Sioux City Brewing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 10, 1947

73 N.L.R.B. 325 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of Sioux CITY BREWING COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
GENERAL DRIVERS, WAREHOUSEMEN & HELPERS LOCAL UNION No.
383, A. F. or L., PETITIONER
Case No. 18-1?-1778.-Decided April 10, 1947
Messrs. Louis S. Goldberg, and Herman Galinsky, of Sioux City,
Iowa, for the Employer.
Mr. C. I. McNutt, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Mr. Frank Santi, of
Sioux City, Iowa, for the Petitioner.
Mr. Marvin Holz, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Intervenor.
Mr. Stanley R. Strauss, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Sioux
City, Iowa, on February 7, 1947, before Stephen Al. Reynolds, 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
1. TILE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Sioux City Brewing Company, an Iowa corporation, is engaged at
Sioux City, Iowa, in the manufacture and sale of beer and malt bever-
ages. During 1946, the Employer sold products valued in excess of
$1,000,000, of which approximately 20 percent was sold outside Iowa.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation,of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal, and Soft
Drink Workers of America, and Brewery Local No. 178, herein called
73 N. L. R. B., No 60.
325
326 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING lit PRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate -unit.
The Intervenor and the Employer are parties to a 1-year contract
expiring on May 1, 1947, which contains a clause automatically re-
newing the contract from year to year unless notice is given by either
party 30 days prior to any annual expiration date. The Petitioner filed
the instant petition in the Regional Office on January 6, 1947.
The Intervenor contends that the contract is a bar to this proceeding.
Under well-established principles of the Board, and as we find, the
contract cannot operate to bar a current determination of representa-
tives. The petition was filed in advance of the operative date of the
automatic renewal clause, and the anniversary date of the contract is
now less than 1 month distant
We find that a question affecting coninlerce 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.
IN'. THE APPROPRLI'LE UNIT
We find, in substantial accordance with the agreement of the parties,
that all production, maintenance, and garage employees at the Em-
ployer's plant, excluding all office and clerical employees, drivers,
driver-salesmen, 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 Petitioner and the Intervenor disagree as to whether Frank
Parish and Melvin Sorenson are eligible to vote in the election. The
Employer takes no position on this issue. Parish and Sorenson were
hired as extra helpers during the busy season, and later released. The
Petitioner contends that they were temporarily discharged, and should
be eligible to vote. The Intervenor contends the employees were per-
'Matter of Toledo Casket Company, 71 N L R B 821; Matter of Clark Bros Co, Inc,
66 N L R B 849
L On September 19, 1945, the Board found that drivers at the Employer ' s plant consti-
tuted an appropriate unit and on October 23 , 1945, certified the Petitioner as their bar-
gaining representative . Matter df Sioux City Brewing Company , 63 N. L R B 964.
S1vUX CITY BREWING COMPANY 327
maneptly discharged . The evidence adduced at the hearing is in-
conclusive , and we are unable to determine whether Parish and Soren-
son have a reasonable expectancy of reemployment in the near future.
Accordingly, we shall make no determination as to their eligibility at
this time. Instead we hereby direct the Regional Director to permit
Parish and Sorenson to vote , but to challenge and impound their bal-
lots pending the outcome of the election . If the challenged ballots of
these individuals are sufficient in number to affect the election results,
we shall direct a further investigation as to their eligibility.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 3
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Sioux City Brewing Company,
Sioux City, Iowa, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as
early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) clays from the date
of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the Eighteenth 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 Regula-
tions-Series 4, 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 em-
ployees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they
were ill or on vacation or temporarily ]aid off, and including em-
ployees in the armed forces of the United States who present them-
selves 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 prior to the date of the election, to determine whether they
desire to be represented by General Drivers, Warehousemen & Helpers
Local Union No. 383, A. F. of L., or by International Union of United
Brewery, Flour, Cereal, and Soft Drink Workers of Anmerica, and
Brewery Local No. 178, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing, or by neither.
I Any participant in the election herein directed may, upon its prompt request to, and
approval thereof by, the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot.