Purity Baking Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 15, 1958

121 N.L.R.B. 75 (N.L.R.B. 1958)

PURITY-BAKI-NG CO. 75
employees for whom Seafarers International Union of North America, Atlantic
and Gulf District, AFL-CIO, is the certified collective-bargaining representative
under the provisions of Section 9 of the National Labor Relations Act,
as amended.
NATIONAL MARITIME UNIoN of AMERICA, AFL-CIQ,
Labor Organization.
Dated------------------- By------------ --------------------------------
(I epresentative ) ( Title)
- This notice must remain -posted for 60 days from the date hereof, and must not be
altered, defaced, or covered by any other material.
Purity Baking Co. and Local No. 316 of The American Bakery
and Confectionery - Workers' International Union , AFL-CIO,
Petitioner. Case No. 13-RC-5828. July 15, 1958
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 Raymond A. Jacobson,
hearing officer . The hearing officer's rulings made at th e, 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 Leedom and Members Bean and Fanningj.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.'
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and ( 7) of the Act . In so finding, we rely
upon the following considerations :
BOW contends that-the petition is barred by a contract executed on
May 1, 1957, for a term of 2 years by the Employer and the Purity of
Illinois Division of BCW,2 covering the employees in the Employer's
7 plants, which are the subject of the instant petition . These plants
are located at Bloomington , Ottawa , Rockford, Pana, Champaign.
Urbana, and Decatur, Illinois . Jurisdiction over these plants has
been divided among three locals of BOW, namely , Local 316 over
Pana, Champaign , Urbana, and Decatur, Local 63 over Ottawa and
Rockford and Local 189 over Bloomington.
IBakery and Confectionery Workers' International Union of America , hereinafter called
BCW, was allowed to intervene at the' hearing on the basis of its contract interest. It
refused to stipulate that the Petitioner is a labor organization. However, upon the record,
we find that the Petitioner is a labor organization within the Act as it exists for the pur-
pose of dealing with employers concerning terms of employment. -
2This was the name given to a bargaining committee -consisting of -representatives -of
BCW and its three locals, the members of which were covered by the contract.
121 NLRB No. 17.
76 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Petitioner contends that there has been a schism among the
members of Local 316 (BCW) and that the contract is therefore no
longer a bar. The record shows that at meetings held in November
1957 the executive board of Local 316 (BCW) and its membership
adopted a resolution which, in effect, authorized the taking of all
action necessary to maintain affiliation with the AFL-CIO, in the
event of the expulsion of BCW from the AFL-CIO. On December
12, 1957, BCW was expelled from the AFL-CIO on grounds of cor-
ruption and on the same day the Petitioner's parent, hereinafter called
ABC, was chartered by the AFL-CIO 3 During the ensuing week,
Zellman, an officer of Local 316 (BCW) obtained the signatures of 129
employees, comprising virtually all the members of that local in the
employ of the Employer,' approving a resolution to disaffiliate from
BCW and affiliate with ABC. Petitioner has since received a charter
from ABC, and now has essentially the same members and officers as
before the change in affiliation. BCW has appointed a trustee for the
old Local 316, who has indicated upon the record that he is able and
willing to administer the contract.
Petitioner contends that, under these facts, the Board should apply
the rule of the Lawrence Leather case 5 that expulsion of an inter-
national union from its parent federation, coupled with disaffiliation
action at the local level for reasons related to the expulsion, so dis-
rupts the established bargaining as to remove as a bar any contract
covering employees represented by the local 'involved. BCW con-
tends, on the other hand, that : (1) The disaffiliation action taken
by Local 316 lacked the formality which the Board in some cases has
required; (2) the alleged schism is not effective to remove the con-
tract as a bar because it is not coextensive with the appropriate unit;
(3) Local 316 (BCW) is not defunct but is still functioning; (4)
BCW, and not Local 316 or the other local unions involved, is the
collective-bargaining agent for the employees in the contract unit
and is still acting as such; and (5), in view of the pendency of State
court litigation over the assets of the old Local 316, the rule of the
Kearney & Trecker case s precludes the holding of an election at this
time.
As to (1), similar contentions have been uniformly rejected by the
Board where, as here, disaffiliation action at the local level was re-
lated to the expulsion of an international union from its parent
federation .7 It is sufficient that all of Local 316's officers and virtually
all its members have unequivocally manifested their desire for, and
have effected, a change in affiliation. Accordingly, we find that the
See The Great Atlantic and Pacefic Tea Company, 120 NLRB 656.
A few members of the Local were employed by other employers.
A C. Lawrence Leather Company , 108 NLRB 546.
G Kearney & Trecker Corp . v. N L. R B., 210 F 2d 852 (C. A. 7).
7 See The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company , 120 NLRB 656 , and cases there
cited at footnote 7.
PURITY BAKING CO. 77
nature of the disaffiliation action here does not prevent the application
of our schism doctrine.
As to (2), the record supports the BCW's contention that the
Local 316 schism is not coextensive with the appropriate unit. On
the basis of the present record, we find that such unit is the existing
contract unit covering the 7 plants named above, and that Local
316's jurisdiction extends to only 4 of these plants 8 However, the
employees at these four plants comprise about two-thirds of the em-
ployees in the unit.9 Under these circumstances, we find that the con-
fusion in the bargaining relationship created by the disaffiliation of
Local 316 is of sufficient scope to warrant the application of our
schism doctrine.10
As to (3), even if we grant that old Local 316 is not defunct, that,
in itself, would not prevent application of our schism doctrine."
As to (4), we do not agree that BCW, rather than its locals, is the
recognized representative of the employees. The contract, itself,
recognizes as the bargaining agent the Purity of Illinois Division of
BCW, which so far as appears from the record, is not an alter ego
of BCW"but rather a name assumed by a bargaining committee com-
posed of representatives of BCW and its 3 locals here involved, all
of whom joined in executing the contract. Accordingly, we find that
BCW is not the sole union party to the,contract but is, at best, merely
a joint signatory, in conjunction with the 3 locals, 12 and that, under
these circumstances, a schism in Local 316 alone constitutes sufficient
basis for applying the Lawrence Leather rule. 'I
As to (5), we find no merit in this contention, for the reasons stated
in rejecting a similar contention in the A & P case.14
In view of the foregoing, we find that the expulsion of BCW from
the AFL-CIO, and the resulting disaffiliation of Local 316 from BCW
and its affiliation with ABC have created a schism which warrants
the holding of an election despite the existing contract.15
8 There was no evidence at the hearing of any disaffiliation action by Locals 63 and 189,
which have jurisdiction over the remaining three plants.
9 There are approximately 130 employees in these 4 plants as against approximately
200 in all 7 plants.
10 Cf . John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company, 93 NLRB 778, 779, where the
Board found a contract no bar , relying inter alia, on a schism which was not coextensive
with the contract unit but affected the majority of the members of the contracting union.
Cf. also , RCA Service Company, Inc , 94 NLRB 1122.
11 Cf. The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company , supra.
"While a representative of BCW has in the past given notice of contract reopening
or termination to the Employer , and has processed grievances under the contract , there is
no basis for finding that he was 'acting solely in his capacity as representative of BCW
rather than on behalf of the joint bargaining representative.
Is In Lawrence Leather, itself , the contract was with the international union as well as
the local affected by the disaffiliation action. In Globe Forge, Inc., 115 NLRB 862, the
Board applied the Lawrence Leather rule, although the• international , rather than the de-
fecting local , was the certified representative'of the employees involved and participated
with the local in the execution of the contract urged as a bar.
x The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, supra, footnote 10.
15 In view of our disposition of the schism issue, we need not pass upon Petitioner's
motion to reopen the record to take further evidence on that issue or the motion to inter-
78 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
.4. We find, in agreement with the parties, that the following em-
ployees of the Employer constitute a unit appropriate for purposes
of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
Act:
All production and maintenance employees at the Employer's plants
at Rockford, Ottawa, Bloomington, Urbana, Champaign, Pana, and
Decatur, Illinois, including working foremen, dough mixers, ovenmen,
machine men, open kettle friers, bench men, pan rackers, roll panners,
rackers, and pan greasers, but excluding office and plant clerical
employees, guards, professional employees, and supervisors as defined
in the Act.
5. In its brief, the-Petitioner requests that, if the Board directs an
election, the Board place on the ballot, in lieu of the Petitioner, the
Illinois Bargaining Association.16 BCW, however, objects to placing
the Association on the ballot. In a motion to intervene filed by the
Association after the hearing, it is alleged that, after the hearing
herein at a meeting noticed to all employees of the Employer, a reso-
lution was adopted authorizing the establishment of the Association
to act as the bargaining representative of the-Employer's employees
in the existing contract unit. BCW does not dispute these allegations
and objects to granting the Petitioner's request to place the Association
on the ballot only because "the-request was based upon evidence de-
liberately created subsequent to the close of the hearing in this matter."
Neither the fact that the Association was formed after the hearing
nor the motives underlying its formation are material to the disposi-
tion of Petitioner's request. In the absence of any valid objection
thereto, we shall grant such request.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
vene filed after the hearing by Local 189 of ABC and by Illinois Bargaining Association
for the Good & Welfare of Purity Employees of the American Bakery and Confectionery
Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, hereinafter variously called the Illinois Bar-
gaining Association or the Association.
.16 See footnote 15.
Worzella Publishing Company and International Printing Press-
men and Assistants' Union of North America, AFL-CIO, Peti-
tioner. Case No. 18-RC-3576. July 15, 1958
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 jack R. Carrier, hearing
officer? The hearing officer's rulings lxi; ,de at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
121 NLRB No. 18.