Manchester Rendering Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 25, 1950

91 N.L.R.B. 1257 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of CONSOLIDATED RENDERING CO., D/B/A MANCHESTER
RENDERING CO., EMPLOYER and LEO D. QUESNEL, AN INDIVIDUAL,
PETITIONER and LOCAL 314, AMALGAMATED MEAT CUTTERS AND
BUTCHER WORKMEN OF NORTH AMERICA, AFL, UNION
Case No. 1-RD-70.Decided October 25, 1950
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Sidney A. Coven, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed!
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board has
delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member
panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Reynolds].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is enaged in commerce within the meaning of the
Act.
2. The Petitioner, an employee of the Employer, asserts that the
Union, which is being currently recognized by the Employer as the
bargaining representative of the employees designated in the peti-
tion, is no longer the representative as defined in Section 9 (a) of
the Act.
. 3. The Employer and the incumbent Union contend that the
petition herein should be dismissed because the Petitioner is acting
as a "front" for District 50, United Mine Workers of America, a
noncomplying labor organization. On August 1, 1950, one Robert
Wright, identifying himself as a representative of District 50, noti-
fied the Employer. that his. organization represented a majority of the
employees and requested recognition. The Employer asked that the
claim of District 50 be put in writing. It also said that it would
require an election before granting recognition. Wright explained
that District 50 could not participate in a Board-directed election,
but he agreed to write his request for recognition. The Employer
received no further word from Wright. On August 22, 1950, the
petition herein was filed.
1 The motion to dismiss the petition , made at the hearing by the Employer and the Union,
is denied for the reasons given in paragraph numbered 3, below.
91 NLRB No. 192.
1257
1258 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Petitioner admitted at the hearing that Wright is his friend,
that Wright had told him of the visit to the Employer, and that the
two men had discussed the situation at the Employer's plant, where
the employees were said to be dissatisfied with the Union. The Pe-
titioner denied, however, that he was acting in agreement with, or on
behalf of, Wright or that he had received any instructions from
Wright in connection with the petition. There is no evidence of
Wright's having given any financial or other assistance to the Peti-
tioner or, indeed, of any but social relations between them.'
On the evidence now before us, we are not convinced that the Peti-
tioner is acting as a "f ront" for a noncomplying iniion.3 Accordingly,
we find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The parties agree, and we find, that the following employees con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act:
All production and maintenance employees of the Employer at its
plant in Manchester, New Hampshire, including the watchman 4 but
excluding buyers, truck drivers, drivers' helpers, office and clerical
employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined
in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
2 Cf. Knife River Coal Mining Company , 91 NLRB No. 23.
3 John Dritz ct Sons , 88 NLRB 1521, and cases cited therein.
4 As the record shows that the watchman spends less than half his time in guard duties,
we find that he is not a guard within the meaning of the Act. We shall therefore include
him in the unit. Cornell-Dubilier Electric Corporation, 90 NLRB No. 67.