Mutual Fertilizer Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 10, 1947

72 N.L.R.B. 500 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter Of MUTUAL FERTILIZER COMPANY, EMPLOYER and IN-
TERNATIONAL UNION OF MINE, MILL R, SMELTER - WORKERS (CIO),
PETITIONER
Case No. 10-R-2021.--Decided February 10, 1947
Messrs. Henry M. Dunn and E. G. Hunter, of Savannah, Ga., for
the Employer.
Mr. C. H. Wilson, of Savannah, Ga., for the Petitioner.
Mr. David C. Buohalter, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Savan-
nah, Georgia, on September 17, 1946, before Charles M. Paschal, Jr.,
hearing 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
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Mutual Fertilizer Company, a Georgia corporation with its plant
and offices located in Savannah, Georgia, is engaged in the manufac-
ture, sale and distribution of superphosphate and commercial ferti-
lizer. During the year preceding the hearing, the Employer pur-
chased for use at this plant, raw materials valued in excess of $500,000,
of which 90 percent represented shipments to it from points outside
the State of Georgia. During the same period, the Employer sold
finished products worth in excess of $500,000, of which 25 percent
represented shipments to points outside the State.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
IT. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
72 N. L R. B, No. 91.
500
MUTUAL FERTILIZER COMPANY 501
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer on the
grounds that it did not know whether the Petitioner represented a
majority of its employees and that the employees in the unit at the
time the request was made did not constitute a representative group.
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 Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner seeks a unit of all employees of the Employer at its
Savannah, Georgia, plant including watchmen but excluding execu-
tives, sales and office personnel, plant clericals, and supervisory em-
ployees. The Employer agrees generally with the proposed unit
except that it would exclude the watchmen sought to be included.
The Employer's three watchmen are on duty when the plant is not
in operation; one works a shift from 6:00 p. in. to midnight; another,
from midnight to 7 :00 a. in.; and the third for 10 hours on Sundays
only. Their duties consist of making hourly rounds of the premises to
protect the Employer's property against fire, theft and trespass. Al-
though they are armed, they are not deputized and possess no moni-
torial functions. Like the other employees in the unit, the watchmen
are under the supervision of the plant superintendent, are hourly paid,
and enjoy other similar conditions of employment. On the basis of
the entire record and in view of our practice of including employees
such as these in units of production and maintenance employees, we
shall include the watchmen in the unit hereinafter found appropriate
In accordance with the agreement of the parties and our foregoing
determination we find that all employees of the Employer at its
Savannah, Georgia, plant, including watchmen but excluding execu-
tives, sales and office personnel, plant clericals, and all supervisory
employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees , or effectively
recommend such action , 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
The record shows that the Employer maintains a force of approxi-
mately 25 production and maintenance employees on a year round
I Matter of The Chase -Shawmut Company, 71 N L . R B. 610 ; Matter of Domestic Engine
and Pump Company, 70 N L. R B 1263 ; Matter of Cameron Machine Company, 67
N. L. R. B. 1066.
502 DECISIONS Or' NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
basis. During its busy season, which extends from October to May
each year, the employee complement increases gradually, reaching a
peak in February of approximately 100, and thereafter decreases
gradually until the normal complement is attained' again in May.2
During the busy season all employees spend approximately full time
on production, whereas during the "off" season, the employees retained
spend 75 percent of their time on maintenance and repair, and 25
percent on production.
Although the year round employees are more experienced than the
seasonal- employees, and are usually assigned the more skilled jobs,
the Employer makes no other distinction between them, either in the
work they perform or the records it keeps. They are all hired under
the same terms of employment as prospective permanent employees,
receive the same rate of pay as others in their respective classifications,
work the same number of hours, under the same working conditions
and the same supervision and are all listed on the same pay roll with-
-out differentiation between a so-called seasonal employee and a regu-
lar one. The Employer does not maintain any reemployment or
seniority list with respect to the seasonal workers and does not notify
them individually when to return to work, but it does notify a small
number of group leaders to return and bring a crew of workers with
them. In normal times approximately 75 percent of the seasonal
workers return each year for the busy season. The Employer and
the Petitioner are in accord that the seasonal employees have a sufficient
community of interest with the'other employees to be eligible to vote
in the election. In accordance with that agreement, and on the basis
of the entire record, we shall permit the seasonal employees to vote
in the election hereinafter directed.
At the hearing, however, the parties were in dispute with respect
to the time for holding an election, the Employer urging postpone-
ment thereof until its plant was in full production with a full com-
plement of employees, and the Petitioner requesting an immediate
election. Under all the circumstances, we find that an election in the
immediate future is appropriate. It is clear that as of the data of
the issuance of this decision and direction, the Employer will have
been in its busy season for approximately 4 months, with its peak in
personnel complement virtually attained, and that a representative
vote can be had. We shall therefore direct that the question concern-
ing representation which has arisen be resolved by an election by
secret ballot, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
2 The number of employees on the Employer's pay roll for the first week of each month
of the preceding busy season was as follows • For the week ending October 5, 1945-53;
November 2, 1945-56; December 7, 1945-54, January 4, 1946-61 ; February 1, 1946-
95; March 1, 1946-100; April 5, 1946-61 ; May 3, 1946-52 and June 7, 1946-25.
MUTUAL FERTILIZER COMPANY
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
503
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Mutual Fertilizer Company,
Savannah, Georgia, 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 Tenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the
National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and
203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 4, and to our determination in Section V, supra, 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 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 before the date of the election, to
determine whether or not they desire to be represented by International
Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers (CIO), for the puruoses of
collective bargaining.