Standard Brands, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 16, 1947

72 N.L.R.B. 181 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of STANDARD BRANDS , INCORPORATED , BALTIMORE
TRUCKING OPERATION OF THE FLEISCHMANN MANUFACTURING DIVI-
SION, EMPLOYER and JOINT COUNCIL No . 62 OF INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS , A. F. OF L., PETITIONER
Case No. 5-R-2439.-Decided January 16, 1947
Mr. F. B. Haught, of New York City, for the Employer.
Messrs. Jacob T. Edelman and Thomas J. Healy, of Baltimore, Md.,
for the Petitioner.
Mr. Thomas X. Dunn, of Washington, D. C., for the Intervenor.
Mrs. Augusta Spaulding, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Baltimore,
Maryland, on August 12, 1946, before Charles B. Slaughter, 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
Standard Brands, Incorporated,' a corporation engaged in the
manufacture and distribution of food products on a Nation-wide
basis, operates at Baltimore, Maryland, a warehouse and trucking
center known as the Baltimore Trucking Operation of the Employer's
Fleischmann Manufacturing Division. Employees of the Baltimore
Trucking Operation are the subject of this proceeding.
During the past 6 months the Employer received at its Baltimore
warehouse merchandise valued in excess of $50,000, approximately 95
' The petition and other formal papers were amended at the hearing to show the correct
name of the Employer.
72 N. L. R. B., No. 31.
181
182 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
percent of which was received from points outside Maryland. During
the same period, the Employer shipped more than 5 percent of its
products to points outside Maryland.
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 Em-
ployer.
International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal & Soft
Drink Workers of America, herein called the Intervenor, is a labor
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
Local 323 is the local union chartered by the Intervenor, claiming to
represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
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.
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 DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Petitioner contends that the warehouse and trucking employees
in the Employer's Baltimore Trucking Operation constitute a unit
appropriate for bargaining purposes. The Intervenor contends that
the past bargaining history between the Employer and its employees
on a multi-plant basis makes the proposed unit inappropriate. The
Employer takes no position on the scope of the bargaining unit.
At the time of the hearing in this proceding, the Employer operated
35 plants in the United States, among which were 8 of the 9 yeast
and vinegar manufacturing plants acquired by the Employer in
1929 from The Fleischmann Company, when the latter discontinued
operations as a manufacturing concern. The Employer operates these
yeast and vinegar plants through an administrative division known
as the Fleischinann Manufacturing Division, under a general pro-
duction manager with offices at New York City. These plants are
located at Washington, D. C.; Peekskill, New York; Pekin, Illinois;
Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Sumner, Washington; Oakland,
STANDARD BRANDS, INCORPORATED 183
California; and Montgomery, Alabama. Each plant is under the im-
mediate supervision of a local plant manager.
Up to 1931 the Employer operated, as part of this division, an ad-
ditional yeast and vinegar manufacturing plant at Baltimore, Mary-
land, also acquired in 1929 from The Fleischmann Company as part
of the latter's manufacturing operations. In 1931 the Employer dis-
continued yeast and vinegar production at Baltimore and converted
its local plant into a warehouse for storing products of the division
made in the area and other foodstuffs such as tea and coffee delivered
at Baltimore and consigned for distribution in the area. The ware-
house became a truck terminal in the transportation of products to
and from Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Washington for customers
in and about this area. The warehouse and trucking operations were
placed under the nominal charge of the manager of the Washington,
D. C., plant,2 and became known among the Employer's operations
as the Baltimore Trucking Operation. Employees in the Baltimore)
Trucking Operation are the subject of the instant petition.
Employees in the Baltimore Trucking Operation include a ware-
houseman, seven drivers and a helper, a secretary, a watchman, and a
janitor. The warehouseman is a working foreman who checks goods
as they are loaded, unloaded and stored, 'and signs slips for overtime
work. He acknowledges the receipt of goods bought by the Employer
zn
in
and consigned to the warehouse at Baltimore. In emergencies, he
may buy goods for the Employer. The drivers and helper load and
unload their trucks at the transportation terminals and at the ware-
house, and transport by truck and store in the warehouse products
made or purchased for sale and distribution by the Employer and
brought to Baltimore in part by common carriers. They drive their
trucks from Baltimore to Philadelphia with a stop at Wilmington
and from Baltimore to Washington, carrying foodstuffs and empty
containers. Although these warehouse and ti,•ucking employees are
listed as employees of the Fleischmann Manufacturing Division of
the Employer's operations and are paid out of the Washington plant
and are under the nominal supervision of the Washington plant
manager, who, as traffic manager, hires and discharges these employees,
they work without close and immediate supervision and have little in
common with the work of the production and maintenance employees
at any of the Employer's widely scattered manufacturing plants in
2 Under the supervision of the manager of the Washington, D C , plant, the warehouse
and trucking remained for some purposes a pact of the Pleischinann Manufactuiing Divi-
sion , even though the services performed by the «arehouse and trucking division exceeded
the normal scope of the Fleischmann Manufacturing Division as a yeast and vinegar
production activity.
184 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARii
this division. The direction of the transportation and warehouse
operations emanates from the Employer's Baltimore sales office, an-
other administrative division of the Employer's operation. The field
service manager of the sales office keeps the records of products enter-
ing and leaving the warehouse.
While the Petitioner and the Intervenor agree that, absent a his-
tory of collective bargaining on a. broader basis, employees in the
Baltimore Trucking Operation might constitute a separate appro-
priate unit for bargaining purposes, the Intervenor contends that the
history of collective bargaining between the Employer and the Inter-
venor precludes their establishment as a separate bargaining group
at this time.
Prior to 1929, The Fleischmann Company recognized the Intervenor
as the exclusive bargaining representative of the nine yeast and
vinegar plants then operated by that company, and entered into mas-
ter agreements with the Intervenor covering these plants and any
other similar plants which might be opened by that company during
the pendency of the respective agreements. These master agreements
provided for closed shop, regular hours of employment, the arbitra-
tion of grievances, and the execution of supplementary contracts be-
tween The Fleischmann Company and locals of the Intervenor respect-
ing wages and' working conditions at the several individual vinegar
and yeast plants operated by that company. Following the execution
of the master agreements, the local unions representing employees at
the several plants concerned executed supplementary agreements,
which, with the master agreement, became the individual contracts
governing labor relations at these respective plants. In 1929, when
the Employeer took over the manufacturing operations of The Fleisch-
mann Company, the Employer continued this established bargaining
procedure. When the Employer converted the yeast and vinegar
plant into a warehouse. and trucking facility at Baltimore, employees
at the Baltimore warehouse continued to negotiate a separate agree-
ment for their plant.3
In 1941,4 the Intervenor severed its connection with the American
Federation of Labor, with which it had been associated since 1887.
For about 5 years the Intervenor remained an unaffiliated labor or-
ganization. Early in 1946, the Intervenor, as an international or-
ganization, determined to affiliate with the Congress of Industrial
Organizations and to submit the matter of such affiliation by refer-
3 Although manufacturing operations at Baltimore ceased in 1931 , plant contracts exe-
cuted after that time continued to recite wage rates for manufacturing operations
" The record does not disclose the year when this event occurred , but current labor publi-
cations of the Intervenor give the date as 1941.
STANDARD BRANDS, INCORPORATED 185
endum s to its local unions. When, in June 1946, it appeared that a
majority of the local unions chartered by the Intervenor were in favor
of the proposed affiliation with the Congress of Industrial Organiza-
tions and that such affiliation by their international union was im-
minent, six of the eight or nine warehouse and trucking employees in
the Baltimore Trucking Operation applied for membership in the
Petitioner,6 an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor. On June
18, 1946, the Petitioner filed the petition in this proceeding, informing
the Employer of its claim to represent a majority of employees in the
Baltimore Trucking Operation and requesting that the Employer re-
frain from extending its 1945-1946 agreement, which would expire
on August 15, 1946, covering these employees. On August 1, 1946,
the Employer entered into a new agreement with the Intervenor cov-
ering all plants of the Fleischmann Manufacturing Division, excluding
the plant at Washington, D. C., and the Baltimore Trucking Opera-
tion, pending the resolution of the issues now before the Board in the
instant proceeding.
The plants in the unit urged by the Intervenor were originally all
vinegar and yeast plants comprising the manufacturing operations of
The Fleischmann Company. They are widely separated. When the
Employer took the plants from its predecessor, it converted the com-
pany-wide plant group into a division-wide group in its larger opera-
tional program. In 1931, the Employer destroyed the homogeneity
of the plant grouping when it converted the Baltimore plant into a
warehouse and trucking facility in part under the manager of the
Washington, D. C., plait, and in part under the sales office at Balti-
more. Insofar as the record discloses, however, neither the change
in ownership in 1929 nor the change in operations at the Baltimore
plant in 1931 raised any issue among employees at any of the plants
in the multi-plant unit respecting their representation by the Inter-
venor. The local plant unions had enjoyed, and continued to enjoy, a
considerable autonomy in dealing with their Employer through the
Intervenor, both as an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor
and, after 1941, as an unaffiliated union. When the Intervenor lately
decided to affiliate with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, it
undertook to hold a referendum toward the end of the contract year
'This referendum was apparently conducted among local unions of the Intervenor as
locals The record does not disclose the choice on the ballot or the vote cast by the local
unions
These employees paid their dues and retained their membership in the Intervenor
through July 1946, since they were covered by a closed -shpp contract between the Employer
and the Intervenor which required their membership in the Intervenor for purpose of em-
ployment . The contract between the Intervenor and the Employer terminated on August
15, 1946.
186 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
among its locals to determine the desires of the employees covered by
the contract with respect to representation policies. The record in-
dicates that employees of the Baltimore Trucking Operation were in
disagreement on the issue and that a majority opposed representation
by the Intervenor as an affiliate of the Congress of Industrial
Organizations.
The only real question before us is whether employees at this plant,
comprising a unit prima facie appropriate for bargaining in the ab-
sence of bargaining history, may, in the light of the bargaining history
set forth above, bargain as a separate plant unit if they so desire. We
believe that they may'properly do so in the absence of any prior unit
finding by the Board, or any showing that there is any substantial
common interest among employees in the Baltimore Trucking Opera-
tion and employees at the Washington, D. C., plant, and other widely
scattered yeast and vinegar manufacturing plants in the Fleischmann
Manufacturing Division .7 C
We will hold an election among the employees in the Baltimore
Trucking Operation to determine if they desire to be represented by
the Petitioner, by the Intervenor, or by neither. If a majority of
these employees select the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indi-
cated their desire for bargaining as a separate unit through the Peti-
tioner as their representative. Under these circumstances, we will
find that they constitute an appropriate bargaining unit, and we will
certify the Petitioner as their exclusive bargaining representative.
If, however, a majority of these employees select the Intervenor, they
will be taken to have indicated their desire for bargaining in the larger
divisional unit of which they have long been a part. Under these
circumstances, or if a majority of employees vote for "neither," we
will dismiss the petition.
Since the working foreman does not hire or discharge employees
or effectively recommend such action, and the parties are apparently
agreed that he should be included in the unit, we will include him in
the voting group. We will exclude from the voting group the secre-
tary, the janitor, and the watchman, whom the parties agree to exclude.
Employees eligible to vote in the election shall be all employees in
the Employer's Baltimore Trucking Operation, including the work-
ing foreman, but excluding the secretary, watchman, janitor, and all
supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, dis-
7We would distinguish the instant case from cases of multi-plant units established
among employees of manufacturing plants wheie such employees have chosen the same
bargaining representatives and have common interest arising out of simIIac plant opera-
tions Matter of West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company, 53 N L. It B 814.
STANDARD BRANDS, INCORPORATED 187
cipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or
effectively recommend such action, subject to the conditions and limi-
tations set forth in our Direction of Election.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with Standard Brands, Incorporated,
Baltimore, Maryland, 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 Fifth 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 voting group defined 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 prior to
the date of the election, to determine whether they desire to be repre-
sented by Joint Council No. 62 of International Brotherhood of Team-
sters, A. F. of L., or by International Union of United Brewery, Flour,
Cereal & Soft Drink Workers of America, CIO, for the purposes of
collective bargaining, or by neither.