Hinckley Rendering Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 8, 1945

61 N.L.R.B. 1010 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter Of HINCKLEY RENDERING COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF FIREMEN AND OILERS , POWERHOUSE EMPLOYEES,
OPERATORS AND MAINTENANCE MEN, LOCAL No. 3 (A. F. L.)
Case No. 1-R-.231.Decided May 8, 19.x,5
Brickley, Sears cti Cole, by Mr. Charles W. O'Brien, of Boston,
Mass., and Mr. Charles J. Merriman, of Boston, Mass., for the
Company.
Mr. Joseph P. McNamara, of Boston, Mass., for the A. F. L.
Mr. Aaron H. Sibley, of Boston, Mass., and Mr. George T. Martin,
of Medford, Mass., for the Association.
Mr. Joseph D. Manders, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Brotherhood of Fire-
men and Oilers, Powerhouse Employees, Operators and Maintenance
Men, Local No. 3, (A. F. L.), herein called the A. F. L., alleging that
a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa-
tion of employees of Hinckley Rendering Company, Boston, Massa-
chusetts, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations
Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before
Leo J. Halloran, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Boston,
Massachusetts, on February 26, 1945. The Company, the A. F. L.,
and Hinckley Rendering Employees Association, Inc.,' herein called
the Association, appeared and participated. All parties were af-
forded 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 hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an oppor-
tunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
' At the commencement of the hearing the Trial Examiner granted the motion of the
Association to intervene
61 N. L I{ B., No. 170.
1010
HINCKLEY RENDERING COMPANY
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
1011
Hinckley Rendering Company, a subsidiary of Consolidated Ren-
dering Company, which is a Maine corporation, was incorporated
under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Com-
pany and the Consolidated Rendering Company have their principal
offices located in ' Boston, Massachusetts. The instant proceeding is
solely concerned with the Company's Somerville plant. The Com-
pany is engaged in the manufacture of fat and tallow, which is ex-
tracted from waste fat, bones and organic matter, and then clarified.
The dry rendered tankage, a solid matter which is the end product
of the above process, is sold by the Company for domestic animal
consumption, During the last 6 months of 1944, the raw materials
purchased by the Company from meat markets, hotels, restaurants,
and other sundry institutions of similar nature, totaled approximately
$290,000; substantially all of such purchases are shipped to the Com-
pany from points within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Practically the entire quantity of the fat and tallow produced is de-
livered directly to soap manufacturers within the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts,' except insofar as deliveries are made to the parent
Company for transportation into channels of interstate commerce.3
During the last 6 months of 1944, the Company manufactured 186,000
pounds of residual matter; approximately 7 percent of said product,
valued at approximately $5,500, was shipped to points outside the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act, and we so find.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers, Powerhouse Em-
ployees, Operators and Maintenance Men, Local No. 3, affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
Hinckley Rendering Employees Association, Inc., is a labor or-
ganization admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the A. F. L. as
the exclusive bargaining representative of its employees until the
A. F. L. has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
z
By shipment of fat and tallow to such soap manufacturers as Procter & Gamble of
Quincy , Massachusetts , and Lever Brothers of Cambridge , Massachusetts, the said fat' and
tallow in the form of soap is ultimately brought into the channels of interstate commerce.
a For example, the parent Company delivers fat received from the Company to the Colgate
Company at Newark , New Jersey.
1012 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Association contends that an unsigned written memorandum,
dated October 16, 1941, and continuing in effect "for 1 year from date
thereof and thereafter until a new agreement has been entered
into . . ." between the Company and the Association, constitutes a
bar to a determination of representatives at this time. Negotiations
between management and labor which result in an unsigned memo-
randum for an indefinite term do not foster stability in labor rela-
tions.4 We, therefore, find that the said memorandum dated October
16, 1941, cannot operate as a bar to an immediate determination of
representatives.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the A. F. L. represents a substantial number
of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.5
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 DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Company employs approximately 56 persons, 4 of whom are
firemen,' 23 of whom perform productive and maintenance tasks; 7
the remaining 29, consisting of buyers (truck drivers), assistant
buyers (helpers), and auto mechanics," are engaged in the hauling
of raw materials to the plant. The A. F. L. contends that a unit
consistin of all inside employees, apart from outside employees,a
constitutes an appropriate bargaining unit. The Company and the
Association contend that the only appropriate unit is one which
includes both inside and outside employees. The outside employees
devote their entire time to the function of transporting raw materials
to the Company's plant. After the raw materials are weighed in at
the plant, the inside employees start the raw materials on their
journey through the various manufacturing processes which ulti-
mately result in the production of fat, tallow, and dry rendered tank-
age. Both types of employees receive an hourly wage.'
4 See Eighth Annual Report of the National Labor Relations Board, 1943, at p 46 , Matter
of Globe Shipbuilding Company, 57 N. L. R. B. 1104.
5 The Trial Examiner reported that the A. F. L. submitted 14 authorization cards which
were unsigned and undated (no space for date on card ) ; that the names of 14 persons
appearing on the cards were listed on the Company' s pay roll of December 23, 1944, which
contained the names of 23 employees in the alleged appropriate unit. An Association
witness testified at the hearing that the Association represented 39 employees, 8 inside
and 31 outside , as of January 18, 1945.
6 The A. F L has a current collective bargaining agreement with the Company, covering
the four firemen Said employees are not involved in the instant proceeding.
7 Hereinafter , said employees are referred to as inside employees.
9 Hereinafter , said employees are referred to as outside employees.
9 It is the established policy of the A. F. L, Local No. 3, to exclude outside employees.
'o Within the last 12 months preceding the date of the hearing , the outside employees
were placed on an hourly wage in order to conform to the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Previous to that time , they received a weekly salary.
HINCKLEY RENDERING COMPANY 1013
The Company and the Association predicate their contention for a
unit consisting of both inside and outside employees upon their past
history of collective bargaining . In 1937 the Company voluntarily
recognized the Association as the bargaining representative of all its
employees . All negotiations between the Company and the Associa-
tion from 1937 to 1941 were apparently oral ; and as noted above,
the agreement , in effect from 1941 to the present time, was merely
an unsigned memorandum . Such bargaining history is not entitled
to particular weight in the determination of the appropriate unit?1
Inside and outside employees are functionally distinct and their
working conditions are dissimilar . 12 We have frequently placed out-
side drivers in a unit, separate and apart from inside production
workers.13 On the other hand, it is noted that the organization of
the Company is integrated ; and there is existent an interdependence
between inside and outside employees . Under the above circum-
stances, two units, one consisting of inside employees , and the other
of outside employees , or, one unit, consisting of both inside and out-
side employees , would be equally appropriate . In the absence of a
question concerning the representation of outside employees, we will
direct an election to determine whether the inside employees desire
to be represented separately for collective bargaining purposes, apart
from other employees of the Company . Upon the results of this
election will depend, in part, our determination of the appropriate
unit. If a majority of the inside employees select the A. F. L., they
will have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bargaining
unit; if a majority of those participating in the election select the
Association , they will have indicated their desire to remain in the
unit presently represented by the Association.
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen , be resolved , in part, by an election by secret ballot among
the Company 's inside production and maintenance employees, includ-
ing gang leaders and the head mechanic '14 but excluding the firemen,
buyers ( truck drivers ), assistant buyers ( helpers ), auto ' mechanics,
office employees , and all supervisory employees with authority to hire,
promote, discharge , discipline , or otherwise effect changes in the
status of employees or effectively recommend such action, who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of the Direction of Election herein, subject to limitations and addi-
tions set forth in the Direction.
ii See Matter of Corn Products Refining Company, 52 N L R B. 1324.
12 See Matter of Cedar Rapids Renderers, 55 N L R B 1447
'a See Matter of Colonial Hardwood Flooring Co , Inc , 56 N L R B 1875.
14 All the parties are in agreement that the said employees do not have supervisory
authority.
1014 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 Hinckley Ren-
dering Company, 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 First 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 Company's in-
side production and maintenance employees, including gang leaders
and the head mechanic, but excluding the firemen , buyers (truck
drivers ), assistant buyers ( helpers ), auto mechanics , office employees,
and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, dis-
charge, discipline , or otherwise effect changes in the status of em-
ployees, or effectively recommend such action, who were employed dur-
ing the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direc-
tion, 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 any 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 International Brotherhood of Fire-
men and Oilers, Powerhouse Employees, Operators and Maintenance
Men, Local No. 3, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,
or by Hinckley Rendering Employees, Association , Inc., for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining , or by neither.