The Borden Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 6, 1950

89 N.L.R.B. 227 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of TIIE BORDEN COMPANY, HUTCHINSON ICE CREAM
DIVISION, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAM-
STERS, CCHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, AFL,
PETITIONER
Case No. 18-RC-509.-Decided April 6,1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Clarence A.
Meter, hearing officer. 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 [Members Reynolds, Murdock, and
Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer, which has its main offices in Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
and is a separate operation of the Borden Company, a large interstate
enterprise,' is engaged in the manufacture and distribution of ice
cream products. During the year 1948, raw materials used by the
Employer were valued in excess of $2,000,000, of which over $700,000
represented materials shipped to the Employer from points outside
the State of Iowa. During the same period, sales of the Employer
exceeded $4,500,000 in value, of which more than $350,000 represented
sales to points outside the State.
We find, contrary to the contention of the Employer, that it is
engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act.2 We find no
merit to the Employer's further contention that some of its plants
which receive or make no interstate shipments are not engaged in
commerce. We have frequently held where, as here, a separate plant
' The Borden Company, 69 NLRB 947; and The Borden Company, Southern Division,
68 NLRB 399.
2 The Borden Company, Borden's Ice Cream Company of Michigan Division, 85 NLRB
385.
89 NLRB No. 31.
227
889227-51-vol. 89-16
228 DECISIONS' OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
is an integral part of an interstate enterprise , that plant is engaged in
commerce within the meaning of the Act.
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion 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 Employer has 3 main manufacturing and distribution plants
and 17 branch distribution plants, all located in the State of Iowa.
Each of the manufacturing plants supplies ice cream products to
certain of the branch plants, as follows : ( 1) Mason City supplies
Charles City, Estherville, Decorah, Humbolt, and Fort Dodge; (2)
Waterloo supplies Iowa Falls, Oelwein, Manchester , Dubuque, and
Marshalltown ; and (3 ) Cedar Rapids supplies Vinton, Monticello,
Iowa City, Ottumwa, Davenport , Clinton, and Des Moines. There
has been no collective bargaining among any of the employees of the
Employer with the exception of the employees at the Mason City plant
who have been represented by Local 828 of the Petitioner since 1945,
following a consent election conducted by the Board.3
The Petitioner seeks a single unit of all employees at all the Em-
ployer's plants . In the event that the Board finds that this broad unit
is inappropriate , the Petitioner requests three separate units, each
consisting of the employees of a production and distribution plant and
its allied branch distribution plants. As a second alternative, the
Petitioner requests that separate units be found appropriate for the
employees of each of the production and distribution plants and each
of the branch . distribution plants. The Employer agrees with the last
position . The Employer would also exclude, and the Petitioner would
include, all seasonal employees.
General administration of the Employer 's operations is conducted
from the main offices in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The managers of all
plants are responsible directly to the Employer 's president located
there. Practically all purchases for the enterprise are made through
the Cedar Rapids purchasing department. A uniform advertising
policy is formulated in these offices . Payrolls for all personnel ex-
cepting plant managers are made up in Cedar Rapids. Plant mana-
gers are carried on the Borden Company's New York payroll. The
Cedar Rapids accounting department handles the bookkeeping for all
plants. This centralization of control together with the mutual inter-
ests of all the employees developed as a. result of their participation in
the production , distribution , and sale of identical products is offered
3 Case No. 18-R-1584.
THE BORDEN COMPANY 229
by the Petitioner in support of its primary position that a broad over-
all unit is appropriate.
On the other hand, there is evidence in support of the Employer's
contention that single-plant units are the only appropriate units.
Thus the manager at each plant has sole authority subject to few
limitations to hire and discharge his own plant employees. Although
wages at all plants must conform to a general Employer-wide pattern,
they may be varied by the individual plant manager. The plant
manager has broad discretion with respect to hours of employment,
which are to some degree influenced by conditions prevalent in the
plant communities. There is virtually no interchange of employees
between the various plants. In addition, the only collective bargain-
ing involving any of the Employer's employees has been conducted at
Mason City on a single-plant basis.
Although it appears that individual plant units might well be
appropriate, the integration of the Employer's operations bespeaks
the appropriateness of the broad over-all unit. In these circum-
stances, we believe that the larger unit is the appropriate unit. Ac-
cordingly, we find that a single Employer-wide unit is appropriate'
As stated above, the Petitioner would include and Employer would
exclude additional employees hired for the busy season. These em-
ployees are employed from mid-May to September, the peak period
of the Employer's operations. They perform the same work as regu-
lar employees, work the same hours, and receive comparable wages.
We shall include them in the unit.5
We find that all employees employed by the Employer at its various
plants 6 in the State of Iowa, including driver salesmen and seasonal
employees, but excluding office and clerical employees, salesmen,
guards, watchmen, and supervisors as defined in the Act constitute an
appropriate unit.
5. The Board customarily permits seasonal employees included
in a unit with regular or permanent employees to vote and, in fact,
in seasonal industries, directs elections to be held at the peak of the
season so that such employees may vote.7 Under the facts of this
case, however, we see no reason to postpone the election as the perma-
nent employees comprise over 50 percent of the Employer's payroll
4 See Lone Star Producing Company , 85 NLRB '1137 ; and Benner Tea Company, 88
NLRB 1409.
S See Arkport Dairies Inc., 86 NLRB 319 and gases cited therein.
Charles City, Estherville, Decorah, Humbolt, Fort Dodge, Waterloo, Iowa Falls, Oelweln,
Manchester, Dubuque , Marshalltown , Cedar Rapids , Vinton, Monticello , Iowa City, Ottumwa,
Davenport, Clinton, Des Moines, and Mason City.
7 See S . Martinelli t Co ., 81 NLRB 383 , and Harrison Steel Casting Company, 74 NLRB
363, 365 . Cf. Fall River Gas Works Company, 82 NLRB 962.
230 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and constitute a representative and substantial group. We shall there-
fore direct an immediate election among those currently employed.8
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes 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 payroll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work
during said payroll period because they were ill or on vacation or
temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
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
or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bar-
gaining, by Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen
and Helpers of America, AFL.
8 Arkport Dairies, Inc., supra.