Iowa Packing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 23, 1942

45 N.L.R.B. 733 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter Of IOWA PACKING COMPANY and PACKINGHOUSE WORK.
EIS ORGANIZING. COMMITTEE , ON BEHALF OF THE UNITED PACKING-
HOUSE WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL No. 89, AFFILIATED WITH THE
C. I. O.
Case No. R-412.Decided November 23, 19122
Jurisdiction : meat packing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: Com-
pany refused to accord petitioner recognition ; existing contract , no bar to;
election necessary ; probationary employees eligible to vote.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all hourly paid production and main-
tenance employees , including storage employees and truck drivers, but exclud-
ing all general office and superintendent 's office employees , medical department
employees , time and employment office employees , credit union and snack
employees , standards department employees , policemen and watchmen , super-
intendent , division superintendents , general foremen , foremen, assistant fore-
men, gang leaders, salaried clerks, and salaried scalers.
Mr. John P. Staley and Mr. J. Wesley Blades, of Chicago, Ill., for
'the Company.
Mr. Ralph L. Helstein, of Minneapolis, Minn ., for the PWOC.
Mr. Robert D. Jackson, of Des Moines, Iowa , for the Independent.
Mr. Joseph E. Gubbins, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by Packinghouse Workers Organizing Com-
mittee, on behalf of the United Packinghouse Workers of America,
Local No. 89, affiliated with the C. I. 0., herein called the PWOC,
alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning
the representation of employees of Iowa Packing Company, Des
Moines, Iowa, herein called the Company, the National Labor Rela-
tions Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice be-
fore Stephen M. Reynolds, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at
Des Moines, Iowa, on October 16, 1942. The Company, the PWOC,
and the Local Independent Union of Packing House Workers, herein
45 N. L. R. B., No. 110.
733
734 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
called the Independent, appeared, participated, and were afforded full
opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and
to introduce evidence bearing upon the issues. The Trial Examiner's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed. The Company and the PWOC'filed briefs, which the
Board has considered.-.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Iowa Packing Company is an Iowa -corporation engaged at Des
Moines, Iowa, in the general business of 'purchasing, slaughtering,
and processing hogs, cattle, calves, sheep, and lambs. All its capital
stock is owned by Swift & Company, a Nation-wide meat packing
and processing organization. During the fiscal year 1941, the Com-
pany's purchases of livestock for processing amounted to approxi-
Inately $26,000,000, almost all of which was purchased within the
State of Iowa. During the same period 83 percent of its total sales,
amounting to approximately $25,639,000 went to points outside the
State of Iowa. The Company concedes that it is engaged in. com-
merce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee, on behalf of
United Packinghouse Workers of America, Local -No. 89, affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and Local Independ-
ent Union of Packing House Workers of Des Moines, Iowa, affiliated
with the International Brotherhood of Swift Employees, are labor
organizations, admitting to membership employees of the Company.'
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Prior to filing its petition -in this proceeding, the PWOC had
requested collective bargaining rights and-had renewed this request
on.two occasions in August 1942; the-Company declined to recognize
or bargain with the PWOC because it had a contract with the Inde-
pendent which it believed to be a bar, and because the PWOC had
not been certified by the Board.
The Company and the Independent contend that the contract which
was entered into between the Independent and the Company on
i International Brotherhood of Teamsters , Chauffeurs , Warehousemen and Helpers, Local'
90, A. F. of L , herein called the Teamsters , sought to intervene in this proceeding ; claiming
jurisdiction over the Company's truck duvers and asserting that they should be excluded
from any unit . The Trial Examiner denied the request to intervene, since the representa-
tive of the Teamsters admitted that his organization represented none of the truck drivers.
IOWA PACKING COMPANY 735
January 14, 1942, is a bar to a present determination of representa-
tives. This contract by its terms was to remain in effect for a period
of 1 year. However, in February 1942 International Brotherhood
of Swift Employees, herein called the Brotherhood, of which the In-
dependent is an affiliate, and Swift & Company entered into negoti-
ations contemplating the execution of a single contract which would
cover all plants operated by Swift & Company at which the Brother-
hood, or an affiliate thereof, was the bargaining representative.
These negotiations were carried on between the Brotherhood and
Swift & Company for some time and the matter is now pending be-
fore the National War Labor Board. It appears from the evidence
that the proposed new contract would supersede the local contract
between the Company and the Independent. Since the Company
and the Independent have entered into negotiations for a new con-
tract and since the present contract-will shortly expire, we find that
it is not a bar to an investigation and certification of representatives.
- A statement of the Regional Director, introduced in evidence at
the hearing, indicates- that the PWOC represents a substanital
number of employees in the proposed appropriate unit.2-
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 parties agreed that all hourly, paid production and mainte-,
nance employees, including storage employees, should be included
in the proposed appropriate unit. The parties further agreed that
all general office and superintendent's office employees, medical de-
partment employees, time and employment office employees, credit
union and snack employees, standards department employees, po-
licemen and watchmen, superintendent, division superintendents,
general foremen, foremen, assistant foremen, gang leaders,3 salaried
clerks and salaried scalers, should be excluded from the proposed
appropriate unit. The only dispute is with respect, to the truck
'The Regional Director 's statement shows that the PWVOC submitted 484 member-
ship application cards and, in addition, 79 membership application cards were submitted
to the Trial Examiner at the heaung. The Regional Director found that 438 cards sub-
mitted to him bore apparently genuine signatures which were the names of persons on the
Company's pay ioll of July 15, 1942, which contained 1,057 names. These cards were all
dated in 1942 , mostly in May and June The 79 cards submitted to the Trial Examiner
were not checked against the pay roll , but all bore apparently genuine signatures and
were dated in September and October 1942. As estimated by a witness for the Company,
approximately 1,100 persons are now employed within the proposed unit
3
The parties agreed that seven named individuals were gang leaders and that they, or,
any individuals holding jobs they now hold at the time of the election , should be excluded.
They are not in agreement as to whether these seven are all the gang leaders employed by
the Company , although no evidence was adduced to show that there are others. Our
exclusion of gang leaders applies to all such employees, whether or not they were specifically
named.
736 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
drivers; the - PWOC would exclude them whereas the Company and
the Independent would include them. -
The truck drivers spend 90 percent of their time , outside of the
plant -and' occasionally make interstate trips. The other 10 percent
of their time is spent in the plant assisting in putting up orders.
The PWOC contends that since the truck drivers are eligible for
membership in the Teamsters , in the interest of harmony, they
should be excluded from the proposed appropriate unit . ^ However,
the Teamsters has no representation among them . The truck drivers
are included in the unit set up under the contract between the Com-
pany and the Independent , and we shall , therefore , include the truck
drivers.
We find that all hourly paid production and maintenance em-
ployees, including storage employees and truck drivers, but exclud-
ing all general office and superintendent 's office employees , medical
department employees , time and employment office employees, credit
union and snack employees , standards department employees , police-
men and watchmen , superintendent , division superintendents, gen-
eral foremen , foremen, assistant foremen, gang leaders, salaried
clerks, and salaried scalers, 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 find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. A problem
arises, however , in the case of the probationary or temporary em-
ployees. The PWOC urges that only employees who have been
in the employ of the Company for a period of 90 days at the date
of the Direction of Election should be eligible to vote. The Com-
pany and the Independent desire that all such employees be per-
mitted to vote. The record shows that the contract between the
Company and Independent treated such employees as probationary
or temporary . The provision in the contract relating to these em-
ployees reads as follows :
A probationary period of 90 days shall apply in the case of each
new employee , during which he shall be considered a temporary
employee and may be laid off without reference to seniority. There
is no obligation to rehire such employee.
Evidence presented by the Company, which was uncontradicted,
showed that 90 percent of these employees became regular employees
after the 90-day period . The Company claims that there is no dis-
tinction made between the rates of pay or the conditions of employment
between employees with or without seniority . Since there is no sub-
0
IOWA PACKING COMPANY 737
stantial difference between the status of temporary and that of regular
employees they are entitled to vote in the election.
We shall direct that the employees of the Company eligible to,vote
in the election shall be all those in the appropriate unit who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of the Direction of Election herein, subject to the limitations and
additions set forth in the Direction. I
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 2, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purpose of collective bargaining with Iowa Packing
Company, Des Moines, Iowa, 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 Region, acting in this
matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject
to Article III, Section 10, 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 probationary or temporary employees
and employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because
they were ill or on vacation or in the active military service or training
of the United States, or temporarily laid off; but excluding employees
who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether
they desire to be represented by Packinghouse Workers Organizing
Committee, on behalf of the United Packinghouse Workers of Amer-
ica, Local No. 89, affiliated with the C. I. 0., or by Local Independent
Union of Packing House Workers of Des Moines, Iowa, affiliated with
the International Brotherhood of Swift- Employees, for the purpose
of collective bargaining, or by neither.
MR. WM. M. LEIsiRsoN took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
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