Kuhner Packing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 26, 1947

73 N.L.R.B. 1272 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter Of MA BI-IOEFER DIVISION OF KuHNER PACKING COMPANY,
EMPLOYER and AMALGAMATED MEAT CUTTERS AND BUTCHER WORK-
MEN of NORTH AMERICA, AFL, LoCAL 423, PETITIONER
Case No. 13-R-4198.-Decided May 26,1947
Messrs . Kermit H. Ecklein and E. J. Strasser , of Fort Wayne, Ind.,
for the Employer.
Messrs. - Alfred P. Landes and Bruce Hutchison , of Fort Wayne,
Ind., and Mr . David Dolinick , of Chicago , Ill., for the Petitioner.
Messrs. Harvey Mader and Arthur Kampfert , of Chicago, Ill., for
the Intervenor.
Mr. Stanley Segal, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Fort
Wayne, Indiana, on March 19, 1947, before Gustaf B. Erickson, hear-
ing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Kuhner Packing Company is an Indiana corporation engaged in the
business of meat packing. It directly operates plants in Fort Wayne
and Muncie, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois. It also operates plants in
Marion, Indiana, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, through two wholly
owned subsidiaries. Only the Fort Wayne plant is involved in this
proceeding. The Fort Wayne plant has purchases and sales exceeding
$100,000 per annum. -Approximately 50 percent of its sales are made
to customs located outside the State of Indiana.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
73 N. L R. B, No. 227.
1272
KUHNER PACKING COMPANY
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
1273
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, herein called the Inter-
venor, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Indus-
trial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE UNIT _ •
The Petitioner seeks a unit of all production and maintenance
employees at the Fort Wayne plant, including truck drivers, engi-
neers, and watchmen, but excluding office, clerical and supervisory
employees. The Intervenor, while not objecting to the categories of
employees to be included and excluded, contends that a unit limited
to Fort Wayne plant employees is inappropriate in view of the exist-
ing bargaining history on a broader basis. The Employer is neutral.
On April 5, 1941, the Board found appropriate a single unit of
production and maintenance employees at the three plants of Kuhner
Packing Company located at Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, and Muncie,
Indiana.' Following an election which was won by the Intervenor,
the Board certified the Intervenor as collective bargaining representa-
tive of the employees in this nnit.2 Thereafter, the Intervenor and
Kuhner Packing Company entered into several collective bargaining
contracts covering the employees in the appropriate unit.'
On February 1, 1945, Marhoefer Packing Company purchased the
Fort Wayne plant from the Kuhner Packing Company. On June 1,
1945, the former also purchased the Muncie plant. Thereafter, these
two plants together with a third in Chicago, Illinois, were designated
as the Marhoefer Division of Kuhner Packing Company. On August
11, 1945, the Employer entered into a 2-year collective bargaining
contract with the Intervenor covering the employees in the Fort
Wayne and Muncie plants. This contract was reopened in July 1946.
On January 30, 1947, the contracting parties signed a new agreement
effective for 2 years from August 11, 1946.4
1 Matter of Kuhner Packing Company, 30 N. L R B 937
2 Matter of Kuhner Packing Company, 31 N L. R B 588
3 Some time during the war, the record does not indicate the year, operations at the
Indianapolis plant were permanently discontinued. Bargaining contracts, after the aban-
donment of the Indianapolis plant, continued to cover the employees of the Fort Wayne
and Muncie plants.
' The Intervenor contends that this contract is a bar to the present proceeding. In view
of the fact that we are dismissing the petition because the unit sought is inappropriate, we
find it unnecessary to decide this question
1274 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Petitioner contends that the Board's previous unit finding
and the -collective bargaining history based thereon are not controlling
on the issue of the appropriateness of the unit because (1) the labor
organization certified by the Board is not the same labor organization
which has been bargaining with the Employer; (2) the Intervenor's
local unions admitted that the Petitioner's unit is appropriate; (3)
the corporate status and ownership of the plants has changed since
the Board's, certification.
As to the Petitioner's first argument in support of its contention,
the Board certified the Packinghouse Workers Organizing Commit-
tee, affiliated with the C. I. 0., as the bargaining representative of the
employees in the three-plant unit. This is the same labor organiza-
tion as the Intervenor under a somewhat different name. The change
of name is not material. As the Board stated in the Walgreen case,5
"What the Board certified in the representation case was not a name
but a Union." The Petitioner further alleges in support of this argu-
ment that the first collective bargaining agreement covering the
employees in the three-plant unit was signed by one committee repre-
senting all employees in the three plants whereas subsequent agree-
ments have been executed by separate committees representing each
of the local unions. And further, that the initial agreements have
been on behalf of Locals 105 and 117 whereas subsequent agreements
have been on behalf of Locals 105 and 117-A. These changes are not
material. Where there has been actual bargaining on a multiple-
plant basis, stabilized by agreement, the mechanics of the signing or
administration of the agreement are not important.'
As to the Petitioner's second argument, it is sufficient to note that
the Intervenor has expressed its opposition to the Petitioner's pro-
posed unit and has sought dismissal of the petition.
As to the Petitioner's third argument, whatever change of owner-
ship has occurred the pattern of bargaining on a multiple-plant basis
has not been changed.
We conclude that the arguments made by the Petitioner in support
of its petition for a single-plant unit are without merit. In view of
the Board's previous unit finding and the history of collective bar-
gaining based thereon, we find that a unit limited to the employees of
the Fort Wayne plant is inappropriate.7 Accordingly, we shall dis-
miss the petition.
6 Matter of 1Valgreen Company, 44 N L.11 B. 1200, 1212.
6Matter of Bethlehem-Farfield Shipyard, Incorporated, 58 N. L. R. B. 579, 583.
7 See Matter of Bethelehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Incorporated, supra.
KUHNER PACKING COMPANY 1275
ORDER
IT IS ]HEREBY ORDERED that the petition for investigation and certifi-
cation of representatives of employees of Marhoefer Division of
Kuhner Packing Company, Fort Wayne, Indiana, filed by Amal-
gamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America,
AFL, Local 423, be, and it hereby is, dismissed.