Swift & Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 14, 1949

86 N.L.R.B. 1329 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of SWIFT & COMPANY, EMPLOYER and UNITED PACKING-
HOUSE WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 20-RC-595.-Decided November 14, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Nathan R.
Berke, hearing officer. At the hearing, the Intervenor, Amalgamated
Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, Local 508,
AFL, moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that the unit sought
is inappropriate. For reasons stated below, the motion is hereby
denied. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Reynolds and Gray].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is ;engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Petitioner and the Intervenor are labor organizations claim-
ing to represent employees of the Employer.
3. The question concerning representation :
The Intervenor asserts that an existing collective bargaining con-
tract is a bar to this-proceeding. On July 2, 1948, the Employer and
the Intervenor signed a collective bargaining contract covering all
production employees, to be effective until August 11, 1949, and there-
after from year to year, unless either party served notice of termina-
tion at least 60 days before August 11, 1949, or any other anniversary
date. At least 60 days before August 11, 1949, the Intervenor notified
the Employer of its desire to terminate the contract on its anniversary
date. However, on July 29, 1949, the contracting parties agreed to
extend the terns of the July 2, 1948 agreement until a new contract
should have been signed. The Petitioner filed its original petition on
June 10, 1949..
86 N. L. R. B., No. 147. 1329
1330 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We find that the July 2, 1948, contract is not a bar because (a) as
extended on July 29, 1949, it is now a contract of indefinite duration,1
and (b) the Petitioner filed its representation petition before the
Mill B,2 or operative date of the automatic renewal clause in the July
2, 1948 contract.'
Accordingly, we find that a question affecting commerce exists con-
cerning the representation of employees of the Employer within the
meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate unit :
The Petitioner seeks to represent a single unit of all production and
maintenance employees, including steam, power and refrigeration
employees, pipe fitters and all other maintenance employees and
helpers ; coopers, elevator operators, janitors, laundry, and cafe
workers; but excluding office and clerical employees, truck drivers,
professional employees, plant-protection employees, and supervisors.
The Intervenor contends that production and maintenance employees
should be grouped in separate units as at present, and that the pipe
fitters should be excluded from either unit. The Employer is neutral.
The Employer, a meat packer, is engaged in killing and dressing
live stock and in processing meat products. At its South San Fran-
cisco plant, the only one involved in this proceeding, it carries on opera-
tions in six buildings, two of which are used for production processes,
two for maintenance functions, and two for office and clerical work.
Production employees have supervision separate from maintenance
employees, although some of the latter work throughout the plant,
including the production departments. Employees in the two de-
partments do not interchange.
The Petitioner has represented the maintenance employees, except
the pipe fitters, since 1945, when, following a Board-conducted elec-
tion, it was certified by the Board as their representative. It was cer-
tified as representative of, pipe fitters on April 19, 1949.6 Coopers
International Union, Local 65, AFL, has informally represented the
Employer's two coopers for an undetermined number of years 7 The
Intervenor has represented the production workers, including elevator
operators, janitors, and laundry workers at least since 1942.11 In 1946,
the Petitioner filed a petition seeking to represent the unit of pro-
" Matter of Worthy Paper Company, 80 N. L. R. B. 19.
z Matter of Mill B, Inc., 40 N . L. R. B. 346.
Matter of Reynolds Metals Company, 85 N. L. It. B. 110.
Matter of Swift & Company, 59 N. L. It. B. 1417.
The Petitioner was certified on February 2, 1945.
Case No. 20-RC-486.
' Although served with a notice of hearing, the Coopers Union did not appear in this
proceeding . The Employer 's two coopers are classified as production employees. Ap-
parently all parties agreed to their inclusion in the unit of production employees.
8 See Matter of Swift & Company, supra.
44
SWIFT & COMPANY 1331
duction workers alone ; then as now , that unit was represented by the
Intervenor .9 The Petitioner lost the consent election conducted among
the production workers.
In view of the history of bargaining that has existed since at least
1942, we believe that the production and maintenance employees may
continue to be represented in separate units. On the other hand, bar-
gaining history in other meat packing plants indicates the equal
feasibility of a single plant-wide unit. In these circumstances, we
shall make no unit determination until we have first ascertained the
desires of the production employees as expressed in the election di-
rected herein . If a majority of them vote for the Petitioner, they
will be taken to have indicated their desire to be a. part of a plant-wide
unit and the Petitioner may represent them as part of such a unit;
if they vote for the Intervenor, they will be taken to have expressed
their desire to be represented in a separate unit.
We shall not direct an election among the maintenance employees
because the Petitioner was certified as their representative in 1945, it
is presently enjoying contractual relation with the Employer covering
these employees , its representative status is not challenged , and it has
not indicated any desire for a separate election among them.
We shall direct an election by secret ballot among the following
employees at the Employer's South San Francisco, California, plant:
All production employees , including coopers, elevator operators,
janitors, laundry , and cafe workers , but excluding maintenance em-
ployees, and their helpers, steam, power and refrigeration employees,
pipe fitters, truck drivers, office and clerical employees , guards, pro-
fessional employees , and supervisors as defined in the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with the Employer , an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible , but not later than
30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was
heard , and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the
unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election , including employees who did not work
during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or
temporarily laid ofl", but excluding those employees who have since
9 Case No. 20-RC-1830.
1332 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by
United Packinghouse Workers of America, CIO, or by Amalgamated
Meat Cutters, and Butcher Workmen of North America, AFL, Local
508, or by neither.