John Morrell & Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 13, 1946

69 N.L.R.B. 1446 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of JOHN MORRELL & Co., EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN & HELP-
ERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL UNION #388, A. F. OF L., PETITIONER
Case No. 18-R-1543.Decided August 13, 1946
Messrs. J. M. Foster , J. M. Larrabee , and Edward J. Grier, all of
Ottumwa , Iowa, for the Employer.
Mr. Leo H. Morgan , of Ottumwa , Iowa, for the Petitioner.
Mr. A. T. Stevens , of Des Moines, Iowa, and Messrs . Walter Van
Tassel, Edward Filliman, and Jess Shep/ ard, all of Ottumwa, Iowa,
for the CIO.
Mr. A. Sumner Lawrence , of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Ottumwa,
Iowa, on June 20, 1946, before Clarence A. Meter, Trial Examiner.
The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prej-
udicial error and are hereby affirmed. The motion to dismiss filed
by United Packinghouse Workers of America, Local Union No. 1, CIO,
is hereby denied for reasons hereinafter stated.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
John Morrell & Co., a Maine corporation, has its principal offices
and place of business at Ottumwa, Iowa. At the Ottumwa plant,
which is the only one involved in this proceeding, the Employer is
engaged in the business of meat packing, including the slaughter of
cattle, hogs, and sheep, and the processing, manufacture, and canning
of various beef, pork, and mutton products and byproducts. During
the fiscal year ending November 1, 1945, the Employer purchased for
use at its Ottumwa plant, raw materials exceeding $40,000,000 in value,
of which approximately 5 percent was obtained from points outside
the State of Iowa. During the same period, the finished products of
the Employer amounted to more than $65,000,000 in value, of which
69 N. L. It. B., No. 185.
1446
JOHN MORRELL & CO. 1447
approximately 95 percent was shipped to points outside the State of
Iowa.
The Employer admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. TILE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
United Packinghouse Workers of America, Local Union No. 1,
CIO, herein called the CIO, is a labor organization affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees
of the Employer.
III. TILE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
At the hearing, the CIO urged as a bar to the present proceeding an
unsigned written bargaining agreement between it and the Employer
covering its production and maintenance employees. The position of
the CIO is, however, without merit, in view of the Board's well
established rule that a contract is not a bar unless it has been reduced
to writing and signed prior to the giving of notice of a representation
claim by a rival union.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Sections (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all country truck drivers 2
employed by the Employer in its motor transport department at the
Ottumwa plant, excluding supervisors and all truck drivers included
in the production and maintenance unit now represented by the CIO
as the result of prior Board proceedings and extended recognition on
the part of the Employer.3 The CIO opposes the unit sought by the
'See Matter of Eicor, Ino ., 46 N. L . R. B. 1035; Matter of Corona Corporation, 66
N. L. R. B. 583.
2 Although they were originally described by the Petitioner In its petition as "truck
drivers, . . . motor transport department ," all parties agreed that , to avoid con-
fusion with other truck drivers , such employees be referred to as "country truck drivers."
3 See Matter of John Morrell & Co., 4 N. L. R . B. 436 ; 55 N. L . R. B. 24 ; Supplemental
Decision and Certification ( unpublished ), Issued March 30, 1944. In addition to the em-
ployees included within the production and maintenance unit by successive Board decisions,
the Employer has recognized the CIO as the representative of its city truck drivers
employed in the truck and tractor department. The Employer has, however , not recognized
the CIO as bargaining representative for the type of truck drivers claimed by the AFL as
the basis of its proposed bargaining unit.
1448 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Petitioner and contends that country truck drivers are properly a part
of the production and maintenance unit. The Employer takes no
position relative to the appropriateness of the unit claimed by the AFL.
The employees whom the AFL seeks to represent under the term
"country truck drivers" were formerly employed in various capacities
within the production and maintenance unit.4 At the present time,
however, they are employed as long haul truck drivers and are members
of a new department which the Employer has recently set up for the
purpose of distributing its products to customers throughout the State
of Iowa and nearby States.5
Country truck drivers, as distinguished from city truck drivers per-
forming local trucking operations, are under the separate supervision
of the Motor Transport Department. They operate 10-ton semi-
trailers to distant points designated by the Employer both inside and
outside the State of Iowa. Their duties and rate of pay are governed
by interstate commerce regulations; and, due to the necessity of making
scheduled runs, their working time varies in accordance with the length
thereof. In contrast therewith, city truck drivers are under the super-
vision of a different department. They operate 1- or 2-ton trucks used
in delivering products of the Employer to retailers within the city of
Ottumwa and immediate vicinity and are not subject to interstate
commerce regulations. They work 8-hour shifts similar to those of
the production and maintenance employees and receive a rate of pay
which is substantially lower than that of country truck drivers. On
the basis of the foregoing facts, we are of the opinion that country
truck drivers may constitute a separate appropriate units
We find that all country drivers employed by the Employer in the
Motor Transport Department at its Ottumwa, Iowa, plant, excluding
truck drivers in the production and maintenance unit, foremen, and
all or any other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote,
discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em-
ployees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit ap-
propriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with John Morrell & Co., Ottumwa,
Iowa, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible,
4 The six employees herein concerned were , prior to April 1, 1946, engaged in production
and maintenance work, by virtue of which they were represented by the CIO as their
bargaining representative.
" Prior to the creation of this department, known as the motor transport department,
the Employer had contracted for such service with outside trucking concerns.
6 See Matter of Gulf Refining Company, 66 N. L . R. B. 142.
JOHN MORRELL & CO. 1449
but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction,
tinder the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the
Sixth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor
Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as
amended, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Sec-
tion IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period im-
mediately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees
who did not work during 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 represented by International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauf-
feurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America, Local Union #388,
A. F. of L., or by United Packinghouse Workers of America, Local
Union No. 1, CIO, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by
neither.