Soybean Processing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 26, 1945

63 N.L.R.B. 1193 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of SOYBEAN PROCESSING COMPANY and UNITED
PACKINGHOUSE WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. O.
Case No. 18-R-1305.-Decided September 26, 1945
Mr. George E. Pike, of Waterloo, Iowa, for the Company.
Mr. Edward R. Fitzpatrick, of Des Moines, Iowa, for the C. I. O.
Mr. Lester Stewart, of Waterloo, Iowa, for the A. F. of L.
Mr. John E. Lawyer, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by United Packinghouse Workers of
America, C. I. 0., herein called the C. I. 0., alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Soybean Processing Company, Waterloo, Iowa, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided
for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Stephen M.
Reynolds, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Waterloo, Iowa,
on June 26, 1945. At the commencement of the hearing, the Trial
Examiner granted a motion of the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local
650, A. F. of L., herein called the A. F. of L., to intervene. The
Company, the C. I. 0., and the A. F. of L. appeared at and par-
ticipated in the hearing, and all parties were afforded full opportunity
to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce
evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at
the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
°I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Soybean Processing Company is an Iowa corporation and is a wholly
owned subsidiary of The Borden Company, a New Jersey corporation.
63 N. L . R. B., No. 186.
1193
1194 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Company has its principal office and place of business at Water-
loo, Iowa, where it is engaged in the manufacture of soybean oil, meal,
and a line of vitamin fortified supplements or feed concentrates. The
Waterloo, Iowa, plant is the only plant of the Company. The Com-
pany annually purchases raw materials, chiefly soybeans, valued at
approximately $2,500,000, of which about $500,000 worth is purchased
outside the State of Iowa. Annual sales amount to $3,50,0,000, of which
approximately 80 percent is shipped to points outside the State.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. TIIE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
United Packinghouse Workers of America, is a labor organization
affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to
membership employees of the Company.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse-
men and Helpers of America, Local 650, is a -labor organization
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to mem-
bership employees of the Company. -
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On May 7, 1945, the C. I. O. requested recognition as the exclusive
bargaining agent of certain of the Company's employees. The Com-
pany refused such recognition because of its contract with the
A. F. of L.
Following a consent election, held under Board auspices, the A. F.
of L. was designated by the Regional Director on April 30, 1944, as
the exclusive bargaining representative of employees of the Company,'
and thereafter entered into a contract with the Company, the terms
,of which stated that it was to expire on September 4, 1945. The A. F.
of L. contends that this contract is a bar to the instant proceeding.
We find no merit to this contention inasmuch as the contract has
-expired.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the C. I. O. represents a substantial number
of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2
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.
1 Case No . 18-R-1016.
2 The Board agent reported that the C. I O. submitted 26 application -for-membership
cards There are 37 employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate. The
A. F. of L. relies upon its contract for its interest in the proceeding,
SOYBEAN PROCESSING COMPANY 1195,
IT. TIIE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in substantial accordance with the agreement of the parties,
that all employees of the Company, excluding office and clerical em-
ployees, timekeepers, technical men, chemists, bean graders and weigh
masters, guards and watchmen, temporary employees, and all super-
visory 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
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by means of an election by secret ballot among-
the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the
pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of-
Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in
the Direction.
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 Relations Act,
and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations.
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Soybean Process-
ing Company, Waterloo, Iowa, an election by secret ballot shall be con-
ducted 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 Eighteenth Region, acting in this matter as
agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article
III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among the em-
ployees 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-
any who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not
been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to deter-
mine whether they desire to be represented by United Packinghouse-
Workers of America, C. I. 0., or by International Brotherhood of
Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local_
650, A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by
neither.