Armour & Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 21, 1944

58 N.L.R.B. 1270 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of ARMOUR & COMPANY, BRANCH HOUSE and UNITED
PACKINGHOUSE WORKERS OF AMERICA (CIO)
Case No. 5-R-1674.-Decided October 21, 1944
Mr. R. J. Hurt, of Charlotte, N. C., for the Company.
Mr. G. R. Hathaway, of Atlanta, Ga., for the Union.
Mr. Robert Silagi, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by United Packinghouse Workers of
America, (CIO), herein called the Union, alleging that a question af-
fecting commerce had . arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Armour & Company, Branch House, Wilson, North Caro-
lina, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board
provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before George L.
Weasler, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Wilson, North
Carolina, on October 2, 1944. The Company and the Union appeared
and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity 'to be
heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evi-
dence 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 & Company, an Illinois corporation, owns and operates
approximately 300 branch houses throughout the United States. This
proceeding is concerned solely with the branch house located in Wilson,
North Carolina. At the Wilson branch house the Company manu-
factures sausages and boiled hams using the skeletal meat of beef and
pork and beef and pork products as raw materials. During the year
58 N. L . R. B., No. 231.
1270
ARMOUR & COMPANY 1271
immediately preceding the hearing the Company purchased raw ma-
terials valued in excess of $50,000, 90 percent of which was procured
from sources outside the State of North Carolina. During the same
period the finished products of the Company exceeded $75,000 in value
and all was sold within the State of North Carolina.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Packinghouse Workers of America, affiliated with the Con-
gress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to
membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of its employees 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 accord with the stipulation of the parties, that all pro-
duction and maintenance employees of the Company including truck
drivers, but excluding engineers, assistant engineers , clerical em-
ployees, salesmen, shipping clerks, assistant shipping clerks, foremen,
assistant foremen, and any other supervisory employees with authority
to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in
the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, consti-
tute 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 among the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-
The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 59 authorization cards all of
which were dated in the month of August 1944. There are approximately 90 employees
within the unit petitioned for The cards were not checked against a pay roll since the
Company declined to provide one until the time of the formal hearing.
1272 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction 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 Rela-
tions 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 & Com-
pany, Branch House, Wilson, North Carolina, 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 Fifth Region, acting in
this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and sub-
ject 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 the said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca-
tion 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 dis-
charged 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 repre-
sented by United Packinghouse Workers of America (CIO) for the
purposes of collective bargaining.