Land O' Lakes Dairy Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 8, 1943

48 N.L.R.B. 1028 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of LAND O ' LAKES DAIRY COMPANY and GENERAL DRIVERS
UNION No. 662 , A. F. OF L. -
Case No. R-50-113.-Decided April 8, 1943
Jurisdiction : dairy products manufacturing industry ; company's motion that
Board should divest itself of jurisdiction because of prior jurisdiction exer-
•cised by a State Labor Relations Board, denied.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re-
fusal to recognize petitioner until certified by the-Board; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all monthly paid'production and
maintenance employees, including engineers, pen operators, truck drivers, drier
operators, clean-up men and helpers, but excluding the manager, the foreman,
and the office man; stipulation as to.
Messrs. Ralph AS. Lund, of Whitehall, Wis., and. E. G. Vaughan, of
St. Paul, Minn., for the Company.
Mr. Roy E. Barnes, of Eau Claire, Wis., for the Union.
Mr. David V. Easton, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon the petition duly filed by General Drivers Union No. 662, A.
F. of L., herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Land 0' Lakes Dairy Company, Whitehall, Wisconsin, herein called
the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an
appropriate hearing upon due notice before Clarence A. Meter, Trial
Examiner. Said hearing was held at Whitehall, Wisconsin, on March
23, 1943. The Company and the Union appeared, participated, and
were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-
examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues.
The Company made a motion to -dismiss the petition herein on the
ground that proceedings had already been started by the Wisconsin
Employment Relations Board, herein called the WERB. ' This motion
was referred to the Board. For reasons appearing below, the motion
is denied. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
48 N. L. R. B., No. 123.
1028'
LAND O'LAKES DAIRY COMPANY 1029
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following
FINDINGS, OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Land O'Lakes Dairy Company," a Minnesota corporation licensed
to conduct business in Wisconsin, is engaged in the manufacture of
powdered skimmed milk and buttermilk. For this purpose it operates
two plants, one in Whitehall, Wisconsin, and the other in Milaca, Min-
nesota. We are concerned herein with the Company's operations at
Whitehall. The Whitehall plant receives its raw products consisting
of buttermilk and skimmed milk from 17 member creameries, all lo-
cated in Wisconsin. The finished products, amounting to 2,600,000
pounds of powdered skimmed milk and buttermilk between September,
8, 1942, and March 23, 1943, are valued between $360,000 to $370,000,
and are destined for the United States Government under Lend Lease
control. We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
General Drivers Union No. 662 is a labor organization affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership em-
ployees of the Company!
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On January 27, 1943, the Union requested, by letter, recognition
from the Company as the sole bargaining representative of its em-
ployees. On February 1, 1943, the Company replied that it would not
recognize the Union unless and until it was properly certified. There-
after, on February 8, the Union proposed a consent election to be held
under Board auspices, and forwarded a stipulation to this effect. The
Company did not reply to this proposal. On or about March 1, 1943,
-the Company filed a representation petition before the WERB which
held a hearing thereon on March 16, 1943. The decision of the WERB
has not as yet been issued, due to the intervention of the present pro-
ceeding. As noted herein, the Company made a motion at the hearing
in the instant case to dismiss the petition on the ground that the
WERB,had prior jurisdiction. We do not believe that the Board
should divest itself of jurisdiction in this proceeding,2 and accord-
' The Company herein is a subsidiary of Land 0' Lakes Creameries, Inc.
' The Supreme Court , in Consolidated Edison Company v. N L R B., 305 U. S. 197 , stated,
at page 224 : "The exercise of the federal power to protect interstate and foreign commerce
from injury does not depend upon a clash with state action and need not await the exer -
cise of state authority " See Matter of Northern States Power Company of Wisconsin and
District 50, United Mine Workers of America, C. I. 0, and International Brotherhood of
Electr ical Workers, A. F. of L., 37 N L. R B 991 ; Matter of Thompson Products , Inc., and
International Union, United Automobile Workers of America, affiliated with the C. 1. 0.,
35 N L. It. B. 823; Matter of Waterman-Waterbury Company and United Electrical Radio
and Machine Workers of America, Local 1140, C. 1. 0., 38 N. L. R. B. 331. 1
1030 , DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ingly we hold that the motion of the Company to dismiss the petition
should be, and it hereby is, denied.
A statement of the Field Examiner, introduced into evidence at
the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial num-
ber 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 meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE'APPROPRIATE UNIT
In accordance with a stipulation of the parties, we find that all
monthly paid 4 production and maintenance employees of the Com-
pany, including engineers, pen operators, truck drivers, drier oper-
ators, clean-up men and helpers, but excluding the manager, the
foreman, and the office man, 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 shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the eln-
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of our Direction of Elec-
tion, subject to the limitations and additions set forth therein.
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 2, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Land 0' -Lakes
Dairy Company , Whitehall, Wisconsin, 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 super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Eighteenth Region, acting in
this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and
3 The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 25 application cards containing
apparently genuine original signatures. Twenty-two signatures contained on these cards
are the names of persons appearing upon the Company's most recent pay roll which was
submitted by the Company on March 13, 1943, and contains the names of 29 persons within
the appropriate unit.
4 It was disclosed at the hearing that the Company employs several hourly paid employees
on a temporary basis. These persons are expressly excluded from the unit.
LAND O'LAKES DAIRY COMPANY 1031
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 any such 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 any who have since quit or been
discharged for cause , to determine whether or not they desire to
be represented by General Drivers Union No. 662, affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining.
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