78 N.L.R.B. 324 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

Valier & Spies Milling Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsJul 15, 1948

78 N.L.R.B. 324 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of FLOUR MILLS or AMERICA, INC., D/B/A VALIER & SPIES MILLING COMPANY, EMPLOYER and COUNCIL OF ASSOCIATED FLOUR MILL EMPLOYEES,1 PETITIONER Case No. 14-RC-201.-Decided July 15,1948 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.2 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-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board Members.* 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 labor organizations named below claim to represent em- ployees 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 Petitioner, the Intervenor, and the Employer agree that the appropriate unit should consist of all production and maintenance i We find that this petitioner is a labor organization within the meaning of the Act and that the action of the hearing officer in permitting its substitution for International Long- shoremen ' s Association , Local 1642 , AFL, was proper Matter of Champion Motors Com- pany , 72 N L R B 436 , Matter of Public Service Corporation of New Jersey , et al, 72 N L R B 224 2 Foi the reasons set forth in Matter of 0. D . Jennings & Company, 68 N. L R. B. 516, the motion by Local 20970, American Federation of Grain Processors , AFL, herein called the Intervenor , to dismiss the petition is hereby denied. * Chairman Herzog and Members Murdock and Gray. 78 N. L. R B., No. 41. 324 VALIER & SPIES MILLING COMPANY 325 employees at the Employer's St. Louis, Missouri, plant, excluding gen- eral office and clerical employees, guards, laboratory employees, and supervisors. They disagree as to the status of second millers, car- checker floor-foremen and feed packer leadmen, whom the Employer and Intervenor seek to include, but whom the Petitioner would exclude from the unit as supervisors. The record discloses that, while the persons classified as second millers and car-checker floor-foremen do not have the authority to hire or discharge, they do responsibly direct the work of employees under them. The second millers are in charge of the second and third shifts at the plant, assuming the duties of the head miller during these shifts, including the selection of samples, manual adjustment of machinery, and the responsibility for the efficient and proper operation of the mill- ing unit. The car-checker floor-foremen are required to fill out load charts, and to direct the loading of railroad cars and the work of the truckers. Both the second millers and the car-checker floor-foremen are paid a higher hourly wage than those whom they direct. We find that the second millers and car-checker floor-foremen are supervisors, and we shall therefore exclude them from the unit found appropriate herein. The duties of the feed packer leadman are, in general, the same as those of the rank-and-file employees on their shifts. The designation "leadmen" denotes merely the additional duty of keeping time and pro- duction records, performed in overtime periods. As the feed packer leadmen do not possess the indicia of supervisory status, we shall include them. We find that all production and maintenance employees employed at the Employer's St. Louis, Missouri, plant, including feed packer leadmen, but excluding second millers, car-checker floor-foremen, gen- eral office and clerical employees, guards, laboratory employees, and all supervisors, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collec- tive bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of 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 thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision 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-Series 5, among the em- ployees in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, 798767-49-vol. 78-22 326 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD .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 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 they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by Council of Associated Flour Mill Employees, AFL, or by Local 20970, American Federation of Grain Processors, AFL, or by neither.