Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 26, 1945

63 N.L.R.B. 1184 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter Of COLGATE-PALMOLIVE-FEET COMPANY and INTERNA-
TIONAL CHEMICAL WORKERS UNION, AFL
Case No. ^?O--R-1486.Decided September 26, 1945
Mr. Bartley C. Crum, of San Francisco, Calif., for the Company.
Mr. Harvey E. Howard, of Oakland, Calif., and Mr. 0. L. Farr, of
'Selma, Calif., for the AFL.
Messrs. Paul Heide and Charles Duarte, and Gladstein, Grossman,
Sawyer r Edises, by Mr. Betram Edises, of Oakland, Calif., for the
CIO.
Mr. Benj. E. Cook, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION. OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE' CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Chemical Workers
Union, AFL, herein called the AFL, alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company, Berkeley, California, herein called
the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an
appropriate hearing upon due notice before Robert E. Tillman, Trial
Examiner . Said hearing was held at San Francisco, California, on
August 22, 1945. At the commencement of the hearing, the Trial Ex-
aminer granted a motion to intervene by International Longshore-
men's and Warehousemen's Local 6, CIO, herein called the CIO. All
parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and
cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the
issues.
At the hearing, the Trial 'Examiner reserved ruling for the Board
on motions made by the Company and the CIO to postpone any elec-
tion to be directed herein until such time as the Board determines
the validity of the charges filed by the AFL in case No. 20-C-1372.
The motions are hereby denied.' The Trial Examiner's rulings made
3 The AFL on August 13 , 1945 , waived its right to protest any election directed herein
on the grounds set forth in the charges filed by it in Case No. 20-C-1372.
63 N. L . R. B., No. 184.
1184
COLGATE-PALMOLIVE-PEET COMPANY 1185
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
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company is a Delaware corporation, hav-
ing its central office in Jersey City, New Jersey. It operates plants
/in Jersey City, New Jersey, Brooklyn, New York (a subsidiary),
Jeffersonville, Indiana, Kansas City, Kansas, and Berkeley, California,
where it is engaged in the manufacture and sale of soap and glycerine:
During 1944, the gross sales of the Company at its Berkeley plant,
the only plant involved in this proceeding, were in excess of $1,000,000,
and the total sales to customers located outside the State of California
amounted to more than 25 percent of the gross sales. During the
same period, raw materials having a value in excess of $1,000,000, were
used at the Berkeley plant, of which more than 25 percent was obtained
from points outside the State of California.
The Company admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Chemical Workers Union, affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to membership
employees of the Company.
International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Local 6, affili-
ated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organ-
ization admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to recognize the AFL as the exclusive
bargaining representative of its employees.
It is the contention of the Company and the CIO that a contract
executed by them July 9, 1941, together with successive extensions,
constitutes a bar to this proceeding. Neither the original nor supple-
mental contracts contain a definite termination date 2 In view of its
2 The original contract reads , in fact, as follows :
"Section 18 . Future Changes . The above constitutes an agreement between the
Company and its employees , represented by the International Longshoremen's and
Warehousemen 's Union , Local 1-6, and shall remain in effect unless and until changes
become necessary because of conditions beyond the control of the Company or are
requested by the employees through their representative "
Although an extension agreement was executed on July 24 , 1945, the indefinite duration
clause of the original contract remained unchanged.
1186 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
indefinite duration and the fact that it has been in force for at least
1 year, we find that the contract and extensions thereof, do not con-
stitute a bar to a determination of representatives.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the AFL represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.3
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, substantially in accord with an agreement of the parties,
that all production, maintenance, warehouse, mechanical, and labo-
ratory employees at the Company's Berkeley, California, plant, includ-
ing non-technical and non-professional laboratory employees, watch-
men, assistant foremen, and working foremen ,4 but excluding office
and clerical employees, chemists, foremen, and all or any other super-
visory 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 pur-
poses 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.
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 represent-
atives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Colgate-Palm-
olive-Peet Company, Berkeley, California, an election by secret ballot
shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30)
8 The Field Examiner reported that the AFL submitted 212 authorization cards ; that 7
were undated and 205 dated August 1945, and that there were 330 employees in the
requested unit. The CIO relied upon its contract as establishing- Its interest in the
proceeding.
* The record reveals that the assistant foremen and working foremen , while exercising
some directive authority, do not come within the Board 's customary supervisory definition.
COLGATE-PALMOLIVE-PEET COMPANY 1187
days from the date of this Direction , under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Twentieth 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 Regula-
tions, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section
IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immedi-
ately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who
did not work during the 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 employees 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 repre-
sented by International Chemical Workers Union , AFL, or by Inter-
national Longshoremen 's and Warehousemen 's Local 6, CIO , for the
purposes of collective bargaining , or by neither.
662514-46-vol. 63-76