Armour Creameries

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 27, 1945

63 N.L.R.B. 1214 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of ARMOUR & COMPANY, D/B/a ARMOUR CREAMERIES, and
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WARE-
HOUSEMEN AND HELPERS, TRUCK DRIVERS UNION, LOCAL #446
Case No. 18-R-1272.-Decided September 27,1945
Mr. J. W. Post, of Chicago, Ill., and Mr. R. W. Nisbet, of Marshfield,
Wis., for the Company.
Mr. Walter Baumann, of Wausau, Wis., and Mr. Leon J. DeBroux,
of Port Washington, Wis., for the Union.
Mr. Joseph D. Handers, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Brotherhood of Team-
sters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers, Truck Drivers Union,
Local #446, herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Armour & Company, d/b/a Armour Creameries, Marshfield, Wiscon-
sin, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board
provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Clarence
A. Meter, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Marshfield,
Wisconsin, on June 1, 1945. 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 Creameries, a division of Armour & Company, an Illinois
corporation, operates a plant at Marshfield, Wisconsin, with principal
63 N. L. R. B., No. 189.
1214
ARMOUR & COMPANY, D/B/A ARMOUR CREAMERIES 1215
offices located in Chicago, Illinois. At the Marshfield plant, which is
the sole plant involved in this proceeding, the Company is engaged in
the processing of poultry, the packing of eggs, the procurement,
assembling, parafinii}g, packaging, warehousing, and shipment of
cheese. Substantially all of the raw materials used in the operation
of the Marshfield plant are secured from points within the State of
Wisconsin. During the year ending December 31, 1944, the Company
processed approximately 10,000,000 pounds of cheese, 1,000,000 pounds
of poultry and 1,000,000 dozens of eggs. Approximately 99 percent
of these finished products was shipped from the Marshfield plant to
points outside the State of Wisconsin.
The Company admits that its operations at the Marshfield plant
affect commerce, and we so find.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse-
men and Helpers, Truck Drivers Union, Local #446, affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor, 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 at the Marsh-
field, Wisconsin, plant until the Union has been certified by the Board
in an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Union 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
The Union contends that the production and maintenance employees
in the Company's cheese department constitute an appropriate unit.
The Company contends that a unit consisting of all the production
and maintenance employees at its Marshfield plant, including those
in the poultry and egg department, as well as the cheese department,
constitute the only appropriate unit. The 2 departments at the plant,
are housed in a series of 3 adjoining buildings which are directly con-
' The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 13 application cards. There
are approximately 13 emolovees in the alleged appropriate unit.
1216 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
netted . At 4 branch houses which are located within a radius of •74
miles from the Marshfield plant the Company receives, stores, and
,delivers cheese.2 The Company employs approximately 12 persons
in each of the 2 plant departments, and approximately 8 persons at
.the 4 branch houses. The employees in each of the 2 departments at
.the plant perform different types of operations, but none of the work
requires any special degree of skill. The wage rate for male employees
is substantially the same for both departments. However, the female
employees in the cheese department receive a higher rate of pay.
The two departments are under the supervision of a general man-
ager, but the cheese department has a separate supervisor who is
responsible to the manager. There is one administrative office which
handles bookkeeping and_clerical work for both departments. Each
department has a separate time clock and a separate pay roll. In
order to prevent lay-offs and take care of seasonal rush periods cer-
tain employees are transferred temporarily between the two depart-
_ments.3
There is no history of collective bargaining for any of the Com-
pany's employees. At the hearing, the Union stated that the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor has not granted it the authority to organize
poultry and egg employees in the area surrounding Wausau, Wis-
consin, and that the employees in the poultry and egg department
fall within the jurisdiction of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters, Inter-
national Union, A. F. L. The Union, therefore, has limited its organ-
izational activities to the 'employees in the cheese department.'
The above facts reveal that the Company's operations are somewhat
integrated, and that a unit of all the employees at the plant might
be appropriate. However, the employees in the cheese department,
comprise a distinct and homogeneous group; and they are the only
.employees of the Company who appear to desire union representation
at the present time. To hold that this group of employees is not an
appropriate unit would deny them the benefits of the Act until some
.uncertain future date when they and the other employees of the Com-
pany have been organized in some larger unit or on some other basis.
In order to render collective bargaining an immediate possibility, we
find that the unit requested by the Union, composed of the employees
in the cheese department at the Company's plant in Marshfield, Wis-
2 The Union objects to the inclusion of the employees in the branch houses, and it has not
organized them, the Company takes no position in the matter.
3 At the hearing, the Company argued that a bargaining unit limited to the employees iu
the cheese department would prevent interchange in the- future In answer to this argu-
'ment, the Union stated that it has no objection to'a continuation of this policy of inter-
change as long as union members are not replaced in the process.
4In the Company's Webster, South Dakota , plant, the Union and the Amalgamated
jointly represent the employees in both the poultry and egg and cheese departments. This
type of representation is the result of a consent election conducted by the Regional Direc-
tor See West Produce Company, Division of Armour & Company, 18-R-1249
ARMOUR & COMPANY, D/B/A ARMOUR CREAMERIES 1217
consin, is appropriate at this time for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining.5
There remain for disposition the following-categories of employees :
Foreman of the cheese department. This employee devotes approx-
imately 25 percent of his time to regular production work; the re-
mainder of his time is spent supervising and directing the employees
in the cheese department. A company witness testified that he has
the authority to hire and discharge any employee under his super-
vision subject to the approval of the plant manager. The foreman
receives approximately 45 cents per hour more than any other em-
ployee in the department. The Union desires to exclude the fore-
man; the Company urges his inclusion. We find that this employee
possesses supervisory authority within the meaning of our customary
definition; and we shall, therefore, exclude the foreman from the-
appropriate unit.
Engineer. The Company employs one engineer who devotes a ma-
jority of his time to the maintenance of three boilers and the refrig-
eration system. He also performs odd repair jobs in both depart-
ments. The engineer receives approximately the same rate of pay
as other production employees in the cheese department. The Union
would exclude the engineer if the Company did not object; the Com-
pany urges his inclusion. The engineer's interests and working con-
ditions are substantially different than those of the employees in the
cheese department. We shall, therefore, exclude the engineer.
Truck drivers. The Company normally employs two truck drivers,
who haul and deliver cheese from the Company's branch houses and
nearby producers to the Marshfield plant. They also deliver cheese
which is sold to other companies for further processing. Prior to the
hearing, the two truck drivers, who were engaged in the above haul-
ing, quit the employ of the Company; and, at the time of the hear-
ing, the Company_ had not replaced them. However, the Company
indicated that it will employ truck drivers in the future. On the
basis of *the above facts, we shall include truck drivers.
We find that production and maintenance employees in the cheese
department at the Company's Marshfield plant, including truck
drivers, and shipping room working foreman,e but excluding the office
and clerical employees, engineer, fieldman, the employees at the four
branch houses, manager, the foreman of the cheese department, and
all or any other supervisory employees with authority to hire, pro-
mote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status
of employees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit
5 See Matter of Rohm & Haas Company , 51 N. L R. B 1232; Matter of E I Dupont de
Nemours & Company , Indiana Ordnance Works, 59 N L R B. 952.
6 The parties agree to include the shipping room foreman ; and it does not appear that
he possesses supervisory authority.
1218 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec-
tion herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
The Company now employs approximately seven high school
students in the cheese department. These student employees work
full time during the Company's peak season from June 1 to September
1, which is their vacation period. It appears that the Company hires
these student employees merely for the summer months; and there is no
indication that the same persons are employed each year. We find that
they are temporary employees and, accordingly, ineligible to Vote .7
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 Rela-
tions 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 & Com-
pany, d/b/a Armour Creameries, Marshfield, Wisconsin, 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 Eighteenth Legion,
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 Regula-
tions, 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 bn 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
represented by International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs,
Warehousemen and Helpers, Truck Drivers Union, Local #446,
A. F. L., for the purposes of collective bargaining.
7 Cf. Matter of Johnson -Handley-Johnson Company, 51 N. L . R. B. 1282.