Suffolk Oil Mill, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 30, 1947

73 N.L.R.B. 741 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of SUFFOLK OIL MILL, INCORPORATED, EMPLOYER and
FOOD, TOBACCO, AGRICULTURAL & ALLIED WORKERS UNION OF
AMERICA, LOCAL 26, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 5-R-2848.-Decided April 30, 1947
Messrs. C. B. Godwin, Jr., and L. IV. Caulk, Jr., of Suffolk, Va.,
for the Employer.
Mr. A'nnando Ramirez, of Philadelphia, Pa., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Ed-n.und J. Flynn, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
Upon a petition duly filed, the National Labor Relations Board on
January 28, 1947, conducted a prehearing election among employees
of the Employer in the alleged appropriate unit, to determine whether
or not they desired to be represented by the Petitioner for purposes
of collective bargaining.
At the close of the election, a Tally of Ballots was furnished the
parties. The Tally shows that there were 29 eligible voters and that
all 29 of these cast ballots, of which 23 were for the Petitioner and
6 were against the Petitioner.
Thereafter, a hearing was held at Suffolk, Virginia, on March 5,
1947, before Joseph Lepie, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rul-
ings 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. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Suffolk Oil Mill, Incorporated, a Virginia corporation, is engaged
in the manufacture of oil and oil products, animal foods, and stock
feed at Suffolk, Virginia. During the year 1946, the Employer pur-
chased raw materials valued at approximately $500,000, of which
10 percent was shipped from points outside the Commonwealth of
73 N. L R B., No. 142.
741
742 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Virginia. During the same period, the products sold by the Employer
exceeded $500,000 in value, of which 75 percent was shipped outside
the Commonwealth.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, 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
In accordance with a stipulation of the parties, we find that all
production and maintenance employees of the Employer's mill in
Suffolk, Virginia, excluding office clerical 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 DETEIZMINAT1ON OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Employer moved to have the election set aside on the ground
that Harold Ruffin, an alleged agent of the Petitioner, was illegally on
the Employer's premises in the vicinity of the polls during voting
hours. Ruffin was found in the supply room, approximately 100 feet
away and physically separated from the polling place, and was evicted
from the premises shortly after the polls opened. The record does not
establish that Ruffin was an agent of the Petitioner or that he engaged
in electioneering. Under all the circumstances, we are of the opinion
that Ruffin's activities did not interfere with a free choice of a bar-
gaining representative. Accordingly, we shall deny the Employer's
motion to set aside the election results.'
3 See Matter of Harry Manaster & Bro., 61 N. L R. B. 1373, 1375 . See also, Matter of
K Barthelrnes Manufacturing Company, Inc., 71 N. L. R . B. 513 ; and Matter of Crucible
Steel Company of America, 71 N. L. R. B. 1480.
SUFFOLK OIL MILL, INCORPORATED 743
Inasmuch as the Petitioner has received a majority of the valid votes
cast in the prehearing election, we shall certify it as the exclusive
bargaining representative of all the employees in the appropriate unit.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Food, Tobacco, Agricultural & Allied
Workers Union of America, Local 26, CIO, has been designated and
selected by a majority of the employees in the unit described in Section
IV, above, as their representative for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining and that, pursuant to Section 9 (a) of the Act, the said
organization is the exclusive representative of all such employees for
the purposes of collective bargaining with respect to rates of pay,
wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment.