Armour & Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 31, 1944

56 N.L.R.B. 1120 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter Of MEMPHIS PACKING COMPANY (DIVISION OF ARMOUR
& Co.) and AMALGAMATED MEAT CUTTERS AND BUTCHER WORKMEN
OF NORTH AMERICA , A. F. L.
Case No. 15-R-1128.-Decided May 31, 191,,4
Mr. J. C. Moore, of Chicago, Ill., and Mr. J. T. McArdle, of Mem-
phis, Tenn., for the Company.
Mr. Herman A. Gerig, of Memphis, Tenn., for the A. F. of L.
Mr. G. D. Guest and, Mr. G. E. Boone, of Memphis ,. Tenn ., for the
C. I. O.
Mrs. Augusta Spaulding, 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 Wgrkmen of North America; affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, herein called' the A. F. of L., alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of Memphis Packing Company, Memphis, Tennessee,
herein called the Company,, the National Labor Relations Board pro-
vided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Lawrence
H. Whitlow, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Memphis,
Tennessee, on May 9, 1944. The Company, the A. F., of L., and
Uhited Packinghouse Workers of • America, affiliated with the Con-
gress of Industrial Organizations, herein called the C. I. 0., ap-
peared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity 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 her 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:
56 N. L. •R. B. No. 195.
1120
f
MEMPHIS ' PACKING COMPANY
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Memphis Packing Company, a division of Armour and Company,
operates a, plant at ., Memphis;'- .Tennessee, where it 'slaughters and
processes cattle and hogs. Approximately 70 percent of the livestock
and products shipped into the plant comes from points outside Ten- -
nessee. Approximately 65 percent of the products shipped from the
plant is consigned to points outside Tennessee. Approximately 1,000,-
000 pounds of all such products are shipped into and from the
,plant each week. The, value of products processed at the plant ex-
ceeds $100,000 per year.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce, within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II.,THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen- of North Amer-
ica is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation
,of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company.
United Packinghouse Workers of America is a labor organization
affiliated with the -Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company, upon request, refused to grant recognition to the
A. F. of L. as the exclusive bargaining representative of its employees
until the A. F. of L. 'should be certified as such by the Board.
A statement of a Field Examiner, introduced into evidence 'at the
'hearing, indicate that the A. F. of,L.,represents a substantial number
of employees 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 o
The parties agree that production and maintenance employees at
the Company's plant should be included in the plant unit and that
'The Field Examiner reported that the A . F. of L . submitted 181 cards , 105 of which
bore apparently genuine original signatures of employees on a current pay roll . The cards
were dated in March and April 1944.'
The C. I. O. submitted 93 cards, 48 of which bore apparently genuine original signatures
of employees on a current pay roll. The cards were dated in March and April 1944.
There are approximately 355 employees in the appropriate unit.
1122 DECISIONS OF. NATIONAL: LABORRELATIONS BOARD
buyers, guards, matrons,.clerical employees in the main office and' in
the superintendent's office, superintendents, foremen, and , assistant
foremen be' excluded therefrom. " The parties `disagree with respect
to shift and relief engineers, truck drivers,.garage men , drivers, scalers,
checkers, .and plant clerks. The A. F. of" L. and- , the-C. I. O. would
include•employees within these classifications, and the Company would
exclude them. -
Engineers : The Company employs four, engineers, three of whom
are classified as shift engineers and one as a relief engineer.' These
four employees are licensed by public authority and are responsible
to the master mechanic at the plant. During their respective shifts,
of duty they are in direct charge of the Company's powerhouse and
boiler room. Under their supervision and charge are firemen, coal
passers," and temperature men. Engineers are on a weekly salary;
men working under them are hourly ,paid.. ,Engineers pass upon the
satisfactory character of work performed by employees on their shifts.
When additional men are needed in their department, they, issue req-
-uisitions to the-employment office , just as do foremen and assistant
foremen in production departments. `Engineers effectively recom-
mend to the ' master mechanic the discharge . of employees working,
under them. Since engineers are clearly supervisory employees within
our, definition of'the term, we shall exclude them from the bargaining
unit.
Truck drivers: The Company employs 24-truck drivers, 6 of whom
are classed as country truck drivers, and 18 as city - or,' local truck
drivers. Country truck drivers are subject to interstate commerce
,regulations, and they. are. sometimes absent-from the plant for a 2-day,
period. The Company would exclude country drivers for this rea-
son, and, since there is some interchange among country and city
drivers, would exclude ' all drivers from the bargaining unit. All
truck drivers are subject- to the same over-all plant supervision
and we see no reason to differentiate among-them for unit'purposes.
Bargaining units for employees at other plants of Armour and Com-
pany have been established, some of which include, and others ex-
clude, truck drivers. Since ;both" the labor 'organizations seeking to
represent the Company's employees have included truck, drivers in
their organizational program, we see no reason at this, time to ex-
elude them; from the bargaining unit. We shall include truck drivers
-with other production and maintenance 'employees at the plant.
Garage men: Employees in the garage include two working fore-
men and their` crews, each consisting of two. garage mechanics and
a greasing man or helper. All these employees are hourly paid.
Each working foreman lays out' the work for his crew 'and, spends
approximately 80 percent of the day working with them.. The mas-
ter mechanic, who the` parties agree is' to be excluded from the unit
MEMPHIS PACKING COMPANY 1123
as • a supervisory employee, is in charge of the garage . Since, so far
as the record discloses, the•working foremen are skilled maintenance
employees with helpers and are not supervisory employees within
our definition of the term, we shall include, all garage men in the,,
bargaining unit.2,
Livestock "drovers: The Company employs four drivers who are"
responsible for weighing the,livestock and bringing it from the live-
stock pens to the knocking pens at the production floor of the plant.
These drivers are not under the supervision of the plant superin-
tendent, but under that of the Company's buyers who work out of
the Chicago office. They are listed on the Company's plant pay roll,
but their services, for accounting purposes, are not charged against
the operating expenses of the plant. They punch the clock as do
other plant employees. Since their work is directly concerned with
production work performed at the plant, and similar employees at
other associated plants have been included in other plant units, we
shall include livestock drivers in the unit with plant production
employees.
Scalers, checkers, and clerks: The Company, employs nine clerical
employees in its several production departments who are classified
as scalers , checkers, and clerks. These employees engage in no man-
ual work. They record production yields in the' respective depart-
ments and check the products placed in the Company's trucks or
cars. Scalers weigh animals on the killing floor after slaughter is
completed and before the, carcasses are cooled. For accounting pur-
poses, they weigh all products that come' into the sausage department.
Some scalers weigh orders that go from the plant. The majority of
these clerical employees work in the shipping department, where
they have an office partitioned off, from the rest of the workers in
the department. They are not, however, restricted to work in this
office. Since both the labor organizations involved desire the inclu-
sion of these plant clerical workers, and they have been included
in other production' units at similar plants of Armour and Company,
'we shall include them in the bargaining unit of the Company's plant,
employees.
We find that all production and maintenance employees at the
Company's plant, including truck drivers, garage men, livestock
drivers, checkers, • scalers, and plant clerks, but excluding buyers,
guards, matrons, clerical employees in the main office and in the
"superintendent's office, shift and relief engineers, superintendents,
'One maintenance man includes fire prevention inspection with his regular duties and
receives additional compensation for this work . The record is not entirely clear whether
this maintenance employee is a garage mechanic or a plant maintenance employee. We see
no reason to exclude from the unit this individual who spends approximately 70 percent
of his working time as a mechanic and we shall deem him included either as a plant main-
tenance employee or as a garage man within the bargaining unit.
1124 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
foremen, assistant- foremen, and all other 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 meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V.' THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot. Since the C. I.O.
is engaged in organizing the Company's employees and desires to par-
ticipate in the election, we shall provide that the A. F. of L. and the
C. I. O. appear upon the ballot. Those eligible to vote in the election
,shall be all employees in' the appropriate unit who were employed
during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Di-
rection of Election herein, subject to the'limitations and additions set
forth in the Direction.-
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, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Memphis Packing
.Company, Memphis, Tennessee,- 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 Fifteenth 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 em-
ployees 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 em-
ployees 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 they desire to be represented by Amalgamated Meat Cutters
and Butcher Workmen of North America, affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, or by United Packinghouse Workers of America,
affiliated with the Congress of Industrial-Organizations, for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining, or by neither.