. 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 Act, the Board'
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member
panel [Chairman Leedom and Members Bean and Jenkins].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9,
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner, whose Local 73 represents the Employer's pro-
duction and maintenance employees, seeks to represent a unit of office
and clerical employees. In the alternative, it is willing to represent
the employees involved in any unit or units found appropriate by the
Board, but requests that, if any of them are found to be plant clericals,
such employees be added to the existing production and maintenance
unit. The Employer does not object to a unit of office clericals, but
contends that plant clericals should be represented separately from
both office clericals and production and maintenance employees. In
addition, it contends that a number of the employees whom the
119 NLRB No-
'624 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Petitioner would include are supervisors or professional, technical,
confidential, or managerial employees, and should be excluded.
The Employer, an Illinois corporation, is engaged in the meat-
packing business . At its plant at West Fargo, North Dakota, the
only plant involved in this proceeding, it has approximately 500
employees. There has been no history of bargaining for the employees
whom the Petitioner now seeks to represent.
The Petitioner would include in its proposed unit 43 employees,, all
of whom are weekly paid and receive similar benefits, which are
different from those of the hourly paid employees in the existing
production and maintenance unit. The Employer agrees to the inclu-
sion of 24 of these employees,' but would exclude 19. The disputed
categories include the storeroom clerk, plant clerk, 2 industrial engi-
neering checkers, assistant in the chemical laboratory, time-study
engineer, assistant employment manager, manager of the stock and
test control department, livestock cashier, internal auditor, construc-
tion and repair accountant, 4 carcass graders, assistant manager of the
lamb and veal division, assistant manager of the beef division, head
of the sausage department, and head of the provision department.
Plant Clericals
The Employer contends that the storeroom clerk, plant clerk, and
industrial engineering checkers are plant clericals and should not be
included in the same unit with office clericals. The storeroom clerk
is responsible for maintaining stocks of clothing, tools, equipment,
and supplies for use in the plant. He keeps an inventory of the stock
on hand and orders replacements when needed. He works in the plant
area, under the supervision of the master mechanic, and has little con-
tact with the employees in the office. The plant clerk performs clerical
services for three different foremen. He works in the plant and seldom
has occasion to go to the office. The two industrial engineering
checkers work under the supervision of the industrial engineer. They
spend most of their time checking production in the plant, but have
1 Thus, the parties have agreed on the inclusion of the switchboard operator , teletype
operator , clerk , messenger , and comptometer operator in the order , shipping , and billing
department , 2 departmental accountants , clerk in the accounting department, calculating
machine operator in the departmental accounting division , stenographer , clerk in the indus-
trial engineering department, 2 clerks in the timekeeping department , clerk for the pay-
master , clerk for the livestock cashier, secretary clerk in the livestock cashier department,
4 clerical employees in the test department , paymaster , assistant manager of order,
shipping and billing , auditor of disbursements , and an employee in the transportation
department.
The parties also agreed on the exclusion of all production and maintenance employees,
buyers , salesmen , the general manager , assistant general manager , secretary to the
general manager , plant superintendent , assistant plant superintendent , secretary to the
plant superintendent , office manager, head of the industrial relations and industrial
engineering department , purchasing manager, employment manager, timekeeping manager,
manager of the order , shipping and billing department , plant nurse , chief chemist, cashier,
and head of the transportation department.
ARMOUR AND COMPANY 625
desks in the main office where they compile their figures and calculate
incentive earnings of the production and maintenance employees.
They spend less than an hour a day in the office.
These four employees are paid on the same basis as the clerical
employees in the main office, and receive similar benefits. However,
as they perform all or substantially all of their duties in' the plant,
and are under supervisors who are responsible to the plant superin-
tendent rather than the office manager, we find, as the Employer con-
tends, that they are plant clericals. In view of the Employer's ob-
jection to their inclusion in the same unit with the office clericals, we
shall, in accordance with the Board's usual practice, exclude them
from the office clerical unit which we find to be appropriate.' Plant
clericals, however, are customarily included in the same unit with pro-
duction and maintenance employees 3 and the Petitioner is willing to
add them to the existing production and maintenance unit in this case.
We shall, therefore, afford these employees an opportunity in a self-
determination election to express their views as to whether or not they
desire to be added to that unit.4
Technical Employees
The Employer contends that the assistant in the chemical laboratory
and the time-study engineer are professional, technical, or managerial
employees, and that the former is also a supervisor. It would, there-
fore, exclude them from any bargaining unit.
The assistant in the chemical laboratory performs chemical analysis
work necessary for the operation of the plant. He works under the
immediate supervision of the chief chemist and the overall super-
vision of the plant superintendent, and has practically no occasion to
go to the office. His duties include making humidity, temperature,
and mold tests, sampling and testing the Employer's products to
ascertain whether they meet specifications, testing the livestock feed
purchased by the Employer, testing the plant water supply, and
making adjustments in the purification system. Within the scope of
his work, he can recommend changes in plant procedures. His work
.is highly specialized, and many of the tests are complicated and re-
quire the exercise of independent judgment on his part. While some
of the procedures followed are determined in the Employer's Chicago
laboratory, others are unique to the local plant. In conjunction with
the chief chemist, he directs the work of a technical assistant who
performs analyses of a routine nature; and he has authority to recom-
mend disciplinary action with respect to her. Although the present
2 Fairbanks, Morse & Company, 117 NLRB 1449.
a Reeves Instrument Corporation, 117 NLRB 21.
4 Fairbanks, Morse & Company, supra.
476321-58-vol. 119--41
626 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
assistant in the laboratory has had no academic training in chemistry
beyond the high school level, he has had on-the-job training by grad-
uate chemists in chemical procedures and analysis.
The time-study engineer works under the direction of, and acts as
assistant to, the industrial engineer, who is under the plant super-
intendent. He is responsible for the determination of time and motion
studies for the purposes of arriving at standards of production or,
work, is expected to perform such tests on labor productivity as may
be necessary to determine labor costs for producing or varying the
production of certain items, and performs such other tests as may be
required of him. He is also expected to advise management of pos-
sible laborsaving ideas to arrive at stipulated costs of installation of
equipment to effect such savings. His work involves a knowledge of
the actual operation involved and consideration of numerous other
factors which vary from job to job.
In order to become a time-study engineer, some aptitudefor,math-
ematics is necessary; college training is helpful but is not required:
Ordinarily, an employee is chosen for the job because of previous
plant experience, and is developed through the ranks of the industrial
engineering department. With such experience, it takes approxi-
mately 6 months' training to become a competent time-study man;
a new employee would take longer because of his lack of familiarity
with the plant operations.
The present time-study engineer has had no college education,
but is a high school graduate, has worked for the Employer for 6
years, and has had on-the-job training under 2 different industrial
engineers. He was employed first as an industrial engineering clerk
and later as a cost clerk. He began studying to be a time-study
plan while so employed, and became time-study engineer in October
1.956. At the present time the Employer considers that he has com-
plete familiarity with all the phases of tune-study work, and is
equipped to conduct any such studies that are necessary. He is the
only tune-study engineer at the plant, and the only person, with the
exception of the industrial engineer, who can set a. basis for incentive
pay.
Although neither the assistant in the chemical laboratory nor the
time-study engineer appears to be a professional employee within
the statutory definition of that term, they are clearly technical em-
ployees. Ordinarily the Board does not include technical employees
it, the same unit with either clerical employees 5 or production and
maintenance employees 6 when any party objects to such inclusion.
Accordingly, we shall exclude these two employees from both the
office clerical unit, and the plant clerical voting group. We thereforek7l
5 Plankin ton. Packing Co., 116 NLRB 1225.
0 Reeves l».strument Corporation, supra.
ARMOUR AND COMPANY 627
find it•uniieeessary to decide whether either or both of them are also
managerial employees or whether the assistant in the chemical lab-
oratory is a supervisor.
Alleged Supervisors or Managerial Employees
Finally; the Employer contends that the individuals discussed be-
low .are, either supervisors or managerial employees, and should be
excluded from any iriut.
The assistant employment manager is under the supervision of the
plant superintendent. He spends part of each clay in the employment
office where he assists in the hiring of employees for the production
unit. He also takes the place of the employment manager when the
latter is on vacation. In addition, he has full charge of the opera-
tion of the plant cafeteria in which 5 to 10 persons are employed.
He has; authority to hire and discharge these employees, handles their
grievi aces at the first step of the union-grievance procedure, and
assists the plant superintendent in handling them at the second step.
He spends approximately 40 to 50 percent of his time dealing with
cafeteria matters. He also acts as executive clerk to the plant super-
intendent. In this capacity he investigates claims involving shipping
errors, makes recommendations regarding such claims, and supplies
the plant superintendent with information concerning personnel and-
industrial relations matters.
In view of his. authority to hire and discharge the cafeteria em-
ployees, Ave agree with the Employer that the assistant employment
manager is a supervisor within the meaning of the Act. As such,
he is excluded from the unit. We therefore find it unnecessary to
decide whether, as the Employer contends, he is also a managerial
and confidential employee.
The manager of the stock and test control department is under the
supervision of the office manager. He is responsible for determining
the dressed cost of the Employer's products and for auditing live-
stock purchases from all points under the accounting control of the
West Fargo plant. If his audit discloses that an overpayment has
been made, it is his duty to call the matter to the attention of the
person who made the payment with instructions to try to collect. In
such cases, he would also report the matter to the office manager,
and could recommend disciplinary action with respect to the employee
involved.
The number of employees in the department varies from 4 to 6 de-
pending on the volume of incoming livestock. At the present time
there are 2 test clerks who determine dressed costs and 2 general
comptometer operators who do auditing. The department manager
assigns and directs the work of these employees, and at times transfers
628 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
them from one job to another within the department. On at least
one occasion he has recommended a decrease in the number of em-
ployees in the department because of lack of work, and as a result
,of his recommendation an employee was transferred to another de-
partment. He has no authority to hire or discharge employees, but
,can recommend such action. He also has authority to recommend
:action on such matters as grievances, increases in pay, discipline,
land increasing the number of employees.' He is consulted by the
office manager as to the work of employees under his supervision, and
on one occasion a new employee was released on his recommendation.
We find, as the Employer contends, that the manager of the stock
and test control department is a supervisor. He is therefore excluded
from the unit.
The livestock cashier is head of one of the office departments. This
department handles the payment and audit of livestock purchases at
the Employer's local yard and the public yards in West Fargo and the
payment for all hay and feeds purchased from farmers for livestock
feeding. It is under the overall supervision of the office manager and
his assistant, but is located on a different floor from the other office
departments.
At the present time there are two employees in the department in
addition to the cashier. These employees go over the scale tickets
from commission firms and the public yards, extend the tickets, and
write voucher drafts. Their work is essentially the same from day
to day, and is basically the same as that of the cashier. However, he
has some additional duties, and his pay is approximately $15 a week
more than theirs. If errors in the tickets are found, the cashier gets
in touch with the people at the yards. He also supervises the balanc-
ing of total expenditures at the end of the day. If the figures do not
balance, it is his duty to conduct an investigation to locate the error.
If he or his clerks should find evidence of collusion between the Em-
ployer's employees and livestock sellers, he would bring the matter
to the attention of the office manager, and the latter would ask for
his recommendations.
He assigns work to the other two employees and regulates their
hours. According to the office manager, he also has authority to
'recommend the hiring, transfer, and disciplining of employees, but
there is nothing in the record to show that he has actually exercised,
or has ever been informed that he has, such authority. The office
manager testified, however, that it is inherent in the position. It does
appear that on one occasion in 1956 he recommended that additional
"There is little evidence in the record as to his actual exercise of such authority, ands
the office manager, the only witness on this point, admitted that he had never informed
him that lie has this authority and does' not know whether anyone else has done so. He
testified, however, that the authority is implied in the position.
ARMOUR AND COMPANY 629
personnel be hired, and as a result of his recommendation an employee
whom he suggested was temporarily transferred to his department,
and that he has also asked for additional help during vacations or
the absence of employees for other reasons, or because of an increase
in the workload.
The Employer would exclude the livestock cashier as a supervisor
and a managerial employee. We find that he is a supervisor and
exclude him.
The construction and repair accountant is under the supervision of
the office manager and the assistant office manager, but has his office
in the plant restaurant building with the master mechanic and pur-
chasing agent. There is no evidence that he has any employees under
his supervision. He is responsible for keeping records for income
tax purposes of all construction and repairs at the plant, decides
whether the jobs are chargeable as expense or capital items, is cus-
todian of the summary of all plant property, and is responsible for
keeping this record up to date and notifying the Employer's property
accounting department in Chicago of any retirements or changes. In
classifying expenditures, he follows general accounting instructions
set up by the Chicago office, and clears with it all items of over $1,000;
small items are reported periodically. In determining whether prop-
erty has been retired, he relies on information furnished by the master
mechanic. According to the office manager, his duties call for the
exercise of independent judgment, and if a revenue agent should
visit the plant to discuss the tax setup insofar as expenditures or
maintenance or repair costs are concerned, it would be necessary to
have him present at the discussion.
The Employer contends that the construction and repair accountant,
although not a supervisor, should be excluded from the unit as a
managerial employee. In our opinion, however, his duties are clerical.
rather than managerial. We shall therefore include him.
The internal auditor spends 40 to 50 percent of his time auditing
plant records to determine whether there has been any loss to the
company through collusion, mechanical error, neglect, or carelessness.
The rest of the time he functions as a departmental accountant.
As auditor, he is under the direct supervision of the office manager
and makes written reports to him. He audits all departments of the
plant once a year, using his own discretion as to when an audit should
be made and the manner in which it should be performed. There is
no other employee at the plant doing this work. He is also interested
in plant procedures and practices, and has authority to recommend
procedural changes. If, in investigating a shortage, he should find
evidence of collusion between employees or between an employee and
an outsider, he could recommend disciplinary action against the
630 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
employee, and such recommendation, according to the office manager,
would be given serious consideration. There is no evidence that he
has ever found such collusion. It appears, however, that on one
occasion when there had been a loss of pelts in the hide cellar, a new
stock-keeping procedure was established as a result of his investigation
and recommendations. On another occasion, in auditing the beef
boning room, he found that the procedure and forms they were using
were unsatisfactory, and recommended that the foreman in the depart-
ment be relieved of some clerical work. As a result, new forms, which
he drew up, were adopted, and the present plant clerk was given
full-time clerical duties in the department.
In connection with his audits, he utilizes the services of the plant
clerk and has authority to direct him to furnish information from the
department records. If he should fuid that the plant clerk was
operating inefficiently or was not providing the desired information,
he could recommend disciplinary action.
When serving as a departmental accountant, he has charge of pro-
duction and control ledgers. He is regarded as assistant manager of
departmental accounting, takes the place of the assistant office man-
ager, who is manager of the department, when he is away from the
plant, and has been notified that he is training for the position of
assistant office manager. Except during the infrequent absences of
the assistant office manager, however, he has no supervision over other
employees in the department.
The Employer does not contend that the internal auditor is a
supervisor, but would exclude him as a managerial employee. On the
evidence as a whole, however, we do not believe that his functions are
so closely connected with management as to warrant his exclusion on
that ground." We shall therefore include him in the office clerical
emit.
The four carcass graders work under the supervision of the
assistant to the general manager, who is also manager of the beef,
lamb and veal division. Two of them, called hot carcass graders,
check all beef, lamb, and veal for quality or grade immediately after
slaughter, scale the beef, and attach tags to the carcasses giving the
lot number, grade, and weight. They also make up grading sheets
on each lot of beef for the use of the test department and shipper, and
keep track of the condemnation of animals, noting the reason for
condemnation on the grading sheet. All their work is done in the
plant.
The other two graders, called cold carcass graders, regrade the
beef, lamb, and veal in the cooler on the day after slaughter, checking
the grading done by the hot graders and making whatever changes are
8 Ethyl Corporation, 118 NLRB 1369.
ARMOUR AND COMPANY 631
necessary. They must determine whether a carcass is bruised to the
extent that it has to be discounted and the amount of the discount.
They also do the final or dock grading of beef as it is shipped out.
One of these graders works almost exclusively in the beef department,
and assists the head of that department with direct service orders.
He spends 85 to 90 percent of his time in the plant and the rest in
the office, where he lines up tags for the orders and writes out a
sequence list for the loading dock man. The other cold carcass grader
spends all his time in the plant.
The work of the graders calls for the exercise of judgment, and is
important because the grades determine the sales price of the product.
All grading, however, is done in accordance with standards formulated
by the company.
We find, contrary to the contention of the Employer, that the
carcass graders are not managerial employees. However, as they work
almost entirely in the plant, and apparently have little community
of interest with the office employees, we shall exclude them from the
office clerical unit and include them in the plant clerical voting
group.
The assistant manager of the lamb and veal department works
under the immediate supervision of the assistant to the general
manager. He is in charge of the movement of all lambs, calves, and
their byproducts. He handles the shipment of all orders for these
products, supervises the grading of the lambs and calves in the coolers,
and informs the buyers of the type of stock needed to fill orders.
With the help of one of the graders, he tags special orders, and he is
in daily contact with the Employer's branches. Within certain limits,
he is empowered to negotiate prices for surplus or distress merchan-
dise. He handles certain reports of a routine nature that go to the
Employer's Chicago office. He works with the transportation and
distribution department in lining up truck shipments, and arranges
for car set meetings, giving the loading schedule to the loading dock
personnel.
His supervision of the grading operation consists in checking the
work of one of the cold graders,' to see that it conforms with specifi-
cations as outlined by the Employer, and working with the United
States Government grader stationed at West Fargo to see that orders
for Government graded products are graded within Government
specifications and that the Employer gets the full scope of the grade
involved. He checks daily to see that the grading is properly done,
and has authority to change the grades if necessary. If he needs help
in the cooler he can ask the grader to help him. He has no authority
9 The assistant manager of the beef department , discussed below, supervises the beef
grading done by this same grader.
632 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
to discipline this grader , but he could effectively recommend such
action. He also has authority to correct the hot graders if they are
grading improperly . When he was made assistant manager, he was
specifically told that he was to take active supervision of the grading
of lambs and veal and that if anything went wrong he was to handle
it unless a policy matter was involved.
The assistant manager of the beef department has substantially
the same duties and responsibilities as the assistant manager of the
lamb and veal department , and the same authority over the graders.
:En addition , he determines the gang speed on the boning operation
on a week-to-week basis , and each afternoon he lines up the kill for
the beef department for the following day. He also keeps the foreman
informed of the type of product to be produced out of the boning
operation . Both the assistant manager of the lamb and veal depart-
ment and the assistant manager of the beef department attend daily
meetings of department heads and buyers with the general manager:
and his assistant.
The head of the sausage department and the head of the provision
department are the only persons in these departments. They have
their desks in the main office and report directly to the general man-
ager. They attend the meetings of the department heads.
It is the basic duty of the head of the sausage department to move
the production of sausage . He arranges manufacturing schedules for-
the sausage factory, takes orders from the Employer 's branch houses,
arranges for shipments , and determines whether the product is going
to be available on time. He is authorized to set his own prices, but
generally follows the schedule of the St. Paul plant which services the
same local branches . He spends an hour or two a day in the sausage-
factory examining the product and counseling with the factory fore-
man concerning the availability of raw materials and supplies. He
is responsible for seeing that the meat which goes into the sausage is
available at all times. He sets up the manufacturing formulas within
standards set by the Company, and can recommend new products.
He spends part of his time working with the sales personnel , and he.
investigates complaints from stores and branch houses, checking the
product himself and, if anything is wrong, taking it back to the plant
for examination . He has authority to bid on certain Government
contracts . The bids, however , are submitted through the Employer's.
Chicago office.
The head of the provision department is responsible for the move-
ment of all pork products and allied items, such as lard, mill feeds,.
and dried blood. Except for the fact that he has nothing to do with.
grading, which in the case of pork is done in the operating depart-
ment, his duties are basically the same as those of the assistant.
ARMOUR AND COMPANY 633
manager of the lamb and veal department and the assistant manager
of the beef department. However, he also negotiates prices on meat
scraps and dried blood. In setting these prices he is guided by the
general market price but is not bound by it.
The Employer contends that the assistant manager of the lamb
and veal department and the assistant manager of the beef depart-
ment are supervisors and managerial employees, and that the heads
of'the sausage and provision departments, although not supervisors,
are also managerial employees. We find that these four individuals
,are managerial employees. We shall therefore exclude them from
the unit.
We find that the following employees constitute a unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of
.Section 9 (b) of the Act:
All office clerical employees of the Employer at its plant at West
Fargo, North Dakota, including internal auditor, and construction
.and repair accountant, but excluding the storeroom clerk, plant clerk,
industrial engineering checkers, assistant in the chemical laboratory,
time-study engineer, assistant employment manager, manager of the
stock and test control department, livestock cashier, carcass graders,
assistant manager of the lamb and veal division, assistant manager of
the beef department, head of the sausage department, head of the
provision department, all production and maintenance employees,
buyers, salesmen, the general manager, assistant general manager,
:secretary to the general manager, plant superintendent, assistant
plant superintendent, secretary to the plant superintendent, office
manager, assistant office manager, head of the industrial relations and
industrial engineering department, purchasing manager, en7ploy-
ment manager, timekeeping manager, manager of the order, shipping,
.and billing department, plant nurse, chief chemist, cashier, head of
the transportation department, and all other supervisors as defined
in the Act.
We shall also direct an election in the following voting group
which we find may appropriately be added to the existing production
.and maintenance unit at the Employer's West Fargo, North Dakota,
plant: the storeroom clerk, plant clerk, industrial engineering
checkers, and carcass graders, excluding supervisors as defined in
the Act. If a majority of the employees in this voting group vote
for the Petitioner, they will be deemed included in the production
.and maintenance unit currently represented by the Petitioner, and
the Regional Director shall issue a certification of results of election
-to that effect.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.]